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Introduction

Innovation: The McMaster Way

Thank you for the introduction and the invitation to speak here today. I've been on a bit of a road show lately - spreading the word on McMaster's research enterprise and the McMaster Innovation Park - two of my favorite subjects.

The first part of my message has been to "set the stage," if you will, about McMaster's research enterprise.... telling the audience where we've been and how far we've come. But since many of you are Mac grads, you know, first-hand, the progress your alma mater has made over the years.

It's been 75 years since McMaster moved to Hamilton and its growth and development have been incredible. From our state-of-the-art buildings and labs to our thousands of faculty, staff and students who call McMaster home, we continue to grow both in size and reputation. Indeed, we are one of only four Canadian universities to be named in the TOP 100 World Universities.

In the early to mid 90s, McMaster's research income hovered around 75 million dollars per year - considered then to be a healthy and admirable income given the University's size.
But today, with a research income of some $250 million - McMaster has confirmed its place as a competitive and vibrant research powerhouse that rivals the country's leading research institutions. Not bad for a decade's growth....

The McMaster approach to research is both deliberate and strategic. Realizing we can't do it all, we have focused on selected areas, which complement our educational initiatives.
We promote cross-disciplinary research; foster partnerships nationally and internationally, and are developing the capacity for effective knowledge transfer.

Now, because I can never stray too far from my teaching days, and from an academic's perspective, no presentation/talk or lecture is complete without definitions..... I felt compelled to share at least one with you today. (and, in case anyone is thinking of asking.... yes, it will be on the exam).

Innovation is the process through which economic and social value is extracted from knowledge, in that it produces new or significantly improved products and improves the quality of life. With this definition, innovation is a key to making our economy competitive and to maintaining our standard of living. As such, research universities must expand their traditional role in society and embrace innovation.

While our mission remains the same - to produce graduates who make a difference (like those of you here today) and to conduct research that generates knowledge to advance society - our vision has expanded.
We recognize the leading role that we play in the economic and social well-being of our community.
In today's innovative society, a research-intensive university must educate and prepare the knowledge workforce. It is the ultimate source of intellectual capital and the premier producer of leading edge knowledge.
To maximize the value of that knowledge it MUST be shared effectively.

The traditional method of sharing our knowledge was through our graduates. As you know, your fellow alumni reside in more than 100 countries around the world and are leading the way in business, industry and public service. But in addition to our graduates and research publications, we also must make our knowledge and research results readily available for use. This is how we capture and maximize the value of research.
Cast your mind back more than thirty years when the transformation cycle - the time from the creation of new knowledge to using that knowledge in the development of a new product - was more than 20 years.
But now, because of the information technology revolution and rapid changes in market forces including the mobility of capital and talent, there is an urgent need for continuous innovation to deal with much shorter product cycles - cycles, now less than 5 years.

If we - Canada's business and research communities - are going to continue to compete globally, we must respond to the challenge through rapid transfer of knowledge and technology.
How do we do this? What do we need? Well, for starters, we need a strong interface between the University and the industrial and private sectors.

We need our stakeholders to interconnect - because it's all about skilled people and their interconnectedness.
We need a local entrepreneurial culture and a compelling vision driven by industry and embraced by the community. Universities need to play a leadership role. And, finally, we need the commitment of all three levels of government.

Well, for all intents and purposes, we've got what is needed.
The real question is how do we leverage what we have? For me, it's a rather simple and straight-forward formula, which I like to call C-squared. Two C's is what it will take. We need to Co-locate and we need to Connect.

Let me explain.... first, you take the key players in the innovation process - the University, skilled people, government labs, industry, business, venture capitalists and services - and you co-locate them at the new McMaster Innovation Park. Then, to ensure these players are connected, you create an organization that is designed specifically to link them together. We are proposing the creation of the Golden Horseshoe Innovation Centre as that connector - a not-for-profit entity, driven by the community and private sectors, in which McMaster will play a central role.

Located at the Park, The Golden Horseshoe Innovation Centre will connect the communities of research, industry, business and capital and will be a resource centre for creating start-ups while supporting the growth of small research-driven companies.

So you see, potentially, we've got what it takes right here in Hamilton.... we've got the vision, we've got the talent and we've got our partners ... just take a look for yourselves.....

SHOW VIDEO....

AFTER VIDEO....

So you see, the McMaster Innovation Park is potentially what we need to meet the demand of our innovative society's rapid change.

Our vision and commitment is to move our research out of our labs and into the public domain as quickly and smoothly as possible.

The McMaster Innovation Park will allow us to do exactly that. It will - through the proposed Golden Horseshoe Innovation Centre - connect the communities of science, industry, business and capital.
It will be a globally recognized center of expertise in materials and manufacturing research, biotechnology and nanotechnology. It will attract highly qualified researchers and students, and private and public research funding support.

The McMaster Innovation Park will be a learning and training centre for Ontario's postsecondary students and workforce. It will be an incubator for start up businesses, and a support system for companies involved in technology or in need of R&D. A site for high tech companies seeking to co-locate with the most advanced R& D resources, the McMaster Innovation Park will be a critical node in the Ontario innovation network.
As a site of high calibre research, education and innovation, the MIP will have a global reach.

McMaster has a track record of successful partnerships with governments, business and industry. And it is these continued partnerships that will allow the Park to move forward, ensuring that through new developments and discoveries, our research benefits society as a whole.

Our partners recognize the value of pooling our resources and working together - the City's five million dollar commitment toward the development of the park was a great beginning. The Province's ten million dollar investment will make it possible to transform a brown field into a site of innovation.

And the Federal Government's decision to relocate its CANMET Materials Technology Laboratory, guarantees that the McMaster Innovation Park will be a world-class site for research in material sciences and will trigger an enormous economic boost.

Recent successes in the collaborative economic development model involving government, educational institutions, companies, venture capitalists - otherwise known as an innovation cluster - have proven to be a solid return on investment. Our vision is to create the nucleus for an innovation cluster in Hamilton.
The McMaster University Innovation Park will create jobs. It will stimulate the economy. It will attract companies from all over the world. It will be the centre of an innovation cluster in materials and manufacturing technologies.

The McMaster Innovation Park - a place where great minds will converge in state-of-the-art facilities - will trigger an enormous economic boost for our region. It will become a beacon of innovation -Innovation, The McMaster Way.

Thank you.

Latest Projects

The latest project happening at McMaster Innovation Park 2010

CANMET-MTL is the 165,000 square foot facility currently under construction and nearing completion that will house the Canadian Government’s Materials Technology Laboratory and is part of the $60M commitment to the Park from the federal government.

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