Three McGill academics have been named among the planet’s top scientists under the age of 40 by the prestigious World Economic Forum (WEF).
All three participated in the WEF Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian, China, June 27–29.
The 2017 Young Scientists cohort hails from 38 academic institutions across 18 countries on six continents including China, Japan, South Korea and Singapore, as well from top universities in the U.S., Canada and the UK.
Stefanie Blain-Moraes of the School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, focuses on developing assistive technologies to enhance the assessment of, and interaction with, individuals who are behaviourally unresponsive.
Marta Cerruti is a professor of Materials Engineering who studies the process of bone formation.
Kyle Elliott, Natural Resource Sciences, studies Arctic seabirds, what they tell us about climate change, and how we can pursue policies that minimize the impact of climate change on Arctic wildlife.
Convening under the theme, “Achieving Inclusive Growth in the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” over 2,000 business leaders, policy-makers and experts from over 80 countries explored more than 200 sessions over the three days of the meeting.
“All of the Young Scientists exhibit exceptional creativity, but they also share a deep interest in global issues,” said W. Lee Howell, Head of Global Programming and Member of the Managing Board at the World Economic Forum. “They have demonstrated early in their careers a strong commitment to promote scientific knowledge for the global public interest. For this, we honour them.”
According to its web site, the WEF is committed to improving the state of the world, and is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
Established in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation, the WEF is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. It is independent, impartial and not tied to any special interests. The Forum strives in all its efforts to demonstrate entrepreneurship in the global public interest while upholding the highest standards of governance. Moral and intellectual integrity is at the heart of everything it does.
McGill Principal Suzanne Fortier is a member of the Global University Leaders Forum (GULF) created by the World Economic Forum in 2006. The Global University Leaders Forum (GULF) is a community of the presidents of the top 25 universities in the world, offering a non-competitive platform for high-level dialogue on higher education and research.
At the last Annual Meeting of the WEF, McGill, led by Principal Fortier, participated as the only Canadian university member of the Global University Leaders Forum, from January 17-20 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, along with 2,500 international leaders from business, government, international organizations civil society, academia and the arts.