$1M donated for innovation centre at McMaster

Mississauga, ON – August 18, 2004 – Xerox Canada has given a $1 million gift to McMaster University toward the building of a new Centre of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, a first of its kind in Ontario.

“This endowment is dedicated to two causes at the heart of Xerox: innovation and entrepreneurship – a source of Xerox’s continued success in the marketplace,” says Doug Lord, chairman, president and CEO, Xerox Canada.

The funding, which is a joint gift from Xerox Canada and the Xerox Foundation, will establish the Xerox Centre for Engineering Entrepreneurship and Innovation within the School for Engineering Practice at McMaster University. A team of faculty and staff will operate the centre, assembled to research and teach the mechanisms of translating technical expertise into product and process innovation and commercial success.

The announcement was made during a celebration of the 30-year anniversary of the Xerox Research Centre of Canada (XRCC) held at the location of the centre’s laboratories and advanced chemical engineering pilot plant.

The XRCC says it has been awarded more than 950 US patents and authored some 900 scientific articles since its inception in 1974. Recent inventions include an EA toner that narrows the gap between colour and monochrome printing costs, and an organic light-emitting diode display device it says has the potential to replace liquid-crystal display screens.

“We have achieved so much here in Canada over the last 30 years, and are looking forward to a new era of innovations that we will uncover at XRCC in the next 30,” says Rafik Loutfy, corporate vice president, Xerox Innovation Group. “Xerox is fortunate to have some of the best scientific minds here in Canada to shape the technologies that will drive the company’s future success and growth.”