People

Tom Brzustowski

Dr Tom Brzustowski
Convocation Address
University of Alberta, June 8, 2000

Madam Chancellor, President Fraser, Dean Dale, faculty members, distinguished guests, graduating classes, ladies, and gentlemen,

Let me express my sincere thanks to the University for the honour being bestowed on me today. I am very proud to receive the honorary degree of Doctor of Science from the University of Alberta, one of Canada's great research universities and a standard-bearer for excellence.

Madam Chancellor, an honorary doctorate from the University of Alberta has a great personal significance for me because of a continuing history of family connections with the University. My father-in-law, Jay Burke, and his sister, Betty, both graduated from U of A in the late 1930s. Betty's husband, Walter Lilge, was for many years head of the Department of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering at the University. My son, John, is a graduate student here in Biological Sciences. And, most recently, a very clever young computer scientist who guided my wife and me around Beijing last August, Mr George Gesheng Li, chose the U of A as his bridge to Canada and arrived here for a year's research assignment just last November. I am delighted that Betty and Walter Lilge and Gesheng Li are here with us today.

At the outset, let me extend my most sincere congratulations to all the members of the graduating class receiving degrees from the University of Alberta today. You have worked hard to arrive here today, and you will work hard — maybe much harder — after you leave. The difference is that after today, you will carry the visible sign from your University telling the world that you have proved yourself in that most important of human activities — learning. Your learning has been at an advanced level in important subject areas, and you have succeeded to the high standards of an excellent university. Qualifications don't get much better than that.

Madam Chancellor, the flattering citation that you have just heard focused on me personally, and I am grateful for the very generous words of recognition and appreciation.

However, the achievements that the University has recognized are not the work of one person. They could not have occurred without the unfailing support of my wife Louise, the anchor of my life, a person of unlimited generosity, good humour and optimism, who has learned to tolerate my working hours and my frequent and long absences from home. Canada is a very large country, and there are universities to be visited everywhere!

But also, when you recognize me for promoting Canadian university research, you are recognizing the work of a couple of hundred very competent and motivated people. I refer to the staff of NSERC. I am proud to be on that NSERC team, working with colleagues who are totally dedicated to helping the scientists and engineers who conduct research in Canada's universities.

This is a very important day. It is important for the graduates and their families in many personal ways. But it is also important for Canada. It is important for Canada because in the knowledge-based global economy of this new century, Canada's comparative advantage lies in university research.

In the 22 years of NSERC's existence, we have supported some 50,000 young Canadians in their studies for the Master's and Doctorate degrees in the natural sciences and engineering. This huge pool of competence plays a major role in making it possible for Canadian universities and industry to be competitive at the leading edge of knowledge and technology. Today's graduating class will add to that capacity.

In a knowledge-based global economy, access to knowledge has a new meaning. It is much more than having Internet access to sites around the world. Anybody can surf the Net, hit upon a site that claims to have new research results, and download them. But to have true access to new knowledge, you have to understand it. Access to knowledge without the ability to understand it is no access.

Canada contributes about 4% of the world's new knowledge, as measured by publications, but we have access to the other 96% as well. We have access to it because of the educational role of university research — the very activity that we are celebrating here today. The people who obtain an advanced education through research know where to look for new knowledge in their fields, they know who around the world does the best work, they can understand and assess the new knowledge they find, and they can use it — they can do all these things because they themselves have worked in creating new knowledge at the leading edge of their subjects.

Some members of this graduating class will undoubtedly pursue research and university teaching as a career. That's a tremendously important path to follow, and I applaud those who decide to choose it. The graduates of the U of A who have continued in research have developed a great record of excellence and achievement, and I am sure that your contributions will add to that record.

But there are many other important paths as well, and I want to mention just one.

Most research leads to a better understanding of nature, of our place in it, and of ourselves. But some research in science and engineering leads to innovations — to new goods and services that are brought to market because they meet real needs. Basic research has the goal of discovery and is the foundation for all research, and that makes it immensely valuable. But basic research also turns out to be the source of many radical innovations — new goods and services unlike anything that was available before — that generally appear long after the discoveries that make them possible.

