Vancouver Island Technology Park

Construction is set to begin on Okanagan College’s new $28-million Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Technologies and Renewable Energy Conservation following the official groundbreaking by provincial, federal and college representatives. The project will create up to 179 direct jobs.

“The investment in Okanagan College will provide a significant economic stimulus to our community and will create jobs in this region,” said Stockwell Day, Minister of International Trade and MP for Okanagan-Coquihalla. “Our government is investing in innovation to create jobs, to help our economy recover quickly and to improve the quality of life for Canadians. Young people and older citizens in increased numbers will benefit from the ongoing excellence of Okanagan College.”

“This new centre for green technology at Okanagan College will stimulate Penticton’s economy and increase our community’s vitality as more youth can affordably stay here to get a world class, state of the art education,” said Bill Barisoff, MLA for Penticton. “The skills being learned here will translate into real career opportunities that capitalize on the new green economy.

Vancouver’s Pulse Energycelebrated the move to their new downtown office last night with an official launch party drawing some big names in Vancouver. Political leaders braved a rainy winter storm to rub shoulders with the city’s business, real estate and energy sector elite.

Mayor Gregor Robertson toasted the fast-growing company on their success, and made an announcement that the City of Vancouver, in partnership with BC Hydro Power Smart, would be deploying Pulse Energy’s technology in its own buildings. Mayor Robertson told a group of 150 guests that “by improving the efficiency of our largest buildings, Pulse Energy’s energy management software will move Vancouver closer to our goal of becoming the world’s Greenest City. A great benefit of Pulse Energy’s approach is that it enables cost savings that doesn’t require expensive capital expenditures on new equipment.”

Coastal & Ocean Resources Inc. (CORI) was recently awarded the Coastal America Spirit Award as part of the Alaska ShoreZone partnership.

The Coastal America Spirit Award: “recognizes exceptional projects that demonstrate the ‘spirit’ of teamwork for group efforts that are poised to address our challenging coastal issues.”

The Alaska ShoreZone program is a coastal habitat mapping program supported by over 20 federal, state and county agencies in addition to non-governmental agencies. To date, over 40,000 km of coastline have been imaged and mapped as part of the program. CORI has been the primary contractor for the program.

Dr. Donald Rix will be remembered today as a giant in British Columbia’s life sciences field and a major force who helped to establish the core of businesses at the Vancouver Island Technology Park in Saanich.

Rix, a physician, entrepreneur and philanthropist, founded LifeLabs (formerly MDS Laboratory Services) and gave his time, money and expertise to new and existing companies to open new markets.

Rix died of cancer on Nov. 6 at age 78. A public celebration of his life is being held this afternoon from 4 to 6 at the Hotel Vancouver.

Total annual revenues for Victoria’s high-tech community are at $1.95 billion and the total economic impact of the sector is in excess of $2.6 billion, according to a new economic-impact study to be released today.

The study, to be unveiled at Island Tech 2009, a showcase for the sector at the Victoria Conference Centre’s Crystal Gardens, was undertaken over the last two years and its findings are considered very conservative, according to Dan Gunn, executive director of the Victoria Advanced Technology Council.

“We wanted to make sure it was a strongly defendable number,” he said. “But in no way do we want, nor do we need to exaggerate the size or impact of the sector.”

President of ACCT, Janet Scholz visited VITP today.

Don Rix, a man regarded as a giant in British Columbia’s technology and biotech sectors, died Friday, leaving a philanthropic legacy that will live on in institutions, programs and initiatives he was instrumental in launching across many sectors.

Rix, who was predeceased by his wife Eleanor, passed away at age 78 following a long illness.

He was known and admired as a leader and a mentor to many.

“Don was a giant,” said Darcy Rezac, the Vancouver Board of Trade’s managing director. “He was a role model to everybody in business, and in the broader community as well. He was a consummate volunteer, an engaged community leader. He was a philanthropist and a model corporate citizen.

The boutique software company cebas Visual Technology Inc. created the highly advanced 3D special effects software that allowed the director of the upcoming movie epic “2012”, Roland Emmerich (“Independence Day”, “The Day After Tomorrow”), to “destroy” most of Los Angeles along with other well-known parts of the world. The $200 million blockbuster from Sony Pictures will have its worldwide release on November 12 and 13.

“This epic is a milestone for us and confirms our decision to move operations from Germany to the West Coast,” cebas CEO Edwin Braun said. “Now we are closer to our clients in the Vancouver film and interactive entertainment industries and in the same time zone as the Hollywood movie and San Francisco game production centers.”

The boutique software company cebas Visual Technology Inc. created the highly advanced 3D special effects software that allowed the director of the upcoming movie […]

Alan Bishop, television show designer for the popular Survivor and Amazing Race series paid a visit to the Vancouver Island Technology Park today. Photo: (L to R) Alan Bishop, Dale Gann