SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

Sustainable Development Goals by the numbers:

[Line drawing of a gear inside of a lightbulb]

In 2020-2021, Queen's research income from industry and commerce totaled $62 million. Additionally, more than 30 university spin-offs established at least 3 years ago are still active.

Our goals in action

Research and innovation

In 2021, Queen’s received the Deshpande Symposium Award for The Entrepreneurial University, recognizing our excellence in entrepreneurship-related curriculum innovation and student engagement.

[Photo of Dr. Cathleen Crudden] — With $24 million in support from Canada’s New Frontiers in Research Fund, Queen’s researcher Dr. Cathleen Crudden, Canada Research Chair in Metal Organic Chemistry, is poised to revolutionize industries worldwide and save billions in infrastructure and manufacturing costs with unique molecular coatings designed to significantly extend the lifespan of vital metals.

Leading the way in research

We are proud to be one of Canada’s leading universities for research. Queen’s is a member of the U15 group of Canadian Research Universities, a collective of the country’s most research-intensive post-secondary institutions, and we are ranked #3 in research awards among Canadian Institutions. We are also honoured to have 35 Canada Research Chairs on our faculty.

Queen’s has attracted nearly $620 million in research and development to Kingston since 2013. Our research activities contribute to Kingston’s ranking as a top-10 Canadian startup ecosystem by StartupBlink.

[Queen's Art of Research photo: Nano-Dendrite Collision by Hannah Dies] — Queen's Art of Research Submission: *Nano-Dendrite Collision* by Hannah Dies, MD/PhD Student (Chemical Engineering), QuSENS Lab, Queen's University

Teaching and student life

Innovative curriculum

Queen’s supports student innovation through a variety of initiatives at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The Certificate in Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Creativity helps students gain a variety of skills in marketing, finance, communications, and business planning to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Since in its inception six years ago, more than 400 students representing 25 countries have completed the Master of Management Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Those students have gone on to create 89 startups and scaleups employing 112 people.

Dunin-Deshpande Queen’s Innovation Centre

The Dunin-Deshpande Queen’s Innovation Centre is a pan-university initiative that encourages and supports the innovation and entrepreneurship activities of students, professors, entrepreneurs, and community members. Programs are vast and include the QIC Summer Initiative Program, QyourVenture Accelerator Program, The Foundry, Regional Pitch Competition Series, Konnect, The Hive, Rose Innovation Hub, and SparQ Studios Makerspace.

Community impact

Partners in innovation

Through Queen’s Partnerships and Innovation (QPI), we offer services, resources, and programs to support entrepreneurs, including those from Queen’s, to accelerate the growth of startups and small to medium-sized enterprises within Kingston and Eastern Ontario.

Empowering women entrepreneurs in our community

The WE-CAN project at Queen’s works with local community partners in the Kingston area to inspire and empower existing and aspiring women-identifying entrepreneurs. The program, which has supported over 800 women in the community since it began in 2019, equips participants with resources, expert mentors, and networks to help them expand existing businesses and to launch new ventures in Kingston and the surrounding area.

Global reach

Empowering thousands of students

Students and recent graduates from African universities within the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program are eligible for free virtual entrepreneurship training delivered by the Dunin-Deshpande Queen’s Innovation Centre. Since 2020, the Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowship on Entrepreneurship has supported more than 1,200 students, many of them women, on their journey to start or scale their business.

Research addressing the world’s most pressing issues

Queen’s is home to 22 institutional and faculty-based research centres and institutes that support interdisciplinary networks. Through international collaboration, research, and comparative approaches they develop international best practice around contributing to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals and ask critical questions ranging from dark matter, to divisive societies, and energy transition.

[Queen's Art of Research photo: The SNO+ Detector by Dr. Alex Wright] — Queen's Art of Research Submission: *The SNO+ Detector* by Dr. Alex Wright, Faculty (Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy) for the SNO+ Collaboration, SNOLAB

Administration and operations

Applying the gold standard of green buildings

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) certification program, administered by the Canadian Green Building Council, is the leading benchmark for the design and operation of high-performance green buildings. The School of Kinesiology and the Goodes Hall West Wing are LEED® certified. Additionally, the John Deutsch University Centre (JDUC) renovation project is registered and awaiting certification and the Duncan McArthur Hall project will target LEED® Gold certification.

The master plan

Our Campus Master Plan requires new buildings be designed to minimize their environmental impacts, contribute to the campus’s overall sustainability, and apply LEED standards, with a focus on designing for flexibility, adaptability, and longevity.

Sprouting in the sky

Green roofs reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy consumption. Queen’s has installed Green Roofs on several buildings, including Goodes Hall, Jeffery Hall, the New Medical Building, Biosciences, and Botterell Hall.

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