The winners were announced at the Celebrate Success Business Awards Gala in Saskatoon May 14. The two $5,000 awards honour U of S researchers who have brought new and commercially viable technology to the Industry Liaison Office (ILO) for development into marketable products.

“The technologies developed by this year’s finalists have great potential to improve our lives through improvements in human health, food production, and environmentally friendly energy,” said ILO managing director Glen Schuler. “We will also benefit with the promise of increased investment and more high-quality jobs in our province.”

Innovation Place client services director Jackie Presnell had high praise for the calibre of nominations.

“We’re excited by this year’s crop of inventions,” she said. “Many of the enterprises at Innovation Place are built on ideas that began at the U of S, and many of the highly qualified people that work here are U of S grads. We’re proud to celebrate these successes that help bring novel products and processes to the marketplace.”

Andrew Potter, executive director of the U of S Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, was recognized for his work on a novel vaccine for E. coli which has significantly reduced the level of the disease in cattle. The research, carried out in collaboration with University of British Columbia scientist Brett Finlay, represents an entirely unique approach to food safety.

Their approach is to immunize cattle, which are carriers of the E. coli 0157 bacterium but do not get sick. The vaccine works by eliciting an immune response, preventing attachment of the bacterium to the intestine and thus reducing the ability of the bacterium to proliferate. This significantly reduces shedding of E. coli by cattle, decreasing the risk of food and water contamination, which in turn reduces risk of human infection and associated health consequences.

Martin Reaney, Saskatchewan Agriculture Chair of Lipid Quality and Utilization in the College of Agriculture and Bioresources, has developed a series of value-adding processes for biodiesel production which reduce production costs and increase biodiesel performance.

Reaney’s approach produces biodiesel, de-salted glycerol, and lithium grease from oilseeds such as frost-damaged canola that are not suitable for edible oil production. The technology promises increased profitability by allowing producers to make biodiesel while at the same time diversifying their operations with two other high-value products. The patent-pending technology has attracted interest from a number of organizations within the biodiesel industry.

Other nominees included plant scientist Lawrence Gusta who has developed a way to increase stress tolerance of a variety of commercially important crop plants, and biologist Vipen Sawhney who developed the first commercially functional male-sterile tomato system which reduces production costs for tomato seed producers.

The annual Award of Innovation is open to U of S employees and students. Selection criteria include the novelty of the innovation and its potential commercial impact. The selection committee includes representatives from both Innovation Place and the U of S.

Each of the winners will also receive a trophy and be recognized with a photo on the “Award of Innovation” wall at the Industry Liaison Office at Innovation Place.

Innovation Place (www.innovationplace.com) is one of North America's most successful university-related research parks. The ILO (http://www.usask.ca/research/ilo) works with inventors to help commercialize innovations developed at the U of S.

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For more information, contact:

Glen Schuler
Managing Director
Industry Liaison Office
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-4584
glen.schuler@usask.ca
http://www.usask.ca/research/ilo

Austin Beggs
Vice President, Corporate Relations
Innovation Place
(306) 933-7464
austin@innovationplace.com
http://www.innovationplace.com/

Kris Foster
Research Communications
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-2427
www.usask.ca/research