Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/609048
SFU.CA CLOSING THE BIG DATA GAP SFU responds to a massive skills shortage by devel- oping a new professional master's program in big data, the fi rst of its kind in Canada. It will develop students into highly trained computer scientists who have the programming and technical skills to manage massive data sets. SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS People, systems and solutions: these are the three keys to success for RADIUS (Radical Ideas Useful to Society), the interdisciplinary social-innovation lab and venture incubator fostered by SFU's Beedie School of Business. A $1-million gift from Scotiabank will inspire the next generation of innovators as they develop entrepreneurial solutions to pervasive societal challenges. One new initiative is the Ecotrust Lab @ RADIUS, to fi nd high-potential innovations that improve economic out- comes for inner-city residents. NEXT-GEN ENTREPRENEURS The revolutionary Venture Connection® initiative, supported by Coast Capital Savings' annual Venture Prize, accelerates business incubator teams from start-up to success. More than 120 early-stage start- ups have benefi tted from its business development services. These include MetaOptima Technology Inc.™ and its launch product, MoleScope™ (see next page for more), as well as Garden Fresh Foods, which uses an award-winning sustainable system for growing herbs locally. AGING GRACEFULLY Andrew Sixsmith, professor and director of the Gerontology Research Centre at SFU, and his fel- low researchers are working to advance the health and well-being of older adults though AGE-WELL (Aging Gracefully Across Environments Using Technology to Support Wellness, Engage- ment and Long Life). The research network has been awarded $36.6 million over fi ve years through the federal government's Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) program. HEART SMARTS SFU teams up with the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) to establish a First Nations Health Authority chair in Heart Health and Wellness at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver. The $1.9-million Chair will support research into the cardiovascular health of Aboriginal peoples. It includes a holistic health-promotion approach that supports culture and spirit. LIFE AFTER CANCER Stuart Peacock is the new Leslie Diamond Chair in Cancer Survivorship, a partnership that received $5 million from the BC Cancer Agency and the BC Cancer Foundation. Peacock, appointed within SFU's Faculty of Health Sciences, will lead research to improve B.C. cancer survivors' lives after medical treatments. BATTLING BEDBUGS A trio of SFU scientists tackle a touchy topic: bedbugs. SFU chemist Robert Britton and biologists Gerhard Gries and Regine Gries (Regine endured more than 180,000 bites in the name of research) spent more than fi ve years studying the blood-suck- ing pests before fi nding a set of chemical attractants, or pheromones, that lure the bedbugs into traps and keep them there. Next up: bringing the lure to the masses through their ongoing work with The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company. SAVING SHARKS Research by Nick Dulvy, an SFU Canada Research Chair in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation in British Columbia, points to the dramatic decline in the population of sharks, rays and other cartilaginous fi sh worldwide due to overfi shing. Dulvy, who is also a co-chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Shark Specialist Group, worked with other authors over two decades to classify more than a thousand species. These animals are at high risk for extinction within decades. HEART SMARTS SFU teams up with the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) to establish a First Nations Health Authority chair in Heart Health and Wellness at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver. The $1.9-million Chair will support research into the cardiovascular health of Aboriginal peoples. It includes a holistic health-promotion approach that supports culture and spirit. Research by Nick Dulvy, an SFU Canada Research Chair in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation in British Columbia, points to the dramatic decline in the population of sharks, rays and other cartilaginous fi sh worldwide due to overfi shing. Dulvy, who is also a co-chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Shark Specialist Group, worked with other authors over two decades to classify more than a thousand species. These animals are at high risk for FALL 2015 simon 13