Sheridan College Welcomes New Federal Funding for College Research

Sheridan College welcomes yesterday’s announcement by Minister Gary Goodyear and the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) that $32.5 million will be made available

For Immediate Release: July 27, 2010
Oakville, Ontario

Sheridan College welcomes yesterday’s announcement by Minister Gary Goodyear and the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) that $32.5 million will be made available to colleges, institutes and polytechnics for research equipment and infrastructure. “We’re excited by this news and hope to leverage these new resources to expand and advance our research activities to fully capitalize on the wealth of expertise that Sheridan offers,” said Dr. Michael Collins, Associate Vice-President, Academic and Research.

The new fund is intended to ensure that colleges have the latest research equipment and facilities to take innovative research from the lab to the marketplace. It will be administered by the CFI, an independent organization created by the Government of Canada to fund research infrastructure. This latest investment in college research recognizes that colleges are well positioned to work effectively with industry to foster innovation and commercialization that support the success of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Sheridan’s research activities are currently focused in three specialized units: the Visualization Design Institute (VDI), Sheridan Elder Research Centre (SERC), and the Screen Industries Research and Training Centre (SIRT). Recent innovations include the creation of a glasses-free 3D game by the VDI, which was showcased in Ontario House Pavilion during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. More recently, Queen Elizabeth II visited SIRT (located at Pinewood Studios Toronto) to view a demonstration of 3D filmmaking.

The CFI will be launching one or more competitions to access the new funding by December 2010.