NSERC Names Winners Of Canada's Top Science and Engineering Prizes
for New Researchers
Four to receive national honours and cash awards
Ottawa, Ontario, March 7, 2002 – Maurizio Bevilacqua,
the Secretary of State for Science, Research and Development, on behalf
of Allan Rock, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for the
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), and Dr. Tom
Brzustowski, President of NSERC, today announced the winner of the
annual NSERC Howard Alper Postdoctoral Prize, along with NSERC prizes
for top doctoral researchers in science or engineering.
"Today's awards support Canada's Innovation Strategy by attracting
and retaining the best and brightest minds," said Minister Rock. "They
will help Canada move from 14th place to one of the top five countries
in the world for research and development."
"New researchers – especially those of the calibre of our
winners – are among Canada's most important assets," said
Secretary of State Bevilacqua. "Their discoveries and innovations
suggest highly rewarding futures, both for them and for our country."
It took circumnavigating the globe to prompt Charles Darwin's groundbreaking
insights into the origins of the Earth's living diversity. Now, more
than 150 years later, Dr. Rees
Kassen has produced the first experimental proof for why
there are so many different species in the world. And he's done it
without leaving the lab. The researcher – in conjunction with
his thesis supervisor, McGill's Dr. Graham Bell – developed
a series of bench-top biodiversity and evolutionary theory experiments
using two single-celled microbes, one a bacterium, the other an alga.
This world-in-a-test-tube approach enabled Dr. Kassen to observe
from dozens to hundreds of generations of the clonally reproducing
microbes and to completely control their environment. For a full-length
feature on Dr. Kassen's work and contact information, go to: www.nserc.ca/news/2002/p020307_s1_b.htm.
How do you determine the crashworthiness of a new car design? You
can make a prototype and drive the vehicle into a wall. Or you could
use the new virtual crash test software developed by Dr. Aleksander
Czekanski. Working with his doctoral supervisor Dr. Shaker
Meguid, he has developed a computer modelling technique that could
enable designers to test the crashworthiness of their ideas with bits
and bytes rather than with metal against brick. Dr. Czekanski
developed his prototype software and the underlying algorithms by applying
recent advances in mathematics and computer modelling to a traditional
engineering problem. For a full-length feature on Dr. Czekanski's
work and contact information, go to: www.nserc.ca/news/2002/p020307_s2_b.htm.
A Canadian researcher has uncovered molecular evidence for how sex
hormones work to actually rewire the adult brain and various motor
neurons. In conjunction with his thesis supervisor Dr. Neil Watson, Dr. Ashley
Monks has demonstrated that, in rats, sex hormones trigger
the production of N-cadherin, which is responsible for remodeling key
components of the central nervous system. Prior to Dr. Monks'
work it was widely thought that cadherins were primarily associated
with cell differentiation during early development, and were only present
in the adult nervous system in low and static levels. For a full-length
feature on Dr. Monk's work go to: www.nserc.ca/news/2002/p020307_s3_b.htm.
Dr. Mathini Sellathurai doesn't
use a cell phone. She says she doesn't have the time for wireless chit
chat. She's been too busy developing the technology that could soon
provide laptops with high-speed wireless connections. In 1999, she
and her Ph.D. supervisor, McMaster's Dr. Simon Haykin, visited
Lucent Technology's Bell Labs. Dr. Sellathurai was impressed with
the company's cutting-edge BLAST technology, developed by Jerry Foschini.
But she also thought that she could make it better. The doctoral researcher
applied her research to design a new system that now represents one
of the leading approaches to increasing wireless capacity. Devices
such as laptops and palm pilots could one day be equipped with multiple
antennae and receivers and thus be able to operate at high speed through
local area networks. For a full-length feature on Dr. Sellathurai's
work and contact information, go to: www.nserc.ca/news/2002/p020307_s4_b.htm.
NSERC President Dr. Tom Brzustowski also congratulated the four
prize winners. "They have already shown a very high level of achievement.
We expect to hear a lot more from them as their careers progress."
"The prizes are an acknowledgement of outstanding accomplishments
and exceptional promise for the future," says Dr. Alper. "It
tells the winners that they are important to us, that we want them
to remain here because Canada will benefit from the major advances
in research and innovation that are likely to result from their investigations."
Earlier this week, NSERC announced the six 2002 NSERC Steacie Fellows: Dr. Louis
Bernatchez (Université Laval), Dr. Elizabeth
Cannon (University of Calgary), Dr. Henri
Darmon (McGill University), Dr. Wolfgang
Jäger (University of Alberta), Dr. Alejandro
Marangoni (University of Guelph) and Dr. Jerry
Mitrovica (University of Toronto).
The NSERC Steacie Fellowships, Doctoral Prizes and Howard Alper Postdoctoral
Prize will be presented in Ottawa at the end of the year.
NSERC is the primary federal agency investing in people, discovery
and innovation in science and technology. The Council supports both
basic university research through research grants, and project research
through partnerships among universities, governments and the private
sector, as well as the advanced training of highly qualified people.
For background information on the award winners, visit www.nserc.ca/about/awardeng.htm.
For more information, contact:
Francis Lionnet, NSERC, (613) 992-9001, fzl@nserc.ca
The Prize
The NSERC Howard Alper Postdoctoral Prize. Dr. Howard
Alper donated $100,000 from the proceeds of the Gerhard Herzberg Canada
Gold Medal for Science and Engineering that he won in 2000 to the setting
up of the new award that bears his name. Every year, an NSERC Postdoctoral
Fellow in one of the natural sciences or engineering disciplines is
awarded $20,000 on top of their Fellowship of $35,000. Candidates for
the prize are judged on their academic excellence as well as on their
potential for a research career. Interpersonal and communication skills,
and leadership abilities are also taken into account, along with the
candidates' overall research contributions.
The NSERC Doctoral Prizes. A national jury selects
the Doctoral medallists (two scientists and two engineers) from the
best Ph.D. graduates nominated by universities across Canada. Each
winner receives a $5,000 cash prize and a silver medal from NSERC.
Canada's Innovation Strategy
On February 12, 2002, the Government of Canada launched Canada's Innovation
Strategy, two papers that lay out a plan to address skills and innovation
challenges for the next decade. The paper released by Minister Rock
was entitled Achieving Excellence: Investing in People, Knowledge and
Opportunity. It proposes goals, targets and priorities for Canada over
the next decade to: create knowledge and bring ideas to market more
quickly; ensure a skilled workforce in the new economy; modernize business
and regulatory policies while protecting the public interest; and strengthen
communities by supporting innovation at the local level. Today's announcement
supports this strategy.
For more information about Canada's Innovation Strategy or to obtain
a copy of either Knowledge Matters: Skills and Learning for Canadians
or Achieving Excellence: Investing in People, Knowledge and Opportunity,
please call 1-800-CANADA (1-800-622-6232) or visit www.innovationstrategy.gc.ca
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