By Kaye Coholan
All eyes were on the University of Calgary earlier this month when the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge paid a visit to the Ward of the 21st Century Research and Innovation Centre as part of their royal tour of Canada.
On July 7, the Duke and Duchess, also known as Prince William and Catherine Middleton, were greeted by a crowd of admirers at the university’s Foothills campus before receiving a 45-minute demonstration of cutting-edge medical technology.
University president Elizabeth Cannon said the event “went off without a hitch.”
“Overall it was a great tour, and I think a great day for the University of Calgary,” said Cannon. “We were able to showcase to the world what we have to offer in terms of research.”
The technology demonstrated included an eye movement tracking system, a wireless bandage that monitors a patient’s core temperature, a bed that tells health care providers when a patient needs to be turned, a keyboard designed to stop the spread of infection and a patient simulator named iStan that breathes, bleeds and speaks.
Prince William even had the opportunity to resuscitate iStan. “That was quite fun. He had done that before and was very good at that,” Cannon said. “It was interesting to see him be interactive and engaged.”
To Cannon, the royal couple seemed “inspired” by what they saw, a sentiment she’d like to see passed on. “We hope that when we have visitors to the ward that the inspiration they feel is shared . . . because we would love to have them as ambassadors to the good work being done at the university.”
The attention garnered by the visit elicited a sense of pride at the U of C, Cannon said. “In having the royal highnesses here there was significant local, national, and international media looking at what we’re doing and reporting on it worldwide,” she said. “That’s important for building the reputation of the University of Calgary.”
Elise Teteris, human factors and simulation research associate at W21C, demonstrated the eye tracking technology for the Duke and Duchess. “I was essentially explaining how it works and how you could use it in health care,” she said.
Teteris, who graduated with a master’s of science degree in psychology in 2010, said the ability to track eye movements may help researchers identify differences between health care providers.
“A student or novice physician may take longer to examine an x-ray film than someone with 20 years experience,” she said. “You can tell a lot about comprehension from eye movement patterns.”
As a research associate at W21C, Teteris said the visit was hugely important to the centre. “The exposure is amazing. It really validates the work we’ve been doing,” she said.
Due to the couple’s fame, Teteris found it difficult keeping the visit a secret before it was announced at the end of June.
“It was very interesting to watch the wedding and watch this excitement build up around them,” she said. “Especially knowing that I was working very hard preparing this and going to meet them.”
To arrange the demonstration, the province approached the U of C long in advance of the visit when it was building the Alberta portion of the tour. The province asked university officials what the campus had to offer.
W21C was compelling, said Cannon. “Once that decision was made in terms of what we could offer, a lot of hard work went into the visit in terms of getting everything organized,” she said.
“You want it to be well-rehearsed, well-organized, and a lot of people were involved to make that happen.”
For Cannon, the most memorable part was learning first-hand that the Duke and Duchess are just as impressive and gracious as she expected them to be.
“To have the privilege of leading them on the tour was a great honour,” she said.
“It’s something I won’t forget personally.”