OCE In The News

• September 2, 2014 – Globe and Mail – Entrepreneur redevelops one of life’s scariest tests
  

  When Jessica Ching studied industrial design at OCAD University in Toronto, she didn’t think she would end up as a health-care entrepreneur. Ms. Ching is co-founder (with Evan Moses) and chief executive officer of Eve Medical Inc., a Toronto startup supported by Ontario Centres of Excellence that has developed a product called HerSwab for women to test themselves for cervical cancer.

• September 2, 2014 – Sarnia Observer – COLLEGE STUDENTS HELP BUSINESSES GO DIGITAL
  

  Sarnia-Lambton companies interested in getting a digital makeover can turn to Lambton College for a free new website. Thanks to a $20,000 grant through the Ontario Centre of Excellence Voucher for E-Business (VEB) program, students in information technology and business programs at the college will be building free sites for 10 county businesses starting this fall.

• August 27, 2014 – PR Web – Signority Recognized a Strong Performer in CSIO eSignatures Vendor Dashboard
  The Centre for Study of Insurance Operation (CSIO) publishes a Vendor Dashboard (http://tools2.csio.com/eSignatures/dashboard.php) that includes eight electronic signature vendors. The dashboard shows that Signority (http://signority.com/) meets all criteria defined by CSIO on behalf of their members in the Canadian insurance industry.
• August 18, 2014 – Morningstar – SME's 2014 Advanced Manufacturing Expo to Showcase Latest Advancements in 3D Printing Technology
  Ontario Centres of Excellence is a participant in the Innovation Tech Zone at the Advanced Manufacturing Expo Sept. 23 and 24 in Mississauga. The zone is a hands-on demonstration discovery center on the show floor where industry professionals will serve as guides to take you through the process flow.
• August 13, 2014 – The Funding Portal – OCE and Futurpreneur team up to help young entrepreneurs access increased financing
  Young Canadian entrepreneurs will now have access to increased start-up funding thanks to a new agreement between Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) and Futurpreneur Canada (formerly Canadian Youth Business Foundation).
  
• August 5, 2014 – The Orillia Packet – Sharing Place mapping out a plan
  How do food banks evolve to meet the needs of their ever-growing clientele and become less reliant on outside help to serve those in need?
  Orillia-based agency, The Sharing Place, is working with Ontario Centres of Excellence to answer that question.
  
• July 30, 2014 – TechVibes – Startup Accelerator GrindSpaceXL Now Accepting Fall Cohort Applications in Kingston
  Launch Lab and Queen’s University, in partnership with Invest Ottawa and the Ontario Centres of Excellence, announced this week they are currently accepting applications for their fall cohort of startups looking to accelerate their early-stage technology to the next level.
• July 15, 2014 – Lakehead University – Lakehead’s NSERC grant recipients examining wind energy, climate change
  Lakehead University software engineer Dr. Rachid Benlamri is one of several of that institution's researchers approved for funding.
• July 14, 2014 – Ryerson University – Engineering grad set to make waves in business
  The first student in Ryerson University’s Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science to win all three stages of the Norman Esch Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship Awards is now using the business knowledge and financial support he gained from the process to take the plunge into business. Seyed Nourbakhsh, a 2013 chemical engineering graduate, is the founder of Formarum, an OCE-supported company offering the first-ever automated recreational water disinfection system.
• July 11, 2014 – Electrical Review Magazine – Smart Grid research in Ontario, Canada: 
Accelerating grid evolution
  It comes as no surprise Ontario, with iconic Niagara Falls on its doorstep, has a long history of developing large-scale hydro-electric networks. Over the past century, as the power grid serving Ontario’s booming economy became more complex and sophisticated, researchers at Ontario universities developed a long list of ground-breaking solutions to energy system challenges. Read how Ontario Centres of Excellence is helping.
• July 10, 2014 – Waste Edge – Pushing Boundaries: Exciting new technologies promise to optimize energy from waste opportunities
  Extending the life of energy producing landfills in cold climates. Converting exhaust heat from trucks into a power source for heating and cooling systems. Introducing real-time monitoring to biogas plants.
  
