Dr. Eliot Phillipson, president and CEO of the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), will be visiting Memorial University of Newfoundland today as part of a nation-wide celebration of the CFI’s 10th anniversary.

           Dr. Phillipson and Dr. Christopher Loomis, vice-president (research), Memorial University, will be available for media interviews at 4 p.m., today prior to a tour of the Landmark Graphics Visualization Laboratory in the Earth Sciences Building, 300 Prince Philip Drive (Arctic Street Entrance).

            Since its creation in 1997, the CFI has committed more than $3.75 billion in support of 5,400 projects at 128 research institutions in 64 municipalities across Canada, leading to breakthroughs in areas such as health, natural resources, information and communications technology, energy, and the environment. At Memorial University alone, the CFI has invested more than $31 million in 91 projects, helping the university gain an international reputation for excellence thanks to projects such as the Atlantic Computational Excellence Network, Landmark Graphics Visualization Laboratory, Digital Research Centre for Qualitative Fieldwork, Ocean Observatory at Bonne Bay Marine Station and the Dr. Joe Brown Aquatic Research Building.

            Media agencies are encouraged to send representatives. Parking is available in area 60 and 62.

For more information, contact Deborah Inkpen, communications co-ordinator (research), Memorial University of Newfoundland, at 737-4073 or inkpend@mun.ca; or Angus McKinnon, media relations co-ordinator, Canada Foundation for Innovation, at (613) 447-1723, or angus.mckinnon@innovation.ca.