Three McGill professors have earned awards for research excellence from the Association francophone pour le savoir (Acfas). Professors Robyn Tamblyn and Allen Huang were winners of the J.-Armand-Bombardier Prize for technological innovation for MOXXI Medical, a company they created to market an easy-to-use drug management system. Martin Lechowicz, a McGill biologist and director of the Gault Nature Reserve, won the Michel-Jurdant Prize for his research in environmental sciences. Winners of the Prix de l'Acfas receive a medal and a $5,000 research grant.
McGill University researchers and innovators have been recognized with three different awards for innovation from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). The Agile All-Photonic Networks, a project headed by Professor David Plant, Chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, received a 2006 NSERC Synergy Award for Innovation for contributing to the competitiveness of the Canadian communications industry. Professor Sue Whitesides, Director of the School of Computer Science, and her team earned the 2006 Leo Derikx Award as one of 12 university partners in the Toronto-based IBM Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS). As well, master's student Elizabeth Gray won a $5,000 runner-up prize in this year's NSERC Innovation Challenge after discovering a new protein-like toxin that kills bacteria and promotes plant growth.
The McGill Redbirds captured the Canadian Intercollegiate Baseball Association championship with an 8-0 drubbing of Dalhousie on October 21. Tournament MVP Michael Tomasetta, a marketing sophomore, provided Hollywood-esque heroics by battling gusting winds, snow and hail to pitch a no-hitter and smack a game-winning two-run homer in the title game. The sixth seeded McGill squad shocked pre-tournament prognosticators by going 5-0 in the tournament, including sweeping a rare triple-header on the first day of play. The win marks the first national championship for the Redbirds and the first Canadian title for a McGill men's team since the soccer Redmen won in 1997.