In a change of format, New Brunswick’s R3 celebration this year will honour 25 mentors and instructors who help the next generation of researchers in the province.
Hosted by the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, R3 celebrates applied research in New Brunswick, and in the past has honoured three researchers at an evening gala in Fredericton. NBIF has amended the program this year to a full-day event that will include speakers, workshops, a pitching competition and presentations to New Brunswick’s Top 25 Star Mentors.
“Faculty, professors and teachers help to fill the pipeline of qualified researchers through mentoring and training,” said the Innovation Foundation on its website. “As a toast to those who have shown an exemplary job of training the next generation of researchers, we will be honouring the Top 25 Star Mentors from New Brunswick’s colleges, universities and institutions at our formal R3 luncheon.”
R3 will take place April 2 at the Fredericton Convention Centre from 8:30 am to 4 pm. One highlight of the agenda is the luncheon at which 25 Star Mentors will be named and receive a cash award. You can buy tickets for R3 here.
Post-secondary or research institutions have nominated professors or others as mentors and they are being judged against a set of award criteria. The nominees must show how they have integrated highly qualified personnel development into their research program and what impact this has had. They must explain why coaching is personally important and discuss how they will use the awarded funding.
First held 11 years ago, R3 is a biennial event that recognizes leaders in applied research at New Brunswick universities and research institutions. NBIF holds the event in the years when it does not hold Breakthru, the biennial competition for startups.
The keynote speakers at the event will be Jeff Dahn, the NSERC/Tesla Canada Industrial Research Chair at Dalhousie University, and Vincenzo Guida, research fellow for Procter & Gamble.
Dahn is a research pioneer of lithium-ion batteries and has held a research chair position at Dalhousie University since 1996. In 2016, he began a research partnership with Tesla Motors. His group is focused on improving lithium-ion cells through increased energy density and battery life, along with reduced costs.
Guida’s projects have run the innovation gamut, from early stage to market implementation. With particular expertise in bleach chemistry and surfactant science, he has developed the manufacturing process for many new innovative and sustainable products in the fabric and home arenas.
The R3 agenda also includes a student pitch competition at which 10 students will have three minutes each to describe research they have conducted in layman’s terms without visual aids.
Disclosure: NBIF is a client of Entrevestor.
