Construction of a new multi-disciplinary research centre at the University of Calgary will begin this spring, officials have announced.
The Calgary Centre for Innovative Technology, to be located west of the Faculty of Engineering block, will bring together faculty and students from engineering, science, medicine and kinesiology to research everything from joint injuries and arthritis to wireless technology.
“We are very pleased to support this exciting and important project,” said Alberta Minister of Innovation and Science Lorne Taylor. “We are confident that the CCIT will be a key asset to the University of Calgary and to the excellent researchers and graduate students associated with this state-of-the-art facility.”
The CCIT has secured $35 million from the province and the private sector — with participation from companies including Shell Canada, PanCanadian, Husky Oil, BP Amoco, Vertex and Schlumberger Canada. The $18-million research building will consist of five suites of labs and graduate student team workspaces and, upon completion in the fall of 2002, will house $17 million in research equipment.
Said U of C President Terry White: “It will help ensure that Alberta is recognized internationally as a focal point and magnet for research excellence in advanced technology and multi-disciplinary engineering research. It also will enable our researchers to develop new tools for the new economy and will enhance Canada’s international standing in the field of innovative technology.”
Chan Wirasinghe, dean of the faculty of engineering, said the new three-storey centre will help the U of C become the pre-eminent Faculty of Engineering in Canada. The CCIT will complement the U of C’s Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) building, which is slated to be completed by next August.
Meanwhile, Dr. Cy Frank, the McCaig Professor of Joint Injury and Arthritis Research in the Faculty of Medicine has been named the scientific director of the national Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis.
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research says the new institute will support research to enhance active living, mobility and movement and dental health. Frank is the regional chief of orthopedic surgery for the Calgary Regional Health Authority. He is among 13 Canadian researchers named to lead the CIHR’s network of virtual institutes.
CIHR is the major federal agency responsible for funding health research in Canada.
