Discovery 08 - Student Journalism Program

As part of its ongoing effort to showcase Ontario's growing innovation culture to students, and to support the next generation of science and technology writers, OCE invited seven student journalists from Ryerson University's School of Journalism and Laurentian University's Science Communication program to cover Discovery 08. Below are their stories.

Student Journalists:

Laurentian University

Alain Boulay
Jessica Cox
Lisa Lambert

Ryerson University

Chelsea Miya
William Stodalka
Laura Suen
Joyce Yip

No surprise - Black Swan author Nassim Nicholas Taleb impresses at Discovery 08

By Jessica Cox

Back in the 16th century, it seemed perfectly reasonable for Europeans to assume all swans were white. After all, people had seen thousands of swans, and none had been any other colour. But once Europeans travelled to Australia, it took only a single black swan sighting to undo that presumption.

Best-selling author Nassim Nicholas Taleb has co-opted the story of the black swan as a symbol describing unexpected events. According to Taleb, black swans are highly improbable, carry a massive impact, and tend to be explained after-the-fact so they appear to have been inevitable. They show that the future is not always easy to anticipate. His message about avoiding the pitfalls of an unpredictable future seemed to strike a chord at Discovery 08, Canada's premier innovation and commercialization event, where he was the conference's highly anticipated opening keynote speaker.

The Black Swan, Taleb's latest book, was published in 2007, and followed up on many of the ideas from his 2005 book, Fooled by Randomness. Somewhat of a black swan itself (in the sense that massively successful best-sellers are relatively rare in the publishing world), The Black Swan was the highest selling non-fiction book on Amazon.com in 2007 and spent 17 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list.

After explaining the story of the black swan, Taleb went on to describe how black swan events are all about randomness and luck. Many of the discoveries that have shaped today's world are the result of chance, he said, using Viagra as one example. The wildly popular drug was originally developed to treat angina - its usefulness in treating erectile dysfunction was a fortunate but unanticipated result.

Conference participant Joseph Lemire, a PhD candidate in Biomolecular Sciences at Laurentian University, was impressed by Taleb's ideas, and confirmed that he had experienced black swans in his own research. "Every publication I have put out has been a result of stumbled upon discoveries," he said. Lemire's lab discovered a new enzyme after searching on a whim in the mitochondria of a cell instead of in the cytoplasm where they expected to find a similar enzyme. "It had nothing to do with what my project was originally designed to look for," he explained.
Inventors and entrepreneurs James Szabo and Bob Huybrechts also agreed whole-heartedly with Taleb's message. Szabo pointed out that events such as Discovery 08 are an excellent way to gain exposure to positive black swans through networking opportunities.

Taleb emphasized that not everything is random, but that we underestimate the role that randomness plays in our lives. So what's the secret to capitalizing on the existence of so many of these unpredictable black swans?
"Skills are necessary, but not sufficient," Taleb asserted. "When you're looking for something, keep an open mind to the fringes. That's where the business is!"

Innovation: Key to Ontario's future

By Lisa Lambert

John Wilkinson, Ontario's Minister of Research and Innovation (MRI), really seemed to capture the Ontario Centres of Excellence's (OCE) mandate at the Discovery 08 Conference, when he outlined his recipe for a mighty provincial legacy: "Innovation is a key ingredient for prosperity," he said. "Ontario must go far beyond a place where innovation happens. We must become a place where innovation is inevitable." Wilkinson spoke in front of nearly 1,500 of Ontario's top researchers, entrepreneurs, students, scientists, investors and business leaders who gathered for his luncheon keynote address.

The Ontario government has been creating new initiatives to accomplish this. Wilkinson reminded the audience that in the 2006 Ontario budget, the government announced its Ideas to Market Strategy, which includes the Market Readiness Program (MRP) to promote early investment and management expertise for the province's promising entrepreneurs. The government has jointly charged OCE and the MaRS Discovery District in administering the program by working directly with regional organizations across the province.

