46
business elite canada
H
FEBRUARY 2014
with the global goals of sus-
tainable development. Several
partnerships have supported
this theme including a recent
partnership with The Energy
Council of Canada that pro-
vides $500,000 over 10 years
to graduate students engaged
in energy policy research. The
growth of cities is also a key
theme that addresses the
global trends of increasing
urbanization, abundant data
and need for sustainable and
resilient infrastructure. These
trends underscore the impor-
tance of research in high per-
formance buildings, energy
efficiency, smart grids, smart
energy networks and sustain-
able mobility. The final theme
investigates off-grid energy
access, given that basic en-
ergy services are not available
for a third of humanity. Here
research focuses on micro and
mini grids, remote access and
solutions for remote commu-
nities and low cost local re-
newables and resources. Suit-
ably, in April 2013 the Senate
approved the renewal of WISE
for their mandate that will
Dr. Aiping Yu, Assistant Professor, Dept. of
Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo