This study explains the rise and fall of the Innovations Foundation, the University of Toronto's first office dedicated to the transfer of university-developed technologies to industry. Drawing on extensive archival research, ten interviews with key informants, and other sources, the case study traces the evolution of the Foundation from its launch in 1980 to its closure in 2006. The study delineates three distinct business models under which the Foundation operated from 1980 to 1990, 1990 to 1999, and 1999 to 2006. The reasons for the adoption and failure of each model are explored and a historically grounded, context-sensitive explanation of the university's decision to dismantle the Foundation in 2006 is provided. This explanation emphasizes the importance of managing unrealistic expectations for Canadian university technology transfer, and adds weight to a growing consensus on the importance of historical path-dependence as a conceptual tool for understanding the persistence of differentials in technology transfer performance among universities.

Aujourd’hui, nous savons qu’environ 75 à 80% des impacts environnementaux des produits sont déterminés lors de la conception. Le rôle du designer industriel est donc crucial pour arriver à une forme de développement plus viable. Cette recherche tente de cibler les champs de connaissances qui devraient faire partie de la formation des professionnels du développement de produits pour y intégrer les aspects environnementaux. Après une recension de la littérature en design industriel, en pédagogie et en environnement, l’étude de terrain a été conduite en deux temps. Selon des critères prédéfinis, des programmes universitaires « spécialisés » en environnement/développement durable, au Québec, ainsi que des formations en éco-conception, offerts en France, ont été analysés. L’étude de terrain a été complétée par un entretien en profondeur semi-dirigé avec un consultant, qui aide des entreprises québécoises à intégrer l’environnement en développement de produits. L’analyse des informations recueillies met en évidence la nécessité de transformer rapidement les formations universitaires en conception de produits. Le nouveau cursus de design industriel devrait; 1. Intégrer les connaissances relatives aux impacts environnementaux; 2. Encourager le travail en équipes multidisciplinaires pour enrichir la collecte d’informations relative aux projets de développement; 3. Établir une collaboration étroite entre les établissements d’enseignement et les industries, ce qui est essentiel à la compréhension des enjeux de développement de produits et services (culture de l’entreprise, coût, délais, logistique, réglementation, etc.). / Today, the experience accumulated in the field of environmental design has put into perspective that approximately 75 to 80% of the environmental impacts of a product are determined during the design process. The role of the industrial designer is therefore crucial for achieving a better management of environmental impacts. In Quebec, the university curriculum in product design does not address sustainable development in a comprehensive manner; the introduction of this paradigm remains weak. This research seeks to target those areas of knowledge that should be part of the curriculum for training professionals in product development for environmental design. As a first step, we studied the curriculum of academic programs that "specialize" in environmental and sustainable development in Quebec, and then, the training programs in eco-design available in France. The field work was completed with an in-depth interview with a Quebec speaker who focuses on addressing environmental aspects in product development for enterprises. The information collected during these three phases of the field study was analyzed and highlighted the need for a major transformation of the university curriculum regarding the ways in which the environmental issues are addressed in industrial design as to: 1. Introduce the knowledge related to environmental issues; 2. Promote multidisciplinary team work; 3. Create collaboration between schools and industries for a better understanding of design processes (business culture, economic aspects, schedule, laws, etc.).

La présente vise à étudier le rôle que jouent les groupes dans les Sénats universitaires en période de restrictions budgétaires. En utilisant le cadre d’analyse des conflits fourni par Bélanger et Lemieux (2002), en développant une typologie dérivée de celle de Hardy (1996) et en se basant sur les constats empiriques de Jones (2001, 2004) concernant les perceptions des participants à cette instance, nous avons analysé le déroulement de l’Assemblée universitaire de l’Université de Montréal au cours de l’hiver 2008. Les résultats montrent que les groupes syndicaux et associatifs collaborent peu, que la direction réussit à tirer son épingle du jeu en formant des alliances ponctuelles avec les différentes factions et que l’Assemblée ne joue plus efficacement le rôle pour lequel elle a été créée. Cette étude montre l’importance de continuer la recherche sur la micropolitique universitaire afin d’appuyer la recherche actuelle portant sur les meilleures pratiques en enseignement supérieur. / The aim of this study is to evaluate the role that groups play in the academic governance of Canadian universities, through the university Senate, during a period of financial retrenchment. Using a theoritical framework taken from Belanger & Lemieux (2002), Hardy (1996) and Jones (2001, 2004), the analysis focuses on the 2008 Winter semester sessions of the University Assembly of Université de Montréal. The results show that unions and associations did not show inter- and intra-group cohesion strong enough to counter the administration’s cohesiveness and ability to make alliances. The Assembly itself has seen its share of formal responsibilites wither and was, during the observation, little more than a soapbox for groups who wanted to place an item on the institutional agenda. The study highlights the importance of further study of inter-groups relationships in higher education, in parallel with the wider scientific trend of revision of management practices in universities.