One component of the MRP is the Investment Accelerator Fund (IAF), an initiative designed to foster innovation in Ontario. Managed by OCE, the IAF is an early-stage seed fund intended to assist emerging Ontario companies in bringing their products and services to market. The IAF provides investment of up to $500,000 to companies that are good prospects for future investors.

Following his address, Minister Wilkinson announced the first two IAF recipients - Metabacus Inc., a software company that has dramatically simplified microchip design, and Atreo Medical Inc., creator of the CPRGlove, a tool designed to facilitate the administration of lifesaving CPR. These companies each received the maximum $500,000 in funding, which is expected to play a critical role in their success. "One of the big issues facing start-up companies is obviously financing," said Sarah Smith, chief operating officer of Atreo Medical Inc. "The IAF is instrumental for us. It's really the first steep financing that we've obtained."

Financing is not the only issue facing start-ups. There's also the issue of developing a business background. Atreo, for example, is headed up by a team of engineers, and learning the corporate side of things can be overwhelming. "From the point that we decided we were going to start this to now it's been a non-stop rollercoaster," said Corey Centen, CEO of Atreo, after the event. That's why recipients of the IAF also have access to services offered through the Business Mentorship and Entrepreneurship Program (BMEP) overseen by MaRs, such as market research and business mentoring.

Wilkinson also highlighted Ontario's need to identify and seize global market opportunities. "How well we take advantage of possibilities created by research and innovation in this province will determine Ontario's future," he suggested. With funds such as the IAF, along with other OCE initiatives, there's no doubt that the province is well on its way.

The Strategy paradox: Michael Raynor at Discovery 08

By Laura Suen

If you were asked to list the qualities of the most wildly successful businesses, you would probably say they are driven by experienced employees, extraordinary leadership and a unique vision. Unfortunately, according to Michael Raynor, author of The Strategy Paradox and the afternoon keynote speaker at OCE's Discovery 08 conference, these things will not be enough to steer a business on the road to great success.

"When you include risk and uncertainty, very few firms survive. Most firms want to minimize survival risk at the cost of return," said Raynor.

In other words, his research suggests that most managers seeking to increase their chances of success actually place themselves on the path to failure. Raynor finds that managers often shy away from the risks and bold commitments that can garner success in favour of more banal strategies, sacrificing any chance at becoming great in order to simply survive.

The reason this occurs is because managers and entrepreneurs must make tough business choices today that will have future consequences. However, those decisions are based on assumptions about the future, which cannot be predicted. Therefore, businesses are forced to take a stab in the dark; some hope they are making the right choices and others hope they can adapt if problems arise. The strategy paradox is this attempt to reconcile commitment and uncertainty.

Raynor analyzed successful companies like Sony, Johnson & Johnson and Microsoft to try to discover the secret to their success, which he called "making flexible commitments."

"Microsoft was unique because they assembled a portfolio of strategic options and parts could be assembled in ways to make them successful. It's important for businesses to identify strategic uncertainties, create strategic options and exercise or abandon those options as appropriate," he said, going on to explain that in Microsoft's infancy, the company produced several different operating systems like DOS, CP/M, OS/2 and diversified. It ditched products that weren't working and developed those that did.

Raynor's book, The Strategy Paradox, was voted one of BusinessWeek magazine's top ten business books of 2007. He spoke to a crowd of several hundred students, innovators, and business people.

Mind to Market Award presented to RapidMind for mastery of multi-core processors

By William Stodalka

RapidMind Inc. and the University of Waterloo have sped away with the Mind to Market award in a ceremony kicking off the OCE Discovery 08 conference.

Since 2006, OCE has honoured the best collaboration between industry and academic partners with the Mind to Market Award. RapidMind and the University of Waterloo won the 2008 award for their Multi-core Development Program, which makes it easier for software developers to use multiple core processors simultaneously, a groundbreaking advance in computing technology.

