Marc Nantel, PhD, Vice-President of Research, Innovation and Strategic Enterprises at NC joined Steph Vivier on CKTB to discus the Trailblazer Award in Innovation Policy that he recently won at the 2024 Canadian Science Policy Centre Conference (CSPC) in Ottawa.
When asked why he earned the award, Nantel says, “I think it’s a culmination of the past ten years, including some of the work me and my colleagues have done in NC’s R&I division. Also, on the provincial and federal level, I’ve been influential in unlocking funds for applied research at the college level, which isn’t particularly well-funded compared to national labs or universities.
He also explained the funding challenges colleges face in research and the importance of generating more support for them.
“Every research project we do has an industry partner and/or community partner, and it’s all about what they want, what their aspiration is for new products, services, or projects, or to solve a problem they have,” said Nantel. “They come to us and we assemble around their desires a team of students, experts and faculty, we have our labs and equipment, and at the end of the project they have a solution to their problems…at the end of every project there’s a new product on the market or service to be offered, it’s great for economic development and job creation'”
Nantel also highlights the rewarding hands-on learning experience students gain from working on research projects:
“A student who comes to college already gets a very hands-on education in their field, but on top of that, when they do a research project, they get to work with a real company, experience what a real project is, a real schedule, a real budget, and real deliverables, which prepares them all the more for when they graduate and hit the workforce.”
Listen to the November 26 segment here.
