Research Spotlight: Social Innovation and Collaboration

Social Innovation and Collaboration

Food security, mental health, climate change, equitable access to healthcare, safe water, refugees and asylum, marginalized populations—these complex social and environmental challenges are faced by communities, both urban and remote, across Canada and internationally. Can a collaborative research approach, engaging researchers from a range of disciplines and geographies, use social innovation in the form of new programs, inventive use of technology and development of social enterprises, to address these issues?

The Government of Canada has responded to these challenges through the creation of the Social Innovation and Social Finance Strategy and a steering group to guide that strategy.  In February of 2023, the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development announced the launch of the Social Innovation Advisory Council (SIAC), a group of experts representing a diverse range of Canada’s social innovation and finance sector.  SIAC’s role is to provide advice to the government to establish programs and support organizations, including charities, not-for-profits, businesses and social enterprises, which promote inclusive social innovation in Canada.

A key priority for the SIAC is to advise on the implementation of recommendations in the report Inclusive Innovation:  New ideas and new partnerships for stronger communities. The report, which was delivered in 2018 by the Social Innovation and Social Finance Strategy steering group, focuses on how the government can support networks of organizations, both business and non-profit, that are working collaboratively to make communities healthier and more sustainable and inclusive. These recommendations include implementing government policy focused on social innovation through federal legislation, establishing a permanent Office for Social Innovation and a multi-sectoral Social Innovation Council to advise the federal government, creating a Social Finance Fund, and improving access to federal innovation, business development and skills training programs for social purpose organizations.

Canadian researchers have access to funding for collaborative research in social innovation via NSERC, the National Science and Engineering Research Council, and Mitacs. 

The College and Community Innovation program offers researchers in Canada’s colleges and polytechnics opportunities to apply for College and Community Social Innovation Fund (CCSIF) grants of up to $120,000/year for 1 to 3 years.  CCSIF grants are managed by NSERC in collaboration with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Social Sciences Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) with the goal of facilitating collaborative and innovative research that brings together researchers and students in the social sciences, humanities, health sciences, natural sciences and engineering to work with community partners to address challenges in social innovation. 

One of the more than 50 CCSIF grants totaling over $38 million awarded in 2021 was to Georgian College in Ontario, in partnership with the Simcoe County District School Board and Ashoka Canada, a non-profit organization that promotes social entrepreneurship by connecting and supporting individual social entrepreneurs. The goal of this research is to create changemakers and active citizens to build stronger, safer, healthier and more inclusive communities. The three-year project will develop evaluation tools that measure growth in the four competencies associated with social innovation and transformation: empathy, shared leadership, teamwork, and change-making. The project team will work with educators from kindergarten through to postsecondary to incorporate these tools into their classrooms.

In British Columbia, researchers at Langara College, in partnership with the Williams Lake First Nation and the University of British Columbia’s Indian Residential SchoolHistory and Dialogue Centre, received CCSIF funding for Secwepemc Culture to Wellness: An Intergenerational Model of Healing from Trauma Caused by Indian Hospitals & Residential Schools in British Columbia. The project responds to the harm caused by residential schools and Indian hospitals through the interruption of the transfer of knowledge of elders, the land, community leaders and educators.  A key objective of this community-based research is to restore the transfer of ancestral knowledge from elders to youth with the goal of reducing alienation and suicide among Secwepemc youth.

Mitacs has partnered with universities and community, business and non-profit organizations across Canada to fund a range of research projects addressing issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, food insecurity, health and wellness and the delivery of food and medicine to remote communities.

In 2020, Mitacs and Mental Health Research Canada partnered to fund over 20 projects covering a range of topics related to mental health and COVID-19.  Projects included research at the University of Calgary, working with the Association of International Medical Graduates of Alberta, to better understand the mental health impacts of COVID-19 on front-line workers who are members of vulnerable populations.

