U of L dots honouree list for ASTech awards

trevor.kenney — Tue, 23 Jul 2013 15:53:52 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge will be well-represented at the 2013 ASTech Awards Gala later this fall.

Today, the ASTech Foundation announced the 23 honourees of the 2013 ASTech Awards and three are associated with the U of L. Drs. Igor Kovalchuk and David Naylor were both recognized, as was the Canada-Wide Science Fair team.

These highly-respected individuals, companies and teams make up an elite group of leaders who are paving the way for future innovation and technology in 13 ASTech Award categories. The honourees will be recognized for their contributions at the 2013 ASTech Awards Gala on Oct. 25, 2013.

Naylor (physics and astronomy, Board of Governors Research Chair) and a team of researchers led Canada's contribution to the Herschel Space project on behalf of the Canadian Space Agency, developing the Herschel Space Telescope's Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) instrument. They were recently awarded the prestigious 2013 Sir Arthur Clarke Award for academic study and research.

Naylor was nominated in the Outstanding Leadership in Alberta Science award classification.

Kovalchuk (biological sciences, Board of Governors Research Chair) heads the Plant Biotechnology Laboratory on campus, investigating epigenetic and genetic regulation of plant genome stability under normal and stressful conditions. Operating under an Alberta Agriculture Research Institute Grant (2009-2013), the lab's research is aimed at analyzing the mechanisms of plant adaptation to stress, including plant DNA repair mechanisms. His activity in the area of plant transgenesis has afforded him a strategic alliance with API Labs Inc., a Canadian biotech company that seeks to develop a market for a high thebaine poppy industry in Canada.

Kovalchuk was nominated in the Innovation in Agricultural Science award category.

The 52nd Annual Canada-Wide Science Fair was hosted by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, May 11-18, 2013, and welcomed more than 1,100 students, chaperones, judges, sponsors and dignitaries to campus. An unmitigated success, the CWSF energized both southern Alberta and Alberta as a whole as the country's top young scientific minds presented to a distinguished group of adjudicators.

The Canada-Wide Science Fair Host committee was nominated in the Excellence in Science and Technology Public Awareness award category.

The theme of this year's ASTech Awards Gala is "Shaping the Future" and will showcase the significant impact each of the honourees has in the development of innovation in Alberta. Representing a broad range of industries including energy, environment, agriculture and information technology, and covering the entire innovation spectrum from research to development to commercialization, the honourees offer an inspiring breadth of fascinating stories of how they are taking innovation to new levels in their respective fields.

For 24 years, the ASTech Foundation has invited members of industry, educational institutions and government agencies to be nominated for the ASTech Awards and only the top candidates are selected as honourees in each category.

For a look at all the honourees, follow this link, or view an ASTech video about the awards here.

Speaker Series to debut at Galt

trevor.kenney — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:33:11 +0000

The Friends of the Galt Museum Society has selected an engaging lineup of local agricultural entrepreneurs for its new fundraiser speaker series to be held monthly at the Galt Museum & Archives as part of the Galt's Thursday evening program.

"Agricultural innovations have created quite a stir in southern Alberta," says Dr. Glenn Coulter, President of the Friends of the Galt, and Chair of the Speaker Series. "We are pleased to highlight these with our new speaker series, which also provides us another opportunity to support Galt Museum education initiatives."

The program was developed in consultation with a number of community organizations, including the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. The first three speaker series events are as follows:

Thursday, Jan. 19

Coal Banks to Cow Manure: Is this Full Circle?

SPEAKER: Stefan Michalski, a consultant with ECB Enviro North America Inc., a bio-based co-generation facility being built in North Lethbridge.

Michaleski's discussion will focus on the conversion of manure and other biological by-products of agriculture into energy, such as electricity and hot water.

ECB Enviro North America Inc., founded in 2001, has access to European Bio-Energy technologies such as highly innovative biogas and biodiesel processes and to new Canadian Hydrolysis Technology.

It plans to develop, engineer, built and operate Bio-Energy facilities all over Canada and North America and initiate agro-industrial clustering, rural revitalization, alternative sustainable energy production opportunities and local employment.

Thursday, Feb. 16

Current and Future Status of Biofuels

SPEAKER: Jim Thacker, Director at Kyoto Fuels Corporation, formed in 2003 and located in Lethbridge.

The Corporation recently received a $31 million 6-year investment from the Government of Canada, allowing it to produce up to 66 million litres of biodiesel annually by converting vegetable or cooking oil or animal fat into biodiesel.

It intends to sell the product to diesel producers in Western Canada and the northwestern United States. The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from biodiesel can be as much as 80 percent over regular diesel.

Thursday, March 15

Thebaine Poppy Innovation

SPEAKER: Glen Metzler, President, API Labs Inc. an early-stage pharmaceutical fine chemicals processing company establishing the groundwork to create a thebaine industry in Western Canada.

Glen Metzler has been involved in market development and research in Canada and internationally. He has worked with major companies in both the United States and Canada in product development and product launches and has an agricultural background.

Each program starts at 7:30 p.m. with networking opportunities, a presentation and then discussion. Tickets are priced at $20/person for each program and will be available at the door.

UNews - API Labs Inc.

U of L dots honouree list for ASTech awards

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