Until now, it has been difficult for software developers to use multi-core technology, because the necessary programming was too complex. RapidMind's technology allows developers to use that untapped potential and create computing applications that work at blazing speeds by today's standards.

Some possible future applications? The program can quickly produce accurate ultrasound scans for doctors looking for cancerous tumours, or speed up calculations for financial applications by as much as 140 times.

Dr. Michael McCool, co-founder and chief scientist at RapidMind, said that without harnessing the power of multi-core technology, it's as if computers "only use 10% of their brains."

OCE provided RapidMind's initial seed funding with its Market Readiness Fund when the company hit the market in 2004.

Gary Brock, Senior Manager of Business Development at OCE, has been working with RapidMind and the University of Waterloo since the technology was in its infancy. He said RapidMind has "great tech, a great management team, and the formula for success is there."

The other finalists for the award were: Advanced Engine Technology Ltd. and Carleton University, who collaborated on an Ignition Quality Tester for cleaner diesel fuel, Cleanfield Energy Inc. and McMaster University, who collaborated on a compact vertical-axis wind turbine, REGEN Energy Inc. and Centennial College, who created a peak-demand energy management control system and Theralase and the University Health Network, who created an innovative new medical laser therapy application.

Elevator Pitch floors judges

By Joyce Yip

When the silver elevator door on the screen closed, Thomas Ducellier, CEO of Heliocentric Technologies, knew he only had three minutes to leave his mark on the mining industry. But he was confident.

Ducellier's well-spoken and convincing speech turned him into the $2500 prize-winner of OCE's first Elevator Pitch event at Discovery 08.

A new event at Discovery this year, the Elevator Pitch gave young entrepreneurs three minutes - the time it might take for an elevator to descend a building to the ground floor - to present their ideas to a panel of venture capitalists and Angel Investors. As the participants made their pitches, a descending elevator projected on the screen behind them kept track of their allotted time.

Ducellier's company is aiming to revolutionize the mining industry with the Heliocentric On-site Analyzer. It's a technology that allows mine operators to quickly and accurately determine the contents of a new ore sample on-site. Since Heliocentric's desktop-size analyzer penetrates samples with gamma rays, it not only eliminates sample handling and complex preparation procedures, but it can also analyse ore of all sizes, whether they are in the form of core, chips, powder or slurry. The result shrinks the traditional method, which usually takes four to eight weeks, to a quick five-minute process of analysis.

"The wrong decision in mining can cost you three to five million a day," said Ducellier at the event. "That's huge money! So you can't afford to mine waste instead of mining coal."

Second place ($1,500) went to Donald Steward's (PlantForm Corporation) use of tobacco plants to make cheap therapeutic drugs for breast cancer, while Paul Bottero (VICICOG) took third prize, earning $1,000 for his new transmission technology for wind turbines.

"I think the ideas are very interesting," said Marnie Walker, one of the judges at the event. Walker is a founding member and board member at Maple Leaf Angels, a leading group of private investors based in Toronto.

"People talk about writing strategic plans that are 25 pages long, but I really believe if you can't write it in one page and you can't say it in three minutes, you really don't have a plan, which is what the market place is about," she added.

Discovery 08 Panel Discussion: Seizing Global Opportunities

By William Stodalka

In trying to seize foreign opportunities, Vincent Barboza, Senior Manager of Trade Products and Global Solutions at RBC Financial Group, suggests Canadian businesses should use trade commissioners more often because "they can help you access different parts of the world."

Barboza was one of four panellists at the Seizing Global Opportunities discussion at the OCE Discovery 08 conference. A rapt audience of about 50 people, including international trade commissioners from India, Spain, Israel and the U.S., gathered to hear how Canada can better compete globally.

Alongside Barboza's were Dr. Y.S. Rajan, principal advisor of the Confederation of Indian Industry, Sarah Kutulakos, the executive director of the Canada China Business Council, and Gregory Horowitt, director and co-founder of Global CONNECT, a California-based think-tank. Walter Derzko, a consultant, university lecturer, business owner and popular blogger on global innovation (smarteconomy.typepad.com) moderated the event.