In a project to address the issues of food insecurity for more than 1,700 Nisga’a Indigenous people living in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, a University of Toronto Mitacs Accelerate-funded Anthropology graduate student worked with Ecotrust Canada’s North Coast Innovation Lab and the Gitmaxmak’ay Nisga’a Society on a plant-based food initiative that combines traditional and current methods and to develop and launch a food production and distribution hub.

Social innovation and collaboration, through inventive partnerships between researchers, social service agencies, business and non-profit organizations, are developing innovative processes, programs, services and methods to solve complex social problems and have transformative impacts on communities across Canada. Support for this research from federal funding agencies is leading to increased capacity for social innovation to develop and mobilize the resources, tools and methods needed to address the ongoing challenges facing communities in Canada and around the world.

Researcher Spotlight: Georgina Martin

Dr. Georgina Martin
Department of Aboriginal Studies
Langara College

When Dr. Georgina Martin was growing up as a member of the Secwepemc Nation in Williams Lake, British Columbia, her grandfather, Ned Moiese, taught her the importance of both receiving an education and of bringing what she learned back to her people. That advice strongly influenced her career path as she earned undergraduate and master’s degrees in Political Science and her PhD in Educational Studies. And her role as one of the 18 Indigenous scholars from across Canada on the Reference Group for the Appropriate Review of Indigenous Research, established to help guide the Tri-Council funding agencies (CIHR, NSERC, and SSHRC) to develop culturally appropriate practices for research conducted by and with Indigenous peoples in Canada, is an important milestone as well.

“I am a passionate life-long learner and I look for ways to facilitate learning and teaching”, says Dr. Martin.  She studied for her undergraduate and master’s degrees while raising her children and working full-time jobs managing and administering programs and services within Indigenous communities, and education and health organizations. For almost three decades prior to earning her PhD, Dr. Martin worked in a range of federal and provincial government departments, serving in roles including Native Program Officer, Community Health Development Officer, Land and Community Coordinator and Aboriginal Liaison Equity Officer. In 2014, she completed her PhD research, Drumming my way home: An intergenerational narrative inquiry about Secwepemc identities, which focussed on Indigenous knowledge pedagogy and intergenerational knowledge transmission.

Dr. Martin’s focus on community, collaboration and knowledge transfer and her research interests in intergenerational trauma from residential schools and Indian hospitals, cultural identity, Indigenous self-determination, Indigenous education and Indigenous voices are reflected in her current research project, Secwepemc Culture to Wellness: An Intergenerational Model of Healing from Trauma Caused by Indian Hospitals & Residential Schools in British Columbia.  Residential schools and Indian hospitals destroyed the transfer of Secwepemc language and cultural knowledge between generations. Dr. Martin leads this project, working in collaboration with the Williams Lake First Nation and the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre (IRSHDC) at the University of British Columbia.  The goal of the research is to develop a healing model that responds to the needs of the community and aligns with Indigenous values to benefit and support the Secwepemc Nation and Indigenous communities across the country.

As a scholar and an experienced community-based researcher, Dr. Martin emphasizes the importance of listening to and working with the community to conduct research.  Her approach is strongly influenced by the work of Dr. Robert Morgan, an Aboriginal researcher who has worked throughout Australia and internationally in the field of Aboriginal knowledge and is committed to Aboriginal self-determination and sovereignty.  Unlike “helicopter research”, where data is collected and results published without the involvement of local communities, this work will include the significant and meaningful participation of collaborators and participants.

In addition to using social innovation and collaboration to address crucial issues in physical and mental health and culture, the project will build capacity for future researchers, with more than 16 students receiving funding during its three-year duration.

“My grandfather taught me that people learn from what you do, not what you say”, recalls Dr. Martin. Her work in the classroom and the community as an Indigenous scholar, teacher and researcher makes her a powerful change agent and a formidable role model to Secwepemc Nation youth.

