Colton Medal for Research Excellence

The prize consists of one engraved medal and an associated monetary prize of $4,500. CMC Microsystems sponsors the award.

This award, which may be given in any field or discipline, recognizes substantive contribution to some aspect of microsystems or nanotechnology, including microelectronics, photonics, optoelectronics, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), microfluidics, nano-materials, and embedded software. The contribution must notably improve our understanding of, or demonstrate novelty in, applying fabrication technology, design methods and computer-aided design tools, or system architecture.

Presentation of the medal shall be made at CMC’s annual symposium, Innovation 360.   

The recipient is required to acknowledge the sponsor of the award when referring to the award.

Candidates for the award will have made significant contributions while completing graduate studies in the form of a Master's or PhD degree some time during the three years prior to nomination for the award. The three-year period provides time for the impact of the contribution to become more apparent, for example, through publications, citations or commercial interest.

The research must have been conducted primarily in Canada and have directly impacted industry in Canada and/or university research programs in Canada.

The nominee must be either a Canadian citizen, landed immigrant or an individual who has been a Canadian resident for three years prior to the nomination.

Nominees need not be currently pursuing academic studies or currently hold an academic appointment.

1. Any post-secondary institution eligible for support by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), or any micro-nanosystems related company in Canada, may nominate one person per year.
2. Nominations must be submitted either by the university's Research Office, over the signature of an institution officer authorized to submit research proposals, or by the company, over the signature of a company officer. Joint institution-industry nominations are encouraged. Joint nominations submitted by a university must include a covering letter from the company, signed by a company officer. Joint nominations submitted by a company must include a covering letter from the university, signed by an institution officer authorized to submit research proposals.
3. In addition to a brief (up to one page) covering letter, nominators must provide a short citation (no more than 150 words), summarizing the specific contribution to research that prompted the nomination. The citation must be in plain language, suitable for use in publications or presentations.
4. Each nomination must include at least two letters of reference, one of which must be from an academic institution. At least one other letter must be from an external organization. Example external references include a thesis defense examiner external to the university or an industrial collaborator.
5. Reference letters should focus on the nominee's achievements in research and should include a statement about the nominee's specific contribution research that prompted the nomination. Any available evidence of the recognition of the specific research within some discipline should also be included. To document the publication history of the nominee, the nominator should provide a list of refereed papers, conference articles, technical reports or submitted papers.
6. Nominators should prepare submissions with due regard to confidentiality, keeping in mind that competing submissions will be in preparation. All nominations are kept in confidence.