A History of Ingenuity and Innovation

Over the years, many Albertans have combined the region's renowned frontier spirit for discovery and entrepreneurship with our proven capacity for ingenuity and innovation to develop a thriving science and technology community.

The vision of these leaders has transformed new knowledge into applications that are helping improve the lives of people in our local communities, throughout Alberta, across Canada and around the world.

In 1989, several members involved in Alberta's advanced technology sectors recognized the need to showcase the substantial achievements of its leaders.  This recognition led to the formation of the Alberta Science and Technology Leadership Awards (ASTech) Foundation. 

Today, the foundation has grown from three patrons to 22 organizations, including representation from private businesses, major industrial players, government agencies, educational and research institutions.  The convergence of these diverse organizations and their success in generating awareness of Alberta's wealth of scientific and technological achievements has attracted attention across Canada. Few, if any, similar organizations exist in the country.

The ASTech Foundation is a private, not-for-profit organization registered as a society under the Alberta Societies Act. Its mission is to identify and celebrate outstanding achievements in science and technology in Alberta in order to inspire future innovation and leadership.

Fulfilling Our Mission

The ASTech Foundation raises awareness in the community about the exciting insights, contributions and developments being achieved by some of Canada's brightest minds.  The foundation focuses on the importance of science and technology in improving our everyday lives and driving our future prosperity.  

ASTech generates awareness through activities and events held throughout the year, culminating in its annual ASTech Awards Gala.

Since the ASTech Gala was first held in Edmonton in 1990, the event has alternated yearly between Calgary and Edmonton.  The event has proved to be an extremely successful means of highlighting the important achievements in the field of science and technology. 

In fact, the Gala has become Alberta's premiere event recognizing the leaders in science and technology across a range of key industry sectors and areas of research and innovation.