Research Spotlight: Advanced Manufacturing in Canada – Collaborative Innovation by Industry and Researchers

The traditional view of manufacturing features unskilled labour working on assembly lines for the mass production of cars, farm machinery, electrical equipment and textiles. In 2023, Canada’s advanced manufacturing eco-system employs innovative technologies, a highly skilled workforce and partnerships with world-renowned research facilities to develop unique solutions to challenges in areas including health care, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, food and beverage processing and the assembly of electronic vehicles.

Canada’s history in manufacturing began with the use of gristmills to process grains into flour in the 18th century in New France. Confederation and the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 19th century paved the way for factories to produce lumber, grains and food products for domestic use. With the discovery of electricity and the demands of the First World War, Canada’s manufacturing expanded to shipbuilding and the production of steel and pulp and paper. The Second World War led to yet more manufacturing growth, with the fabrication of vehicles, aircraft and weapons and a manufacturing industry that employed more than 25% of Canada’s workforce.

Manufacturing in Canada today has made great strides and includes the use of robotics, nanotechnology, advanced materials, 3D printing, artificial intelligence and the integration of network and information technology to advance product development, reduce costs, increase quality, functionality and customization and reduce supply chain issues and time to market. 

According to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), manufacturing represents more than 10% of Canada’s total GDP, with exports of more than $354 billion each year, representing 68% of all of Canada’s merchandise exports and employing almost 2 million people across the country. The government of Canada recognized the importance of manufacturing to the country through the creation of Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen), one of five national networks supported by Canada’s Global Innovation Clusters (Supercluster) initiative.  According to François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, “Our government’s investment in the clusters has been about finding new and innovative ways to build connections. By incentivizing collaboration and growing strong Canadian ecosystems, the Global Innovation Clusters are generating good, well-paying jobs across the country, developing a highly skilled and diverse workforce, and contributing to our economic recovery by creating stronger and more resilient economic growth.”

NGen is a non-profit organization with the goal of “strengthening the competitiveness and growth potential of Canada’s advanced manufacturing sector, enhancing the support capacity of Canada’s advanced manufacturing ecosystem, and contributing to the well-being of Canadians.” NGen’s 5,000 members include more than 1,000 manufacturers, over 2,500 SMEs, 372 industry partners and 261 academic and research partners with over 200 students working on 165 NGen-funded projects.

Research partners participate through invitation by NGen-funded industry partners, working mainly on technology development and are funded by federal and provincial research and development grants. CEO Jayson Myers notes that NGen projects provide funding to Canadian manufacturers and technology companies to work together with university researchers and their students to develop transformative and customized solutions to solve demand-driven challenges.  “Each project partner has a role to play. Universities and research facilities provide training and education and a long-term view of the use of technology as well as access to research test-beds.  Industry partners supply innovation and ingenuity and use of facilities. Partners collaborate to focus on developing transformative solutions.”

Cities across Canada – including Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Waterloo and Ottawa – are centres of excellence in advanced manufacturing, with expertise in areas including bio-industrials, nanotechnology, geospatial data collection and analysis, advanced communications and navigation, aerospace manufacturing, cleantech, automotive, aviation, robotics and the development and integration of defence and security products. NGen plays a strategic role in connecting and supporting collaborations between experts in these centres in a broad range of projects. Examples include:

  • A partnership between Sona Nanotech in Halifax, the VIDO-Intervac Research Centre at the University of Saskatchewan and the Runnymede Healthcare Centre in Toronto to use Sona’s proprietary nanotechnology to develop a rapid point-of-care antigen test to screen for COVID-19.  The test has been commercialized in Europe as a screening tool for individuals in high-risk settings and has resulted in $100 million in sales.
  • Magna’s Stronach Centre for Innovation and Maple Advanced Robotics in Ontario, in partnership with the University of Waterloo, the University of Toronto and Toronto Metropolitan University worked together to develop an Autonomous Adaptable Robot System (AARS), a novel robot integration solution. AARS integrates 3D vision technology, artificial intelligence and collaborative robots to allow any operator with minimal training to quickly modify the robot path and workspace, significantly expanding the role of robots in large-scale or small and medium-size production and in retail services such as auto body repair shops.
  • Advanced BioCarbon 3D in Rossland, BC is conducting a feasibility study and a pilot project with KF Hemp in Regina, Virtual Layer in Kelowna, BC and a research team at the University of British Columbia to support the development of a commercial-scale biorefinery for the production of high-performance bioplastics and other advanced materials made from hemp.
  • In Ontario, Linamar in Guelph is partnering with Westhill Innovation in Simcoe and McMaster University in Hamilton to scale up production of Westhill’s inverter technology for use in zero-emission vehicles. The technology uses 1/12th the space and mass of other competing inverters and the project proposes to develop a manufacturing process to produce smaller, lighter inverters for use in Zero-Emission Vehicles.

