Controversy ‘tempest in a teapot’
Edmontonian leads changes at National Research Council
When longtime Edmonton business leader John McDougall headed to Ottawa three years ago, he carried in his briefcase some firm ideas about how to revamp the National Research Council — knowing those ideas might well raise a few hackles across the country.
Two weeks ago, McDougall, 61, and Gary Goodyear, federal minister of state for science and technology, stood shoulder to shoulder to formally launch the NRC’s new mission — an emphasis on applied science, industrial research, new economic growth and business development.
“The NRC will now focus on the identified research needs of Canadian business,” Goodyear announced.
The first project under the new mandate landed in Alberta — a $19-million pilot plant to test the use of algae to eat carbon emissions and turn carbon dioxide into fertilizer. The federal government kicked in $9.5 million, $6.3 million comes from oil giant Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., and Toronto-based Pond Biofuels will bring in the rest. The “algal biorefinery” will be built at CNRL’s Primrose South oilsands site near Bonnyville.
With this prominent Edmontonian at the helm, the venerable NRC, a national icon established in 1916, aims to re-tool the Canadian economy. In 15 years, McDougall predicts, the country will see more value-added industry, manufacturing in new areas and more exports — all of which generate good jobs.
McDougall started as a petroleum engineer in the early days of heavy oil development with Esso in Cold Lake, then moved into the Arctic search for oil and much later into software development in Edmonton and startup companies.
In the 1990s, he joined the Alberta Research Council, which he ran for 12 years.
Canada’s problem, he says, is despite increased spending on research and development over the years, the country’s productivity hasn’t improved. The NRC has to help change that, he says.
The idea is to identify major problems that hinder the national economy — rising greenhouse gas emissions in the oilsands are a major cost, he says — then marshal the resources of the NRC and “go hunting for the technology to deal with that.” (McDougall has been a champion of the carbon eating algae for several years.)
While the new NRC will work with private partners, “we are not picking a company, we are picking a problem,” that affects many companies, he says.
McDougall wasn’t too surprised at the protest from those in academic circles who argue that scientific progress comes from doing long-term, undirected discovery research. For years, the NRC did its share of that basic science, too.
But it’s a “bit of a tempest in a teapot,” he says.
“Nobody is saying abandon basic research; that would be a gross mistake,” says McDougall. There’s still plenty of room for that research on campuses across the country, he says.
“But the NRC needs to be more outcome-focused,” says McDougall.
Also, he’s redirecting only about $350 million of the NRC’s $900-million budget for the 4,000 scientists and staff in labs across the country. That’s a small share of the $20 billion to $30 billion spent on research and development in Canada.
In the 1990s, during his days teaching in the engineering school at the U of A, McDougall began to see the gap between inventions and the market that stifled efforts to move technology into the market.
There needs to be a “bridging” mechanism and that’s where the NRC can help.
During his tenure at the Alberta Research Council, he built up a robust stream of contracts with clients who were looking for new technology. When he left, the ARC had a $100-million budget, and only 25 per cent came form government grants. (The ARC was disbanded just after McDougall left in 2010 and replaced with Alberta Innovates — Technology Futures.)
The payoff of the new approach won’t come overnight. But in three to five years, if the NRC can bring the right people, change could start. “We should see a return of 10 to 20 times the investment,” says McDougall, and that should mean more manufacturing in Canada for export.