News related to innovation

Original News Release Published 03 March 2022 via the Province of Ontario Website

Join the Research Innovation Office in congratulating University of Guelph’s Dr. Bonnie Mallard on her recent Synergy Award for Innovation, presented by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. This prestigious national award recognizes Dr. Mallard’s work on genetic strategies to promote cattle immune health. Previously, Dr.

The University of Guelph has a long tradition of innovative research with real-world applications. In 2016, to recognize those innovations that have made, or the potential to make, real-world impact and generate value for Canada, the University of Guelph Innovation of the Year Award was established.

The first annual Research Innovation Festival will be a springtime celebration of cutting-edge agri-technology businesses that have their roots in the University of Guelph’s research community.

Everything from advanced nanotechnology that helps fight disease and viruses to a convenient online education platform for busy veterinarians will be on display.

In 2017, the University of Guelph made a commitment to support academic entrepreneurship and formed a New Venture Creation team. Housed within the Research Innovation Office, these specialists support researchers who see commercial potential in their research. Offering incubation, mentorship and market research support, this group has helped researcher led teams to validate the market viability of their inventions and to create start-up companies to take innovative research-based products and services to market.

Working with start-ups and academic entrepreneurs is a part of the day-to-day work that our New Venture Creation team performs. Their focus is on helping bring products and services based in UofG research to market through programming and mentorship support. While doing this work, they field a lot of questions from business founders who need resources that are readily available in the larger Guelph innovation and start-up ecosystem.

In the Spring of 2019, the Government of Ontario convened an independent expert panel to review the protection and commercialization of intellectual property (IP) that arises from research conducted at Ontario’s research institutions, including universities, colleges, and hospitals. The impetus for the panel was a recognition that as IP grows in importance within the global economy, a strategy for how best to develop and commercialize IP is important for Ontario’s future.

The Research Innovation Office is very pleased to announce that the winner of the 2019 Innovation of the Year prize is the U of G Asparagus Breeding program led by Professor Dave Wolyn, a plant geneticist in the Department of Plant Agriculture. Known for his work with asparagus and Russian dandelions, Wolyn and his team began their work on optimizing a breed of asparagus ideal for cold, northern climates in the 1980’s. The Millennium Asparagus breed that resulted from these efforts is the most popular breed being grown in North America.

Join us Tuesday, May 21st from 2 to 9 p.m. for a Canadian Innovation Week Event in Rozanski Hall at the  University of Guelph (50 Stone Road East, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1).

The Research Innovation Office at the University of Guelph (UofG) is pleased to invite you to celebrate innovators who are putting knowledge into action in ways that have a real-world impact!