Canada has provided significant investments in advanced manufacturing to maintain and grow the country’s role as a global leader in system integration, artificial intelligence, sensors, machine vision and automation.  In addition to NGen Supercluster funding, Canada has introduced federal tax credits, including a 100% write-off for newly-acquired manufacturing and processing equipment. The Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) Program provides income-tax credits and refunds for expenditures on eligible R&D activity in Canada.  And the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) supports business activities including R&D projects, collaborative technology demonstration projects and clean technology adoption and decarbonization.

Innovation in Canadian manufacturing has evolved from Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Computer-Aid Manufacturing (CAM) to today’s use of advanced technologies to produce big solutions to big challenges. Federal tax credits, funding of research and development, the results of NGen-funded collaborative advanced manufacturing projects and the training of the next generation of workers provided through these projects all serve to secure the progress of Canada’s manufacturing sector in order to deliver innovative products and processes for Canada and the world.

Researcher Spotlight: So-Ra Chung

So-Ra Chung, Professor, School of Engineering and Technology and Principal Investigator, Centre for Smart Manufacturing, Conestoga College

Growing up in Seoul, South Korea, Dr. So-Ra Chung wanted to be a scientist with a Nobel Prize like Marie Curie. Her father was a Philosophy professor and when his sabbatical year at the University of Toronto brought the family to Canada, So-Ra enrolled at Jarvis Collegiate as an international student with a very rudimentary knowledge of English and a love of science.  So-Ra credits the compassionate, talented and open-minded teachers at Jarvis for recognizing her enthusiasm for science and for supporting and encouraging her.

So-Ra completed high school and, inspired by a presentation by a University of Toronto biomedical engineering researcher, decided to study Engineering Science in university.  But, while a student at the Electrical and Computer Engineering at Western University in London, Ontario, she became interested in Meteor Burst Communications. Studying these signals, which are sent to shooting stars, combined her love of the outdoors, where she could observe the stars, and the appeal of applying science to real-world problems.  After completing her Master’s degree at Western, So-Ra returned to Korea to work in the Space Business Division of Hyundai Electronics building commercial satellites.  Then she returned to Canada to work as a systems engineer in the MDA Space Mission International Space Station Program for 8 years.  Her desire to be a professor eventually drew her to pursue her PhD in Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo.

So-Ra is passionate about her work as a professor in the School of Engineering and Technology at Conestoga College and a Principal Investigator in the school’s Centre for Smart Manufacturing. “I am guided by what John Tibbits, President of Conestoga College, says – What you do here counts out there”, says So-Ra.  “My goal is for my students to be more employable by adding a meaningful line on their resumes that distinguishes them. I want them to learn about ethics and critical thinking and to be able to work independently and as part of a team.” 

As with all degree programs at Conestoga, the project-based Bachelor of Engineering curriculum features a mix of theoretical and hands-on learning, where students apply what they’ve learned in the classroom to projects that bring that knowledge to life. Working with industry partners within the Centre for Smart Manufacturing allows students to participate in providing solutions to industry problems related to topics including robotics, automation, mechanical design and prototyping, cybersecurity, machine learning control of automation and machine vision. So-Ra’s dual role as professor and principal investigator provides her with the opportunity to teach the next generation of engineers as well as to work on tangible problems with industry.

