Science &
Technology
in
British

Columbia

people make the difference

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
people
make
the
difference

INTRODUCTION
Aquatic Resources

page 21

Science & Technology Fund

page 5

Science & Technology Policy

page 7

Agriculture and
Food Processing

page21

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

Medical Research

page23

The University
of British Columbia

page 11

Networks of Centres
Of Excellence

page23

The University of Victoria

page 11

TRIUMF/KAON

page25

Simon Fraser University

page 11

British Columbia Institute
of Technology

page 13

The Open Learning Agency

page 13

Technology and
the Labour Force

FRAMEWORK FOR ACTION

Premier’s Advisory Council
on Science & Technology

page 27

Science Council
of British Columbia

page27

page13 Provincial Ministries

page27

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Discovery Foundation

page 29

Information Technology

page 15

Federal Government

page 29

Communications

Environmental Industry

page15 British Columbia Advanced
Systems Institute
page15
Vancouver Island Advanced
page 17 Technology Centre

Space and Aerospace

page 17

Biotechnology

Software

page31

page31

British Columbia Research
Corporation

page31

page17
SCIENCE AWARENESS

Forestry

page19

Public Interpretive Centres

Mining

page19

Energy

page19

Science World
Science & Technology Week

Subsea

page21

page 33
page33
page 33

People Make The Difference

President

Tae Ri Lee (above)

ofTRL
Microwave
Technology Inc.

consults with
technician.

Vice-president Bob

Mountford (below)
with Daisy Lau
and Elsa Larsen

in the
production centre
of Spilsbury

Communications Ltd.

British Columbia attracts many
people because of its beautiful scenery
and mild climate. But it attracts scientists,
engineers and entrepreneurs because of
the programs, facilities and challenges —
and, above all, the people — that they
find here.
British Columbia has a proven record
of innovation in medicine, agriculture,
resource recovery and management,
transportation and communications. Men
and women have made major
contributions to human progress. That’s
what this document is all about — what
B.C. has done, can do and will do to
advance and apply science and
technology. Today, thanks to the
existence of strong and broadly based
universities, colleges and research
institutes, a fast-growing list of private
companies in the knowledge sector, and
an enlightened government policy on
science and technology, the opportunities
for innovation in those and other fields
are excellent.
Under the blueprint laid down in the
government’s newly adopted policy,
Strategiesfor Innovation, the government
is committed to creating a future “where
innovation is the norm, not the
exception.”
The provincial government has
committed substantial funding and the
talents of its best people to achieve this
goal. The government expects that by the
year 2000, B.C. industry, government
and institutions will be investing
approximately 2.5 percent of provincial
output in research and development.
That’s 3 times the estimated level of
research and development in 1989.

5 YEAR EXPENDITURE PROFILE

Science & Technology Fund
The most significant science and
technology commitment ever un­
dertaken in British Columbia was
announced in the April, 1990, Budget
Speech. A new Science & Technology
Fund will provide $420 million over
five years to support applied research
and development. The aim is to make
our firms better able to compete
internationally and to help them
introduce products which are more
valuable and so bring more wealth
and a better quality of life to the
province.
The fund will provide support for:
1. Industry-based research and
development with industry con­
tributing at least 50 per cent.
2. Research in key industrial sectors,
such as information technology,
identified through an industry-led
planning process.
3. Special projects, such as research
into alternative fuels and the KAON
project described on page 25.
Particular emphasis will be placed on
projects that promote a clean
environment and quality of life and on
those that have the potential to create
high-technology export industries.

BUILDING ON STRENGTHS
British Columbia is larger than any
European country except Russia, and any
American state except Alaska. Yet its
population is relatively small, just over
3 million people. What is happening

5

Science & Technology Policy
1. Support the use and development of technological innovations that build
on existing strengths and capabilities and have export potential.
2. Encourage the use of science and technology to optimize the quality of
life for British Columbians through protecting and improving our natural,
man-made, and cultural environments, and do so in a way that produces
products and services that can be exported.

Billie Jo Finnson

and Gary
Kenwood (left)

grade western

red cedar
seedlings for
packing at

Reid, Collins
Nurseries Ltd.

3. Recognize the importance of basic research, and encourage applied
research of an international calibre in areas that contribute significantly to
British Columbia.’s economic development and competitiveness.

4. Foster entrepreneurial enterprises and encourage partnerships among
post-secondary institutions, government, industry, and labour that will
promote technology transfer and encourage commercialization of the results
of our basic and applied research.
5. Support the development of marketing programs that take advantage of
British Columbia’s unique geographical location and cultural makeup.

6. Strengthen the science and technology components at all levels of the
educational system so that scientific and technological literacy is improved,
more people are attracted to careers in science and technology, and our
universities continue to produce graduates and research of the highest
possible calibre.
7. Encourage government, institutions, industry and labour to communicate
the benefits of science and technology to the general public so that the
public supports science and technology policies and initiatives.
8. Make educational programs available in science and technology to
enable retraining, upgrading and acquisition of new knowledge, to ensure
an educated and adaptable work force in the trades and professions.
9. Provide a level of direct government financial support for technology­
intensive industries that will enable British Columbia to be competitive
nationally and internationally.
— from Strategies for Innovation

Construction
workers (above) on

Alex Fraser bridge.
Electron Micrograph
of Giant Bay’s

bacteria eating

pyrite(left) — magnified

7500 times.
Greg Peet, (below)
president of Norsat

International Inc. —

leaders in satellite

here is truly remarkable. But people in
industry, educational institutions and
government realize we can only be leaders
in certain scientific or technological areas.
The Provincial Policy, then, recommends
that we build on our strengths. This
means, for example, using technology to
make our resource industries — forestry,
mining, fishing, agriculture — more
efficient and more competitive. It also
means applying our skills to adding value
to those resources — assembling,
processing and building with them here
before we use or export them. (For example,
see page 15) Adding value to basic
resources is a key policy objective, and it
is one that will challenge our scientists,
technicians, engineers and entrepreneurs,
and stimulate the growth of our economy.
Guided by the recommendations of a
wide spectrum of private sector advisors,
the Province also wants to stimulate
industries like information processing,
biotechnology and advanced materials,
which create technology that helps a
broad range of other industries, and other
key sectors.
And we know we will need many
more scientists, technicians, engineers and
entrepreneurs to meet the challenge.
People are B.C.’s best resource and they
arc also its most renewable resource.
Educational institutions and industry are
the instruments of that renewal.

dish technology —

innovative people. British Columbia is
taking a lead role nationally in efforts to
plan and provide for the nation’s human
resource requirements for knowledge­
based industry in the next century,
including life-long learning.
❖ Research and development
The industry base is being transformed.
More and more, technology is driving
traditional resource industries and
enabling major new industries, such as
computer software. Government policies
encourage this transformation.
❖ Framework for Action
People need a framework for action. New
and existing institutions are making it
easier for people to get things done. The
Science Council ofB.C., the Advanced
Systems Institute, the Premier’s Advisory
Council on Science & Technology, and the
industry-led planning process known as
SPARK are key to this infrastructure.
❖ Science awareness
People need to know more about the
achievements of the province’s scientists
and engineers. Knowledge builds support
and understanding among the general
public. B.C. is well-served by splendid
institutions such as Science World and
programs like Scientists in the Schools,
which help to explain and interpret
scientific principles and the joy of
discovery.

NOW, THE SPECIFICS

observes the

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
STRATEGY

assembly line.

The Province’s strategy to achieve its
policy has four parts:
❖ Human resource development
The most important factor is skilled and

That’s an overview ofB.C., a current
and future home of world-class science
and engineering. The remainder of this
report fills in the details of what’s
happening and who’s making it happen.

Human Resource Development

Dr. Tad

McGeer (left)
of Simon
Fraser

University
School of

Engineering
explores
bipedal robotic

locomotion.

B.C.’s educational institutions are
essential partners with government in all
aspects of science policy, from basic
research to public awareness of the
importance of science. But their
fundamental role is human resource
development, ensuring that B.C. has the
trained graduates and experienced and
knowledgeable scientists we need to
compete in the 21st century.
The Province’s advanced education
facilities are impressive by any standards.
At present, there are three major
universities — the University of British
Columbia, the University of Victoria and
Simon Fraser University, fifteen
community colleges and four specialized
institutes serving communities from
Dawson Creek in the northeast to
Victoria in the southwest.
But the picture is changing rapidly.
The three established universities are
being joined by several other degree­
granting institutions, as a fresh demand
for higher education available closer to
home sweeps across the province. Soon
we’ll celebrate the opening of the
University of Northern British Columbia
in Prince George, designed to serve
people in the interior and northern parts
of the province. Meanwhile, full
university degree programs are being
offered students at community colleges in
Kelowna, Kamloops and Nanaimo.
The B.C. Institute of Technology in
Burnaby offers specialized training in a
broad range of skills, while the Open
Learning Agency uses correspondence
and satellite broadcasts to communicate
to a vast audience of learners throughout
British Columbia.
The three existing universities, the
Institute of Technology, and some of the
colleges have opened special industry
liaison offices to build links between
campus researchers and off-campus
entrepreneurs. Technology transfer from
the university to the marketplace has

become big business. The list includes
everything from satellite software to a
bodysuit to warn paraplegics of the
danger of frostbite. More than 70
companies have spun off from the
University of B.C. alone.

THE UNIVERSITY
OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
The largest and oldest of British
Columbia’s universities, the University of
B. C. sets a high standard for both basic
and applied research. From mechanical
engineering to zoology, the faculties
involved in science and engineering
maintain a busy program of research,
teaching and community interaction.
Currently, the university brings in close to
$ 100 million a year in research grants and
contracts, most from national and
international competitions based on
excellence. At any given time, there are
more than 2,000 faculty and 4,000
student research projects underway.

THE UNIVERSITY OF
VICTORIA
The clear, dark skies of southern
Vancouver Island have attracted
astronomers since the early 20th century.
Not surprisingly, the pursuit of
knowledge about the universe is one of
the scientific strengths of the University
of Victoria.
Marine biology is another. The
university is a partner in the Bamfield
Marine Station on the west coast of the
Island, and the recently established
engineering faculty has made important
contributions to software engineering,
database management, operating systems,
image processing, digital filter design,
computer-aided manufacturing and
design and robotics.

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
Simon Fraser’s lofty perch atop
Burnaby Mountain is an inspiring setting

1

Students (above)
study at

the University
of British

Columbia library

At International
Submarine
Engineering Ltd,,

(below) a

technician
checks a

remote controlled
submersible.

for the work of 16,000 students and more
than 500 faculty members. Industry,
business, and government support
campus research with upwards of $10
million in annual grants.
Since it opened its doors in 1965
Simon Eraser University has developed an
extensive array of disciplines in science
and engineering. In the new Applied
Sciences building, computer scientists and
engineers break new ground in circuit
design, artificial intelligence and expert
systems, and robotics.
A downtown campus that debuted in
1989 is opening doors to new knowledge
and skills for mature and continuing
students, and there are plans for more
satellites in the Fraser Valley.

B.C. INSTITUTE OF
TECHNOLOGY
The B.C. Institute of Technology offers
well respected diploma programs. In
engineering technology, programs include
biotechnology, computer-assisted design
and manufacturing, microcomputer
systems, robotics and automation, pulp
and paper, and building technology. On
the health sciences side, there are
programs in such fields as biomedical
engineering, nuclear medicine technology,
environmental health and general nursing.
The Institute also offers a unique course
in advanced technology marketing.

THE OPEN LEARNING
AGENCY
The term “open learning” was first
used in 1969 to describe the self-paced,
independent study university courses
offered by the British Open University.

It breaks down many of the traditional
barriers to learning — complicated
prerequisite requirements, time, and
distance. Students are able to learn when
and what they want. Open learning came
to B.C. in 1978. Now, under the Open
Learning Agency, there are close to
50,000 annual course enrollments.

TECHNOLOGY AND THE
LABOURFORCE
In order to remain competitive in an
age of advancing technology and
globalization of markets, higher than eve
levels of knowledge and skills are
necessary. Based on current projections,
86 per cent of new jobs created in B.C.
to 1993 will require 12 or more years of
education and training. Over the next
decade, two-thirds of new jobs will
require 17 or more years of formal
education and training.
The occupational focus is shifting
from resource-based industries to more
information-intensive industries such as
manufacturing, services, transportation,
communications and utilities, finance,
insurance, real estate and trade.
To maintain and improve
productivity, there must be commitment
to training scientists and researchers to
develop and adapt technologies, and
training and upgrading of the workers
who use this technology.
Through education — elementary,
secondary, and post-secondary —
training, and upgrading, British
Columbians can and will attain the skill
levels necessary to remain competitive in
today’s technology-intensive labour
market.

Research And Development
throughout the world.
The Nexus Group began in a garage
less than ten years ago. Today it employs
250 skilled people making cable television
equipment for the world market.
Other prominent
telecommunications firms include
Glenayre Electronics, active in cellular,
paging, mobile data and voice processing
markets, and Norsat International, which
Canadian Business magazine acclaimed as
Canada’s fastest growing company in
1989.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Vancouver

police (above)

rely on MDI
computer to

bring information

within reach.

Scientists (left)
working at the BC
Cancer Research

Centre.

An operator at

This sector, combining electronics
and software, is the fastest growing
industry in B.C. with about 20 per cent a
year sales growth. It has become a billion­
dollar-a-year industry. A recent count
listed over 800 companies, many of them
achieving remarkable success targeting
niches in this international and highly
competitive market. B.C. companies
produce a wide range of products, from
software to printed circuit boards, power
inverters and specialized computers.
A Burnaby company, Creo Products
Incorporated, is about to create a
revolution in data storage. It has
developed an optical tape recorder in
which information is inscribed by a laser
rather than the traditional magnetic
means. Such is the precision of the system
that one reel of optical tape will be able to
store the equivalent of 1 billion
typewritten pages.
A.L.T. Technologies of Vancouver
designs and assembles digital image
management workstations, featuring the
latest in microcomputer hardware and
software.

BIOTECHNOLOGY
Biotechnology industries employ
hundreds of people in B.C., notably in
breeding and gene engineering, waste
control and disease control. The volume
of research already exceeds $12 million a
year and experts predict rapid growth.
Some examples: cloning of “super-trees”
that grow faster and straighter; the use of
bacteria to extract metals from ore and
waste rock; environmental monitoring
techniques; and gene probes.
You couldn’t cite a better example of
university-to-market technology transfer
anywhere than what the Vancouver-based
firm Quadra Logic Technologies is doing.
Founded by a team of University of
British Columbia scientists in the early
1980’s Quadra Logic Technologies moves
innovative products from the laboratory
onto the world’s pharmaceutical stage. Its
current thrust is photodynamic therapy, in
which drugs activated by light are used in
the diagnosis and treatment of disease.
The firm has also introduced products for
cancer control, sexually-transmitted
diseases, virus infections and
atherosclerosis.
The Canadian Liposome Company
specializes in another line of attack against
cancer. Because some drugs break down
in the body before they can go to work,
they need to be protected on their way to
a cancer site. Liposomes are microscopic

Endako Mines
Division of Placer

Dome Inc., (below)

adjusts the control

panel of the

bearing mills.

COMMUNICATIONS
Communications is a hot area. This
isn’t surprising if you look at a relief map
of British Columbia — travel is not easy.
B.C. telecommunications companies have
contributed to Canada’s world leadership.
MPR Teltech Ltd., part of the BC Tel
group of companies, is a leader in the
development of new telecommunications
techniques and systems. The firm is
Western Canada’s largest research and
development company and is among the
ten biggest in Canada.
State-of-the-art taxi, police, courier
and security communications systems
have the Mobile Data International label
on them. MDI was bought by Motorola in
1988, but the firm has retained its
identity and now has 35 offices

15

spheres of water-resistant organic material
into which the company inserts a cancer­
controlling drug. These tiny “drug
delivery systems” can be injected
intravenously.

MacDonald Dettwiler won a $700 million
contract to develop the software and
computer hardware for a state-of-the-art
air traffic control system for Canada.
Hughes has set up a subsidiary in
Richmond to coordinate the contract and
to sell the technology around the globe.
At the same time Canac/Microtel was
completing a $270 million contract to
build the satellite systems for a northern
radar warning system.
Remote sensing and mapping is
another B.C. specialty. The provincial
Ministry of Forests started it all by
applying remote sensing from airplanes
and satellites to inventory mapping years
before the rest of the world. Now many
local firms are using the technology.
British Columbia firms are involved
in the radar satellite being developed by
the Canadian Space Agency and in a joint
project of the four western provinces to
develop systems for environmental
monitoring satellites. B.C. has been
allocated 10 percent of the purchasing for
the Space Agency’s $1.2 billion space
program and is aiming for more than
that.

ENVIRONMENTAL INDUSTRY

MB Research (left),
a division of

MacMillian
Bloedel,

is a pioneer in
thermochemical

and chemimechanical
pulping techniques

The people of British Columbia,
proud of the unsurpassed natural wonders
of their Province, are keen to protect their
environment. Their efforts have led to a
wide variety of products, processes, and
systems that enhance or protect the
environment and a high level of expertise
in environmental technology that serves a
growing worldwide demand.
Fast growing Seakem Analytical
Services, located in Sidney on Vancouver
Island, is typical. Scientists and technicians
at Seakem have adapted or invented many
techniques to analyse a wide variety of
chemicals for industry and government.
When oil spills such as the Exxon
Valdez disaster in Alaska occur, Morris
International Trading of North
Vancouver provides equipment and
materials to contain and clean them up.
Dioxins are now an unacceptable
byproduct of the pulp-making process.
Our pulp and paper industry is spending
over $ 1 billion in a four-year period to
switch to alternate bleaching processes.
This costly but necessary action is
stimulating rapid scientific and
technological progress.

SOFTWARE
The triangle formed by Vancouver,
Victoria and Seattle is North America’s
third-largest software development area.
On the B.C. side of the border, some 300
companies, employing more than 5,000
people, are engaged in designing the
programs that tell computers what to do.
Software sales add more than $300
million a year to the province’s economy,
and that’s expected to grow by 25
percent annually through the 1990’s.
One of the stars of the B.C. software
scene is Consumers Software, recently
recognized as B.C. “exporter of the year.”
The company sells electronic mail
systems, mainly to the U.S. Another
remarkable company, Bedford Software,
developed Canada’s best-selling small
business accounting program.

SPACE AND AEROSPACE
When satellites, ships or aircraft
photograph the earth, chances are that
the information will be received and
processed by equipment manufactured by
MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates of
Richmond. In less than 20 years, the firm
has become a world leader in this field. It
also designs and builds computer systems
used in air-traffic control and flight
operations.
An emerging strength is electronics
for the aerospace industry. In 1989,
Hughes Aircraft, working with

17

FORESTRY

A loader (above)
picks a stack of

logs from a

tractor trailer.
Powertech’s

extra-high
voltage lab's

impulse generator

(below) can

generate enough

energy to light
up the entire

province for a

split second.

program to increase forest productivity by
as much as 50 percent.

Our number one industry, and
destined to remain so for many years to
come, is forestry, a $13 billion-a-year
business employing 90,000 people.
Every aspect of forestry, from tree
propagation and planting through stand
tending, protection, harvesting, milling,
and pulp and paper production, is being
closely scrutinized for technology
opportunities. And there are many.
Biological controls are being developed
for weeds and insect pests. Lasers scan
logs for hidden debris. Computers are
used to control efficient cutting, maintain
quality control at all stages of processing,
and keep an accurate inventory of lumber.
Robots are being tested for use in
hazardous situations. Processes for
transforming wood into paper and other
products are being made more efficient
and more environmentally friendly. B.C.’s
companies, universities and research
institutes are accepting the challenge of
keeping this crucial industry on a
competitive footing.
Canada’s principal forest industry
research organizations — Forintek
Canada Corporation, the Forest
Engineering Research Institute of Canada
and the Pulp and Paper Research Institute
of Canada — all operate modern
laboratories in B.C. MacMillan Bloedel’s
new research facility in Burnaby is one of
the largest and modern in the world. It
has invested over $50 million to do
research and develop a product called
Parallam, a composite wood product
made from parallel strands of wood glued
together. The company spent over $100
million on the development of two
Parallam plants, one in Vancouver and
the other in Georgia, U.S.A. The material
is visually attractive and is successfully
challenging steel and iron in certain
construction situations.
Technology can have a huge impact.
The Science Council of British Columbia
has recommended a vigorous research

MINING
B.C. mines produce more than $4
billion worth of products a year, mainly
coal, copper, gold, zinc, lead, and silver.
To compete worldwide, the best
technology has to be applied and the
technology usually has to be home
grown, to cope with the particular
conditions at each mine and the
characteristics of each ore. Today’s top
research priorities are improving
productivity, in taking ore out of the
ground and extracting minerals from the
ore, and in environmental protection.
The Mining Association of B. C. is
active in promoting technology
development and technology transfer,
including projects such as an aircraft-type
simulator to train off-road truck drivers,
and new blasting techniques, as well as
research on acid rock drainage and
controlling cyanide wastes from gold
mines.
Mining technology “byproducts” like
these are exported around the world and
may one day become as important as
some of the minerals themselves.

ENERGY
Hydroelectric power, natural gas and
coal are in generous supply in B.C. There
is some oil too, and much larger sources
are located just across the Rocky
Mountains. All of which assures British
Columbia communities and industry that
they can count on reasonably priced
energy to meet their growing demands.
Meanwhile, Vancouver Island and
Sunshine Coast consumers are already
looking forward to the completion of a
natural gas pipeline from the mainland to
bring them the benefits of that clean­
burning fuel.
Energy research in B.C. is aimed at
more efficient use and re-use of these
resources. Powertech Labs Inc., formerly

19

Divers from Can-Dive

Services Ltd. (above)

place a Deep
Rover on an

undersea platform.

A broodstock
salmon (left)
shortly after

hatching.
Lew Rossner, (below)

vice-president of

corporate development
and export at

Rogers Foods Ltd.

the research and development arm of BC
Hydro, is a leader. Other firms are looking;
for ways of making alternatives to oil
more attractive and more widely available.
The technology for using natural gas as a
fuel for cars, trucks, and buses has been
adapted and improved. For example, a
B.C. firm has developed a device to allow
cars to be fuelled from household natural
gas lines.
But the ultimate “clean” fuel is
hydrogen, which burns to create energy
and leaves behind pure water. Used in a
high technology fuel cell, it can be
converted efficiently to electricity. B.C.
has natural advantages in this evolving
technology. The two major sources for
generation of hydrogen, natural gas and
electricity, are plentiful.
A North Vancouver firm, Ballard
Power Systems, is leading the way into a
new era of energy conservation and
alternate sources of power. Its solid
polymer fuel cell, based on hydrogen
technology, is already being tested as a
replacement for conventional engines on
transit vehicles. There are plans to use a
Ballard Fuel Cell in the SPIRIT
Autonomous Undersea Vehicle now under
development in B.C. The University of
Victoria is becoming a focus for research
in hydrogen technology.

SUBSEA
British Columbia leads the world in
developing products for non-military
undersea exploration. And no wonder.
With its long and varied coastline,
telecommunications expertise, and rapidly
developing skills in artificial intelligence
and robotics, B.C. has a unique
advantage.
The leading company in this field,
International Submarine Engineering of
Port Coquitlam, has launched nearly 200
submersible vehicles in the past 20 years,
more than all their competitors
combined. Some are operated by small
crews. Others are entirely remotecontrolled. Another firm, Can-Dive of

North Vancouver, specializes in diver’s
suits that enable people to descend in
comfort and safety to previously
unattainable ocean depths.
With the support of the Advanced
Systems Institute, British Columbia firms
with proven expertise related to subsea
technology have formed the SPIRIT
Subsea Corporation to develop a dream
subsea vehicle that will be able to travel,
on its own, thousands of kilometers to ar
undersea resource site, shipwreck or
geological formation. Once there, the
vehicle will investigate and sample as
required, make decisions on the situation
and even change its mission if necessary,
and then return to base.

AQUATIC RESOURCES
The rivers, lakes and coastal waters
of B.C. are home to an immense and
valuable resource. Wild and farmed fish
and aquatic plants support an industry
with close to $ 1 billion of annual sales.
Salmon is the mainstay of the wild
fishery and it is also the focus of the
burgeoning aquaculture industry: the
1995 harvest will be about S200 million.
Shellfish — clams, scallops, oysters and
mussels — are increasingly popular
aquaculture crops.
Fish farming has multiplied the
opportunities to apply research and adopt
new technology. Scientists in industry and
the universities are working to control the
incidence of disease, improve nutrition,
lower production costs, and select better
stocks through genetic manipulation.

AGRICULTURE AND
FOOD PROCESSING
Among the mountains, B.C. has
some of Canada’s richest, most
productive farm land. From this land,
ranchers, orchardists, dairy and vegetable
farmers and honey producers harvest a
wider range of food and beverages than
any other part of Canada. This is a $1.6
billion a year business, employing 31,000

21

The Canadian

people in agriculture and 20,000 in food
processing.
An estimated $30 million is spent on
agricultural research every year. It’s
because of better technology that B.C.
farmers can now market such exotic
products as ginseng, kiwi fruit, exotic
mushrooms, and also stay competitive in
the production of traditional fruits and
vegetables.
Another line of research has helped
vegetable growers to reduce their need
for chemical pesticides by some 80
percent. Applied Bionomics in Sidney is
raising natural insect predators to control
aphids and other pests. Safer Soap has
developed soaps that can be used as
pesticides and are completely harmless to
warm-blooded animals and humans.
Government research stations
throughout the province sustain a
continuous flow of new techniques.

The field has many small to medium sized specialized companies. For example,
Advanced Light Imaging, a Burnaby firm,
is developing an infra-red light scanning
device to detect breast cancer at an early
stage. Andronic Devices of Vancouver has
shown how robotic systems can be
applied in a variety of medical situations,
from handling hazardous blood samples,
to holding limbs steady and in proper
position for orthopedic surgery.
A major player is the Terry Pox
Medical Research Foundation. The
Foundation’s goals are to improve
methods of diagnosis, treatment, and
prevention of diseases. It was a co­
founder, with the British Wellcome
Foundation, of the Biomedical Research
Centre located at the University of British
Columbia. The Fox Foundation is also

Liposome
Company (left)

develops tiny

“drug delivery

systems”
to combat

localized cancer.

Networks of Centres Of Excellence

MEDICAL RESEARCH

As the 1980’s drew to a close, the
Federal Government selected 14 Networks
of Centres Of Excellence from several
hundred proposals submitted from across
Canada. Federal funding will total $240
million over four years. B.C. universities and
firms are involved in all of them. The idea is
to encourage Canadian scientists and
engineers to work together, regardless of
where they are, in strategic research areas
considered vital to the country’s growth in
science and technology.
All three B.C. universities are heavily
involved in the Centres Of Excellence. UBC
leads three of the 14 — those concerned
with bacterial diseases, genetic basis of
human disease and protein engineering —
and is participating in another nine. That’s
the most of any Canadian university.
The University of Victoria leads the
Centre Of Excellence in molecular and
interfacial dynamics and is part of four
others: bacterial diseases, telecom­
munications, robotics and intelligent
systems and microelectronics.
Simon Fraser University has a major
role in the robotics and intelligent systems
centre as well, and SFU faculty will be
contributing to others.

Is there a more worthwhile field in
which to invest research time and money?
Probably not. And, as our population
ages and the demands on the health care
system increase, the value of medical
research is going to increase.
Medical research is a $30 million a
year business in British Columbia. That’s
the direct value of research being done by
companies and agencies in the province.
Also, the University of British Columbia,
with hundreds of medical researchers and
students, and affiliated hospitals have
some of the finest laboratory and clinical
facilities anywhere. At St. Paul’s Hospital
in downtown Vancouver, for example, the
Pulmonary Research Centre studies
respiratory disorders such as asthma and
lung disease. At the University of British
Columbia’s Centre for Transplantation
Immunobiology scientists are looking into
how the body rejects transplanted tissue
and the effects of anti-rejection drugs.
The B.C. Cancer Control Agency is
renowned for the quality and effectiveness
of the tests and trials it runs.

23

close to that of light. In addition to an
impressive body of new knowledge
contributed by the people who use
TRIUMF, there are practical benefits.
Short-lived radio isotopes, produced by
specific collisions in the cyclotron, are
used to treat cancerous tissue at nearby
hospitals.
Plans to expand TRIUMF are welladvanced, thanks to major funding from
both the provincial and federal
governments, as well as commitments
from several foreign governments and
agencies. A new, much larger accelerator
would produce copious quantities of an
exotic sub-atomic particle called a
“kaon”. The KAON factory proposal,
when transformed into reality, will create
as many as 20,000 person-years of
employment during construction and
generate some $400 million in spinoffs.

involved in a joint venture with Quadra
Logic Technologies of Vancouver to build a
pharmaceutical manufacturing plant.
The British Columbia Health Care
Research Foundation invests
approximately $10 million from lottery
funds each year in a variety of important
research projects, and, together with the
Science Council, it administers the $3
million per year Health Development
Fund.

TRIUMF/KAON

Plastic strips

(above) record
light flashes from

the passage of

At TRIUMF, scientists from all over
the world can study nature in its finest
detail and its most stunning power.
TRIUMF, adjacent to the University of
British Columbia campus, offers visiting
researchers access to one of the world’s
major cyclotrons, where sub-atomic
particles can be accelerated to speeds

subatomic particles
through lucite

cylinders.
An engineer (below)

works on one
of the 12

hydraulic lifting

jacks outside
the cyclotron.

25

Framework For Action
The government of British Columbia
is working towards “a framework for a
prosperous future for B.C. where science
and technology play a vital role”. Those
words appear in a far-reaching document,
Strategies for Innovation, published in
1988, which outlined the government’s
vision of the future and its policies for
getting there. (See page 7, for the full Science
Policy of the government.) An important part
of government’s role in achieving the
vision is to set up appropriate institutions,
or “infrastructure.”

Employees of
International

Submarine
Engineering (left)

work together

to assemble
parts from
technical

drawings.

PREMIER’S ADVISORY
COUNCIL ON SCIENCE
& TECHNOLOGY
The Council, the author of Strategies
for Innovation, is at the apex of the
institutional framework. This group was
created in 1987 to give confidential
advice to the Premier of the province on
matters having to do with science and
technology. Among the issues it has
tackled, in addition to the obvious one of
science policy, arc public awareness of
science and technology, a resource
inventory, Canada’s space program, and
hydrogen technology. The Council also
championed the new 5-year, $420 million
Science & Technology Fund.

program have resulted in the
development of new products, processes
and systems and, in many cases, the
establishment of new companies. Among
the other programs: Graduate Research,
Engineering and Technology (GREAT)
scholarships are available to men and
women in postgraduate scientific or
engineering studies; there are Science &
Technology Awards for Returning Students
(STARS) for people currently in the
workforce who want to return to
complete a postgraduate degree;
Industrial Postdoctoral Fellowships
encourage private industry to employ
recent PhD’s in fields appropriate to their
training.
The Science Council, with support
from both provincial and federal
ministries and agencies, also operates the
unique Strategic Planning for Applied
Research and Knowledge (SPARK) process.
With the help of a network of volunteers
from virtually every economic sector in
the province, SPARK looks at each sector
for strengths and weaknesses, points out
opportunities for the better use of science
and technology and, when appropriate,
goes to work to help make the
opportunities a reality. Government relies
heavily on SPARK to guide it in
implementing science policy.

SCIENCE COUNCIL OF B.C.
The Science Council has two
important roles. It administers science
and technology support programs,
awarding millions of dollars in provincial
funds to qualified individuals, companies
and agencies, and it directs grassroots
strategic planning for industrial
application of science and technology.
The Science & Technology
Development Fund - Assistance Grantsfor
Applied Research (STDF - AGAR) is
designed to encourage applied research by
the universities and industry. Projects
undertaken with the assistance of this

27

PROVINCIAL MINISTRIES
The Ministry of Advanced Education,
Training and Technology leads the
implementation of the science and
technology policy. The ministry has
overall responsibility for a variety of
agencies, programs and planning
activities. It works with other provincial
and federal ministries, with industry, with
the educational community and with
various research organizations.
For instance, the ministry helps
industry identify research and
development directions and may assist

with financing some research activities, or
providing seed capital, but firms will look
to the Ministry of Regional and Economic
Development for help in expanding to
make a new product, or to the BC Trade
Development Corporation for help in
exporting the product.

Victoria and the Dominion Radio
Astrophysical Observatory near Penticton.
Now there are plans to move the
Council’s Herzberg Institute of
Astrophysics, which directs the Council’s
many astronomical research programs, to
Victoria from Ottawa. This would
confirm British Columbia’s pre-eminence
in astronomy, and give added lustre and
opportunities to astronomers already
clustered at the University of Victoria and
University of British Columbia.
The National Research Council also
works to make businesses more
competitive through science and
technology. Their Industrial Research
Assistance Program, known as IRAP,
provides some funding but, just as
important, staff also help firms define
technical opportunities, obtain technical
assistance or solve product or production
problems.
The federal presence is also felt in
research stations operated by Agriculture
Canada in Prince George, Agassiz,
Kamloops, Sidney, Summerland and
Vancouver. Energy Mines and Resources
Canada has geosciences labs near Victoria
and Vancouver, while Environment
Canada operates a weather lab, and
conducts wildlife research, and
environmental monitoring and studies.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada operate a
research station near Nanaimo and the
Institute of Ocean Sciences at Sidney on
Vancouver Island, while Forestry Canada
has the Pacific Forestry Centre in Victoria
and the Defense Research Establishment
Pacific works on anti-submarine detection
from its facility in the same city.
Industry, Science & Technology
Canada, which has Canada-wide
responsibility for science and technology
programs has targeted information
technology, advanced industrial materials
and biotechnology as strategic
technologies, complementing British
Columbia policy in these areas. Western
Diversification Canada provides interestfree financing, especially to companies

DISCOVERY FOUNDATION

John Mingay, (above)

president of TIR
Lightpipe, which

completed an initial
sale to McDonald’s
restaurants of

$900,000 worth
of roofbeam lights.

A welder (left)

works from the

ARKTOS Beta
platform made

by Watercraft
Offshore Canada Ltd.

A research
technologist (below)

absorbed in
her work.

Discovery Foundation is a non-profit
society established by the provincial
government to promote science and
technology by linking business,
educational institutions and government.
It oversees Discovery Parks, the Discovery
Innovation Centre, Discovery Enterprises
and Discovery Technology.
Discovery Parks are located adjacent
to the three universities and the B.C.
Institute of Technology. The buildings in
each park are home to an astonishing
variety of innovative companies working
in every sector of the knowledge industry.
With funding from the Province,
Discovery Enterprises is supplying
venture capital to build innovative new
enterprises, and underwrite high risk
advanced technology.
The Discovery Innovation Centre,
meanwhile, is a store-front operation to
which new inventors can turn to get
helpful advice and direction through
seminars, short courses, literature,
technical support and planning assistance.
Finally, the Discovery Technology
Division maintains a comprehensive
information network and international
contacts for the Foundation and its
members. It publishes BC Discovery, a
bimonthly magazine that tells what’s
happening in the business of science and
technology in B.C., and who’s making it
happen.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
The National Research Council
operates two world-class astronomical
observatories in British Columbia, the
Dominion Astrophysical Observatory near

29

eager to introduce new technology and
manufacturing skills that will broaden
western Canada’s economic prospects.

appropriate modifications, as an example
for similar organizations in other sectors.

