Sheridan researcher wins prestigious award for “vision, exploration and problem-solving”

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) announced the recipients of its annual NSERC Prizes, which recognize exceptional research achievements. Among them is the Synergy Award for Innovation, awarded to Dr. Ed Sykes, Director of the Sheridan Centre for Mobile Innovation.

The Centre’s most recent research includes a project to enable remote patient monitoring of vital signs during the COVID-19 pandemic in healthcare settings and private homes; the development of a mobile app that will help the elderly manage medications for chronic pain; and work to advance the use of mixed reality (a blend of physical and digital environments) to display a patient’s real-time vital signs along with other pertinent data such as results from bloodwork and imaging, and a patient’s medical history, medications and allergies.

The NSERC Synergy Award for Innovation recognizes effective collaboration and partnership between industry and colleges or universities. The award brings $100,000 of funding to Sheridan to continue to invest in state-of-the-art equipment. CMI’s focus on creating innovative mobile solutions to real-world challenges in healthcare continues to make an impact among the communities Sheridan serves, built on strong and successful collaborations with their industry and community partners.

“At NSERC, we pride ourselves on funding excellence in discovery and innovation, with an emphasis on ‘excellence’. The recipients of NSERC prizes are nominated by their peers and colleagues and regarded as leaders in their fields. By any measure, the visionaries, explorers and problem-solvers we are celebrating today are not just some of the finest researchers in Canada, but among the finest in the world," said Professor Alejandro Adem, President of NSERC.

“We are deeply passionate and invested in bringing innovative research approaches and transformative possibilities to our industry and community partners,” said Dr. Sykes. “Our external partnerships are so vital to our research. Our collaborations continue to thrive due in large part to the high level of faculty and student expertise and talent that Sheridan provides them, which ultimately contributes to economic growth and prosperity.”

“Our government values the vital role that research and innovation play across Canada” said the Honourable Anita Anand, Member of Parliament for Oakville. “Sheridan is a key driver of innovation and economic prosperity in our community of Oakville. They continue to provide our industry and community partners with access to state-of-the-art resources and expertise. This award to the Sheridan Centre for Mobile Innovation recognizes their leadership and I hope that it will encourage even more success in the future. Congratulations to Dr. Ed Sykes and the Sheridan Centre for Mobile Innovation on this well-deserved recognition.”

“This NSERC Prize reaffirms the innovation excellence that we continue to see from the Centre for Mobile Innovation,” said Andrea England, Vice Provost, Research. “Dr. Sykes and the research team at CMI are focused on forward-thinking solutions in collaboration with key industry partners that deliver long-lasting impacts across the sector.”

About the Sheridan Centre for Mobile Innovation

The Centre for Mobile Innovation is one of Sheridan’s six research and incubation centres. Its mandate is to create innovative solutions to problems in healthcare using leading mobile and related technologies including the Internet of Things, wearable computing, augmented and virtual reality, and machine learning. Driven by industry need, the Centre projects are developed with student and faculty researchers who gain invaluable practical interaction with real-world projects. Learn more at cmi.sheridancollege.ca.