To relax, So-Ra enjoys learning how to read different languages.  She is currently learning Greek and Arabic and compares matching sounds to letters to solving an encrypted code. “It uses a different part of my brain than engineering”, she notes. 

So-Ra credits her parents, and especially her father, for supporting her early interest in science and her academic and professional journey. “I have been lucky to have great mentors in my parents and my colleagues in the Centre for Smart Manufacturing.” And, in turn, she participates in outreach programs to encourage the study of STEM subjects and to promote women in engineering.

So-Ra Chung’s passion for teaching and mentoring her students, her inquisitiveness and her work as a professional engineer who has found a way to combine her love of the outdoors with her love of science is an inspiring researcher, professor and role model in her personal and professional communities.

Research Spotlight: Canada’s National Quantum Strategy

“Quantum technologies will shape the course of the future and Canada is at the forefront, leading the way. The National Quantum Strategy will support a resilient economy by strengthening our research, businesses and talent, giving Canada a competitive advantage for decades to come. I look forward to collaborating with businesses, researchers and academia as we build our quantum future.”  The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announcing the launch of Canada’s National Quantum Strategy on January 13, 2023 at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo.

The national strategy, supported by a $360 million investment by the federal government in basic and applied research, the development of talent and the funding of commercialization to bring research results to market, is the most recent action by Canada to strengthen the country’s leadership in quantum research and technologies.

Canada is an internationally recognized trailblazer in quantum innovation, with a decades-long history of groundbreaking research, an impressive and growing pool of qualified researchers and industry professionals and a growing list of quantum technology companies. Canada invested more than $1 billion in quantum research and development over the last 20 years. This research funding, along with provincial investments and collaboration with industry, has given rise to world-renowned researchers and research labs in universities across the country.

At the Université de Montréal, Gilles Brassard is a pioneer of quantum information science. His most celebrated research breakthroughs include the invention of quantum cryptography and quantum teleportation. Dr. Brassard has been recognized for his work with prestigious awards, including the Breakthrough Prize in fundamental physics in 2022, the 2018 Wolf Prize in physics (which he shares with Charles Bennett of the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center) and the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering. A holder of the Canada Research Chair in Quantum Information Science since 2000, Brassard is a member of the Centre de recherches mathématiques (CRM) and the Institut transdisciplinaire d’information quantique (INTRIQ), two strategic clusters funded by the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies (FRQNT).

Established as the Institute for Quantum Information Science in 2005, the Institute for Quantum Science and Technology (IQST) at the University of Calgary brings together researchers in computer science, mathematics, chemistry and physics to conduct research in pure and applied quantum science and technology and to advance the field through education and training and connections with other quantum science institutes and industry. IQST currently includes over 160 members including researchers, research staff and students, and its 18 research groups conduct work in four research themes: molecular modelling, nanotechnology, quantum information and computing, and quantum optics.  

While based in Calgary, the Institute has expanded provincially through Quantum Alberta, which has sites at the University of Alberta and the University of Lethbridge in addition to the Calgary site. Quantum Alberta connects the province’s quantum research community to ensure that Alberta is a world leader in quantum technology research, development, education and training.

Waterloo, Ontario’s quantum ecosystem, known as “Quantum Valley,” is home to more than 16 companies specializing in quantum cryptography, software, communication and consulting and over 250 researchers at two of the world’s largest quantum and theoretical physics research centres. The Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo and Perimeter Institute, along with Quantum Valley Investments (QVI), a quantum technology commercialization incubator created by BlackBerry founders Mike Lazaridis and Doug Fregin, have attracted more than $1.5 billion in public and private investment over the last 20 years.  

