Taryn Armstrong, a cochlear implant recipient, is examined by Dr. Sumit Agrawal, an otologist-neurotologist and professor at Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry.Darryl Lahteenmaa
Partnerships between industry and research have contributed to some of Canada’s most cutting-edge innovations by helping researchers gain access to funding and resources while giving industry the opportunity to grow its work force.
At Western University, the creation of a customized mapping tool for patients with cochlear implant caught the attention of Austria-based MED-EL, the world’s leading implants company.
Last year, the company offered $8.5-million (which was matched by the university) to further advance research through independent study and the creation of two endowed research chairs, which establishes Western as the home of cochlear research indefinitely.
The advanced technology, which uses AI and image data, customizes implant programming so users can listen to music, decipher conversations of dining companions in noisy restaurants and access greater education and career options.
“The way I would think about [the customized mapping tool] is that it’s like going from no piano to an out-of-tune piano to an in-tune piano,” explains Sumit Agrawal, an otologist-neurotologist and professor at Western’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, who helped develop the technology.
According to Statistics Canada, 2022 saw record levels of research and development (R&D) funding at $48.2-billion, with Canada’s universities conducting $1.2-billion in research for businesses.
In the past, academic communities often concerned about potential conflicts of interest when dealing with the private sector; however, that’s no longer the case, says Roseann O’Reilly Runte, president of Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI).
“The openness to involving industry and the public has really changed, and indeed, the interest in companies and in institutions and the work they’re doing has changed,” says Dr. Runte.
Ten years ago, the CFI established the Research Facilities Navigator database to connect researchers and industry. It currently has more than 850 specialized facilities in 28 sectors (from aerospace to information technology) and more than 130 institutions (from research hospitals to universities). The database gets more than 60,000 visits a year.
“It’s making that connection between the problem and the researcher and the institution,” says Dr. Runte. “And it’s important for a number of reasons, including talent, because when you have people engaging with those research facilities, very often they will hire those students to come through co-op programs or to join them as staff later on.”
The CFI funds around 40 per cent of research infrastructure at Canada’s academic institutions, “provinces usually provide the other 40 per cent, and then 20 per cent comes from industry,” explains Dr. Runte.
Perhaps in Canada, we can think a little bit about [how] we can link three little companies so that they’re a big company and then partner in that environment.
— Dr. Garnette Sutherland, neurosurgeon and professor, University of Calgary
Funding from the organization has contributed to dozens of discoveries across the country, including crack-resistant asphalt, through a collaboration between Brandon University and Winnipeg-based company, Cypher Environmental, which now sells its product all over the world.
Another example involves Ottawa’s Carleton University, who worked with a local brewer to determine the sugar levels in hops (it differs from season to season) to ensure the brewer was making a consistent product all year long.
And Guelph University is developing climate-and-disease-resistant crops, some of which are being marketed to farmers.
Sometimes industry comes calling to solve a business challenge and on the other side, researchers need to use industry resources. Dr. Garnette Sutherland, a neurosurgeon and professor in the department of clinical neurosciences at the University of Calgary, established and leads Project neuroArm that produced the world’s first MRI-safe robot, capable of image-guided brain surgery.
Dr. Sutherland needed the expertise of space engineers to turn his theories into reality.
To build his device, which performed its first surgery in 2008, Dr. Sutherland sought the help of Brampton, Ont.-based Macdonald Dettwiler & Associates (MDA), builders of the famous Canadarm, Canadarm2 and Dexter sited at the International Space Station.
“We needed a whole bunch of people that have tremendous experience in building such technologies … to solve that problem,” recalls Dr. Sutherland, adding that there were more than 150 engineers at MDA working on the neuroArm project.
Since the neuroArm technology was patented, medtech company OrbSurgical Ltd. was created as a commercial spin-off, which now has a team of surgeons, scientists, engineers and business leaders tasked with developing smart tools and surgical robotics for operating rooms.
Dr. Sutherland acknowledges that having access to a large company with a work force big enough to enable that particular collaboration is not the norm in Canada, which might be why some of the country’s research-turned-inventions end up with businesses outside the country.
“To take on such a project [like neuroArm] it can’t necessarily be a little company that doesn’t have expertise,” he says. “Perhaps in Canada, we can think a little bit about [how] we can link three little companies so that they’re a big company and then partner in that environment.”