749 replies to this topic

[amor de cosmos]

Victoria inventor wins national prize for food wrap

• by Daniel Palmer - Victoria News
• posted Jun 22, 2014 at 3:00 PM

The Victoria inventor of a sustainable alternative to plastic wrap is receiving $25,000 to help her business expand to new markets.
 
Toni Desrosiers' re-usable, biodegradable and anti-bacterial food wrap Abeego, was the runner-up winner of the Young Entrepreneur Award, a national contest put on by the Business Development Bank of Canada.
 
Desrosiers beat out eight other competitors and rose from seventh to second place throughout the online voting period, which ended earlier this month.
 
"The media exposure we got through the contest was immense: we were featured at least 15 or 20 times in major publications," she said. "We saw a lot of new Canadian orders on our website, and a number of new stores have connected with us, so we've got a lot of new accounts we're working through."
 
Desrosiers will use the $25,000 in consulting services to grow her business in U.S. markets. Her goal is to increase business 2,000 per cent by 2019.
 
"We're hoping to see $5 million revenues by then," she said.

 

http://www.vicnews.c.../264015321.html

[Bingo]

The contest was posted on VV on May 30th.

Thanks to all who voted for Toni.

http://vibrantvictor...cy/#entry218119

 

 

 

[amor de cosmos]

A Fairfield home is likely the first in Victoria to install a driveway that lets water run straight through it, an innovative approach that saves the homeowner cash and lessens the load on city pipes.

Ron Manuel decided to install pervious concrete after learning about the City of Victoria’s pending stormwater utility. In January 2015, Manuel will become one of a few Victoria homeowners eligible for up to a 40 per cent discount under new bylaws that reward locals for keeping their rainwater on their property.

“I think it’s great,” he said, hosing the driveway to demonstrate the lack of run-off water. “This can take gallons of water a minute, and it just runs straight through.”

For all residential homeowners, the city will soon begin calculating the utility charge from the hard area footprint, or roof coverage, of each home. Driveway footprints will be averaged at three per cent of the roof’s footprint, while annual discounts will be available for homes that have rain gardens, cisterns, green roofs or permeable surfaces like Manuel’s driveway.

“It’s about 15 per cent more expensive than normal concrete, but it’s worth it,” he said.

Pervious paving includes everything from porous concrete to “grass-crete,” or concrete stones that allow grass to grow between them, said Ed Robertson, assistant director of public works.

“Pervious concrete should be able to handle the water that lands on it and penetrate the soil underneath,” he said. “Parking and driveways are bad areas for oil and other run-off, so keeping that out of our stormwater system and the ocean is key.”

http://www.vicnews.c.../266613301.html

[rjag]

Interesting regarding the permeable asphalt as we installed that on 50% of our driveway area at our last warehouse built 7 years ago in Central Saanich. It was called popcorn asphalt and could handle light commercial vehicles just not 18 wheelers. Works very well for normal rainfall just not deluge so it's still designed with runoff slopes

[Sparky]

I've had a porous driveway for years. It's called gravel.

[Bingo]

I've had a porous driveway for years. It's called gravel.

 

And you can hear when the company arrives.

[amor de cosmos]

VICTORIA - Google Earth may soon extend it global gaze to some of the most remote First Nations territories in Canada.

Google employees will be teaching members from about 70 First Nations across the country how to chart their land on the application during a four-day Indigenous Mapping Workshop at the University of Victoria that starts Monday.

There will be two days of lectures followed by two days of hands-on training, with the goal of getting attendees to draw out their territories.

The Firelight Group, which is hosting the event, expects the maps created during the project will be private, though First Nations may upload data online if they want to make it public.

Steven DeRoy, a director with the association, said the course will allow aboriginal groups to chart multiple items on their land and compare their relationships.

He noted that interactions between wildlife, community, and water are just a few examples of the many things that can be represented on an electronic map, which he added, are also easier to use than traditional maps.

http://www.canada.co...6742/story.html

[Mr Cook Street]

Canada’s Minister of Industry, James Moore, tweeted November 10 that the Amazon of China, Alibaba Group, is seriously thinking of opening up shop in Vancouver.

The Chinese e-commerce company, headquartered in Hangzhou, currently employs over 26,000 people and is worth an estimated $231 billion. To put this into context, Alibaba’s 2013 sales amounted to $248 billion, more than the sales of Amazon and eBay combined. In May 2014, Alibaba requested to go public in the U.S., possibly with the largest initial public offering in American history.

