New $4M Canada-India Initiative Looks to Jumpstart New Tech

Source: The Vancouver Sun

IC-IMPACTS, headed by UBC professor Nemy Banthia, is teaming up with India’s Department of Science and Technology, as well as the country’s Biotechnology Department, to provide $4 million for the research projects. Each project, said IC-IMPACTS communications manager Ashish Mohan, features Canadian and Indian researchers and are in later stages of development, ensuring the resulting technology can be brought to market.

For the complete article, visit The Vancouver Sun.

UBC Program Offers Path for Internationally Trained Midwives to Work in BC

Source: BC News Release via Academica | January 16, 2015

A new program at UBC will pave the way for internationally trained midwives to be granted licenses to work in British Columbia. The program, which will complement UBC’s existing 4-year midwifery undergraduate degree program, will launch as a pilot with 4 students this spring, with plans to accept 8 first-year students by January 2016. The program will be tailored for each student in order to recognize individuals’ diverse experience and training. After completing the program, students will be eligible to sit the Canadian Midwifery Registration Examination to apply for licensure from the College of Midwives of BC. BC will provide $680,000 in support of the program. “This program, combined with the doubling of enrolment in our 4-year bachelor’s program, will help UBC fill the province’s growing need for qualified midwives by providing an additional pathway to licensure,” said Michelle Butler, Director of UBC’s midwifery program. She also noted that the program will help diversify the profession to reflect BC’s immigrant and second-generation communities.

Canada Launches New Mining Institute at UBC

Source: Vancouver Sun | January 30, 2014

The Canadian government has formally launched the Canadian International Institute for Resource Extraction and Development, and its first order of business is to pilot a project to train small-scale miners in improved techniques. The institute’s Executive Director, Bern Klein, says the project capitalizes on research done in the mining school at the University of British Columbia, one of 3 academic partners in the institute along with Simon Fraser University [CIEC Academic Member] and École Polytechnique de Montréal. “The resource sector is a necessity,” said UBC VP Research John Hepburn. “So, unless you’re willing to give up your toys like [the iPhone], we do need the ores and minerals that we extract and that are in demand for all of our products.” In fall 2012, the 3 academic partners were given $25 million to create the institute.

TCS Insights: Growth in the mining industry has made the establishment of this institution much needed.  Academic partners from across Canada are uniting to educate those interested in the resource sector so that improved methodology can be taught to students and spread throughout this expanding industry over time.