Donald Brooks, professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Chemistry, has been appointed UBC co-ordinator for the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) program. Brooks will assist UBC researchers to develop proposals for the 2001 grants competition and provide advice and guidance on CFI policies and criteria.

A principal investigator on the Laboratory for Molecular Biophysics proposal which received $8.9 million from CFI in 1999, Brooks also served on the national CFI Multidisciplinary Assessment Committee.

An alumnus who joined UBC in 1974, Brooks is a senior fellow of Green College and has been recognized with the distinctions of Medical Research Council (MRC) Centennial Fellow, MRC Scholar and three NASA certificates of recognition.

CFI is the $1.9-billion fund designed to help universities, colleges and hospitals enhance their research infrastructure.

UBC's Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Vancouver-based NxtPhase Corp. have won the Canadian Institute of Energy's 1999 Energy Research and Development Award. The award was given in recognition of the optical voltage sensor research spearheaded by Prof. Nicolas Jaeger with NxtPhase.

The award-winning sensor's innovative design safely and accurately measures high voltage in electrical power systems.