This study explains the rise and fall of the Innovations Foundation, the University of Toronto's first office dedicated to the transfer of university-developed technologies to industry. Drawing on extensive archival research, ten interviews with key informants, and other sources, the case study traces the evolution of the Foundation from its launch in 1980 to its closure in 2006. The study delineates three distinct business models under which the Foundation operated from 1980 to 1990, 1990 to 1999, and 1999 to 2006. The reasons for the adoption and failure of each model are explored and a historically grounded, context-sensitive explanation of the university's decision to dismantle the Foundation in 2006 is provided. This explanation emphasizes the importance of managing unrealistic expectations for Canadian university technology transfer, and adds weight to a growing consensus on the importance of historical path-dependence as a conceptual tool for understanding the persistence of differentials in technology transfer performance among universities.

This dissertation project explored the privileging of knowledge production in science and technology as a Canadian national economic, political and social strategy. The project incorporated the relationship between nation-state knowledge production and how that knowledge is then systematically evaluated, prioritized and validated by systems of health technology assessment (HTA). The entry point into the analysis and this dissertation project was the Scientific Research and Experimental Design (SR&ED) federal tax incentive program as the cornerstone of science and technology knowledge production in Canada. The method of inquiry and analysis examined the submission documents submitted by key stakeholders across the country, representing public, private and academic standpoints, during the public consultation process conducted from 2007 to 2008 and how each of these standpoints is hooked into the public policy interests and institutional structures that produce knowledge in science and technology. Key public meetings, including the public information sessions facilitated by the Canada Revenue Agency and private industry conferences, provided context and guidance regarding the current pervasive public and policy interests that direct and drive the policy debates. Finally, the “Innovation Canada: A Call to Action Review of Federal Support to Research and Development: Expert Panel Report,” commonly referred to as “The Jenkins Report” (Jenkins et al., 2011), was critically evaluated as the expected predictor of future public policy changes associated with the SR&ED program and the future implications for the production of knowledge in science and technology. The method of inquiry and analytical lens was a materialist approach that drew on the inspiring frameworks of such scholars as Dorothy Smith, Michel Foucault, Kaushik Sunder Rajan, Melinda Cooper, and, Gilles Deleuze. Ultimately, I strove to illuminate the normalizing force and power of knowledge production in science and technology, and the disciplines and structures that encompass it and are hooked into it where the privileging of such knowledge becomes hegemonic within and by the regimes of knowledge production that created them.

Abstract Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a disease that has trebled in incidence over the last 25 years, affecting both adults and increasingly children. The rapid increase of the disease mirrors the gradients of social position and income distribution, and parallels the accelerated environmental changes witnessed with the rise of neoliberal capitalism. This research situates neoliberal capitalism as a collection of political and economic policies that form an ideology suited to protect discrete elite interests. The current ideology has permeated all social aspects of society, including education and healthcare. Therefore, it is argued that the practice of healthcare and the education of healthcare students are shaped by the sociopolitical environment in which they exist. Ten best-selling postsecondary textbooks in pathology, pathophysiology, and disease processes were selected for content analysis to determine if the interpretation of type 2 diabetes in pathophysiology textbooks reflects neoliberal thinking. The data were interpreted within the tradition of critical discourse analysis and theoretically enriched using Foucault’s descriptions of governmentality, biopolitics, and discursive formations. The results indicate that notions consistent with neoliberal capitalism permeate pathology textbooks in the understandings of type 2 diabetes. Consistent with how neoliberal thought embodies and explicates social conditions, type 2 diabetes is described in a way that stresses iii self-responsibility and culpability for falling ill. The texts also impart the importance of biomedical industry interventions for the treatment of the sick and the surveillance of the healthy. Finally, in a way that substantiates the degradation of the environment and retrenchment of social welfare policies, the textbooks fail to make any reference to the ecological factors that contribute to type 2 diabetes, including urbanisation and the propagation of food deserts, environmental toxins, income inequality, the steepening of the social gradient, and the deleterious effects of globalisation on human nutrition.