Alibaba Group has been called the Google of China, Groupon of China, Amazon of China, the eBay of China and the Paypal of China.

http://www.vancitybu...mpus-vancouver/

Could be quite the coup for Vancouver.

[spanky123]

Could be quite the coup for Vancouver.

Odd that the Industry Minister would be hyping a company from a country that on the other hand his Government continually criticizes for poor labour and human rights standards.

[amor de cosmos]

Royal Jubilee Hospital will be able to process patient samples faster and with more accuracy, thanks to a new state-of-the-art fully automated microbiology lab. Royal Jubilee is the first hospital in North America to have such a system.

“It will make a huge difference for our patients, because we'll have critical information to guide their therapy faster,” said Dr. Brendan Carr, CEO of Island Health.

The new lab system cost $4.3 million to install, and was done in partnership with the CRD. It officially goes live on Dec. 8.

Previously, staff had to manually place specimens on petri dishes, spread them in a specific pattern then take them to the incubator. After 16 to 24 hours, technologists would then examine bacteria growth on the plates one by one.

With the new system, specimens are placed on plates automatically, then spread by specially designed magnetic beads. The plates are sent along a conveyer belt into the incubator, which takes digital images of the samples. The images can be viewed at any lab technologist's computer.

Using this new process, 200 samples can be processed in an hour, as opposed to 40 to 60 per hour when done manually.

http://www.vicnews.c.../283758201.html

[VicHockeyFan]

The accuracy of the new robotic system is now 100 per cent for evert single specimen, said Carr.

“It raises our confidence and it raises our certainty in terms of diagnostics substantially.”

despite the increased speed and efficiency, Carr and Kibsey assured no jobs would be lost as a result.

“One of the problems in North America is that we are facing looking staffing shortages,” said Kibsey. “We have to have a way of increasing our capacity, being faster, with the same amount of technologists. We have to do more with the same people.”

 

 

Jeepers, VicNews needs to find more editors.

[VicHockeyFan]

HERE is more on it:

 

http://www.bd.com/sc...&dcTitle=Europe

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KiR-cxZE4w

[amor de cosmos]

The B.C. Cancer Agency in Victoria is now home to the world’s highest concentration of leading-edge radiation therapy machines, according to Dr. Wayne Beckham.

“We have certainly got the highest number in the world at the moment — six of these machines in one place — so we’re unique,” said Beckham, the provincial medical physics leader for the agency. “This puts Vancouver Island at the very forefront of radiation therapy for cancer.”

Health Minister Terry Lake and several specialists were at the agency’s Vancouver Island Centre on Tuesday to watch a demonstration of a TruBeam linear accelerator. Six of the new machines have been installed, replacing older machines. The last of the six was installed in the last few months.

The linear accelerators, which weigh about nine tonnes, use high-energy X-rays to kill tumour cells.

The primary method of treating cancer is surgery. If a tumour can be excised and removed with no spread, that is the treatment of choice.

Radiation therapy is required by about 55 per cent of cancer patients in B.C. either to treat a variety of cancers, reduce their recurrence or mitigate symptoms in palliative patients, the ministry said.



The province provided $24.3 million to replace six machines — at $3 million apiece — and upgrade other equipment.

The linear accelerators are “capable of the most accurate radiotherapy we can deliver” with a beam that is so precise in its positioning it will be competitive with surgery in some treatments, Beckham said.

Radiation oncologists and therapists are able to perform treatments they couldn’t do with the old machines and have recruited a physician based on the specialized cancer treatment work she can do with the machines, Beckham said.

Radiation oncologist Dr. Ross Helperin explained that in lung cancer, for example, radiotherapy is nearing the effectiveness in surgery.

http://www.timescolo...erapy-1.1658369

“To provide the best care, it is important that the B.C. Cancer Agency keep current with new technology and treatment advances. This new equipment will help to improve health outcomes for our patients by allowing us to deliver more precise radiation treatment to patients at the Vancouver Island Centre.”

Linear accelerators work by making use of high-energy x-rays to kill tumour cells. Radiation therapy is used to treat a variety of cancer types, as well as in palliative treatment to relieve symptoms.

