16th September 2010 Ottawa, Canada
Upcoming Field Trip to Sudbury!
So on my quest as a Science & Innovation Officer for HMG to a) inform people of the UK Science and Innovation Network (in Canada and abroad) and b) to identify really cool cutting edge Canadian science, I’m off next week on a field trip to Sudbury, Ontario!
Many of you who have been to Sudbury or may have heard of it, may be asking yourselves, “Why Sudbury?”. Well, one of those reasons may be the upcoming Sudbury International Film Festival, Cinefest, but also, it seems that in this Northern Ontario city, there are some interesting innovation happenings that may just be falling under the radar. A recent article by Adam Radwanski in the Globe and Mail pointed out several reasons to be interested in the science and innovation happenings in Sudbury, among them the fact that Laurentian University (which is celebrating it’s 50 year anniversary this year) has been attracting more international students than ever before! As well, he points out some of the steps that Sudbury has taken over the years, to move towards a knowledge based economy – building on its past to become a leader in the development of mining technologies.
Mining is only one of the S&I reasons to visit Sudbury, there’s been a lot of recent goings on there that are of note (…and let’s not forget the Big Nickel ;P):
In September 2005, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (a joint initiative of Lakehead University and Laurentian University) opened it’s doors! With campuses in both Sudbury and Thunder Bay Ontario, it was the first new medical school in Canada in over 30 years!
Laurentian is also host to “North America’s first and only comprehensive science communication program.” This program is a joint venture between Science North (which I also can’t miss mentioning…it’s coming up in more detail below) and Laurentian University. Being the science communication geek that I am (you may have noticed my tendencies in that direction), I think this is AWESOME!
Science North is a Canadian Science Centre that opened its doors to the public in 1984, and has been fascinating children and adults in equal measure, ever since (myself included – lots of fond memories of visits there!). One (of many) thing that Canada does REALLY well is it’s Science Centre exhibits…and Science North has some fantastic stuff!
As a science geek myself, I would be remiss if I neglected to mention SNOLAB in this blog posting on Sudbury. SNOLAB is an underground particle astrophysics lab, 2km below the earths surface, in the Vale/Inco Creighton Mine located just outside of Sudbury. The lab is an expansion of the original Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) solar neutrino experiment, and was created through a partnership between several Canadian Universities: Carleton University, Laurentian University, Queen’s University, the University of British Columbia, the University of Guelph and the Université de Montreal. Their “about” page details the chronological events that have led to its existence.
Those are some of the things that I find coolest about S&I in Sudbury…perhaps you have other ideas?
Anything specific you would like me to see in Sudbury? Let me know, there still may be time for me to set stuff up!