Western and WORLDiscoveries aim to connect industry with research

London - The University of Western Ontario offers a unique opportunity for partnerships and networking between industry and leading academics at the WORLDiscoveries Research Showcase this Friday, January 30 at the London Convention Centre.

More than 100 displays showcasing innovative research from the Faculties of Engineering, Science and the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry – including the environment, natural disasters, robotics and medical marvels – will provide the community and industry a glimpse of some of the exciting research underway on campus. Top researchers and graduate students will be on-hand to explain their projects.

“Western is committed to its community and to establishing and building relationships with partners in industry,” says Ted Hewitt, Western’s Vice-President (Research & International Relations). “The WORLDiscoveries Research Showcase provides Western, the Robarts Research Institute and the Lawson Health Research Institute with an excellent opportunity to engage the community and celebrate the exciting research taking place in engineering, science and medicine.”

Significant investments in a number of Western projects will also be announced by the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE). This funding will accelerate the commercialization process through support of new spin-off companies derived from research at the University.

This year marks the first time Schulich Medicine & Dentistry has joined the Faculties of Science and Engineering to present research information at a joint event, providing a look at advanced health care technology and innovations in medical discovery. The public is welcome and entrance is free.

Here is a sneak peek of some of the leading-edge research the public can view at this event.

Research for Subsurface Transport and Remediation (RESTORE)
Presented by J. Gerhard, D. O’Carroll, and J. Herrera from the Faculty of Engineering, this display illustrates how these researchers plan to make drinking water safe for everyone around the world.

Research at the Institute for Chemicals and Fuels from Alternative Resources (ICFAR)
Presented by F. Berruti and C. Briens from the Faculty of Engineering, this display outlines Western’s newest initiatives in response to the critical global environmental and sustainability issues, including alternative energy initiatives and environmentally friendly chemical processing projects.

Sustainable Aquaculture
Presented by B. Neff and S. Garner from the Faculty of Science, this display proposes that artificial breeding programs, for both aquaculture and enhancement of wild populations, will benefit by incorporating sexual selection into the breeding programs. Sexual selection can increase offspring performance through increased genetic quality.

Study of Materials Under Extreme Conditions Using Diamond-anvil Cell
Presented by S. Shieh from the Faculty of Science, this display shows how Dr. Shieh applies massive heat and pressure to materials to uncover new properties and how he develops novel technologies to form new super hard materials to produce cost saving protective scratch and wear resistant coatings.

Biomaterials Research at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry
Presented by D. Hamilton, A. Rizkalla and G. Santos of Schulich Medicine & Dentistry, this research area focuses on biomaterials for dental and orthopedic applications. The study of biomaterials and tissue engineering holds great promise for the treatment of conditions such as arthritis, osteoporosis, fibrosis, periodontal disease and traumatic injuries.

Experimental Eye Research Facility @ Western
A multi-disciplinary team of K. Hill (Faculty of Science), C. Hutnik (Schulich Medicine & Dentistry), and T. Newson (Faculty of Engineering) provides a bench-to-bedside strategy to come up with answers to the two most common causes of blindness affecting people in our own community, as well as in the rest of the world. The team also provides a unique environment for training Canada's next generation of researchers.