University of Calgary carrying momentum as on campus experience returns
The University of Calgary is primed to celebrate something. After two years of onagain, off-again COVID-19 restrictions, we’re back to an exciting new experience on campus.
Earlier this month, thousands of people celebrated being able to gather in-person again. And nobody was happier than our 2020 and 2021 graduates, who couldn’t take part in a full Convocation with family and friends. So, we held those celebrations again. It was a momentous occasion: the Royal Canadian Air Force performed a flyby over Mcmahon Stadium as we also applauded the first Dinos football game of the season.
We might have had to teach and learn in different ways once the pandemic began, but the university’s momentum as one of Canada’s great research universities never slowed down. Our drive is created and sustained by our communities: our community of scholars who have joined together to tackle some of the greatest societal, scientific, and engineering challenges; our community of supporters and alumni who provide both financial support and precious
guidance; and our committed, professional and dedicated community of faculty and staff who help make the magic of discovery, creativity, and innovation happen. Together we are improving
the world around us and enabling our students to start something … build something … disrupt something!
Earlier this year, we became one of Canada’s top 5 research universities — the youngest institution to join this prestigious club. Over the last three years, our annual total for sponsored research has risen 10 per cent to reach $504 million last year. This means that, more than ever, we can attract top scholars and students from around the world and, in turn, provide an extraordinary student experience.
Ucalgary is a place to start something, and nothing illustrates this better than our standing as the top startup incubator in Canada. There are larger universities and older ones, but none are more entrepreneurial than Ucalgary, and the companies we foster here will help Calgary’s economy grow and diversify well into the future. Our innovation ecosystem continues to grow in partnership with many local businesses, bringing entrepreneurs and scholars together to advance social enterprises and commercialize striking new ideas.
Among them is quantum science, which has generated some exciting news indeed. Last year, global tech giant, Mphasis chose Calgary as its Canadian hub. It will create about 1,000 jobs here in the near-term and will help grow an estimated 26,500 jobs across Alberta by 2040. The groundbreaking research at Ucalgary is a major reason why this exciting new field will grow right here, creating the technologies and the talent that feed the quantum sector. In fact, this summer the provincial government recognized Ucalgary’s contributions to economic diversification by supporting our vision to activate Calgary as a Quantum City.
We are also delighted to partner with Innovate Calgary, Avatar Innovations
and the energy industry in launching the Energy Transition Centre, a promising project to support cleanenergy startups. Over the next three years, it expects to create 25 new small- and medium-sized firms, while helping another 25 existing firms accelerate their cleanenergy technology. Housed in formerly empty office space downtown, it will help the energy sector transition to low-carbon energy while revitalizing economic activity in Canada’s energy capital.
But our community partnerships go much further than economic impact. When the pandemic began, our scholars sprang into action, working with the City of Calgary and Alberta Health Services to develop a data visualization dashboard for tracking COVID-19 RNA. Last year, we entered a new partnership with them to monitor COVID-19 levels through wastewater testing.
And Ucalgary will also play a large part in the new Calgary Cancer Centre, with scholars and students embedded there to research new treatments and cures.
And if you come to our main campus now, you will see the transformation underway as new buildings are completed to bolster our teaching and research, along with space to support entrepreneurial education for all students. Our Energize campaign, which raised a phenomenal $1.4 billion — the third-largest fundraising campaign of any Canadian university — played a major role in improving our students’ spaces and experience.
This city’s immense level of support for Ucalgary is humbling. It speaks to our deep partnerships within the community — and our commitment to being the kind of research university that aspires to a better world. To make our home healthier, fairer and more prosperous; these are goals that motivate us every day. This fall, we can once again work toward achieving this vision in-person, which is exciting and welcome news, indeed.
Dr. Ed Mccauley is the president and vice-chancellor of the University of Calgary. Last month, he was re-appointed for a second term, running until 2028.