St. FX Buys Equipment with Research Funding

Students and researchers at St. Francis Xavier University have more specialized equipment because of more than $100,000 in grants from the Nova Scotia Research and Innovation Trust Fund.

"Our universities are the driving force behind our research industry and they need support to continue its growth," said Service Nova Scotia Minister Angus MacIsaac, who made the announcement today, Nov. 25, on behalf of Education Minister Jane Purves. "Our trust fund provides that support, and it leverages more from federal and private partners."

The $15 million fund was established in the spring of 2001 to support research projects at Nova Scotia colleges and universities.

"For many years now, St. FX faculty members have been producing research of the highest standard and making important contributions to scientific discovery in Canada," said university president Sean Riley. "The research projects we're discussing today are wonderful examples of the high calibre of research work taking place on this campus."

The funding supports two main projects. About $52,000 was used to equip an applied computing laboratory with a computer capable of performing 34 billion arithmetic calculations per second. In a matter of minutes, the powerful machine can solve problems that would take a typical desktop computer several weeks to solve.

"St. FX already has a superbly well-qualified group of young computer scientists and mathematicians," said John Quinn, chair of the university's department of mathematics, statistics and computing science. "The new applied computing lab will give them the resources to take their research to the next level and to expose their students to the latest in high-performance, state- of-the-art computer technology."

Another grant of about $53,000 was used to purchase a specialized spectrophotometer, which is used to identify the chemical make-up of samples such as biofilms. Biofilms are colonies of bacteria held together on slime and are found on most wet surfaces including metals, foods and human tissue such as the lungs.

Researchers will study the effects of biofilms on surfaces, including how they can corrode metal. The results may be significant for the oil and gas industry and others.

Projects that receive grants from the trust fund also receive about the same amount in funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation. The foundation previously announced more than $100,000 for these projects at St. FX.

"These are the kind of strategic investments Canada must continue to make in order to bolster the capacity of research institutions," said foundation president and CEO David Strangway. "I am confident that with this essential support, these investments will bring our nation to rank among the most innovative countries in the world."

The Canada Foundation for Innovation is an independent, not-for- profit corporation established by the government of Canada in 1997 to strengthen the capacity for innovation in Canadian universities and research institutions.

A track record of innovation in teaching and exceptional research opportunities has helped position St. Francis Xavier University as one of Canada's finest post-secondary institutions. St. FX is a national leader in science, arts, humanities, business and information systems and in preparing its students to help address the challenges of the changing world.