Launched in 2000 through a personal investment of $100 million from founder Mike Lazardis, Perimeter Institute is the world’s largest independent theoretical physics research hub, with research focused on areas including quantum fields and strings, quantum foundations, quantum gravity and quantum matter. Perimeter provides a collaborative environment for 150 resident researchers and the more than 1,000 scientists from around the world who visit each year. Dr. Rob Meyers, Director of Perimeter Institute since 2019, is one of the leading theoretical physicists working in the area of quantum fields and strings.  Upon his appointment as Director, Dr. Myers observed, “Perimeter is an environment unlike any other in which researchers from around the globe collaborate across disciplines in search of profound new truths. Breakthroughs await where brilliant people, bold ideas, and diverse cultures intersect.” 

The Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) at the University of Waterloo opened in 2002 as a result of Mike Lazardis’ understanding of the power of the emerging field of quantum information science, generous investments of his personal funds and partnerships with industry, academia and the provincial and federal governments. Dr. Raymond Laflamme joined IQC as Founding Director and worked closely with Dr. Michele Mosca as Deputy Director to bring together researchers from across Canada and around the world in the fields of physics, mathematics, computer science, engineering and chemistry to conduct research in IQC’s four research pillars: quantum computing, quantum communications, quantum sensing and quantum materials. Currently, 29 faculty members and a community of over 300 researchers work at IQC in areas including digital quantum matter, engineering quantum systems, nuclear magnetic resonance and quantum encryption and science satellites.

Transformative Quantum Technologies (TQT), the development unit of IQC, is led by Professor David Cory, a physical chemist who works to develop quantum devices for sensing and computation. TQT researchers collaborate with industry and quantum research institutes internationally to transfer quantum theory into quantum products that deliver economic and social benefits.

In addition to the world-renowned quantum research facilities and researchers working in Canada, the number of Canadian companies working in this area is growing. These include Xanadu Quantum Technologies in Toronto, D-Wave Systems in Vancouver, Anyon Systems in Dorval and ISARA in Waterloo and many start-up companies in areas ranging from quantum cryptography to quantum computing software to quantum-enabled scientific instruments and natural resources sensing. In addition, global technology companies, including IBM, Amazon, Microsoft and Google, are working to advance the field and to incorporate quantum technologies into their product roadmaps.

Canada’s National Quantum Strategy has been announced as the commercialization efforts of universities, research institutions and industry work to transfer quantum research results to market and as regions and countries including the U.S., the UK, the EU, Australia and China are developing strategies and increasing investment in quantum research and development. According to a 2020 study commissioned by Canada’s National Research Council, it is estimated that by 2045 and including all economic effects, quantum will be a $139 billion industry in Canada and employ more than 200,000 Canadians. 

A newly established Quantum Advisory Council, co-chaired by Dr. Raymond Laflamme, Canada Research Chair in Quantum Information at the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo, and Dr. Stephanie Simmons, Canada Research Chair in Silicon Quantum Technologies at Simon Fraser University and founder and Chief Quantum Officer of Photonic Inc., will provide independent expert advice on the implementation of the strategy.

The National Quantum Strategy will focus on three quantum technology areas:

  • Computing hardware and software 
  • Communications to develop a national secure quantum communications network and post-quantum cryptography capabilities for Canada
  • Sensors to support the development and commercialization of new quantum sensing technologies

Rob Myers, Director of Perimeter Institute, notes that the $360 million investment by the Government of Canada is the start of a new era for quantum in Canada. “It is important to think that this is not only the end. This is the beginning of developing a quantum ecosystem across Canada.”

Researcher Spotlight: Estelle Inack

Estelle Inack, Research Scientist, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

Dr. Estelle Inack was trained to believe that a problem is interesting if it’s hard. A research scientist, company co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, and advocate and inspiration for women in science, Dr. Inack works at the juncture of academia and industry to advance research and to solve difficult real-world problems.

Dr. Inack is a member of the Perimeter Institute Quantum Intelligence Lab (PIQuIL), working on research that couples quantum computing with artificial intelligence. And, as the use of both machine learning and quantum computing is advanced by its use in a range of industries, Dr. Inack has found herself working to bridge academia and industry through the commercialization of her research results.

Dr. Inack didn’t plan to become a physicist. She was influenced by her mother’s work in the marine industry and her own interest in natural science to seek a career on the technical side of the marine business. Her childhood fascination with naval architecture and advice that an undergraduate degree in physics was the best preparation for that work led her to study physics, rather than her first choice of mathematics. As her interest in the maritime industry waned, Dr. Inack focused on her masters’ degree and continuing her studies in English rather than her original language of French. 

As someone who had wanted to pursue a PhD in physics but was steered by funding sources to study engineering instead, Dr. Inack’s father strongly encouraged her to continue her studies in physics at the doctoral level. She received a scholarship to study in Italy and, for her postdoctoral work, elected to join Perimeter Institute, as a Francis Kofi Allotey Fellow.  She chose Perimeter over other offers from the University of Alberta, Microsoft and the University of Southern California because she knew that working at Perimeter would allow her to expand her research interests to include machine learning and neural networks. Originally from Cameroon, she is proud to have been awarded a fellowship named for an internationally renowned African mathematical physicist.

Dr. Inack’s work at PIQuIL has provided unique opportunities for collaboration with industry. As she designed algorithms to solve optimization problems, she understood that her research results would be valuable to industry. She partnered with fellow academic physicist, Behnam Javanparast, who also had worked in the financial industry, to found quantum intelligence start-up yiyaniQ. yiyaniQ, which combines the words for intelligence and future in Dr. Inack’s local language of Bassa, provides advanced derivative pricing and portfolio optimization based on quantum intelligent algorithms. 

Thanks to her participation in the Creative Destruction Lab Quantum Stream bootcamp in 2021, Dr. Inack is developing a different approach to research, one that not only seeks to develop the best possible tools but that also looks for potential business applications for those tools. In the future, besides the financial sector, yiyaniQ plans to look at other verticals where, working with partners with domain expertise, additional real-world problems can be solved using her research results.

As she has progressed in her career, Dr. Inack has realized that the influence of her strong mother, who taught her that a woman can do anything that a man can do, has been a key factor in her success. In order to recalibrate the mindset that math and physics isn’t for women, she spends time promoting women in science, with a focus on Africa. “It’s important to have those conversations, to let young women know that it’s possible to do science.  And to educate male counterparts.”  

When asked what she’d like to be known for, Dr. Inack says “For solving the hardest problems and for making an impact on daily life.” And she does just that as a researcher at the intersection of quantum and machine learning, as an entrepreneur providing commercial applications of her work and as an inspirational role model for young women.

CEO Message

I’m excited to share Profound Impact’s plans for this year as we amplify our focus on research and researchers across Canada and internationally.

Our new Research Spotlight column, which debuts this month highlighting Canada’s role as an AI research leader, will feature stories about emerging research and collaboration in areas including Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Information Processing, Sustainability, Alternative Energy, Climate Change, Biomanufacturing, Social Innovation, and Technology and Society.

We’ll also introduce some of the world-renowned researchers working in these areas to transfer their research results from the lab to innovative products and services.  This month you’ll meet Professor Doina Precup from McGill University, who conducts fundamental research on reinforcement learning and works on AI applications in areas that have a social impact.

March 8 is International Women’s Day and this year’s theme is Embrace Equity. The Profound Impact team is delighted to be working with the Waterloo Region Chapter of Women in Communications and Technology and community organizations from across the region to present a series of IWD2023 events throughout the month of March to celebrate the women of Waterloo Region. We’ll share information about these events in upcoming issues of Profound Connections.

I know that you’ll be impressed by the accomplishments of Adrija Jana, featured in this month’s Impact Story. At just 18 years of age and just beginning her studies in English Literature at the University of Delhi in India, this exceptional young woman has made great impact as a poet, researcher, social activist, artist and active citizen.

Enjoy this month’s edition of Profound Connections and hope you are having a great start to a healthy, happy and prosperous 2023!

Sherry Shannon-Vanstone