It's not pure research, but there's a pressing need out there to determine what gives bite to those Two-Bite Brownies, or the most apropos prototype for an energy-efficient hot water boiler for heating systems.

James Watzke, dean of research at Humber College.

James Watzke, dean of research at Humber College.

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In fact, Canadian colleges and polytechnical institutes have done much of the applied research work for these and thousands of other industry ventures.

Humber College students in Toronto, for instance, helped create a device that allows baked-goods manufacturer Give and Go Prepared Foods Corp. to calculate the optimal time to re-order the flour in their silos, improving production and cutting waste. Jerry Dover, Give and Go's director of engineering and plant services, says Humber got results more quickly than a university and at half the cost of a private research lab.

In Calgary, beginning in July, 2000, SAIT Polytechnic students worked with Conematic Heating Systems Inc. to build more than 20 prototypes and standardized components, and laid out a manufacturing plant — all groundwork leading to energy-efficient products that manage heating, cooling and hot water for residential and small commercial applications. Today, Conematic employs SAIT grads and an instructor who worked on the various applied research products.

Created in the 1960s to respond to industry's needs for skilled workers, Canada's colleges and polytechnics have been ramping up their efforts to help small and medium-sized businesses, especially, get the evidence they need to transfer products, technology and services to the marketplace.

These post-secondary institutions have often been viewed as second cousins to universities in research matters. But good news came in last week's federal budget, which doubled funding for college applied research to $30-million, after several years of decline.

Dr. James Watzke, dean of research at Toronto's Humber College, explains why colleges are worthy of greater respect.

Marlene Habib: Colleges have been around for decades, so why is Canada seen as being in such an R and D crunch?

James Watzke: The world has changed a lot. When we think about Canada's innovation ranking, in my mind, it's all about productivity. It's a fair statement to say there's a strong relationship between productivity, innovation and education. What colleges have been trying to do the past few decades is put out graduates who are job ready. But something changed in the last decade and maybe it has to do with the way technology has been changing so fast. It's only been in recent years that colleges have been trying to put graduates out who are more innovation-minded.

MH: How do colleges differ from universities in their research and innovation roles?

JW: Universities are great at discovering and pushing knowledge out ¡K Colleges actually do solutions-based training and solution-based research, and have the ability to change things up and be responsive.

Really, what colleges and universities do are complementary. It's not about competing with universities — we're [colleges] another piece of the R and D continuum, while they do more basic, pure, curiosity-driven science. We're further along. We're later stage. We want to work on things universities are done with and don't know what to further do with.

We [college instructors] are teaching these students, and the students at the college are actually doing the research. At universities, research is done and led by faculty. [Students] do a lot of their own lab testing and field testing. Prototype development is another category. Usually, after a company has come to the college and said, "I want to make this new thing, this piece of hardware or new technology," we help them build the prototype.

And then there's product enhancement. There might be a widget or type of measurement device. They'll [businesses] end up at the college and say, "Okay, the product isn't that great," and they'll say to the college, "Can you improve that?" It may not seem like sexy research, but it's really important.

MH: Are colleges/polytechnics happy with their R and D role?

JW: We're quite happy with that role. Humber students, for instance, found out that probably a lot of flour went in those Two-Bite Brownies and it was being wasted. We're not going to win a Nobel Prize, but we design our training based on the industry's input. They come to us and say, "We need these kinds of skill sets and can you help us with that?" Imagine the student, professor and industry partner there. Every program at colleges and polytechnics use this model. They're not out there dreaming — they're working on real-world problems.

MH: How does colleges' participation in R and D foster social and economic productivity?

JW: We're proud of our grads: They come out, they're flexible, they're creative and can respond to change, and we actually try to teach them those skills. Above 90 per cent of polytechnic students get jobs within six months; it's similar in colleges. When you take our really high graduation rates ¡K the economic proposition is they get going faster, get good-paying jobs and start paying taxes faster. That becomes a formula for nice economic development.

MH: How does a company know taking on a college/polytechnic as a research partner won't be a waste of time and money?

JW: When we have a small company and concept or proof of principle they want us to do, we have them do some market research. There are some sophisticated ways to do that and [colleges] do that for them. Some of these companies fall in love with an idea and don't do the market research. We try to guard against that as best we can. It doesn't remove all the risk — it's a risky business to be a small company. But we'll do that advance market research, scope out the projects and figure out the deliverables.

MH: Any innovative R and D ideas brewing?

JW: One idea around the funding that Polytechnics Canada is promoting is a commercialization/collaboration program. It would be a great thing for the feds to do — what if they were to go to universities and say, "Here's a funding envelope. Let the universities do the core research"?

Universities have trouble getting their knowledge out of the ivory tower. Well, colleges and polytechnics would be a great partner to do that. If the federal government were to get interested, we could do it in a pilot to start. We're [colleges] good partners because we like doing the dirty work that may not be exciting from a scientific and technological point of view, but from an economic development area, it is exciting.

Special to The Globe and Mail

COLLABORATIONS

A sample of college-industry collaborations:

Nepean, Ont.

Algonquin College, Ottawa, and B-Con Engineering Inc. of Nepean, Ont. (maker of products for aerospace, automotive and biotechnology industries): A college faculty member is collaborating with the company to help design and build innovative optical components. Students and professors designed a Fresnel Axicon (Fraxicon) lens that enhances use and efficiency of advance light sources.

Montreal

Seneca College, Toronto, and Bombardier Aerospace of Montreal: Develop training programs for aerospace employees to update their technical skills. The two are also working on a program for high school to post-secondary students to produce qualified workers for Ontario's aerospace industry.

Toronto

Humber College, Toronto, and DarcorLimited of Toronto (provides caster solutions to automotive, medical and industrial companies): Casters are wheels that make it easier to move everything from shopping carts and gurneys, to industrial and hockey equipment. Humber and DarcorLimited worked together to test the theory that better rolling wheels would reduce energy consumption of powered material handling equipment.

Calgary

Olds College School of Innovation of Alberta, and FameBiorefineryCorp. of Calgary (converts non-food canola seed to biodiesel and other products): Are working together to help establish 10 to 12 innovative regional biorefineries across Western Canada.

Cambridge, Ont.

Conestoga College, head campus in Kitchener, Ont., and Grand River Foods, Cambridge, Ont.: The college and company have aligned to create a 260,000-square-foot facility to house a School of Engineering and Information Technology, Institute for Food Processing Technology and offices of the Alliance of Food Processors. One goal is to train workers for the food-processing sector in the use of sophisticated technology, with the goals of gaining a competitive advantage and keeping jobs in Canada.

Burnaby, B.C.

B.C. Institute of Technology (BCIT) and NGRAIN Innovation Studio (provides 3-D visualization and simulation solutions for training and maintenance on complex equipment): The BCIT-NGRAIN collaboration started in 2008 when the company opened an innovation studio at BCIT's Burnaby campus, where instructors and students interacted with helicopter rotators, water pumps and landing gear in 3-D images on computer screens. NGRAIN provided BCIT with software and 3-D models valued at more than $2-million. The new innovation studio helps BCIT instructors explore new technologies and implement them in teaching.

Kingston, Ont.

George Brown College, Toronto, and Ocorant of Kingston, Ont. (maker of heart-monitoring devices): The college's electronics, fashion design and nursing departments partnered with Ocorant to develop wearable, washable, fashionable and manufacturable heart-monitoring devices. The collaboration produced a prototype that can make medical data-collecting more practical and efficient and speed up diagnoses, and won first prize at the fourth annual Polytechnics Canada Science and Technology Showcase at Seneca College in Toronto in November.

Source: Polytechnics Canada