Posts in Innovation
Multi-disciplinary team uncovers secrets in the world of fine art

Dr. Michael D. Noseworthy, professor of electrical and computer engineering and co-director of the McMaster School of Biomedical Engineering, has always loved art. He has visited some of the great art galleries of the world, where he marvelled at the talent, imagination and creativity of the artists. But he never imagined he would be part of a multi-disciplinary team delving into the material condition of nine historical paintings, including a Van Gogh.

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Built for a carbon-constrained future

The goal is well defined: to stop the rise of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. With the Canadian government’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions by 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, all emission sources come under scrutiny. Buildings – and the energy use associated with their construction, maintenance and operation – account for about one-third of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, says Thomas Mueller, president and CEO of the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC), who believes that efforts to improve the sustainability parameters of buildings need to focus on their carbon footprint.

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Insurance sector prepares for wave of new technology

It may be 10 years or more before fully autonomous vehicles start rolling out of dealers’ showrooms in large numbers and heading for the open road, but the prospect of a commercially available driverless car in the not-too-distant future has captured the public’s imagination like few technologies have managed to do in recent years.

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Research builds our communities

If you listen to Andrew Pelling, you’ll believe your most creative and wild ideas are worth paying attention to. You may even feel compelled to submit them for further investigation in his lab, where biohacking and DIY science are par for the course.  Dr. Pelling leads the Laboratory for Biophysical Manipulation at the University of Ottawa, described on its home page as “an openly curious and exploratory space where scientists, engineers and artists work in close quarters.”

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Researching math through art

Happy faces, thunder clouds, disembodied heads: These are some of the images produced by K-12 pupils who were asked to draw how they feel when they are doing math. The drawings are part of a research study at the University of Calgary’s Werklund School of Education to understand how personal relationships with math are established and how teachers can improve education to enable students of all ages to better connect with STEM subjects.

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Supporting charities and gaining carbon credits by extending life of IT assets

Over the past six years, Green4Good’s unique IT asset-retiring program has diverted more than a million computers, laptops, servers and printers away from landfills, raising more than $2-million for charity in the process. Here’s how it works: Green4Good, a division of Compugen Finance, collects “end-of-first-life” assets from businesses across Canada and transfers them to a secure facility where they are refurbished and loaded with a fully licensed Microsoft operating system prior to resale, often to schools and institutions needing IT assets but faced with financial challenges.

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