Alberta Research Council

Alberta Research Council
Abbreviation ARC
Formation 1921
Type provincial Research Council
Legal status active
Purpose Government-funded applied research and development corporation
Headquarters Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Region served
Alberta
Official language
English
French
Website www.arc.ab.ca

Alberta Research Council (ARC) is an Alberta government funded applied research and development (R&D) corporation. In January 2010, the name was changed to Alberta Innovates - Technology Futures [1]

Overview

History

As a result of initiative on the part of Henry Marshall Tory ARC was established in 1921 (as the Alberta Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) by a provincial government Order-in-Council, with Tory as the first chairman.[2]

From 1921 to 1940 some progress was made on geological surveys of Alberta and resource energy research including preliminary coal and oil sands investigation. Further progress was made on oil sands research in the 1940s with an extraction process patent issued to Dr. Karl A. Clark in 1948,[3] laying the foundation for investment in oil sands development.

When Alberta Innovates-Technology Futures was created on January 1, 2010, it was built on the successes of the former Alberta Ingenuity, former Alberta Research Council, former iCORE, and nanoAlberta.

With roots stretching back almost 90 years, these organizations were well-known in the research and innovation community, not only within Alberta, but internationally as well. By bringing the separate entities together, the intention was to harness the creativity, innovation and outstanding research being conducted by all, and translate that into a new and improved organization that can build on the foundation laid by each entity.

Research

Alberta Innovates-Technology Futures (AITF) supports innovation, research and commercialization taking place across Alberta, focusing on the growth and development of technology-based sectors, the commercialization of technology, and the provision of business and technical service. AITF supports initiatives that encourage a strong science, technology and entrepreneurial culture in Alberta by working collaboratively with a wide range of partners to create the entrepreneurial culture Alberta needs to grow new and existing businesses and industries.

AITF is addressing the grand challenges facing Alberta’s priority sectors: agriculture, forestry, oil and gas, the environment, health, and pipelines.

AITF also offers a suite of business services with programs which cultivate the development of world-class research teams in Alberta, assisting companies with the acceleration of growth and success, and providing quality management and ISO consulting to businesses and organizations across Canada. AITF’s business services aim to provide continuous support from ideation to commercialization.

Pine beetle research

ARC is a member of I-CAN,[4] a not-for-profit organization incorporated in 2006[5]that focuses on commercializing research. In his role as President of Innoventures, McDougall used a market-based competitive business model and focused on results-orientated research that reduced business risk.[6] Major projects included a project on utilization of pine beetle damaged wood.[7] I-CAN and the Alberta Research Council (ARC) are part of a $28-million research project with the Government of Alberta contributing $11 million and the Alberta Newsprint Company contributing $17 million, initiated in 2008 that transforms beetle-killed wood into newsprint.[8]

Citations

  1. ↑ Alberta Government news release
  2. ↑ The New Trail, the University of Alberta’s alumni magazine, October 1947
  3. ↑ Patent issued by the Dominion of Canada to Dr. Karl A. Clark
  4. ↑ I-CAN nd.
  5. ↑ I-CAN 2008.
  6. ↑ I-CAN 2011.
  7. ↑ I-CAN 2011, p. 2.
  8. ↑ I-CANN 2008, p. 9.
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External links

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