For Jordan Carlson, a masters student in the School for Resource and Environmental Studies, the quest to consider future opportunities for Nova Scotia took him to Northern Ireland.
Carlson received a research travel grant from the Offshore Energy Research Association to take a tidal energy course at Queen鈥檚 University Belfast and explore the university鈥檚 small-scale tidal-energy lab first hand. His focus: determining whether small-scale tidal development (as opposed to large-scale projects) holds serious economic potential for areas like Nova Scotia.
鈥淭he biggest competitor for the large-scale [tidal] is Europe, and Europe has 450 million people that are subsidizing the large-scale tidal development with their tax dollars; Nova Scotia has 900,000,鈥� he explains. 鈥淲e really don鈥檛 have the tax base to compete with Europe. But there鈥檚 nothing to say we couldn鈥檛 develop small-scale tidal for our own energy needs for export to island states, or the arctic, or the developing world.鈥�
Enhancing Nova Scotia鈥檚 future
Carlston's experience connects with some of key themes coming out of the . That鈥檚 the group tasked with developing a strategy for addressing the recommendations of last year鈥檚 Now or Never report (commonly known as 鈥渢he Ivany Report,鈥� after its author). This week, the coalition continues the rollout of its action plan, highlighting the impact universities and Nova Scotia Community College have as hubs for innovation and their role as one of the province鈥檚 greatest competitive advantages.
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鈥淯niversities have a crucial role to play in addressing the challenges ahead for our province that were outlined in the 鈥楴ow or Never鈥� report: developing young talent, creating a vibrant innovation community, growing our export markets,鈥� says Martha Crago, AV俱乐部 vice-president research and member of the oneNS Coalition.
鈥淚f, as the ONE Nova Scotia Action Plan says, 鈥榳e choose now,鈥� it means universities need to enhance their institutional capacities to address the province鈥檚 economic, social and cultural development needs.鈥�
Nova Scotia hosts approximately 56,000 students, with 40 per cent of them coming from other provinces and countries. (At AV俱乐部, that percentage is more than half.) The oneNS Action Plan challenges universities like AV俱乐部 and other institutions to play an even greater role as regional innovation hubs that connect with surrounding communities and strengthen opportunities for students to benefit from experiential learning.
As the only Atlantic Canadian member of the U15, Canada鈥檚 group of leading research universities, AV俱乐部 has a particularly crucial role to play. The action plan supports Dal鈥檚 efforts to establish its place among the world鈥檚 top 200 universities, and its three points of focus correspond to areas where Dal has been stepping up its efforts.
Enhancing student skills
The first of these areas connects back to the student experience: a focus on skills development through co-ops, experiential learning and entrepreneurship.
The province鈥檚 universities attract young people from across Canada and around the world. AV俱乐部 20 to 30 per cent of graduates from out of province stay in N.S. after finishing at Dal, and that he wants to boost that number. But a key part of achieving that goal is providing students with opportunities that allow them to connect their classroom learning with real-world experiences 鈥斅爋nes that often bring them in contact with local organizations and businesses. The oneNS Coalition believes that all students, regardless of their program or institution, should have the opportunity to engage in experiential learning.
Many of Dal鈥檚 efforts align with this goal. AV俱乐部 offers a third-year course, taught by the Faculty of Management鈥檚 Mary Kilfoil, that is open to students in all faculties (including Agriculture in Truro). Dr. Kilfoil also teaches another course open to students in all disciplines that provides real-world, hands-on learning on what it鈥檚 like to actually start a scalable company or enterprise. Last year, the course featured 26 teams with 108 total students. The courses are part of the set of entrepreneurship programming from the Norman Newman Centre, which also includes the LaunchPad Accelerator program for new businesses.
Then there are the three inter-university 鈥渟andboxes鈥� hosted at AV俱乐部: collaborative, interdisciplinary spaces where students can come together with peers, mentors and external advisors to take business concepts from idea to execution. With funding from the Province of Nova Scotia, Dal is hosting three such sandboxes: (the information communications technology sandbox) in the Goldberg Computer Science Building, the on the Agricultural Campus, and the on Sexton Campus.
