Federal government announces more than $64M in support for researchers

OTTAWA — On Sep. 21, François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced more than $64 million to support 251 research infrastructure projects at 40 universities across the country. This contribution, through the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s (CFI) John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF), will try and help universities more competitively recruit and retain outstanding researchers by helping acquire the state-of-the-art labs, equipment and facilities they need to make discoveries that will have an impact on Canadians.

For example, projects being funded through the JELF will contribute to:

• Identifying sources of atmospheric humidity in a warming Arctic
  The Arctic is the region warming the most due to human activity. This warming trend results in a clear increase in atmospheric humidity, which enhances the greenhouse effect. The University of British Columbia’s Anaïs Orsi intends to provide new data from water vapour and precipitation to better understand the sources of atmospheric humidity in the Canadian Arctic. This new understanding will lead to more accurate climate predictions, which are essential for the planning of infrastructure, the well-being of the local population, and the identification of emerging economic opportunities.
• Establishing a muscle ultrasound in health and breast cancer laboratory
  While breast cancer patients in Canada have a five-year survival rate of 89 per cent, a fifth of those patients will develop type 2 diabetes (T2D) in survivorship. Cancer can lead to unhealthy metabolic changes and significant weight gain, which may result in new T2D diagnoses. Muscle tissue is vital for maintaining healthy blood glucose, but very little is known about how cancer treatment affects it. Kirsten Bell from McMaster University will establish a new lab to develop novel ultrasound approaches to better understand and improve muscle health in adults with breast cancer. The end goal is to reduce the risk of serious diabetic complications in cancer survivors and the burden of diabetes management on the healthcare system.
• Optimizing artificial intelligence to manage energy
  Artificial intelligence (AI) has made impressive progress in recent years, impacting several industries, including the electric utility sector. One of the most dynamic research areas in the field of AI in this sector involves using sensors to inspect infrastructure. Moulay Akhloufi’s research program at Université de Moncton aims to design an intelligent inspection system for power lines and other electricity components using novel AI tools. One of his objectives is to accelerate technology transfer to Canadian industries using state-of-the-art tools as the fast-growing global AI in the energy market is expected to reach $27.15 billion by 2028.
• Transforming a century-old facility into a smart-building living laboratory
  Today’s buildings are complex “cyber-physical systems,” emitting data based on their usage and managing their heating, ventilation, air conditioning, lighting, major appliances and access control systems. Eleni Stroulia’s research project will involve the installation of hardware and software infrastructure layered on top of the existing infrastructure of a building on the University of Alberta campus. Once equipped, the building will be home to the Computing Science department and will serve as a living laboratory for developing, deploying and validating algorithms to optimize the building system usage, curtailing its energy impact on the environment and reducing its operation costs.

“Canada is world-renowned for our state-of-the-art institutions and talented researchers. Through this Fund, our government is strengthening our leadership and competitive advantage by supporting Canadians to pursue discoveries, overcome challenges and innovate to make a more prosperous, equitable and sustainable future for all,” says François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry.