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SFU Builds Asia Pacific Alliances By: Dr. B. Mario Pinto, Vice President, Research As published in Research Matters, Spring 2008 In previous issues, I have discussed the many ways in which Simon Fraser University has gained an international reputation for its excellence in scholarship and research. A defining feature of SFU is our commitment to collaboration, synergy, and the strategic investment of resources to gain prominence in select areas. This focused approach provides a platform from which our highly qualified faculty and students are increasingly being sought to lend their expertise to national and international initiatives. SFU is now well positioned to create robust academic and research alliances in key areas with institutions worldwide, for mutual benefit. Canada’s Asia Pacific Gateway Strategy has expanded beyond strategic investments in transportation infrastructure to include a focus on fostering strong relationships in education, research, and the exchange of innovative ideas and technologies. Asia’s rapid urbanization is presenting new global challenges and opportunities, and by lending our collective knowledge and building our research capacity through partnerships with Asia Pacific institutions, we can play a valuable role in the solution. As reported in our last issue, we continue to develop partnerships with India, and we are now extending our existing relationships with China and Korea. SFU has had an intellectual engagement with China for over two decades, starting with its 1985 partnership with Jilin University for student exchange. Since then, we have expanded to create relationships with many Chinese institutions including Tsinghua University and Zhejiang University, with which we have a dual-degree program. Of all international students currently attending SFU, 39 percent are from China. The David Lam Centre for International Communication, housed at SFU, offers several programs in East Asian culture and communication. SFU is the International Secretariat of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development, on which Mark Jaccard of SFU’s School of Resource and Environment served from 1996-2001. One of our Canada Research Chairs, Yuezhi Zhao of the School of Communication, studies communication industries and policies in China and has just published Communications in China: Political Economy, Power and Conflict. SFU spinoff company Welichem Biotech Inc. has partnered with Celestial Pharmaceuticals in China to further research and development on a novel drug therapy for psoriasis. This May, SFU was given the opportunity to showcase our research excellence and to foster new relationships at the China-BC Research and Innovation Partnership Summit in Beijing. Jack Chen and Fiona Brinkman of SFU’s Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Department (the latter via video) presented their work in genomic and pathogen bioinformatics, respectively. Carolyn Egri of SFU’s Faculty of Business Administration spoke on her pioneering research on corporate environmental and social responsibility. I was invited to host the colloquium on infectious diseases, to discuss knowledge transfer from the BC universities,and to present alternative models for transforming ideas to innovation and commercialization. At the summit, the BC and China Innovation and Commercialization Strategic Development (ICSD) Program competition results were announced, including a project with Shanghai Jiao Tong University on proton exchange membane fuel cells, in which Steven Holdcroft of SFU’s Department of Chemistry is one of the Canadian partners. SFU was also a participant in the Premier’s Mission to Korea in May, during which we strengthened existing collaborative relationships through the signing of two MOUs with Yonsei University, in the areas of materials science and nanomedicine. SFU’s 4D Labs will collaborate in the areas of fuel-cell materials and nanomedicine, and SFU’s Department of Chemistry will participate in the area of bioactive molecular hybrids and glycoscience for the purpose of drug design. We value highly our alliance with Yonsei University, Korea’s oldest private university and one of Asia’s leading post secondary institutions. SFU already has several exchange and research relationships with other Korean institutions, including Korea University, Cheonan University, KAIST, and Seoul National University. SFU is proud of its tradition of synergistic research and scholarship. We recognize that finding solutions to global challenges requires a global response through the exchange and combination of knowledge and expertise. We will continue to work together with other institutions on the world stage to advance new discoveries for the common good. Reprinted with permission of Simon Fraser University. More about the activities of SFU's Vice President, Research |
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