Three leading New Brunswick researchers will be honoured in Fredericton next Wednesday at the R3 Gala, which celebrates the innovations of the province’s top applied researchers.
They are: Liuchen Chang, NSERC Chair of Environmental Design Engineering at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton; Alain Doucet, Chief of Operations at the Metal Innovation and Technology Transfer Center (MITTC) for the Community College of New Brunswick in Bathurst; and Amber Garber of the Huntsman Marine Science Centre in St. Andrew’s.
Presented by the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, Cox & Palmer and Deloitte, the R3 awards are held every second year to recognize the achievements of New Brunswick researchers who are having an impact on industry and society. Tickets are available here.
Read our Report on the 2014 R3 Gala
The keynote speaker at the gala will be David Butler, the Vice-President Innovation at Cola-Cola. Butler will discuss the secrets of Coke’s ongoing success and how its new startup-focused venture platform is poised to change the way large organizations innovate. Tickets are available here.
The focus of the evening will be the three R3 recipients:
- Liuchen Chang is an expert in renewable energy conversion and systems. He has developed ways for energy to flow from small sources on to the grid, rather than just having the grid just deliver electricity from big plants. Chang's research has allowed a variety of different types of energy sources to be added to the grid at varying voltages.
- Alain Doucet has worked with several small and medium-sized businesses to develop a variety of innovations. For example, he and his team developed a “plug and play” type of adapter for Leading Edge Geomatics’ aircraft that allows them to exchange a range of highly sophisticated aerial surveying equipment. Before that, the company was required to have a separate aircraft for every configuration – just to meet Transport Canada certification. Now it has a permanent, certified mounting system that fits all of its equipment.
- Amber Garber has developed a selective breeding program for salmon. Her salmon broodstock have a higher growth rate and are resistant to sea lice and bacterial kidney disease. Sea lice resistance reduces the need to bathe the fish in peroxide, which makes the fish stop eating for at least a week. Bacterial kidney disease resistance significantly reduces the need to use antibiotics.
The R3 Gala this year includes an afternoon program focusing on tech trends and how to increase company sales. It will feature the Deloitte 2016 predictions in technology, media and telecoms by Duncan Stewart, Director of TMT Research.
The other speakers will be: Jeff Roach, CEO of Sociallogical, speaking on Aligning Social Media With Your Brand; Wayne Chamberlain, Principal of Atlantic Growth Solutions, speaking on the Five Components of a Sales Machine; and David Veale, Founder of Vision Coaching, speaking on Developing a Leadership Culture.
