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It’s understandable if some Durham College students think applied research is a bit of a game. After all, the Oshawa college has been working with a start-up company to bring to market a wearable suit that promises to provide new levels of immersion in terms of how games and virtual simulations are experienced.

It’s but one example of the applied research that’s taking place on college campuses. Colleges Ontario defines applied research as “research that can help businesses and industries find solutions to practical problems and develop products and services for commercialization.”

It’s a “relatively new phenomenon over the last 10 years,” Colleges Ontario president and CEO Linda Franklin says of applied research. In a bid to stay competitive in an increasingly global marketplace, “more and more companies are coming to colleges looking for immediate help with a particular problem, whether it’s getting a product to market or figuring out a kink in some new product they’re trying to develop.”

In fact, more than 500 small and medium-sized enterprises work with colleges each year to pursue market-driven research activities, Colleges Ontario reports. Those partnerships lead to innovations in a wide range of areas, from biotechnology to the creation of new computer software and innovations in 3D technology.

A partnership between Kingston’s St. Lawrence College and Octane Medical Group, for instance, promises to have a direct impact on the ability to grow stem cells, which are in high demand by patients suffering from leukemia and other hematopoietic disorders.

At Seneca College in Toronto, hundreds of students contributed ideas and code that help make Mozilla’s web browser, Firefox, more interactive. In Belleville, students in Loyalist College’s manufacturing and engineering program worked with County Cider and recommended process improvements to increase productivity and flexibility.

Innovation is crucial to Ontario’s long-term competitive advantage but because many small and medium-sized companies lack the resources — and sometimes the expertise — to conduct research and development of their own, these types of partnerships are essential, says Colleges Ontario.

Indeed, the Conference Board of Canada reported in 2011 that college-based applied research activity is a catalyst for driving innovation and productivity, particularly for businesses that don’t have the resources to conduct research on their own.

Community colleges are well positioned to help drive innovation for a number of reasons. For starters, they’re home to cutting-edge equipment, often donated by employers. “Companies also have access to bright young minds with a very applied focus,” Franklin says. “Many of our faculty have spent a large portion of their careers working in private industry so they understand the challenges these businesses have.”

Working on real-world problems helps students develop valuable skills. “It’s also about economic and community development,” Franklin says.

“Part of the value and importance of applied research at colleges is that it gives employers and businesses in their local communities the tools to move forward and expand and hire more people.”

Businesses interested in teaming up with a college to solve a problem should approach their community college to see if it has the resources needed to tackle the project. If not, it can likely refer them to a college that does, says Franklin.

 

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