There has been little research on the government relations function within the post-secondary education sector in Ontario. This study explores this topic by reviewing the literature and collecting data from key informants in the college, university and government sector, and those who can speak about the sector associations. The study describes how the leaders of colleges and universities in Ontario perceive and conduct government relations, both as individual institutions and as a sector, and analyzes trends and potential implications. The study utilizes a pluralist model of interest group behaviour and applied the hollow-core theory to the policy community and the findings provide compelling evidence that this theory is a useful theoretical framework for understanding the nature of this policy community. This study also provides valuable insight into the hollow-core theory of pluralism. The leadership of individual colleges and universities shares a similar understanding of government relations and engage a similar approach. Individual colleges and universities work independently to lobby for capital funding and work together through their respective associations to lobby for system-wide funding and reforms. Although the presidents of individual institutions continue to lead the government relations function, the trend in the post-secondary education sector in Ontario is to invest additional resources and time in these activities. This study is the first of its kind in Ontario and makes an important contribution to our understanding of the way leaders in the post-secondary education sector in Ontario perceive and conduct government relations. Implications of the findings are considered and recommendations are made for further research.

This dissertation project explored the privileging of knowledge production in science and technology as a Canadian national economic, political and social strategy. The project incorporated the relationship between nation-state knowledge production and how that knowledge is then systematically evaluated, prioritized and validated by systems of health technology assessment (HTA). The entry point into the analysis and this dissertation project was the Scientific Research and Experimental Design (SR&ED) federal tax incentive program as the cornerstone of science and technology knowledge production in Canada. The method of inquiry and analysis examined the submission documents submitted by key stakeholders across the country, representing public, private and academic standpoints, during the public consultation process conducted from 2007 to 2008 and how each of these standpoints is hooked into the public policy interests and institutional structures that produce knowledge in science and technology. Key public meetings, including the public information sessions facilitated by the Canada Revenue Agency and private industry conferences, provided context and guidance regarding the current pervasive public and policy interests that direct and drive the policy debates. Finally, the “Innovation Canada: A Call to Action Review of Federal Support to Research and Development: Expert Panel Report,” commonly referred to as “The Jenkins Report” (Jenkins et al., 2011), was critically evaluated as the expected predictor of future public policy changes associated with the SR&ED program and the future implications for the production of knowledge in science and technology. The method of inquiry and analytical lens was a materialist approach that drew on the inspiring frameworks of such scholars as Dorothy Smith, Michel Foucault, Kaushik Sunder Rajan, Melinda Cooper, and, Gilles Deleuze. Ultimately, I strove to illuminate the normalizing force and power of knowledge production in science and technology, and the disciplines and structures that encompass it and are hooked into it where the privileging of such knowledge becomes hegemonic within and by the regimes of knowledge production that created them.

Abstract Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a disease that has trebled in incidence over the last 25 years, affecting both adults and increasingly children. The rapid increase of the disease mirrors the gradients of social position and income distribution, and parallels the accelerated environmental changes witnessed with the rise of neoliberal capitalism. This research situates neoliberal capitalism as a collection of political and economic policies that form an ideology suited to protect discrete elite interests. The current ideology has permeated all social aspects of society, including education and healthcare. Therefore, it is argued that the practice of healthcare and the education of healthcare students are shaped by the sociopolitical environment in which they exist. Ten best-selling postsecondary textbooks in pathology, pathophysiology, and disease processes were selected for content analysis to determine if the interpretation of type 2 diabetes in pathophysiology textbooks reflects neoliberal thinking. The data were interpreted within the tradition of critical discourse analysis and theoretically enriched using Foucault’s descriptions of governmentality, biopolitics, and discursive formations. The results indicate that notions consistent with neoliberal capitalism permeate pathology textbooks in the understandings of type 2 diabetes. Consistent with how neoliberal thought embodies and explicates social conditions, type 2 diabetes is described in a way that stresses iii self-responsibility and culpability for falling ill. The texts also impart the importance of biomedical industry interventions for the treatment of the sick and the surveillance of the healthy. Finally, in a way that substantiates the degradation of the environment and retrenchment of social welfare policies, the textbooks fail to make any reference to the ecological factors that contribute to type 2 diabetes, including urbanisation and the propagation of food deserts, environmental toxins, income inequality, the steepening of the social gradient, and the deleterious effects of globalisation on human nutrition.

No description available.