CMC Microsystems seeking funding renewal to support its role in advanced manufacturing

As a key research driver in Canada's microelectronics sector, CMC Microsystems is making four separate applications for funding as core components of its support are set to expire. This time, the 30-year-old, Kingston ON-based organization is placing greater emphasis on support for advanced manufacturing, which is shaping up as the developed world's response to counter the growing appetite of lower-cost jurisdictions for an ever increasing sharing of global manufacturing capacity.

CMC is seeking $20 million from the Canada Foundation for Innovation's (CFI) Innovation Fund to launch a new platform for microelectronic designs leading to manufacturing and another $5 million through the CFI's Major Systems Initiative program. CMC is also seeking foundational support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC). The funding is set to expire March 31/15.

CMC is also part of a McMaster Univ-led bid for CFI funding to support nano- and micro-technology development.

To remaining aligned with CFI funding (money would begin to flow to successful applicants in 2016), CMC has been granted $8 million for a one-year extension.

Financial support for CMC has always been something of an anomaly within the Canadian S&T funding landscape and renewal continues to be a challenge as those who are familiar with its role in Canada's research and industrial sphere retire.

"We are a bit of an outlier. We've always been a unique case and each time when we come back for a new five-year cycle you have to explain to people that are not used to the concept," says Dr Ian McWalter, CMC Microsystem's president and CEO.

McWalter says he's encouraged by the prime minister's recent comment on Canada's role in advanced manufacturing.

"(Stephen) Harper got this exactly right. We need our share of the ecosystem here in Canada," he says. "We now distribute services through the cloud ... Last year, 6,000 people accessed CMC services."

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