Investing in start-ups “a challenging, hands-on sport”

AVAC Ltd. isn’t exactly a household name but one of the products it helped bring to market certainly is. Cold-fx, might not have made it off the lab bench onto supermarket shelves if it hadn’t been for the early stage investment by AVAC, an Alberta venture capital company.
According to Ross Bricker, president and CEO of [...]

Mining Trees for nano-enabled biomaterials

If Dr. Carlo Montemagno has his way, no one will ever look at trees the same way again.
Montemagno is the Dean of Engineering at the University of Cincinnati. He was in Edmonton for the recent conference on nanotechnology and forest products, sponsored by TAPPI and Alberta Ingenuity.
In Montemagno’s world, trees produce more than lumber and [...]

Are nano particles risky?

Engineering new materials at the nano or atomic scale holds great potential for improving products and industrial processes.
But what risks do these novel materials pose human health or the environment?
Joanne Shatkin addressed this issue at the recent Conference on nanotechnology and forest products hosted by TAPPI and Alberta Ingenuity.
Shatkin is an author and managing director [...]

Optics improve nanofabrication

Wave goodbye to silicon chips.
Thanks to advances in nanotechnology, the chips that power computers and other electronic devices may one day be made from the cellulose of trees.
But manufacturing these tiny electronic circuits at the nano or atomic scale depends on optics or new ways of dealing with light.
That’s what Dr. Martin Moskovits talked about [...]

Social Media 101

The magic is in the trends.
Have you clearly defined a goal for your web presence beyond simple brand awareness? For folks with an e-commerce presence, that goal is seemingly simple: conversion of traffic into sales.
I assumed that many website owners had heard of Google Analytics, and had installed the free software within their website code. [...]

First Graduates in Aboriginal Land Stewardship

There’s no doubt about it. Industrial development impacts the environment and native communities.
But a new training program developed by the Alberta Research Council could change that.
It is called the Aboriginal Land Stewardship Program and the first two graduates are Jan Noskie of the Bigstone Cree Nation at Wabasca, and Ike Solway of the Siksika Nation [...]

Smart Pants manage pressure sores

Despite what your teacher told you in school, fidgeting at your desk is not a bad thing.
The body’s need to fidget is the principle behind the development of a new medical device called “smart underwear”.
Designed for people with spinal injuries who are confined to wheelchairs, the high tech garment stimulates muscle movement to prevent debilitating [...]

Spin Dried Tailings

Tailings in oils sands parlance refers to the material leftover at the tail end of production… after the oil has been separated from the sand.
At Syncrude, this collection of sand, clay and water is pumped down a pipeline into artificial ponds. Over time, the particles of sand and clay settle to the botton of these [...]