Research conducted at Lakehead University is important for regional economic development, says the school’s president Brian Stevenson.
Stevenson helped kicked off eighth annual Research and Innovation Week at Lakehead Friday morning and said the main focus of the weeklong celebration is to help the community understand the research being conducted at LU is for them and the greater good.
“It is research that is interesting and important for economic development of the region and four our health and for our future,” he said.
The community should also know what’s happening in research because it’s their tax dollars that help support it, Stevenson said, adding he wants to tear down the barriers between the university and the community.
City residents will have a chance to interact with the research and innovation projects happening at Lakehead Saturday at Intercity Shopping Centre where there will be exhibitions and workshops from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Since 2000, Lakehead has more than tripled the amount of research dollars it sees in a year and Stevenson said they’ve also begun to commercialize some of the ideas they’ve been able to develop.
“That is why we want to be able to link in the community the idea that our research also has an economic impact. It has social impact. It has health impact,” he said.
Natural resources management professor Han Chen received a $620,000 grant Friday morning from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
Chen and his team will look into biomass harvesting – using the tops and limbs of trees as well as thin trees to produce bio-energy and biochemical products – and it’s environmental and economic impacts over the next three years.
Chen’s research will be conducted in the boreal forest north of the city and will include about a dozen students as part of his team.
He said it’s an honour to receive the grant and it will help immensely with the project.
“It’s essential to support the idea we have,” he said, adding it will help them to train graduate students.
Another research project going on at the university is the Food Security Research Network.
Network director Connie Nelson said their research focuses on building a resilient and sustainable food system in Northwestern Ontario.
She said Research and Innovation Week gives the faculty a chance to share their work with each other and the community.
“Research is one of those areas that you’re kind of hidden, working 24/7 and it’s nice to come up for fresh air and have the public and the community recognize some of the work that goes into it,” she said.
For a schedule of the week’s events visit www.lakeheadu.ca/researchweek
