A pasture where sheep once grazed near the University of Manitoba may soon be roamed by a white-coated animal of a different breed.
The university hopes to build a “smart park” in the old 108-acre sheep pasture where scientists could work together on new products and technologies.
It’s the same idea as Innovation Place, the research park at the University of Saskatchewan campus in Saskatoon, which is known as a plant biotech hotbed.
Jim Elliot, dean of the University of Manitoba’s faculty of agricultural and food sciences, said the proposed park will be geared to research strengths of the institution.
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These include value-added products and processing, agricultural biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, tele-communications and advanced materials.
Elliot, who is on the board of directors of a company trying to bring the idea to fruition, said it will take at least two years before the site is ready. He is excited about what the park might mean for agricultural processing.
“We’ve got strawboard. What are other things that can be done with straw? How are we going to process hemp? What about going back to flax straw?”
The university could also find itself building on its biotechnology research.
“We haven’t been particularly aggressive in that area,” said Elliot. “We probably need to become a little more aggressive in that area.”
The research park may encourage new businesses to take on technology developed for commercial uses at the university, he said.
It would also be a good training ground for graduate students, he noted.
“Believe it or not, there is a real advantage to being co-located, where you could walk down the street and see the people who you want to work with.”
The research park idea has been a long time coming.
In 1982, the university’s board of governors resolved to build a research park. But financial constraints at the institution and in governments have prevented the concept from flying, said Elliot.
But now, he said it has been revived by a keen group of people at the university and in industry, along with support from provincial and federal governments.
The board of directors of the Smart Park Development Corp. has met only once. It includes Curt Vossen, president of James Richardson International.
It must build a management team, work on a business plan, and then attract at least $2.5 million in financing to build the roads, sewers and water supply. Key tenants must also be wooed. Elliot said some have already shown interest.
The provincial government’s economic innovation and technology council has invested $250,000 to help start the project.
