Wider Horizons

Whoever thinks knowledge is its own reward hasn’t spent time with Lorne MacGregor.lornem

Lethbridge College’s newly minted director of applied research and innovation believes knowledge derived from research should be applicable to community needs, not exist in a vacuum. With that tenet in mind, MacGregor will be playing impresario and middleman between those doing research on campus and potential end-users of the applications of knowledge to which it leads.

“Research is the creation of knowledge,” says MacGregor, who joined the Lethbridge College team after a similar posting at the University of Northern B.C. in Prince George. Innovation is the act of putting knowledge to use. What we hope to do is foster the application of new or existing knowledge to the practical problems of the real world.”

As MacGregor notes, Lethbridge College has been conducting research for years. As with its Aquaculture Centre of Excellence, headed by John Derksen, research has progressed into production: the development of grass carp for weed control.

“There is a good reason the carp production should exist at a college,” says MacGregor. “It grew out of research, so it makes sense to keep it here. And, as a public institution, we have a greater sense of responsibility to ensure the fish do not cause environmental problems.”

Other major campus initiatives include The Living Home project headed by Mark Bohnert and Braum Barber, developed with the city and SunRidge Homes, and the Open Source Learning Lab run by Jim Manis, a Multimedia Production instructor, which recently developed a unique method of conducting public surveys. The technology will be used in work conducted by Faron Ellis, an instructor in General Studies, and his students in the Citizen Society Research Lab (Wider Horizons, fall 2007.)

“Jim’s work incorporates lower costs, higher accessibility and ease of use,” says MacGregor.

MacGregor’s task ahead, as he settles into his position, will be to match researchers with the community, educating both on how the discoveries of one can advance the cause of the other for a lower cost than either might have considered. The college is in the process of receiving NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council) eligibility, which will allow it to receive significant government funding.

“We’ll be showing industry partners just how inexpensive research can be. If a research project costs $100,000, it may cost a company only a quarter of that. With tax credits and other means, we can involve smaller firms in our research, and they can solve their problems more economically than they may have thought.

“My goal is to get people to talk to each other, to bring researchers together with industry and entrepreneurs who need research done.”

Developing applied research projects that have a significant impact on society is not an overnight process, and success isn’t something easily calculated.

“The big successes will be long-term and difficult to measure,” says MacGregor. “We want to create a culture of innovation in the college and community that’s supportive and accepting of “research and entrepreneurship.”

MacGregor has also familiarized himself with student-based research and is impressed with the quality of student presentations. One that particularly impressed him last semester involved boulders at the Frank Slide, which he believes has the potential for commercial development.

Kyle Marco, a graduating Geomatics Engineering Technology student from Lethbridge and a bouldering enthusiast, mapped a swatch of the 1903 slide, an area of roughly 2.25 square kilometres, using satellite photos, conventional surveying equipment and a personal knowledge of the area. He then created software to create a printed map documenting 300 bouldering opportunities.

For those unfamiliar with the activity, bouldering involves climbing boulders without ropes and minus a high degree of risk of long falls. Done properly, bouldering offers rock climbers opportunities to test all their skills without defying death.

Marco, a climber of 10 years, wanted to leave information on the Frank Slide for newcomers to the sport, details that could be used in guidebooks.

“I thought about doing it before I came to Lethbridge College, but the work I did in geomatics gave me the skills to solve the problem of how to do it,” says Marco. “I had an interest in climbing and an interest in the technology; they just happened to cross paths.”

MacGregor says Marco’s project is an example of the innovation he wants to encourage. He says the process will benefit students by providing Lethbridge College greater clout in recruiting and retaining top-notch faculty who will know they can carry out research amid their teaching assignments.

“My desire is to make this process as unobtrusive and non-bureaucratic as I can. We’re a service office with a goal of finding ways to say ‘yes,’ not reasons to say ‘no.’ I’m here to cut through the institutional fog to help others get the job done.”

Wider Horizons
Peter Scott
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