SDG 9 - Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

Teaching and Learning:

• Memorial's new Core Science Facility will contribute greatly to Newfoundland's economic development as well as research and innovation. The new building will help to provide excellence in teaching and learning, research and public engagement and will consist of laboratory teaching spaces, an adaptable shell space for university and industry collaborations, offices and meeting rooms, and more.
• Memorial's new science building will offer many new opportunities for research. There will be areas for students to work individually, in pairs, and also in large groups. There are also deisgn studios and a student project lab. The new building will also contribute to research collaboration amongst departments.
• "Memorial signs five-year memorandum of understanding for Nigeria's National Agency of Science and Engineering Infrastructure in February 2020, which will see Memorial increase its research collaborations and attract more... graduate students from West Africa". This promotes infrastructure development in developing countries such as Africa.

Research:

• A new piece of innovative technology developed by Memorial alumni "enables oil producers to significantly reduce some of the costs and challenges in the regulatory monitoring of offshore produced water". What would once take all day can now take just 5 minutes. This technology will allow oil producers to monitor contamination they would release into the marine environment.
• A 14 million dollar investment to Memorial will replace two of Memorial’s aging animal research care facilities allowing the continuation of biomedical research. The building will have a great impact on teaching, learning, and research and will contribute to "social, cultural and economic success of the province".
• The university is in the process of developing its first Innovation Strategy. "The goal is to outline ways Memorial can enhance its support of the many facets of innovation, including innovation programming, social and cultural innovation, entrepreneurship and innovation-driven research." Some innovative projects currently being led by Memorial include SucSeed and WaterLily. Next steps include meeting "with a variety of internal and external stakeholders".
• Memorial alumna creates new mobile app to access fresh fish and seafood. The app allows fishers to directly sell their catch to local consumers. Consumers can connect with fishers therefore increasing their access to local seafood while also contributing to fisheries sustainability. She hopes the app will shorten the long and complex fish chain that must be gone through to have access to fish.
• An engineer at Memorial researches how sustainable infrastructure can "ensure resilience to climate change impacts on bridges, culverts and other flooding related issues." His "research focuses on building and sustaining infrastructure resilience through targeted climate adaptation training and awareness workshops for professionals". Three of these workshops have already taken place.
• More than $6.7 million invested into Memorial facility to address environmental challenges. "The ACESCentre will be equipped with high-performance instrumentation for chemical and materials analysis for research, such as environmental monitoring, sustainable resource development and green materials synthesis." The goal is to solve problems related to areas such as sustainable resource development and environmental knowledge.
• A new seafloor observatory installed in Conception Bay will "enable real-time monitoring of oceanographic conditions and marine life". The "observatory monitors currents, waves, water temperature, salinity and underwater sounds". This new technology will contribute greatly to oceanic research as well as advancement of Canada’s blue economy.
• An $830,000 donation from The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) will fund five specialized research projects at Memorial. The money will also contribute to new technologies and equipment to support this research, such as a critical piece of scientific infrastructure for biomedical and basic science research, the first of its kind at Memorial.
• $8 million in federal funding will be distributed to a number of faculties on Memorial's campus to aid in research and innovation. This money will also help leading researchers to hire PhD, Graduate, and Undergraduate students to help with their research, therefore increasing the number of research and development workers.
• A new partnership to build research and academic connections in Nigeria will "enhance research collaborations in key areas such as engineering, technologies and related fields". According to the article, "Memorial will play a key role in innovation and technology development in Nigeria".
• $8.9 million funded by a number of contributors will allow for the creation of the Centre for Research and Innovation in Corner Brook, NL. According to the article, “This will foster a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation, support training and succession planning of skilled workers, create innovative and environmentally conscious industry opportunities and products, support local and regional agriculture activities and initiatives and provide internship opportunities for graduate students at Grenfell and students at CNA". The Centre will also greatly contribute to research and innovation.
• The development of a new world-class Harsh Environment Research Facility (HERF) will support leading-edge research for the blue economy. According to the article, "The HERF will be a new world-class R&D facility for large-scale testing, research and development that is vital to the Canadian economy and environment." The new facility will greatly contribute to research and will "help drive innovation and growth in our region’s ocean industries.”
• An Aging Research Centre, a new Memorial University research centre, opened recently at Grenfell Campus.
• Memorial acquires an 85-acre farm in Labrador to establish a centre to "support northern agricultural research, education and food security". "The centre will work with local farmers, representatives from Nunatsiavut, NunatuKavut, the Innu Nation and key community organizations".
• Federal investment of $600,000 will help expand Memorial's research infrastructure. One of the new instruments to be purchased is a new state of the art mass spectrometer. According to the article, funding will also provide "infrastructure necessary to create a new geochemical facility in the Department of Earth Sciences, which will include a new cutting-edge clean laboratory and mass spectrometer." This investment in infrastructure will greatly aid in research and innovation at Memorial.
• A doctor and nurse from Memorial develop new health app "to help anticipate demand for care in emergency departments". "After a positive initial testing phase, the team received a $100,000 grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to fine-tune the app". This supports the creation of domestic technology.
• A $6.7 million investment from the Canada Foundation for Innovation leads to the devlelopment of the Harsh Environment Research Facility (HERF) on Memorial's campus. The HERF will "allow the team to address the challenges and impacts of environmental hazards of freezing precipitation and marine icing conditions." It will help solve key challenges, provide important new data and understanding, and help prepare students for future challenges.
• $4.8 million from Canada Foundation for Innovation will lead to Memorial's development of autonomous marine observation systems (DAMOS). It "will build an innovative, multi-institutional ocean observing system to support research and use oceanographic data collection for informed decision-making." "This infrastructure project will lead to the development of new autonomous vehicles with advanced sensor capabilities for testing on the Newfoundland and Labrador shelf".
• "Memorial University has awarded the contract for construction of the Animal Resource Centre (ARC), a research and teaching facility". The facility will allow students and staff to conduct world-class research and will be of great benefit to many different faculties at Memorial.
• New funding to the Chemistry Department at Memorial will allow for the acquisition of "a dual source single-crystal X-ray diffractometer which will help characterize useful materials from waste in the fishing and aquaculture industries and the catalysts used to make new materials... such as polycarbonates". Many research projects would have been negatively impacted without the purchasing of this new instrumentation.
• Memorial Faculties of Science, Medicine, and Pharmacy receive funding from The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) "allowing the teams to purchase sophisticated new tools, technology and equipment." This funding will also help Memorial attract and retain some of the brightest researchers "and allow them to create the 21st-century science and technology needed to grow our knowledge-based economy‎".
• The Fisheries and Marine Institute’s (MI) Holyrood Marine Base receives a $3-million investment. They plan on constructing a breakwater and marginal wharf, repurposing the existing wharf, developing laydown space and adding underwater infrastructure to support the development and testing of next generation ocean technologies. The project will enhance community and regional capacity within the province’s ocean technology industry.
• Marine Institute acquiring autonomous surface vessel for training and research. The partnership with SeaRobotics Corp will enhance its technology complement for training and research in ocean mapping, observation and characterization. The acquisition of the new vessel will allow students and researchers to work with cutting-edge technology.

