Getting good ideas out of the laboratory and onto the street was the goal of a gathering of researchers, investors and entrepreneurs at the McMaster Innovation Park yesterday.
The McMaster Innovation Showcase featured the work of university researchers and offered inspiration and advice about turning ideas into products.
"It is incumbent upon us to put our knowledge to the greater good," said Mo Elbestawi, vice-president of research at McMaster, in kicking off the two-day conference yesterday.
Mac researchers presenting their work and how it can be applied commercially included engineer Saeid Habibi, who is investigating a lighter, safer hydraulic system to control rudders on airplanes, and Stefan Sinclair, a multimedia professor who has developed an online French grammar and spelling checker.
Experts said the key for academic researchers is developing relationships in business and industry and answering problems for increasingly cash-strapped companies.
Biologist Elizabeth Weretilnyk and a team at McMaster are hoping their research into the genomic makeup of a Subarctic plant called saltlick mustard will eventually translate into hardier, more tolerant food and fuel crops.
That five-year project translated into a $3.6-million grant from the province.
The Subarctic plant can alter its makeup to survive in extremely cold, dry and salty conditions.
"It's like a chameleon. It changes depending on where it's growing."
Weretilnyk said average crops yield about 20 per cent of ideal, with the rest lost to insects, disease, weeds and weather. Boosting that just 10 per cent would be a huge gain, she said.
A team of computer engineers will use a $7-million research grant from the province to explore developing testing systems and third-party certification processes for critical safety software in nuclear power generation, medical devices and critical financial networks.
Right now, the software is checked by examining its development, rather than real-world tests.
"That's like looking at cars by watching them being built on the line, and not doing crash testing on them," said Mark Lawford, a McMaster computing and software professor and member of the research group.
Future applications could include the auto industry and detection systems designed to avoid crashes, said fellow researcher Alan Wassyng.
Holding the second annual event at the gleaming innovation park headquarters was a "dream come true," said Elbestawi, as attendees watched construction begin on the federal materials lab a few metres away.
The CANMET lab is expected to open next year.
"What Mac is doing is how great old cities become great new cities," said keynote speaker Bob Young.
"As a proud Hamiltonian, I couldn't be more pleased with what's happening in this city," said the multimillionaire entrepreneur and owner of the Tiger-Cats.
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