But there is also project research, a somewhat different activity. Project research creates new knowledge to solve real problems and brings researchers into contact with people who can use new knowledge productively in the economy. Project research often leads to innovations that come to market quickly through existing companies.

I have twice referred to innovation. Innovation is very important in today's global economy. That's not a theory; it's something very real. The Canadian public has an enormous appetite for innovations. Just think of the what we can buy today that didn't exist a few years ago: DVDs, digital cameras, in-line skates, hybrid electric cars that deliver 80 miles to the gallon, cell phones that send e-mail, snowboards - and that's just some durable consumer goods. Think how much we are ready to pay to wear the latest fashions, hear the latest song, see the latest film … or even take the little blue pills that make up for one effect of advancing years. But very many of the innovations that Canadians buy are imported from abroad.

Of course, Canadians are not alone in their prodigious appetite for innovations. People in other countries are ready to import Canadian innovations if they see new Canadian products that meet their needs and catch their attention.

Many people around the world buy Canadian commodity exports and have been for years, and that has been one of the traditional sources of our prosperity. But today, there are many competing sources of raw materials, and many people are ready to work for much less than Canadians need to maintain our standard of living. That means that our prosperity will increasingly depend on new unique and attractive products — both goods and services — Canadian innovations in which the value is added by Canadians. Exporting Canadian innovations to the world, we aren't limited to taking the prices offered in a depressed commodity market, but can set the price with new products that nobody else offers. And those profit margins will pay for more innovation in Canada, and so on — a virtuous cycle of innovation.

That all adds up to the great importance of innovation for our future prosperity and for the future well-being of Canadians. Canadians need to produce new goods and services that are so attractive in world markets that they lead to the creation of more and better jobs for Canadians.

The good news is that Canadians know how to innovate very well. We have excellent scientists and engineers who create great ideas and produce great designs. Of course, not all innovations come out of research, but many do, and they require much more than research to succeed. They require good engineering, an effective business strategy, great marketing skills, and a great deal of private investment.

We can all think of successful Canadian innovations, great and small, some that are the fruit of our scientific and engineering talents: the Confederation Bridge, the Ballard fuel cell, the Canadarm, the SkyDome, the aircraft engines of Pratt and Whitney Canada, the CANDU reactor, the oil sands project, Bombardier's Regional Jet, the Internet equipment made by Nortel Networks, the fibre optics links from JDS Fitel, and many more. And if we move beyond science and engineering, think of in-line skates and "Trivial Pursuits," etc. It's a most impressive list in terms of quality and impact, but the bad news is that it's not nearly big enough. Canada needs many more companies that succeed in taking great ideas and designs to market. Canadians are very good at innovating, but we must do much more of it.

I hope that many of today's graduates will contribute to successful Canadian innovations in the world market, and in that way contribute to the prosperity of their country and the well-being of their fellow Canadians. Graduating with advanced degrees from a great research university, you have the skills and knowledge required to contribute to science-based innovation — perhaps the most difficult kind, but also the innovations that tend to have the most lasting impact.

But whatever path you choose to take and whatever you choose to do, keep learning. And as you learn, look for ways of putting your knowledge to work in productive fashion. Let your imagination inspire you and your informed intuition guide you. Think strategically, seek new ideas from everywhere, examine them critically, exercise your judgment to make good decisions, and then just do it.

Create new knowledge in research, if that is your calling. Put existing knowledge to work to meet people's needs, if that interests you more. Become innovators and entrepreneurs, if you have those aptitudes. Form a vision of what you want to accomplish, look for those who share your vision, but be entrepreneurial in creating your own opportunities if your vision is unique. Work with competence, work with confidence, work with integrity, strive for excellence and for high standards of ethics in all aspects of your work, and then you will make contributions to society that are worthy of your country and of the great University which is recognizing you with its degrees today.

Good luck to you all!

Thank you.

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