Business leaders put focus on SMEs in latest $61.5-million CECR competition

By Debbie Lawes

Canada's poor commercialization track record, combined with a virtual collapse in venture capital financing, has put the onus on governments and research granting agencies to find news ways to encourage more companies —particularly small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) —to become more innovative through research and development. Two related announcements on December 6, totaling nearly $63 million, are intended to do just that.

Five new Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR) will share $61.5 million over five years to bolster commercialization and SME partnerships in the fields of microelectronics, regenerative medicine, wireless technologies, medical imaging and northern monitoring. Also unveiled were the inaugural winners from a $2.4-million program designed to increase SME participation in Business-led Networks of Centres of Excellence (BL-NCEs).

Of the 10 applications submitted in the latest CECR round, the NCE's Private Sector Advisory Board recommended that five be approved. One of those winners, the MiQro Innovation Collaborative Centre (MICC), is supported by an initial $218 million from the federal and Quebec governments ($178 million) and its three founding partners: DALSA Semiconductor, IBM Canada and the Univ of Sherbrooke (R$, September 22/09).

MICC head Normand Bourbonnais says the $14.1 million in CECR funding will enable SMEs to develop and test advanced technologies for the assembly and packaging of silicon chips for integrated devices and applications, such as medical imaging.

"It's about having small companies and universities working towards the same goal — to achieve the requirements outlined in IBM's technology roadmap," says Bourbonnais. "We need to work as a community to solve these big issues. There's no way we can do it by ourselves anymore."

The CECR funding will also enable MICC to generate commercial technologies faster than the seven-to-10 years initially forecast. "We are investing in order to potentially take the worldwide market in three-to-five years, which is a pretty good deal for most SMEs," he adds. "They will have the time to develop the technology and after that to develop the appropriate distribution channel to become stars in the industry."

Dr Jacques Beauvais, VP research at the Univ of Sherbrooke, says MICC will help universities and companies deliver proofs of concept and proofs of manufacturability. The centre will also provide testing capabilities. "At the end you'll have new products for existing companies, solutions for larger companies and some start ups that have been able to de-risk their technology and demonstrate its feasibility and get some funding to move forward," says Beauvais.

imaging Technology

Led by Robarts Research Institute scientist Dr Aaron Fenster, the Centre for Imaging Technology Commercialization and Research (CITCR) receives $13.5 million from the CECR program, and an additional $14 million from other sources such as General Electric and the Canadian Institute for Cancer Research, to build a strong industrial cluster in medical imaging.

The centre will primarily support the 18 imaging SMEs founded by Ontario university researchers by providing expertise, infrastructure, skilled people and capital needed to overcome barriers to commercialization.

Wavefront Wireless Commercialization Centre

Vancouver-based WWCC will help grow wireless SMEs by linking them to multinational wireless companies, the academic community, investors and wireless associations. Working with industry heavyweights like Sierra Wireless, Ericsson, Nokia and France Telecom's Orange, the centre will provide technology services, business and engineering advice and pipelines to international market opportunities and training.

In addition to $11.6 million in CECR funds, WWCC attracted $12 million from industry partners and anticipates generating another $12 million from services. The focus will be on machine-to-machine technologies, next-generation networks and mobile software applications.

Regenerative Medicine

Led by Dr. Peter Zandstra at the Univ of Toronto's Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM) will develop three product development platforms (cell reprogramming, cell manufacturing and biomaterials and functional tissue) dedicated to enabling stem cell- and biomaterials-based technologies, including new regenerative medicine tools, reagents and biomaterials.

"CCRM will incubate and develop into products early stage RM technologies," says Zandstra. "This way they will have much more value when they get licensed or are incorporated into Canadian companies."

earth observation

Led by C-CORE at Memorial Univ, Leading Operational Observations and Knowledge for the North (LOOKNorth) aims to build Canada's capacity in earth observation satellite (EO) technology to support resource development in northern regions. Dr Charles Randell, CEO of C-CORE, says because many Canadian EO service companies are small they have limited ability to expand outside their niche markets.

"LOOKNorth will assist Canadian SMEs by defining industry needs, developing business cases for new technologies that address those needs, supporting technology development, and generating opportunities to secure markets," he says.

SME boost for aerospace, drug sectors

The NCE awarded an additional $1.4 million in BL-NCE funding this week to three projects led by the Green Aviation R&D Network ($667,000) and two projects led by the Quebec Consortium for Drug Delivery to increase the involvement of SMEs in research and commercialization activities ($733,000). A second competition for the remaining $1.4 million in funds is anticipated for July 2011.

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