Public Engagement:

• New greenhouse on-campus adds 26 new gardening plots for students, staff, and other groups to plant vegetables and fruits. This greenhouse also provides education on sustainable growing in the province.
• MUN's Innovation Initiative "is a pan-university effort focused on supporting the development and success of innovators across Newfoundland and Labrador. The initiative includes units from across disciplines, including business, science, music, and the humanities and social sciences". Innovation is taking place everywhere on Memorial's campus including but not limited to in facility development, projects, programs, services and infrastructure, and more.
• "More than $4.1 million in federal funding is being committed to Memorial’s Battery Facility to help support innovation and public engagement". "The facility, and its tenants, programs and public partners, will play a vital role in the cultivation of new innovative programs and ideas around social and economic innovation; entrepreneurship; leadership and regional development; and public and civic engagement." The facility will also "implement new physical and virtual technologies to make it easier and more productive for communities, both urban and rural, to connect with the expertise and resources of Memorial University, providing needed collaboration, dialogue and learning opportunities across Newfoundland and Labrador, and beyond."
  
  
  

Administration:

• Memorial has seen significant growth in their infrastructure over the past decade to both buildings and to the information technology (IT) infrastructure. Memorial has opened a new Faculty of Medicine building, launched the Signal Hill Campus, and opened new residences at Grenfell, to name a few. Memorial has also "invested millions of dollars to meet IT demands, including ... wireless and wired networks, strengthening the security infrastructure", and more.
• $600,000 contribution to The Works will assist with reopening the Aquarena pool. The reopening of this pool will greatly contribute to mental and physical wellbeing for the people of St. John's and surrounding areas.
• $24.7 million investment from the provincial and federal government will lead to the development of a Regional Aquatic Centre on Grenfell campus. According to the article, this piece of infrastructure will be "an inclusive, universally accessible, inter-generational, multipurpose facility built to serve the community and region for the next 50 years."
• Memorial continues to be guided by the multi-year infrastructure plan (2017-2023). These efforts will address emerging infrastructure needs and bring its infrastructure into alignment with the current fiscal climate. Emphasis remains on ensuring health and safety, supporting accessbility, and supporting technological infrastructure.
• Annual Report 2016-2017. $3 million was announced for Marine Institute's ocean technology base in Holyrood. $14.4 million provided for new animal research building. $4.1 million awarded to support Memorial's refurbishing of the Battery site as a provincial center for innovation and public engagement.
  - Atlantic Facilities and Research Equipment Database (AFRED) launched to provide specialized research infrastructure at Memorial. It provides free access to a growing database of nearly 400 pieces of research equipment.
  - Memorial was successful in attracting federal, provincial, and private sector funding to support research infrastructure such as the Core Science Building, The animal care facility, the Dobbin Genetics Research Centre, the Hibernia Offshore Operations Simulator Facility, and the Suncor Energy Offshore Research and Development Centre."