Although the panel itself seemed to inspire the crowd, things got even more interesting during the question and answer session. An audience member asked Horowitt why commercial output lagged in Canada when compared to California, despite the fact that both Canada and California spent so much on research and development. According to Horowitt, one reason is California's hyper-competitiveness, which makes the state quick to seize new technologies. "Good technologies are like milk," he reminded the audience. "They have an expiration date."

Discovery 08 Panel Discussion: Failures on the Road to Success

By Alain Boulay

What if you had customers who wanted your product but you had little money to make it? The answer? Choose a price point based on material costs rather than market values. Panellists discussed this and other entrepreneurial challenges at the OCE Discovery 08 conference in Toronto. Jeffrey Crelinsten, president of The Impact Group, moderated the panel discussion on the question "Is failure a stop on the road to success?"

Keith Thomas, panellist and president of Northern Nanotechnologies Inc., described two kinds of failure that emerge with new technology businesses. The first is a lack of commerce skills among academic entrepreneurs and the second is what he described as a "drunkenness for technology," where academics might look upon venture capital as a kind of university research grant and mismanage funds. He noted that many researchers have upgraded their commerce skills through education.

Terry Graham, chairman and CEO of Dungor Holding Corporation, suggested that "you don't ask a blacksmith about diamonds; you ask a jeweller." Likewise, you have to recognize what you don't know so that you can learn what is needed from the right expert.

Despite a focus on failure, the discussion succeeded in demonstrating how a regard for failures will lead to success.

Discovery 08 Panel Discussion: Money Match

By Joyce Yip

The Gowlings Theatre had barely enough space to contain the entrepreneurs and investors who were hungry for financing advice at the Money Match panel discussion at Discovery 08.

Moderated by Mark Chamberlain, president and CEO of Trivaris Ltd., the event featured panellists Andrew Abouchar, partner at Tech Capital Partners Inc., Christine Gulbranson, director, Advancing Innovation for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, and Ryan Little, vice president of Business Development for StormFisher Biogas.

While Abouchar pulled out a list of "Top 11 Things Not to Say to Venture Capitalists," which included unrealistic comments like "We won't need you later" or "We have no competitors," Gulbranson advised entrepreneurs to be flexible, and Little stressed the importance of knowing your product and the market. When approaching potential funders, "The investment group doesn't expect you to know everything, but you must be prepared to deal with the bumps on the way," Little said.

Despite the wide-ranging suggestions, the lesson of the day seemed to be persistence.

"Finding investors is like fly-fishing; you have to poke around the water a bit," said Chamberlain. "So, plan to fail. But know why you're getting the ‘no's,' because most of the time, the problem is the way you say it, not the idea itself."

Student Video poster competition

By Alain Boulay

Peter Ralevic, a student at Queen's University, has provided clean electricity to villages in rural India, beating out seventeen other competitors and winning the first prize of $2,500 at the OCE Discovery 08 Student Video competition.

Second prize was awarded to Matt Krantz, Qing Huang and Xiangbo Meng of the University of Western Ontario for "Ultrafine Powder Coating for Automotives and Other Industries," and third prize went to Luke McKinney of the University of Toronto for "Damage Mitigation in Large Optics with Pulsetrain Bursts, or How to Save Money with Science!" Sean Conway, Associate Director (External Relations) at the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations at Queen's University, and Mark Romoff, President of OCE, handed out the awards at the conference's closing reception.

In past years, the contest was a poster competition in the traditional sense, but this year students were asked to submit their presentation in the form of a five-minute video - a nod to the digital age. Ralevic's entry, "Decentralized Electricity Production," described how he has helped to prototype biofuel electricity generators for use in rural India, a process that must include a modification of agricultural practices and cooperation between villages. In working on the project, Ralevic said his aim is to not only solve the problem of powering villages far removed from the power grid, but also to encourage new market sectors in agriculture and energy production.

