Getting resourceful with our resources.
With our world-famous nature and bountiful resources, it's only natural that Alberta has become equally renowned for our leadership in agriculture, forestry and life sciences research and technology.
- Alberta Innovates
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Solving World Problems. All Articles.
Improved ‘senses’ could mean thousands more barrels of bitumen a day.
Alberta Innovates - Technology Futures Sensors Engineering specialists have partnered with a series of oil sands processing operators over the past decade to create a series of sensors, MineSentry, collectively boost bitumen recovery from oil sands separation processes. Given the mass volume of bitumen, even a one percent improvement in recovery could mean tens of thousands of barrels per day of additional bitumen produced, and reduced environmental footprint.
Wheat straw offers shelter and withstands earthquakes
Alberta Innovates - Technology Futures developed technology that uses wheat straw to solve a pressing human need for shelter, profoundly improves the living conditions of millions of people, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and protects the environment on a large scale.
Viruses run scared in Alberta
Dr. Lorne Tyrrell developed the first oral antiviral agent for hepatitis B. Lamivudine is now the primary drug used to treat chronic hepatitis B carriers. It is licensed in 170 countries worldwide. Dr. Tyrrell is a researcher we fund through Alberta Innovates Health Solutions.
Japan and Alberta working on clean coal
Coal is an important energy resource generating about one fourth of Japan's electricity. Alberta and japan formalize agreement to work together on clean coal technology development.
Gender and culture offer clues into cardiac research
Dr. Kathryn King has been a leader in cardiovascular nursing research at the University of Calgary for nearly a decade. Her research looks at how gender and culture influence how patients make health care decisions for themselves. Her work will lead to interventions to improve outcomes for cardiac patients.
Diabetic pets help humans
Alberta Innovates Health Solutions has invested well in excess of $23 million in diabetes research in Alberta. Dogs have blood sugar levels similar to humans, and this similarity is helping some people increase their understanding of diabetes. Increased information on pet health is helping to increase human health and animal welfare.
How crops can grow with limited rainfall
Alberta Innovates - Technology Futures is working on improving crop yields in regions where rainfall isn't abundant all season long. Researchers are examining genetic markers that indicate how well a crop variety utilizes available moisture at critical growing periods - early seedling vigour, mid-season stem sugar storage and late-season conversion into seedheads. This unique approach to crop-breeding for desirable traits can be translated into a broad spectrum of crops used both in Alberta and around the world.
Taking the steam out of Cholera
Dr. Stefan Pukatzki and his research team have discovered how the bacterium that causes cholera likely infects its victims. Cholera is an increasing global threat that results in three to five million cases being diagnosed annually. Dr. Pukatzki's work has implications for addressing both local and global concerns involving the health of the worlds' most vulnerable.
Treating Type 1 diabetes
The Edmonton Protocol was Canada's first islet cell transplant in Type 1 diabetic patients pioneered by a team formed by Dr. Raymond Rajotte. Patients who have undergone the Edmonton protocol have experienced drastic increases in quality of life and life expectancy.
Alberta Innovates focuses on the world’s biggest problems.
Alberta Innovates has four distinct corporations focused on solving the world's biggest problems with the best in research and innovation. Our four corporations are funded by government and guided by an international advisory board steeped in experience and global best practices.
Helping people regain mobility sooner
Dr. Arthur Prochazka, a researcher funded by Alberta Innovates Health Solutions, increases mobility in people suffering from injury or disease. Dr Pochazka developed the Bionic Glove, Impact Cuff and Rejoyce, which can all be used in clinical trials, refined and used around the world. Rejoyce is a web-based rehabilitation system for people with stroke or injury that is being used in Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Rehabtronics, a University of Alberta spin-off company, was assigned patents for several devices from Dr. Prochazka's lab. In 2006, Rehabtronics licensed these patents to a medical devices company in California.
New research is helping to reclaim well sites to a fully forested state, which is harder than returning to a grassy state.
Supported in part by Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions, novaNAIT's Boreal Research Institute in Peace River is leading applied research to reclaim industrial sites back to a fully forested state, a more stringent standard than reclaiming to a grassy state as on the prairies. The field testing currently under way on oil and gas well sites provided by Shell Canada and native boreal seeds delivered by First Nations entrepreneurs, may soon have application to more than 15,000 abandoned well sites, roads and pipelines in northwestern Alberta.
Meet stem cell researcher and Gairder Prize recipient
Dr. Sam Weiss was awarded the Gairdner Prize for his ground-breaking work in discovering the existence of stem cells in the adult brain in 2009. He has been funded by Alberta Innovates Health Solutions since since 1980.
Alberta Innovates helps improve food security, quality and opportunities for producers
Two new Alberta centres will improve food security, food quality, and value-added opportunities for crop and livestock producers. The centres are wonderful examples of how the provincial government through the Alberta Innovates system, academia and industry are able to collaborate and discover new knowledge that benefits all of society.
Funds that allow us to invest billions of dollars into research and innovation
The Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Researcher and the Alberta Ingenuity Fund are long-term endowment funds that allow us to invest billions of dollars into research and innovation.
Why corporations are attracted to Alberta
Corporations are attracted to Alberta because of our large deposits of one-of-a-kind resources and our unique innovation system that helps them get to market.
Front runner in carbon capture and storage
Tech Futures has been at the forefront of carbon capture and storage (CCS) for more than 20 years. It plays a major advisory role for international greenhouse gas and CCS organizations.
Alberta Innovates streamlines and focuses research and development potential
Alberta Innovates streamlines and focuses research and development potential by focusing problem-solving consortia on industry needs. Alberta Innovates - Technology Futures manages the Materials and Reliability in Oil Sands (MARIOS), a consortium that focuses the efforts of 20 industry and research partners on developing new knowledge and technologies that improve operational reliability and productivity of the oil sands industry.
Heart warming advances made in infant heart transplants
The Cardiovascular Research Centre at the University of Alberta establises Edmonton as a national centre for pediatric heart transplants. Heart researchers and clinicians are supported by Alberta Innovates Health Solutions.
Medical Images now available for review. On your iPhone
Alberta's Dr. Ross Mitchell and his company Calgary Scientific Inc. created Resolution MD. It's an iPhone app used on smart phones to review medical images. Resolution MD is being used in multiple locations throughout Canada and the U.S.
Alberta Innovates Health Solutions has contributed approximately $70 million
Alberta Innovates Health Solutions has contributed approximately $70 million to support the purchase of lab equipment since 1981.
Alberta’s Research Harmonization Agreement
Alberta's Research Harmonization Agreement streamlines the process of ethics review for multi-site health research studies and response time to health research ethics review requests.
Research is transforming health care
Reseachers in Alberta are looking at the heart's metabolic activities in newborns, particularly in babies with congental heart defects. Approximately one in 100 babies will have a heart defect.