Innovation York’s industry-liaison stream increases research partnership opportunities

InnovationYorkInnovation York’s new industry-liaison stream offers a single point of contact for researchers and trainees seeking industry partners and for companies seeking academic partners. 

Under the leadership of Sarah Howe, director of Innovation York, the industry-liaison stream has expanded from solely developing relationships with companies in York Region  to developing relationships with companies throughout the province, Canada and globally. This will provide opportunities to researchers and trainees to work with industry and to create innovative research projects.

Over the past three months, the industry-liaison stream at Innovation York has helped facilitate project discussions with nine companies, which are moving towards the development of grant applications with 13 researchers from four different research units. 

“Innovation York helps to create successful research partnerships and works to effectively commercialize technologies that have the potential to make a meaningful impact in our lives,” said Robert Haché, York’s vice-president research & innovation. “Researchers are invited to contact Innovation York to discuss opportunities for research partnerships with industry and learn more about the resources that are available to them.”

The services provided under the industry-liaison stream include:

  • creation and support of partnerships between industry and academic researchers to develop basic research projects, applied research projects and internship opportunities;
  • access to knowledge about government academic-industry matching programs to leverage industry funding;
  • market expertise, including access to market research data from leading analyst organizations.

Innovation York has recently hired an industry-liaison manager to facilitate these activities. Cheryl Giblon has more than 25 years of experience in global technology sales and marketing, engineering and operations management at several start-up and multinational technology companies, including Compaq Canada (now HP), Borland Software, ATI Technologies Inc., Stetron International, eNation Corporation, Allied Signal Aerospace (now Honeywell) and Bell Sygma, Inc. Giblon currently sits on the Markham Board of Trade as vice-chair, and has served as chair of the Board of the Markham Public Library. 

For more information, contact Cheryl Giblon at cgiblon@yorku.ca.