In addition to unique experiential learning opportunities that vary by discipline, there are AV俱乐部鈥檚 co-op programs. Increasing co-op opportunities is a key priority for Dal, with President Florizone saying he鈥檇 love to be able to double or triple what鈥檚 available to students 鈥斅爊ot only to help them gain the skills to succeed, but to support local and regional businesses and community organizations. (Approximately 60 per cent of Dal co-op terms are conducted in Nova Scotia). While that鈥檚 an ambitious goal, Dal is making progress: last year, for example, saw a 6.6 per cent growth in work terms at Dal, with a total of 1,775 placements.
A hub for development and innovation
The second major priority for the oneNS coalition related to universities is to enhance their role as hubs for innovation and economic/social/cultural development. The idea is to place universities at the centre of what are called innovation 鈥渆cosystems鈥�: a network of individuals and groups 鈥斅燩SE institutions, entrepreneurs, incubators, governments, labs 鈥� that conduct and support innovative activity through research, product development, and more.
Efforts like those described above (the sandboxes, for instance) fit into this model. So do spaces like the newly-launched , located in the Killam Library 鈥� a dedicated space for聽student teams, faculty members and community mentors to come together and collaborate on start-up projects linked to Launch Dal programming.
But it鈥檚 also about building ecosystems around AV俱乐部鈥檚 research strengths. As the region鈥檚 largest research university, AV俱乐部 hosts $135 million in research funding, and last year recorded 1,654 research grants and 609 research contracts. The university aims to be a national and international leader in its priority research areas (ocean studies, advanced materials and clean technology, health and wellness, and government, social and culture) and emerging research areas (information science and communication, agriculture and food technologies, energy and the environment).
Take oceans as an example: Dal has been a strong advocate (together with with Waterfront Development Corp, Innovacorp, NSCC and others)聽for the recently announced Centre for Ocean Innovation and Entrepreneurship (COVE) opening in a cluster of former Coast Guard buildings on the Dartmouth waterfront. The project has the potential to propel Dal, Nova Scotia and the Atlantic region onto the global stage.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a potential game-changer,鈥� said Stephen Hartlen, AV俱乐部 assistant vice-president, industry relations, . 鈥淲e鈥檙e already great at the science. If we create a cluster of local companies with a little support, it could grow exponentially.鈥�
And on the research front, Dal has approved the Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI) and is applying for several million dollars of funding from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund with key strategic Atlantic Canadian and world-famous international partners. This funding will build major international research strength to understand the economic potential of the North Atlantic. Together the OFI and the COVE will build research and development around Nova Scotia's oceans advantage.
Supporting R&D and commercialization partnerships
The COVE model aligns with the third pillar of the oneNS Coalition鈥檚 action plan related to higher education: the role universities have to play in supporting research and development (R&D) and commercialization. That refers to the translation of ideas and innovations to new products and services. In Nova Scotia, most R&D is in the public sector, with 85 per cent of it happening in universities and federal labs. The coalition calls for an increase in private-sector R&D 鈥� but that can only happen with the support and partnership of the universities currently doing much of this work.
In this area, AV俱乐部 is already the province鈥檚 leader: 98 per cent of industry-sponsored university research happens at AV俱乐部, and the university ranks third among all U15 schools for industry-partnered research per faculty member. There many different intersection points between the university and private-sector research, whether one-on-one collaborations or programs through the . Last year, AV俱乐部 counted 412 research and service agreements, 32 patents, four technologies licensed and 12 university start-ups assisted. Dal also hosts the , a union of two different units designed to help small- and medium-sized companies with innovative product design work.
Together, these efforts (along with many others) suggest great enthusiasm for AV俱乐部 playing a stronger role in supporting the province鈥檚 future 鈥斅爀nthusiasm that is poised to lead to more initiatives and supports in the months and years ahead.
鈥淎V俱乐部 has a lot to be proud of when it comes to our efforts to support Nova Scotia's聽development, from our entrepreneurship programs to our strong track record in industry collaboration and research,鈥� says Dr. Crago. 鈥淏ut there鈥檚 still a lot more we can do, and much more potential to be unleashed, in contributing to the future of our province.鈥