We live in a nation of innovators. Canada is a large country with a relatively small population, and when we do not have what we want, we make do, or even better, we innovate. Some of the innovators in this book are already Nobel laureates and others are on their way to fame and they just may be our next-door neighbours. Their stories are truly fascinating, and we can take pride in these people who are our most important resource.
The word “innovation” is frequently linked to the application of ideas to drive business. It may involve the invention of technologies, processes, or products. For example, when we hear about the Canadarm on satellites, we have no trouble labelling it as an innovation. When we read about the new nasal spray vaccines that will soon be available, eliminating the need for appointments, lineups, needles, and tears, we are prompt to herald them as another innovation. However, innovation can also refer to the application of new concepts in improvements to health care or the creation of sustainable cities, to smart farms and new methods of mineral extraction. We need to be innovative in order to solve some of the social and economic challenges the world faces today. This book will introduce you to some of the trailblazers whose work will change our lives and the world.
Successful business leaders you will meet in this book are people who, when given a lemon, do not stop at making lemonade. They are the creators of lemon sorbet. Some identified a path forward in technologies that had not previously been recognized. Others saw a problem and created a solution, or dedicated their expertise and knowledge to helping others succeed. These innovators are bright lights on the Canadian landscape.
The medical researchers included in this volume are passionate pioneers, creating technology that improves the success of surgery. They are investigating the genetic composition of viruses to find effective, new vaccines (imagine a single vaccine that would prevent the entire family of SARS-related viruses). They seek new treatment methods so nobody will ever die again from cancer and look for effective anti-microbial treatments to replace antibiotics. They are working with polymers to regenerate cells so paraplegics may once again walk and are discovering ways to treat neurological cancers with precision.
Committed environmental scientists are working to reverse damage that has been done to the environment. One of the most unusual labs described is composed of 58 small lakes in a sparsely populated area in Northern Ontario (300 kilometers east of Winnipeg and 100 kilometers west of Dryden) where scientists work side by side with elders and members of the Anishinaabe community. These lakes are special in That they represent an entire global ecosystem and are—through the research conducted by 250 researchers from around the world in collaboration with 40 scientists at the facility—revealing secrets of global significance. The team leaders say, “look at the climate crisis. We picked a war with nature and must reverse the situation…. we must adopt what Indigenous people have always known and learn how to end this war and repair the damage that that has been done….” Their work has resulted in major publications and contributed to the international Minamata Convention on Mercury. Other environmental projects described include studying the melting permafrost, mitigating the effects of mining, improving agriculture, finding new sources of energy, and even inventing ways to collect the debris in outer space that risks falling to earth.
In chapters on AI and quantum basics, we meet dedicated researchers from around the world and from remote communities like The Pas, a small town situated at the confluence of the Pasquia and Saskatchewan Rivers. They remain in Canada in order to give back to the country and share theories with inspiring colleagues in places like the Perimeter Institute, and universities like Waterloo and Toronto to name but two. These scientists have invented and continue to create new ideas and models, machines, programs, and applications for AI while sharing a healthy concern about the potential for unethical applications. These scientists are deepening our understanding of quantum models and providing untold opportunities to apply them to improve our lives. The possibilities are “too wild to imagine” but these researchers are doing just that: imagining how to harness the power of quantum and AI to improve our health and the environment—and of course the economy!
The engineers in this collection share a similar passion: they love to invent technologies and tools, materials, and machines. They admit that the “most successful products are not [necessarily] the biggest scientific advances, but ones that affect peoples’ lives.” They are dedicated researchers who expect and accept failure. Despite this, or perhaps because of what they learned in this manner, they have achieved extraordinarily significant results and have contributed to machine learning, energy production, medical products and devices, communications tools, and the creation of nanomaterial with polymers, to offer but a few examples. They are all singularly resourceful and prepared to repurpose, redesign, and invent new ways to solve the challenges we face.
Every artist is essentially innovative, but those featured have gone beyond the creative process involved in making art. They have broken down the confining walls of galleries, bringing exhibits outdoors to people in a natural setting and sharing their work with those confined in prisons, or offering the possibility of making music to those who could never afford to purchase an instrument and pay for a lesson. They have listened to the voices of the past by reading archival materials written by their elders. These artists have offered immigrants to Canada the means to tell their stories—while themselves continuing to create masterful texts that offer us lessons wrapped in beauty.
Canada is extremely fortunate to have a flourishing community of physicists, including two Nobel laureates who search for the meaning of the universe and life. They dedicate their efforts to harnessing the power of light, understanding the universe through powerful telescopes, and to identifying tiny particles, like neutrinos and muons, by tracing their activity in laboratories that are located far beneath the surface of the earth. Canada’s SNOlab is innovatively located in an active nickel mine which has become simultaneously one of the deepest labs in the world, enabling the massive scale studies required to identify these tiny particles. Such ambitious projects require international collaboration, as with the James Webb telescope and large-scale facilities like Cern in Switzerland or Triumf in Canada. While these researchers admit that their jobs are perhaps “not the kind of thing you can share with your next-door neighbour or even your spouse,” they offer us such clear explanations that you will truly understand their work and share their hope that, along with the origins of life and this planet, they might also discover exo-planets that could support human existence.
Social innovators are tackling global challenges that affect us in our daily lives. What about immigration and political, economic, and environmental refugees? How do we organize hospitals and provide health care not only in urban centers but also in remote communities? How do we resolve medical and moral issues around life and death? How can we use technology to serve populations around the world and preserve knowledge, languages, and cultures that are in danger of disappearing? How can we engage with those affected to solve together serious problems like homelessness? These are a few of the issues that are being addressed intelligently and creatively by those who figure in this final chapter which offers hope for the future and a single word of advice: “persevere”.
There is no end to innovation. There is always a new beginning. And we will always need good, new ideas and the people with the knowledge, skills, and passion to see them into action. This book is about inspiring innovators who give us all hope for the future.
Roseann O’Reilly Runte
