Right now, we have a new Institute for nanotechnology and that's a burgeoning area. We've spent quite a bit in creating infrastructure to support those faculty members, and there are innovations coming out constantly in that space. We have one at the moment—a nanoparticle that can encapsulate nutrients and pesticides, and deliver water right to the root of plants. This slow-release technology mitigates some of the problems you have with over-applying fertilizer. Twenty-five per cent of fertilizer runs off into our streams and aquifers and contaminates water.
This kind of innovation could have a big place in the world. Think about trying to feed the world's population and the impact this could have. It's that kind of innovation that we're working on right now. We are trying to position ourselves to license it to a Canadian company that could be a receptor. Or we could be looking at creating a start-up company that could build a Canadian capacity to do that kind of research and implementation. That's an example of a cutting-edge technology that we're working on now, and I'm sure my colleagues in other institutions have similar examples.
At universities, we see a lot of really early stuff, and we can only invest in it so long and hold that place. We really need the private sector to step up and do something with it.