VANCOUVER ISLAND
ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY
CENTRE

BRITISH COLUMBIA
ADVANCED SYSTEMS
INSTITUTE

Analytical chemist

Hang-Ming Lai
(left) of

Chemex labs
works on
colorific values

of coal samples.

Southern Vancouver Island has a
rapidly growing community of
imaginative and profitable entrepreneurial
science. The Vancouver Island Advanced
Technology Centre in Victoria provides
that community with marketing services,
information about government programs
and a place to showcase recent
achievements.

Advanced systems are what most
people think of when you say “hightech.” They include microelectronics,
telecommunications, computer science,
artificial intelligence and robotics. The
Institute was set up to encourage research
and development in the advanced
systems, and received its initial funding
from the federal-provincial sub-agreement
on science and technology, a part of the
overall Economic Regional Development
Agreement.
ASI has no labs of its own, nor does
it maintain a major physical presence. It is
what some have called “an institute
without walls.” Companies become
affiliates of ASI because it can give them
access to the discoveries and innovations
of some of the Province’s most
distinguished scientists and engineers —
the ASI Fellows based at B.C.’s three
universities.
The Institute is now virtually
independent, its goals and objectives
driven largely by the research needs of
industry. Both levels of government
continue to provide it with financial
support as does the private sector.
ASI is regarded as a model
organization that can serve, with

BRITISH COLUMBIA
RESEARCH CORPORATION
British Columbia Research began its
history as the provincial government’s
official research organization, at a time
when there was little research and
development activity in the province. It
has played an important and ongoing role
in developing technology for use in the
resource industries. As industry has
matured, British Columbia Research has
been transformed, with the full approval
and assistance of the provincial
government, into an independent, private
company.
British Columbia Research performs
research on contract for small and
medium-size companies in B.C. and
beyond. In its 180,000 square foot facility
near the University of B.C., it employs a
staff of 150, two-thirds of whom are
scientists, engineers and technicians.

31

Science Awareness
PUBLIC INTERPRETIVE
CENTRES

A killer
whale (above)

leaps into
the air at the

Vancouver

British Columbians and their visitors
are well served by public institutions that
explain science and technology in popular
terms. The Vancouver Public Aquarium
has achieved international acclaim for
interpretive programs on marine life. The
H.R. MacMillan Planetarium and
Gordon Southam Observatory do their part
to ensure a better understanding and
awareness of our place in the universe.
First class research and interpretation of
natural history, archaeology and related
subjects are the standard at the Royal
British Columbia Museum in Victoria.
And there are museums and other
institutions where one can learn more
about the technology of transportation,
aerospace, mining and forestry.

Aquarium.

Science

World (below)
was created
from this
dramatic

globe-shaped

building
left by Expo 86,

SCIENCE WORLD
The newest and most spectacular
interpretive centre of them all is Science
World. Thanks to an impressive effort by
community leaders, business people,
educators, scientists and representatives of
all levels of government, Science World
was born in 1989 in a dramatic globeshaped building left by Expo 86.
Here, science and technology come
to life in hands-on exhibits, colorful
demonstrations, courses, films and
lectures. Like the other public science
institutions, Science World works hard to
ensure that it serves British Columbia as a
whole, not just the people of Vancouver,
with travelline exhibits and explainers.

33

On behalf of the provincial
government, Science World also operates
the Scientists in the Schools program,
which every year sees scientist volunteers
at schools in every corner of the province.
The program enriches the science
curriculum and inspires children to
consider science-related careers.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
WEEK
In mid-October, B.C. joins much of
the rest of Canada in marking Science &
Technology Week. This is an opportunity to
draw attention to the achievements of the
men and women who work in science and
engineering, and to celebrate their many
remarkable successes.
It is during Science & Technology
Week that gold medals in the name of the
province are presented to winners of the
British Columbia Science and Engineering
Awards. Outstanding individuals or
research teams working in natural
sciences, health sciences, applied science
or industrial innovation are selected by
the Science Council of British Columbia.
Additional awards are made for
Entrepreneurial Science, Lifetime
Achievement and Science Communication.
The aim of Science & Technology
Week, and the other public awareness
programs of government and other
institutions, is to stimulate interest
science careers and more broadly to
ensure that science is seen to be what it is
— an integral part of a nation’s culture
and an essential part of its economic

In the document, Strategies for
Innovation, the government’s vision for
British Columbia is spelled out: “A
strong, global-based economy that
provides its people with one of the
highest standards of living in the world;
extraordinary renewable resources that
the province cultivates with care and
profit; a small population of welleducated, healthy people, productively
employed; a clean environment; a special
relationship with Pacific Rim countries
that fosters exchange and trade; and a
reputation for being a receptive- host to
visitors who wish to share in its beauty, its
adventure, and its industry.”
People will make the vision a reality,
using science and technology both for
tools and for inspiration.

Province of British Columbia,
Ministry of Advanced Education,
Training and Technology

Premier’s Advisory Council
on Science and Technology

Science Council of British Columbia