Vinícius Gadotti’s quest to understand how the human body deals with pain began more than ten years ago, when his aunt was diagnosed with a severe form of arthritis that left her in constant pain and confined to a wheelchair. A Mitacs Elevate fellow at the University of Calgary’s Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, Vinícius is researching alongside Dr. Gerald Zamponi to help uncover these answers.

One of the truly unique aspects of the Mitacs Elevate program is the availability of professional development workshops. As a career student, I had rarely been exposed to a formal work environment and these courses have been truly beneficial to my development as a researcher.

Aydin developed a novel methodology to predict thermal transport in AMD’s high-end electronic devices – giving the company a competitive edge in product development and time to market – by studying how heat transfers in various electronic systems. Upon completion of his fellowship, he was hired on as a full-time employee at AMD Markham.

Olga’s Mitacs Elevate project is focused on the analysis of survivin, a protein that is involved in critical pathways of cancer cell growth and survival.

I feel more confident in leading research projects within strict deadlines, and to collaborate in ways that cater to individual students’ learning and personality styles. I have also learned a great deal about industry expectations which will help me enter my desired field and find a career placement.

The Mitacs Elevate program gave me the opportunity to work collaboratively with others and it opened my eyes to the industrial world of "deliverables" and "milestones".

The company is working with tight industry deadlines, hoping to commercialize their fuel cells for use in consumer vehicles within a few years’ time whilst competing against the likes of Hyundai and Toyota. As part of its bid to be on the cutting-edge of the technology, AFCC engaged in a Mitacs Elevate Post-Doctoral Fellowshi

For Oleksandr Romanko of McMaster University’s Department of Computing and Software, a postdoctoral fellowship through Mitacs Elevate helped him to transition to the world of risk analytics when he was hired as a full time Research Analyst this summer by IBM.

Mitacs Elevate Fellow, Kinfe Tadesse Mengistu has come a long way (literally) to get to where he is now. And congratulations are definitely in order as Kinfe starts his new position as speech scientist for Nuance Communications, a company he’s always dreamed of working for.

Gurjit Singh credits the Mitacs Elevate program with facilitating the transition point between postdoctoral education and finding a fulfilling research position. He obtained his Ph.D. (psychology) from the University of Toronto, his M.A. (social psychology) from the University of Waterloo, and his M.Sc. (Audiology) from Western University.

“The Mitacs Elevate program helped prepare me for a career where I’d be merging ideas and leveraging the abilities of people with seemingly divergent skill sets and disparate backgrounds. I feel like I’m much better prepared to coordinate projects that involve balancing the different expectations of clinical, academic, and industrial partners. I have been given the tools that will allow me to manage diverse stakeholder interests while maintaining a focus on our common goals.”

Their research can turn skin cells into blood cells, create new jobs and encourage industry innovation, and there is every indication it will continue to change and improve our lives for years to come.