The new machines deliver radiation more precisely, and produce better images, so treatment can be modified on a daily basis to support the needs of patients. On-board imaging, which enables staff to confirm the patient’s alignment, and RapidArc - a treatment technique that delivers radiation in a 360-degree arc around the patient – allow for more-efficient treatment delivery and improved accuracy, ultimately resulting in better patient outcomes.

Approximately 55 per cent of cancer patients in B.C. require radiation therapy as part of their treatment plan. The linear accelerators typically operate eight hours per day, treating approximately 150 patients during that time period.

http://www.vicnews.c.../285269081.html
http://www.viatec.ca...aded-technology

Edited by amor de cosmos, 11 December 2014 - 01:13 PM.

[amor de cosmos]

Victoria tech scene flourishes
Danny Bradbury - February 24, 2015

Out in Victoria, Vancouver Island, a hot tech scene is bubbing nicely away, with a healthy growth rate in key areas ranging from gaming to ocean sciences.

Fort Tectoria, an accelerator space opened last September, has provided a boiling pot for a diverse array of tech startups. A four-story space in downtown Victoria, it is a hub for the region’s thriving tech scene, having taken over from a previously leased space set up in 2012.

Fort Tectoria’s creator the Victoria Advanced Technology Council (VIATeC), developed the area using the kind of entrepreneurial spirit that it is encouraging among its members.

http://www.itworldca...ourishes/102366

[spanky123]

http://www.itworldca...ourishes/102366

 

No doubt Viatec has raised the profile of the tech community on the Island. If you look at the top 25 tech companies in town in 2009 and 2014 and account for name changes, companies changing location and acquisitions then it is pretty much the same list. If you look to the Valley or Vancouver or Waterloo there is much more growth and development. Although we are putting a lot of focus on startups and tech, none of those companies are succeeding at scale.

 

http://www.viatec.ca...9_VIATeC_25.pdf

https://tectoria.wor...nies-announced/

[Mike K.]

That's true, there isn't much happening as far as incubating new money making startups is concerned.

[pherthyl]

Was at the viatec awards dinner last year. If you ask me they're trying too hard to be cool and startuppy. You wouldn't know that Victoria has several large established tech companies because there is zero attention paid to them by viatec

[dasmo]

That's cause they don't need to attention. Look at how TC-Helicon creeped onto the list. I don't beleive they have ever been nominated for anything. Heck, their birth mother - IVL tech never was either....

[AllseeingEye]

Was at the viatec awards dinner last year. If you ask me they're trying too hard to be cool and startuppy. You wouldn't know that Victoria has several large established tech companies because there is zero attention paid to them by viatec

Very true, especially with regard to the "cool" schtick. OTOH truly cool organizations, like truly powerful individuals, are utterly confident in their capabilities and have no need to jump up and down yelling, to quote the late George Carlin, "dig me!!!"

 

Twice I have worked at local tech firms, including my current employer, that have very deliberately and by design remained below the radar, Viatec's in particular.

 

IMO Viatec is fine for those firms just getting started, looking for business mentorship and/or investment capital. For more mature and established firms (ours was founded in 1996) and who play in national and international markets, there is frankly no need to be involved with Viatec. We play in infinitely larger ponds and swim and are partnered with some of the largest most respected vendors in the technology business. There is simply no reason to court Viatec whose focus and influence is, by and large, "local". Simply put they offer a firm like ours limited if any value. And as noted ours is hardly the only Victoria technology firm in that position. Some of the most successful and longest tenured tech firms in the region scarcely if ever rate a mention by Viatec either on their website or 'news release', and again typically by design.

Edited by AllseeingEye, 27 February 2015 - 10:23 PM.

[amor de cosmos]

seems like a really weird place for something like this but whatever works I guess

Victoria’s most creative, artistic and innovative minds are gearing up to participate in the annual Thinklandia festival this month.

The free seven-day festival is transforming the Yates Street parkade into a hot bed of innovative ideas where creative speakers, artists, CEOs, physicists and storytellers can share their ideas.

“It was a way to give speakers a platform, creative speakers a platform, local entrepreneurs, non-profits a platform to talk about the kind of work that they do and really engage people on a different level,” said Joey MacDonald, creative programming director with Rifflandia.

“We try and create the best possible platform and forum for ideas to be expressed and elevated.”

Each day of programming has a different theme, ranging from illegality, storytelling, and edge of knowledge that focuses on everything including traditional native knowledge, and the idea of public.

http://www.vicnews.c.../324113691.html