BCIT Celebrates Third Canada Research Chair Dr. Paula Brown

On June 6, 2014, the Applied Research Community gathered at the Centre for Applied Research and Innovation on the BCIT Burnaby Campus to celebrate the appointment of Dr. Paula Brown as a BCIT Canada Research Chair.

In a  brief address presented by BCIT president Kathy Kinloch, Ms. Kinloch congratulated Dr. Brown on her success and reinforced the importance of BCIT applied research to education and industry.

The Canada Research Chairs (CRC) program stands at the centre of a national strategy to make Canada one of the world’s top countries in research and development. With this appointment, BCIT is now home to three Canada Research Chairs.

Together with Ms. Kinloch, BCIT Vice President of Education, Research & International, Paul Dangerfield presented Dr. Brown with a letter signed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and a Canada Research Chair pin.

In the true spirit of applied research, Dr. Brown’s research is designed to enable direct and timely mobilization of research findings to improve agricultural management practices, advance laboratory testing of products, support development of novel therapeutics, and effect policy in the regulation of natural health products (NHPs).

Dr Brown has also been awarded $920,000 in infrastructure funding from CFI (Canada Foundation for Innovation), the British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund and industry partners. These funds are being used to build a state-of-the-art Phytoanalytics Laboratory at BCIT to support Dr. Brown’s  Canada Research Chair appointment.

BCIT’s first two Canada Research Chair holders are Dr. Fitsum Tariku in the School of Construction and the Environment and Dr. Jaimie Borisoff in the Technology Centre.

Dr. Tariku was BCIT’s first CRC. His research in Whole-Building Performance is developing tools that enable the design of energy-efficient and environmentally friendly buildings that are durable, economical and healthy for their occupants. His research led to the creation of the BCIT Building Science Centre of Excellence (BSCE), a regional education and research centre for Building Science and Building Engineering.

BCIT Faculty member and ICORD Principal Investigator Dr. Jaimie Borisoff was named  BCIT’s second CRC for his work in Rehabilitation Engineering Design. Dr. Borisoff and his team focus on technology that allows for inclusiveness and access for anyone with  mobility impairments. Borisoff created the Elevation^TM wheelchair, which allows the user to adjust the chair and backrest in real-time throughout the day.