Students had very simple objectives in making their videos and answered such questions as: "Does the industry have a need for this research?" "What is the problem to be solved?" and "Will this create a new market sector?" Ralevic worked with industry partner KMW Systems Inc. which provided the biomass combustion technology for use in the project. He also maintained connections with government agencies such as the Clean Electric Power Generation Program (CEPG) and the CANMET Energy Technology Centre (CETC), a federal government organization that develops and demonstrates alternative energy technologies and processes.

Let's Talk Science at Discovery 08

By Chelsea Miya

Don't be fooled by their short stature. Kids may be among OCE's most important clients.

At the Discovery 08 conference, OCE president Mark Romoff stressed the need to begin investing in science "as soon as the bell rings."

And since 1993 the non-profit organization Let's Talk Science, which OCE sponsored with a grant of $200,000 this past year, has been doing just that -helping kids get excited about science. The organization works to improve science literacy through educational programs, research and advocacy.

"We forget that that person getting the $100 million investment deal today was once five years old," said Let's Talk Science President Bonnie Schmidt. "It's all about building a culture of innovation."

According to Schmidt, the proportion of students enrolled in post secondary engineering programs is actually declining when we need them most.

Second year McMaster University student Jonathan Liberda was volunteering at the Let's Talk Science booth at Discovery. Liberda said that he "hated science" in high school. But now the Sciences and Medical Physics major is one of more than 1,500 Let's Talk Science volunteers from 22 Canadian universities and one community college who teach more than 65,000 youth from across the country each year.

From water filtration experiments to the DNA mapping of a banana, the hands-on workshops Let's Talk Science offers in schools are "almost like a magic show," said Liberda.

"When I start bringing out the lasers they get pretty excited," he adds. "You get a lot of ooh's and ahhh's."

Tech Profile: Quillsoft - opening doors for children with disabilities

By Chelsea Miya

For centuries machines have been helping humans do the impossible.

We can create light. Fly. Even extend life.

Now, a groundbreaking new computer program that was showcased at the recent OCE Discovery 08 conference is giving children with disabilities the gift of writing and speech.

The software, developed by a company called Quillsoft from research done at the Bloorview Kids Rehab in Toronto, uses word prediction technology to make writing easy. As you type, WordQ (a software tool used along with standard writing software) zeros in on any spelling or grammar errors and a selection of the words or phrases you are most likely searching for will pop up on the screen. The computer will also repeat back what you've written, making it easier to catch mistakes.

WordQ is one of seven health technology innovations that were made possible through a three-way collaboration between OCE, the Health Technology Exchange and the National Research Council Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program. Together they contributed $400,000 in funding to the Bloorview Research Institute. WordQ is a major breakthrough for those who struggle with reading and writing, especially people with learning disabilities.

And now a SpeakQ plug-in offers a hands free alternative for those with physical disabilities. Using speech recognition technology, it transforms spoken words into type.

Said Fraser Shein, president and CEO of Quillsoft, "Without tools like this [people with learning disabilities] might be failing high school, but now they're going on to complete their doctorate."

To illustrate her point, Shein tells the story of 13-year-old Carly Fleishmann, who had never uttered a single word due to severe autism, but made headlines across Canada and the United States when she used WordQ software to talk for the first time about her condition.

Advocate Martin Thomason, 54, sees his two sons struggle with learning disabilities on a daily basis.

Inspired by Carly's story, he believes WordQ should become a nationwide standard in Canadian schools.

"With autistic kids such as my own son, because they can't speak there's an assumption that they cannot learn. But with this computer program that preconception is all out the window," said Thomason.

Tech Profile: Drink Local - Niagara Wineries developing a home-grown oak barrel

By Jessica Cox

Maple might be the first tree that comes to mind when you think of Canada, but for Melissa Smits, a student researcher at Niagara College, it's oak.

