C2MI receives $8M to support Canadian electronic systems development

C2MI obtains additional funds from government of Canada as a result of the recent Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR) program competition.

VANCOUVER and BROMONT, QC, July 22, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ - Andrew Saxton, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance, made the announcement yesterday, on behalf of Ed Holder, Minister of State (Science and Technology), of $8 million over five years to C2MI to support Canadian companies with electronic systems development. Funds were also granted to two other Canadian centres; LOOKNorth and Wavefront.

Created in 2007, the CECR program of the CECR invests 30 million dollars per year in Canadian innovation. This innovative program creates links between research expertise with the business community to share the knowledge and resources that bring innovations in key sectors to reach the market faster.

Established in 2011, C2MI is the only Canadian infrastructure dedicated to the research and development of electronic systems. This ecosystem, compounded of industries, universities and partners dedicated to commercialization, focuses on market-driven products and technologies development.  Enabling Technology having a growing impact growing in every sectors of the economy, microelectronics represents a huge vector of wealth creation.

« Under our government's updated Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy, we are focused on harnessing Canadian science to boost business innovation. The Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research are supporting competitive Canadian businesses to move ideas from the lab to the marketplace while creating jobs and opportunities for Canadians. »
– Ed Holder, Minister of State for Science and Technology

« We are very grateful for this renewed support from the government of Canada towards C2MI and its partners, which allow us to grow into an international pole of innovation in microsystems and to continue working in synergy with Canadian SME's and researchers. We are proud to have contributed over the past 4 years, not only to the economic growth but to the recognition of the Canadian expertise while helping several industry sectors with the technological challenges that can be solved with electronic microsystems integration.  The CECR Program has allowed us to support startups and SME companies to commercialize new products. The expertise held at C2MI, whether it is related to advanced packaging, MEMS or materials characterization or failures analyses, allowed a significant number of Canadian and foreign companies to distinguish themselves. Our collaborative model offers a dynamic environment for future generations of scientists, produces highly qualified jobs and generates business opportunities, while strengthening the reputation of Canada as an innovative nation. »
– Normand Bourbonnais, President - CEO, C2MI

« I wish to thank the Canadian government for this vote of confidence and recognition towards the Université de Sherbrooke research ecosystem. Our organization is recognized as one of the most active universities in research across Canada. Our cooperative program has allowed us to endow a strategy encouraging collaboration and increasing the innovation capacities of companies, while accelerating the technological knowledge transfer. To do so, we rely on Research Chair with industrial incidence, high-level scientific expertise, state-of-the-art technological laboratories, accelerator of new business startups and the fertile partnerships with companies and economic development key actors. »
– Jacques Beauvais, Vice-President, Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship

« We are delighted to the idea that C2MI, thanks to these additional funds, will be capable of maintaining the growth pace of the late years for the next five years and by so, to contribute to the digital development of Canada. The numerous transformations that the Internet of Things are causing require to be supported by technological capabilities, which limits will ceaselessly be pushed away. This is where C2MI and the industry of the electronic systems are called to play a key role within the Canadian economy to reach out and support the infinite possibilities emerging with this digital new world. C2MI is a gathering place where the scientific expertise and the excitement of the ideas meet the boldness of the entrepreneurs to create a place where the innovation has no limit. »
– Louis Labelle, Director, Bromont plant – IBM Canada Ltd

«The government of Canada recognizes, by this granting, the contribution of the advanced manufacturing to our economy and the importance of the private investments in research and development of new technologies. Teledyne DALSA Semiconductors Inc. develops enabling technologies intended for a multitude of growing markets which require innovative technologies. The unique technological capabilities and the available skills within C2MI organization and ecosystem are essential elements which will allow Teledyne DALSA Semiconductors Inc. to answer successfully the increasing demands for new technologies. C2MI is a main advantage which guarantees our competitiveness by commercializing new high demand products. These products will contribute to our growth and therefore to our capacity in investing continuingly in research and development of new products. C2MI is a unique player in the MEMS sector, not only in the Canadian ecosystem, but internationally. »
– Claude Jean, Executive VP and General Manager - Teledyne DALSA Semiconductors Inc.

About C2MI

The MiQro Innovation Collaborative Centre is an international beacon with a unique infrastructure dedicated to the rapid commercialization of electronic products developed by key players from the industry. Embedded electronics are becoming more pervasive in all sectors of the economy and society, microelectronics is a significant vector for wealth creation. C2MI is the largest electronics systems research and development center in Canada. The Centre provides a unique model of collaboration where the synergy between industrial and academia partners is necessary, even essential to the development of new generation market driven products. C2MI is a Centre of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR) whose role is to enable prototyping to accelerate commercialization. www.c2mi.ca

SOURCE Centre de Collaboration MiQro Innovation (C2MI)

Image with caption: "Left to right: Peter van der Gracht, Board Chair, Wavefront; James Maynard, Wavefront President and CEO; Andrew Saxton, MP/Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance; Normand Bourbonnais, C2MI CEO; Réginald Thériault, Program Deputy Director, Networks of Centres of Excellence; David Climie, VP Investor Relations at Sierra Wireless. (CNW Group/Centre de Collaboration MiQro Innovation (C2MI))". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20150722_C6852_PHOTO_EN_451428.jpg

For further information: Normand Bourbonnais, Président-Directeur général - C2MI, 450-534-8000