Alberta Science Body Invests $6.7 M in U of S-Owned Synchrotron Project

Posted February 08, 2001


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ? 11 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 7/2001 2001-02-08-OTHER

Alberta Science Body Invests $6.7 M in U of S-Owned Synchrotron Project

The Canadian Light Source synchrotron project at the University of
Saskatchewan will receive $6.7 million over four years from the Alberta
Science and Research Authority (ASRA) toward two beamlines, conduits for
carrying synchrotron light to scientists? workstations.

The announcement was made jointly today by Innovation and Science Minister
Lorne Taylor and ASRA chair Bob Church in Calgary. ASRA is an advisory body
made up of leaders in Alberta?s research and business community.

As well, ASRA will provide $3.1 million over five years for the Alberta
Synchrotron Institute -- a partnership of ASRA, three Alberta universities,
and Western Economic Diversification.

This new institute, with offices in both Edmonton and Calgary, will manage
projects in Alberta involving synchrotron technology and help ensure that
Alberta?s top academic and industrial researchers are able to incorporate
this new technology into their work. It will remain in operation until the
CLS is fully established.

"We're delighted Alberta has joined this unique partnership of universities,
governments and industry to create a new tool for science and innovation in
Canada - the biggest science project in Canada in more than 30 years," said
CLS director Michael Bancroft.

U of S President Peter MacKinnon stressed that the Alberta investment in
this national synchrotron facility owned by the U of S will help
universities all across Canada attract and keep excellent scientists and
graduate students who need access to synchrotron light to do their research.

"Already universities in our two provinces have seen a 'brain gain' of
outstanding Canadian researchers who are returning from the U.S. and Europe
to take advantage of the innovative research opportunities at the CLS," he
said.

The CLS will begin operations in January of 2004. Construction of the
$173.5-million project is on time and on budget. The building that will
house the synchrotron is now complete and a dedication ceremony involving
all partners will be held Feb. 26th.

Alberta is the second province outside Saskatchewan to contribute beamline
funding. The Ontario Innovation Trust announced last March that it will
invest $9.4 million towards beamline development.

The synchrotron is a huge, donut-shaped ring that accelerates a stream of
electrons and manipulates them to create a beam of light billions of times
brighter than the sun. This rare light can then be used by industrial and
university researchers as a revolutionary new tool to observe structures and
chemical reactions at a molecular level.

The CLS will have applications in a host of fields ? pharmaceuticals,
environmental remediation, biotechnology, petrochemicals, semi-conductors,
advanced materials, miniaturized machine components, and medical imaging, to
name a few.

CLS construction is mainly funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation,
the Canadian government, the Saskatchewan government, the Ontario Innovation
Trust, the Alberta government, the University of Saskatchewan, the City of
Saskatoon and SaskPower.

Information on CLS is available at www.cls.usask.ca.

For more information, contact:

Kathryn Warden
Research Communications Officer
University of Saskatchewan
Tel: (306) 966-2506
Fax: (306) 966-2411
kathryn.warden@usask.ca
www.cls.usask.ca

Jeremy Fritsche
Communications Branch, Alberta Innovation and Science
2nd floor, 6950 - 113 Street, Edmonton, AB
Tel: (780) 415-6186
Fax: (780) 422-1801