Provincial chemical associations across Canada are working very hard right now to get their respective governments to enact legislation formalizing the practice of chemistry. Quebec has already been successful; most of the other provinces are in the process. Some provinces have too few chemists to organize an effective approach to their governments. In Ontario, anyone...
Read More >>While I wasn’t necessarily looking for them, some may have noticed prominent advertisements last fall announcing that the price of Viagra had dropped considerably. The price reduction was a direct result of the Supreme Court of Canada’s headline-making decision to invalidate Pfizer’s patent that protected the drug. After the patent was invalidated, generic drugs went...
Read More >>As horrific as war is, it has historically spurred innovation and the invention of many useful gadgets that benefitted a peacetime citizenry. The Second World War was no exception. To replace embargoed natural rubber from Asia, the Crown corporation Polymer Corp was created. Based in Sarnia Ont., Polymer made history, mass-producing synthetic rubber to support...
Read More >>Say acetone, and what comes to a chemist’s mind? Washing laboratory glassware is a good bet. Actually, the prime use of acetone is to produce polymethyl methacrylate, better known as Plexiglas. Much of the five million tons of acetone produced annually in the world goes towards satisfying the hunger for Plexiglas. Skylights, light fixtures, automobile...
Read More >>After the March 2013 federal budget, our chemical sciences and engineering community seemed to be staying mum on what the academic research community had received. Perhaps the changes made by the Conservative government and carried out by the granting councils over the past several years were sinking in for the research community — and are...
Read More >>The discovery of new chemicals has always supported new functionalities and rising standards of living. But when it comes to applying those discoveries to industry — including resource extraction, chemical processing, biotechnology transformation and efficient product applications — public scrutiny is greater than it has ever been. The future success of the chemical industry will...
Read More >>At a recent symposium I attended, several “studentpreneurs” were showcasing their innovations which had been supported by a local technology incubator. It was heartening to see how passionate the students were about their innovations, and the determination they brought to their projects. One chemical invention particularly caught my eye, as it purportedly solved a problem...
Read More >>On my last visit to London, England I made a point of going to Waterloo station. I wasn’t interested in taking a train, I just wanted to stand at the bus stop in front of the station. I wanted to see with my own eyes the famous spot where one of the most ingenious chemical...
Read More >>From the beginning, the history of the companies that would become Canadian Industries Limited (C-I-L) have been entangled with that of the nation itself. The Hamilton Powder Company, founded in 1862, manufactured black powder — and later, dynamite — which was used in the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. In 1885 the American A....
Read More >>We should create an ecosystem that offers business courses to science students and mentorship programs connecting aspiring entrepreneurs with business leaders.
Read More >>When I was about halfway through my master’s degree, I began to think about what I would do in the “real world” and how I could capitalize on my chemistry degree. At the time, in my myopic view of the world, I had only one of two choices — work towards a doctoral degree and...
Read More >>The cover of the January 21 issue of Maclean’s, which promised to explain “why so many smart, educated, ambitious young people have no future” was enough to make any university student consider throwing in the towel on both their education and their career plans. The story goes that for the past several decades, society has...
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