What's New

Innovation is a Team Sport (June 27, 2013)

The University of Saskatchewan’s Industry Liaison Office (ILO) recently had an External Review Committee assess the office’s performance. The ILO is responsible for the commercialization of research at the University; this research provides significant feedstock into the innovation system. The external review committee talked with several of the ILO’s international clients who work with University technology transfer offices across North America. We were identified as one of the best to work with and a leader in this business.

To read the rest of article written by Glen Schuler, Lorna Shaw-Lennox and Laurel Reich for the Ag-West Bio Blog...

BitStrata Systems wins 2013 U of S Tech Venture Challenge (June 27, 2013)

BitStrata Systems Inc., creator of industrial machine-to-machine (M2M) systems using mobile devices, has won the U of S 2013 Tech Venture Challenge, co-sponsored by the U of S Industry Liaison Office (ILO), Innovation Place, Deloitte and the Royal Bank of Canada.

"It was a challenge choosing from this impressive group," said one of the competition judges Laurie Dmytryshyn of PIC Investment Group. “No matter who wins the competition, they are all entrepreneurs and this is just the beginning for every one of them. Their passion and enthusiasm was inspiring.”

Please read more from the news release.

University of Saskatchewan funded for improving economics of biodiesel production (June 17, 2013)

Prof. Martin Reaney from the University of Saskatchewan has been awarded a Proof-of-Principle award in the amount of $40,000 to continue work on an improved process for the manufacturing of biodiesel. The technology has the potential to improve the economics of biodiesel manufacturing while reducing waste and improving the quality of all the end products. The award will be used to help validate the process at larger scales and will also be used to determine the exact quality of all outputs from the process. Improving the economics of biodiesel production is necessary in order to offer alternatives to convention fossil fuels and to utilize available manufacturing capacity.

Please read the News Release for more information.

U of S researcher wins Award of Innovation for hybrid tomato seed technology (May 16, 2013)

SASKATOON – U of S plant scientist and biology professor Dr. Vipen Sawhney has been awarded the 2013 Award of Innovation for developing a commercially viable male-sterile line of tomato, a breakthrough that promises to reduce the cost of hybrid seed production by at least 40 per cent for one of the world’s most valuable crops.

Co-sponsored by Innovation Place and the ILO, the Award of Innovation honours U of S researchers who have brought new and commercially viable technology to the Industry Liaison Office for development into marketable products. The winner was announced at the SABEX “Celebrate Success!” gala in Saskatoon on May 9th.

Tomatoes are grown in nearly every part of the world and sold either fresh or as ingredients in an enormous range of products. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, tomatoes are second only to corn in value among vegetable crops.

Please read the News Release for detailed information.

G20 Young Entrepreneurs' Alliance (YEA) Summit in Russia - Canadian Youth Business Foundation (April 22, 2013)

The Industry Liaison is very proud to have Zafer Dallal Bashi, our Start-up Technology Transfer Officer, participate in the fourth YEA Summit this coming June 15 – 17, in Moscow. This group of young entrepreneurs will be developing recommendations to be presented to the B20 business leaders and G20 world leaders meeting in St. Petersburg in September. The YEA focus will be on how these respective communities can work together to support aspiring young entrepreneurs. This is an amazing opportunity for Zafer and we look forward to the world view he will bring back to Canada and Saskatoon and how it can add to our efforts in supporting local entrepreneurs.

Please visit The Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF) web site to find more information.

University of Saskatchewan Industry Liaison Office Unveils Ag-Bio, Vet Medicine and Health Initiatives at 2013 BIO International Convention (April 16, 2013)

Chicago – Canada Café, Booth #3831 - The University of Saskatchewan Industry Liaison Office announced today it will showcase its global Ag-Bio, Veterinary Medicine and Health initiatives at the 2013 BIO International Convention, Monday, April 22 – Thursday, April 25, 2013, in Chicago, Illinois. This will highlight recent developments in reproductive health, anti-infective, anti-inflammatory and kinome technology.

Please read the news release for detailed information.

Expanding Opportunity for U of S Drug Research (April 14, 2013)

The University of Saskatchewan recently became an affiliate member of the Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD), a National Centre of Excellence, and Canada’s fully integrated national drug development and commercialization centre.

Researchers from the U of S are now able to benefit from CDRD’s expertise and infrastructure to develop pre-clinical leads with project funding available from their pharmaceutical company (Rx&D) partners. Please read the full story.

NSBA celebrates young entrepreneurs (March 27, 2013)

At the 16th annual NSBA Business Builders Awards on March 26th, 2013, the Young Promising Entrepreneur Award was presented to one of our Tech Venture Challenge teams – Farm at Hand.

Four teams - all Tech Venture Challenge Participants - had about an hour and a half to convince many of the 500 + guests of their business potential. Standing in front their displays, members of the teams were kept very busy pitching to a very captivated and curious business community. And that engaged audience then cast their votes, based on those very short and compelling pitches. It was a tremendous opportunity for our young entrepreneurs to meet the business community and both share and receive feedback on their business.

Encouraging comments heard during the pitches included: ‘Here’s my business card, please call me. I’d like to talk more about this’; ‘Head and shoulders above other years in terms of significant business opportunities’; ‘Well prepared and committed’; ‘Able to handle the difficult questions’; ‘What a great idea!’; and ‘You are already making this happen – that’s great’. This speaks volumes as to the dedication and hard work these teams have put in as they progress through the Tech Venture Challenge.

Congratulations to all of the award participants: Farm at Hand, OneStory, Open Mind Developments and Student Task Check. A job well done!!