  As the waste to energy (WTE) market continues to expand, Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) is supporting companies whose creative new technologies, such as those mentioned above, are transforming waste management, creating jobs and helping to improve the environment.
• July 10, 2014 – Canadian Industrial Machinery – Vertical integration is a risk that pays off
  
  Think carefully about the effect that outsourcing parts of a manufacturing process can have on your company’s capacity to innovate and its ability to compete in the global market before letting go of in-house capabilities.
• July 9, 2014 – Canadian Healthcare Technology – Ontario aims to become a brain-science innovation hub
  Claiming the highest concentration of brain researchers in any jurisdiction worldwide, Ontario is now aiming to turn its neurological knowledge into products that can be commercialized. If successful, the project could produce an amazing array of therapies for patients and an economic bonanza for the province.
• June 30, 2014 – Drug Discovery Today – OCE and OBI partner with CQDM on $3 million inter-provincial drug discovery innovation programs
  

  Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) and the Ontario Brain Institute (OBI) are partnering with CQDM to bring an additional $3 million to two programs dedicated to breakthrough technologies to accelerate drug discovery and development.

• June 25, 2014 – Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China – China-Canada Enterprises Innovation Center Inaugurated
  On April 15, 2014, China-Canada Enterprises Innovation Center was inaugurated at China (Beijing) International Technology Transfer Convention 2014.
• June 24, 2014 – The Barrie Examiner – Lakehead, local publisher partner for project
  

  A local web-based business recently partnered with a Lakehead University software engineering team to develop a software system that will help bring the company to a leading-edge position in its market.

  Third Sector Publishing, based in Orillia, has an online resource, CharityCAN (charitycan.ca), which provides information on more than 85,000 Canadian charities and foundations, as well as the individuals and organizations that donate to them. In co-operation with the Globe and Mail, the company recently launched the Top 1,000 Non-Profits Report, modelled on the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business ranking of corporations.

  The project with Lakehead is focused on the rapidly growing research field of big data, the term used to describe the vast and complex amount of data available online.

  “For any business that relies on the organization and retrieval of online data, this exponential growth — caused by continually increasing computer power — is a challenge,” said Anderson Charters, president of Third Sector Publishing. “The more complex our data becomes, the more important it is that we have sophisticated methods and tools to automate search tasks.”

  Under the direction of Lakehead’s Rachid Benlamri, professor of software engineering at the Thunder Bay campus, a research team including two master’s students and two research assistants is working with Third Sector Publishing to develop a software system to automate the content search requirements of CharityCAN.

  “This groundbreaking research is an exciting project for us, as there (have) not been many papers studying big data,” said Benlamri. “Our students have the opportunity to apply their knowledge and creativity to cutting-edge research and witness, first hand, how it will be used in a real company.”

  The project is funded in part by the Ontario Centres of Excellence, which sees this project as the first step in what could lead to bigger projects in the future. Two federal funding bodies — the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and Connect Canada — also support the project.

  “We are extremely fortunate to have the opportunity of working with Dr. Benlamri and his research team,” said Charters. “The software and information technology developed from this project will help Charity become more effective and solidify its leading position in the non-profit prospect research market.”

• June 20, 2014 – Oshawa This Week – Fostering growth in Durham's tech industry
  It looks like something out of a Batman movie.

  Yet the black suit which draws the eye and spurs the imagination is not part of any movie set, it's the product of work done by a local Oshawa startup company. It's one of many tech businesses operating across Durham Region and part of an industry some hope could change the face of the local economy.

• June 20, 2014 – FinSMEs – Clear Blue Technologies Raises $500K in Funding
  Clear Blue Technologies Inc., a Toronto, ON, Canada-based Smart Off-Grid company, raised $500k in funding.

  Backers included existing investors Grenville Strategic Royalties and Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE).

• June 20, 2014 – Lakehead University – Local Business Partners with Lakehead Researchers on “Big Data” Project
  A local web-based business has recently partnered with a Lakehead University software engineering team to develop a software system that will help bring the company to a leading edge position within its market.
• June 20, 2014 – Toronto Star – Need a clinic or pharmacy that speaks your language? It’s just a click away
  Finding the closest clinic or pharmacy where someone can serve you in your mother tongue is now a click away on your smartphone or computer, thanks to a free website/app with a memorable name — iamsick.ca — created by three U of T students.