Smits and Professor Terence van Rooyen want Canadians to have the option to "buy local" when it comes to wine, right down to the oak barrels in which wine ages. The Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) has provided funding for research that will help make this goal a reality, and OCE's Discovery 08 conference was the perfect place for Niagara College to showcase its progress.

At her booth on the conference floor, Smits explained that until recently, Canadian winemakers had to import expensive barrels from Hungary, France or the United States, but now Ontario is leading the push to establish a Canadian source for oak barrels. Several Ontario wineries began experimenting with Canadian barrels in 1999, and the goal of her research is to compare wines matured in Canadian oak to others.

Her project uses a technology called gas chromatography mass spectrometry, which identifies and quantifies each chemical compound found in a given wine, allowing a comparison of the precise chemical profiles of wines stored in different types of barrels. Niagara College is also working on assembling a panel of experts to compare the wines through more traditional tastings, and Smits and her fellow researchers hope the first panel results will be available soon.

Tech Profile: CATs and Dogs better equipped to search and rescue

By William Stodalka

Meet Dare, a seven-year-old purebred black lab. He's an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) dog who finds victims in collapsed buildings and other dangerous situations. And now, he's got a new way to rescue people.

One of the most popular booths at the Ontario Centre of Excellence's (OCE's) Discovery 08 conference, the Canine Augmentation Technology (CAT) project featured Dare running through a maze designed to look like an accident site. The project was jointly developed by Ryerson University, the OPP and the Ontario Partnership for Innovation and Commercialization.

Dare is trained to reach victims in collapsed buildings long before human rescuers can. But now, wearing a vest outfitted with a special camera, Dare can also transmit live video to his handler's computers via wireless Internet. This valuable glimpse into the scene of the disaster can show where the victims are, how they are trapped, and whether they are even alive.

The project shows so much potential that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a U.S. disaster relief agency, has expressed interest. However according to project leader Dr. Alexander Ferworn from Ryerson University, CAT still needs more funding to fully plan the best ways to place the router that directs data from the camera to the computer. CAT's researchers have applied for an OCE grant to help facilitate this $26,000 project.

You can't teach an old dog new tricks, but you can give him new toys - thanks to the innovation seen at Discovery 2008.

Tech Profile: Move aside, Photoshop

By Laura Suen

New technology supported by the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) shows that Photoshop may not be the best answer for retouching old photos - very old photos, that is.

Researcher and photography master Mike Robinson, proprietor of Century Darkroom, is working with Ryerson University to create a new method to restore Daguerreotypes. Daguerreotypes are early versions of black and white photographs invented in the 1800s. At that time, photographers created images by exposing them directly onto a copper plate that was coated with silver halide particles deposited by iodine vapour or a similar gas.

The problem with these early photos was that there was no such thing as negatives, and because they are made of silver particles, Daguerreotypes have a tendency to tarnish with age.

"Many Daguerreotypes have been destroyed in the past because people tried to restore those pictures with other methods. Because each photo was an original, if someone wanted to fix it up, they risked losing the image forever," said Robinson.

His method of restoring Daguerreotypes involves repairing the colour pigments on the plates themselves. He hopes to see his technology one day being used by museums to reclaim history that may otherwise be lost in the tarnish.

Robinson's work was featured on the exhibit floor during OCE's Discovery 08 conference in early May.

Sector Forum: Green Zone gives green light for aerospace

By Lisa Lambert

Dr. Michael Dixon certainly loves a challenge. Dixon, director of the Controlled Environment Systems Research Facility (CESRF) at the University of Guelph, started his presentation at the Discovery 08 by admitting he often said "the next worst place to try and grow a plant after a snow bank in Canada is clearly the moon."

Dixon should know - as a developer of biological life support systems for the aerospace industry, the moon is an environment where he often directs his work.

At Discovery, Dixon kept things interesting in his 10-minute soap-box style presentation in the Green Zone, a hotbed of discussion on environmental issues.

Dixon said that thanks to funding from the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE), he and his team have made impressive strides. While his technologies are primarily designed for use in space, they also have terrestrial applications, such as biological air filtration in buildings.

