Report on Colleges and the Polytechnics Canada Showcase

Today's Globe and Mail contains the Report on Colleges, which outlines several key advantages of college education and applied research. The latter story outlines some of the many interesting applied research stories being sponsored across the country, including through the NSERC College and Community Innovation Program. The former outlines how many university graduates, for example, go to colleges following convocation to obtain the job-ready skills for which college programs are noted - this is the principle behind innovation literacy. There is also an interview with Algonquin College president Robert Gillet on the Polytechnics Canada consortium, which is a good segue into a reminder of the annual Polytechnics Canada Science and Technology Showcase being held at Seneca College on 27 November.

The event will begin with a reception on the evening of Thursday, November 26 (from 5 to 8 pm) and continues with a full day event for Friday, November 27.

The topic of this year’s Showcase is “Igniting Innovation” and has been chosen to demonstrate how our institutions are positioning our SME partners for success, and adding to their competitive edge.

This annual event showcases winning applied research projects being conducted by the faculty and students of our member institutes; and convenes a policy discussion amongst Presidents of our institutes, industry leaders (often SME representatives), officials from government and granting agencies.
Our keynote speakers on November 27 will be:

• Hon. Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology, and Member of Parliament for Cambridge, Ontario  

• John Breakey, CEO of UNIS LUMIN and Chair, Colleges Ontario Network for Industrial Innovation’s Industry Strategy Committee

An afternoon panel discussion will focus on the important role that polytechnics and colleges play in preparing Canada’s future workforce for industry innovation, by providing students with applied research experience.

The Showcase will also feature some of the winners of the latest round of the College Community Innovation Program of NSERC.

This event is sponsored by Polytechnics Canada and attendance is open to everyone at no cost.