GOVERNMENT

Investment Will Help Speed Up Research And Encourage Breakthroughs: The McGuinty government is supporting a leading-edge supercomputing project that will help cultivate scientific knowledge and lead to quicker research breakthroughs in Ontario, MPP Chris Bentley announced today. "By supporting emerging technologies, the government is creating more high-value jobs and bringing new investment into the region," said Bentley, who made the announcement on behalf of Premier and Minister of Research and Innovation Dalton McGuinty. "Our government is doing its part to ensure future prosperity and a high quality of life for Ontario families." The Ministry of Research and Innovation is investing $10.9 million in the University of Western Ontario's Shared Hierarchical Academic Research Computing Network (SHARCNET) to support 1,200 researchers across the province. The state-of-the-art HPC facilities are hundreds or thousands of times faster than a regular desktop computer. A Canadian researcher using SHARCNET can produce results in a single day that would normally take a year or more on a personal computer. Led by the University of Western Ontario, the network is made up of 16 research institutions, including the universities of Guelph, McMaster, Wilfrid Laurier, Windsor, Waterloo, Brock, York, Laurentian, Trent, Lakehead, Ontario Institute of Technology, Fanshawe College, Sheridan College, and most recently Perimeter Institute and the Ontario College of Art & Design. "We are grateful to Premier McGuinty and the Government of Ontario for this investment in our province's future. Continued support from the Ministry of Research and Innovation toward advanced research facilities like SHARCNET will keep Ontario on the cutting edge of the knowledge economy," says Dr. Paul Davenport, Western's President and Vice-Chancellor. "Such funding provides tangible benefits to researchers and students in their quest for new knowledge and discovery." Partner institutions house the computer clusters and run the network, providing high-performance computing resources to researchers across Canada. SHARCNET supports some of Canada's pre-eminent academics in a variety of fields, from strategies to combat mad cow disease to new models to manage financial risk. "SHARCNET has been extremely important to both research and student projects at the College. Both faculty and students have leveraged SHARCNET's infrastructure to aid in their research endeavours," said Howard Rundle, President of Fanshawe College. "From an educational standpoint, students have benefited from the opportunity to explore techniques, such as genetic algorithms, that they otherwise would not have experienced." The investment comes from the $550-million Ontario Research Fund. Through the fund, the McGuinty government is making sure Ontario researchers have the resources to lead our province into a new era of innovation. Investing in innovative research and development is the latest example of how the McGuinty government is working on the side of businesses and families to strengthen Ontario's economy. Other initiatives include: - Encouraging strong job creation, with 268,000 net new jobs since taking office - Helping to generate almost $7 billion in automotive investments that retain and create thousands of high-value jobs - Launching a $500-million Advanced Manufacturing Investment Strategy to help manufacturers develop cutting-edge technologies - Investing $6.2 billion in our universities, colleges, student financial assistance and training programs. "Supporting successful research at Ontario's post-secondary institutions strengthens the quality of research talent that enters the workforce," said McGuinty. "Our government knows that success means more highly skilled people working in a more robust and productive economy."