Hello, Vice-Chair and committee members. Thank you so much for inviting TRIUMF Innovations to appear before you on this important study.
My name is Kathryn Hayashi, and I am president and CEO of TRIUMF Innovations, the business interface and commercialization arm of TRIUMF, Canada's particle accelerator centre.
Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge that TRIUMF is located on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Musqueam people, who for millennia have passed on their culture, history and traditions from one generation to the next on this site. TRIUMF's home has always been a seat of learning.
Located on the campus of the University of British Columbia, TRIUMF is a world-class subatomic physics and accelerator facility that, using world-unique infrastructure, carries out fundamental science and applied research that is changing the world.
TRIUMF's network of innovators, which includes 21 Canadian universities, is constantly developing new tools and techniques that push the frontiers of knowledge. These scientific innovations hold immense promise for the world beyond the lab, including the marketplace. Our dedicated team of business and technology transfer professionals at TRIUMF Innovations connects scientific inventions and ideas from particle detectors to isotope manufacturing systems and the innovators behind them to opportunities in the private sector.
TRIUMF Innovations acts as a connector to the business world by providing market opportunities for applied technologies that emerge from the TRIUMF network by streamlining access to our world-class expertise and infrastructure, and by connecting our researchers and technologies to the world via industry partnerships, company creation and licensing.
The work of TRIUMF is sometimes seen as merely theoretical with little practical impact. The truth is that our work is often applied in ways we cannot foresee at the outset, with often surprising commercial and societal benefits.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, TRIUMF used learnings from research looking for dark matter, which included experience with gas handling and control systems, to help engineer and produce low-cost COVID ventilators through partnerships with other Canadian institutions, Italy and the United States.
Another real-world application is seen in our spinoff company, Ideon Technologies, which uses muon detectors originally developed to study fundamental subatomic particles as part of a new technology that provides X-ray like visibility up to one kilometre beneath the earth's surface. By detecting muons and using proprietary algorithms to produce 3D maps, Ideon helps exploration geologists more accurately identify new material and metal deposits, allowing companies to mine in a greener, more cost-effective way.
Ideon is the lead for a unique digital supercluster project with a world-leading consortium that includes Dias Geophysical, Fireweed Metals, Simon Fraser University, Mitacs and Microsoft.
None of these advancements would be possible without first providing the necessary funding and resources to the fundamental research being done at TRIUMF as well as the funding to enable our researchers to devote more focus and more applied activities to successfully develop and commercialize intellectual property. Future success will require even broader collaborative research and funding approaches across disciplinary boundaries.
As part of our recently released 20-year vision, we are continuing to focus on what we do best, translating fundamental science to real-world applications. We are excited about the opportunities for TRIUMF to drive further scientific breakthroughs and solutions to complex challenges facing Canada and the world, ranging from climate change to health to quantum and green technologies.
TRIUMF's newest capital investment, the institute for advanced medical isotopes, will provide academic and industry partners with world-leading capacity for new isotope research and clinical applications, and forms an important building block in our growing national medical isotope ecosystem.
In summary, our team at TRIUMF and TRIUMF Innovations continues to work tirelessly to translate Canadian scientific IP to real-world applications. Through our partnerships, we are bridging the gap between applied and theoretical research and tangible innovations.
As you continue to study the commercialization of IP as well as your study into big science in Canada, we look forward to hosting you at our facility in Vancouver and showcasing the amazing work we are doing to drive innovation.
Thank you, and I look forward to the committee's questions.