Dixon also promoted the upcoming Canadian Advanced Life Support Systems (CanALSS) workshop in Guelph, ON, hosted by CESRF, funded by the Canadian Space Agency and supported by OCE.

The goal of the workshop is to bring together representatives from the aerospace industry with researchers from the agrifood sector to develop strategies for Canadian contributions to biological life support systems in space exploration. Canada is currently a world leader in this sector and Dixon's project to explore the possibility of growing plants on the moon and other planets, is shaping up to be the next Canadarm.

For more information about the CanALSS workshop, visit www.canalss.ca.

Sector Forum: Life Sciences Zone features a strong pulse

By Alain Boulay

The Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) brings technology from research to marketplace. Likewise, Robert Weersink, director of Operations for the Laboratory for Applied Biophotonics at the Princess Margaret Hospital (University Health Network), brings new life science technologies to application.

Weersink took a few moments to describe the ways that he has successfully managed biophotonics research and brought new research to medical practice. His talk took place in the Life Sciences Sector Forum Zone, an area of OCE's Discovery 08 conference where participants signed up for ten-minute timeslots to speak about a topic of interest, producing an informative exchange among like-minded professionals.

Weersink described his work, where photons are used to measure red blood cell activity in photo-sensitive hemoglobin, and then spoke about how he brought this theory to medical application.

The Life Sciences Zone attracted enthusiastic audiences throughout the conference, who were distinguished by their supportive sharing of new business ideas.

Sector Forum: Digital Zone dials up discussion

By Joyce Yip

Steven Martin knows that digital media is not just a new form of communication - it's going to take over the world.

At the Ontario Centres of Excellence's (OCE's) Digital Zone forum debate (a new event at the Discovery conference this year), Martin, the Director of Industry Liaison and Commercialization at Ryerson University, spent his 10-minute discussion on the emergent properties of digital media.

"When we only had television before, there was only a straight line of consumption from TV production to transmission, and then to the user. But with the amount of information available on the Internet now, all this content is being pulled from this emergent reality, and no on knows what to do with it."

Yet, this recent flood of content has sparked a life-altering change in society.

"My father still can't understand the idea of mobile phones; he cannot understand the concept of a phone that is not attached to a land line," said Martin. "And take that in contrast to the importance of text messaging - instead of calling someone, we now feel the need to punch messages into a tiny keypad."

Martin extended his argument to the cultural implications digital media has brought into the market: life conveyance; virtual money; and the newest hot topic, Epagogix, a UK company that has developed software to predict the box office value of a film script even before a movie is shot.

"They're so accurate that Disney is hiring them," he said about Epagogix. "It's scary knowing that I can be reduced to an algorithm to tell me whether or not I'll enjoy Iron Man."

How Discovery went green

By Chelsea Miya

Money doesn't grow on trees. But green money might help save them.

The Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) is sending the message that investing in the environment pays.

From turning wastewater into energy to recycling hydroponic soil, OCE has many projects focused on reducing our environmental footprint, this past year investing $13 million in energy-related projects alone. And now for the first time, the OCE Discovery 08 Conference adopted a zero waste policy.

"We drastically cut back on paper," said spokesperson Meghan Lauber. "Practically all waste was diverted from landfills."

Instead of printing hundreds of show guides, guests were given free memory sticks to download conference information from onsite laptops. Schedules and maps were posted on billboards around the conference centre, giving people the help they needed without having to refer to paper.

And what about food and drink?

Ever wonder what goes into your cup of coffee? North Americans use 60 per cent of the world's paper cups—that's 130 billion cups every year, requiring about 53 million trees and 33 billion gallons of water.

That's why OCE made sure all cutlery, plates and cups were recyclable. Reusable stainless steel water bottles were also provided instead of bottled water.

According to Statistics Canada, in 2002 Canadians generated over 32 million tonnes of waste (of which only 25% was recycled), almost one tonne per person, making us one of highest producers of garbage per person in the world.