University researchers win ASTech awards

Once again, a number of researchers from the University of Calgary have been awarded prestigious ASTech Awards for their remarkable innovations in Alberta science and technology.

Pictured above is University of Calgary professor Sheelagh Carpendale taking part in a parade of honourees at the ASTech Awards on Friday in Edmonton.

Among the Alberta winners, announced Friday at a gala dinner in Calgary, are five faculty, student and team initiatives from the university. They are:

• Outstanding Leadership in Alberta Science – Stefanie Czub, Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency Ltd. 
• Outstanding Leadership in Alberta Technology – Pere Santamaria, University of Calgary and Parvus Therapeutics Inc.
• Outstanding Science and Technology Start-Up Award sponsored by NAIT – CEO Dr. Breanne Everett, Orpyx Medical Technologies
• Innovation in Information and Communications Technology sponsored by TELUS – Sheelagh Carpendale, University of Calgary 
• Societal Impact Award - Ward of the 21 Century

Stefanie Czub, adjunct professor from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, studies new, atypical forms of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) in cattle. She says it's always an honour when your research receives an award. "But this one means even more to me because it comes from Alberta," she says. "It is even a greater honour; this is such a great place to do research and to live.”

Pere Santamaria's lab discovered a therapeutic platform for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. Santamaria, director of the Julia McFarlane Diabetes Research Centre in the Faculty of Medicine, says the ASTech award helps recognize the efforts of his multidisciplinary team of investigators, including technicians, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and research associates. “There are so many people here in the province doing great research,” he says. “It highlights for the public and for our community the value that research and development have for our local and national economies and how important it is to promote the generation of new knowledge.”

Breanne Everett, Haskayne MBA student, resident in plastic surgery at the University of Calgary, and CEO of Orpyx Medical Technologies, agrees. The company she co-founded developed a state-of-the-art, pressure-sensing shoe insert for diabetics that tells the user when potential damage could be occurring on the feet. “The public recognition is really important,” she says. “It really encourages other entrepreneurs to go ahead and found their own companies and follow along similar paths.”

As she accepted her award Friday night, professor Sheelagh Carpendale — who studies information visualization in the Computer Science Department in the Faculty of Science — told the crowd: "I am surprised and honoured to receive this award. I want to thank my students — this really wouldn't be possible without them."

“These are exciting times in Alberta and Canada," says Bill Ghali, the medical director of the Ward of the 21 Century, an initiative that facilitates testing new health care prototypes and products. As he accepted the award Friday night, he thanked the university and Alberta Health Services for taking “a leap of faith in supporting us.”

Ed McCauley, the university’s vice-president (research) is proud the university’s ASTech Award honourees and award recipients. “Their awards and the awards received by companies based in Calgary help to illustrate that the innovation hub that is strong and emerging in Alberta,” he says. “Curiosity and innovation are alive and well in Alberta — we have a very bright future ahead of us.”

Lynn Sutherland, ASTech Foundation’s executive director was thrilled with all the winners. “It was a great night for the University of Calgary and a great night for all the innovators in Alberta.”

The ASTech (Alberta Science and Technology Leadership) Foundation is a not-for-profit organization founded by industry in 1989 to showcase achievements in science and technology in Alberta and to promote their social and economic benefit.