Making Sense of
Nanotechnology in Alberta
Gary Albach
Executive Director
nanoAlberta
Nano Tech 2009
Tokyo, Japan
February, 2009
Agenda
Alberta (Canada) is rapidly becoming a world
leader in the field of nanotechnology.
♦ Why is this happening now?
♦ What are the goals for the next 10 years?
About Alberta (Canada)
♦ Alberta - one of the 10 Provinces
in Canada
♦ Population – 3.5 million
♦ Traditional Industries – Oil and
gas, Agriculture, Forest products,
Manufacturing
♦ Emerging Industries – MEMS,
Advanced Materials, Geomatics,
Remote Sensing, Food Processing
Today in Alberta
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Nanotech companies:
Employment:
Public investment:
Nanotech Researchers:
~50
~1000
~$500M (past 5 years)
~1000
3 Commercial Priorities …
… for Alberta’s Nanotechnology
1. Energy/Environment
2. Health
3. Agriculture/Forestry
Alberta Nanotechnology Strategy
Industrial Strategy announced in 2007
♦ Funding: $130M
♦ Vision:
“Alberta will be a leading
contributor in placing Canada
amongst the top 5 nations
in the world …”
Alberta Nanotechnology Strategy
“$20 billion of new economic activity by 2020 –
- from nano enabled products and applications
specific to industries in:
♦ Energy and Environment
♦ Health Technologies, and
♦ Bioindustry sectors”
Strategy Overview
1. Grow and develop a new generation of
businesses and entrepreneurs to
commercialize nanotechnology solutions
2. Build, attract and retain world-class talent
3. Continue to enhance Alberta’s superior
technology infrastructure
Strategy One
New generation of businesses and
entrepreneurs
 Collaborate with industry to create new commerce in:
Energy & Environment, Health & Medical Technologies, Agriculture &
Forestry
 Create an Industrial Partnership Program (‘nanoWorks’) to
fund nanotechnology research initiatives jointly with industry.
 Establish programs to engage students from technical institutions.
 Create a Nano-Entrepreneur Program
Strategy Two
Build, attract and retain world-class,
quality talent
 Establish a graduate student scholarship program for basic and
applied nanotechnology research
 Expand training capacity to meet the industry requirements for growth.
 Recruit and retain world-class research, product design and
management talent to Alberta.
 Increase nanotechnology awareness and hands-on learning
opportunities in K-12 programs
Strategy Three
Infrastructure and intellectual capital
 Build and operate an open-use product development centre for
entrepreneurs and industry partners: ACAMP
 Enhance the capability and capacity of key facilities:
NanoFab (UofA), AMIF (UofC)
 Increase the operating budget for MSTRI (Microsystems
Technology Research Initiative) prototype development activities
 Create an operating support program to ensure the ongoing
operation of necessary equipment for core facilities.
nanoAlberta
Delivering the
Alberta Nanotechnology Strategy
NanoAlberta facilitates collaborative efforts.
♦ With a focus on Products and Applications
♦ Ensures strong Industry Participation
♦ Leverages Existing Investments
♦ Builds on existing and emerging strengths
Building on Strengths
Alberta has:
1. A well planned Direction for nanotechnology
(Alberta Nanotechnology Strategy - www.nanoalberta.ca)
2.
3.
4.
5.
Committed Funding to carry out the Strategy
A talented pool of People (University of Alberta)
NINT (National Institute for Nanotechnology at the UofA)
A Culture of Entrepreneurship
‘The only debt-free jurisdiction in North America’
Building on Prior Investments
National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT)
•
$120M initial investment
Informatics Circle of Research Excellence (iCORE)
•
Attracting top 5% highly quality people (HQP) in the world.
Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical
Research (AHFMR)
•
$1.5B to support medical researchers
Alberta Ingenuity Fund
•
$1.0B to support science and engineering.
Building on People
Entrepreneurs
• Alberta Ingenuity
• TECEdmonton
• University Technologies International (UTI)
• Calgary Technologies Inc. (CTI)
Risk Capital
• $100M Alberta Enterprise Fund
• Alberta SR&ED credit
Alberta Landscape
NINT (National Institute for Nanotechnology)
MSTRI (Microsystems Technology Research Initiative)
NanoFab (Open Access Fabrication Facility)
INRF (Integrated Nanosystems Research Facility)
ACSES (Alberta Center for Surface Engineering & Science)
AMIF (Advanced Microsystems Integration Facility)
CIHM (Center for Intelligent Health Monitoring)
CEIN (Center of Excellence for Integrated NanoTools)
Institute for Biomolecular Design
Protein Gene Discovery Centre
CONNECT – Bringing Technology to Market
$178M Action Plan for 5 years:
♦
♦
♦
♦
♦
♦
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$100 million venture capital
Technology Development Advisors
Innovation Vouchers for technology development services
Product development centres
Demonstration fund for testing new products
Pre-commercial and seed stage fund
Youth entrepreneurship in technologies
Additional 10% provincial tax credit for R&D
NINT
National Institute for Nanotechnology
♦ Cornerstone for Alberta to achieve its Nano Strategy
♦ Inclusive joint initiative between:
– National Research Council of Canada (NRC)
– University of Alberta (UofA)
– Government of Alberta (GoA)
ACAMP
Alberta Centre For Advanced MNT Products
♦
♦
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Packaging and product development
MEMS, Bio and ICT
Integrates existing infrastructure
Channels to market
Low volume manufacturing and device packaging
Partnerships
Hewlett-Packard Alberta Collaboration Research
Focused on advanced computing techniques, nanoscale
sensors, and 3-D videoconferencing
IBM Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS)
Focused on machine intelligence, nanotechnology, and biological
simulation
Centre of Excellence in Integrated Nanotools
Focused on developing microchips, microsystems, and nanodevices
Xerox NINT Collaborative Research Labs
Focused on materials-based nanotechnologies, including document
and display-related technologies
Thank you
Gary Albach
Executive Director
nanoAlberta
5th Floor, Phipps McKinnon Building
10020 – 101A Avenue
Edmonton, AB
Canada T5J 3G2
T +1.780.415.9824
C +1.780.908.6904
www.nanoalberta.ca