Event | Success of CRIAQ’s 5th Research Forum

Last April 8, was held the 5th CRIAQ Research Forum in Montreal. Almost 400 participants from Industry, Universities, Research Centers, and other organizations took part in the event. They participated in the development of the fifth round of Research projects. This 5th edition has proved to be a great success, with an exceptional turnout, nearly double that of the previous edition held in 2008.

Industry representatives presented some 48 projects at a plenary session in the morning.  Researchers and industrialists then gathered in one of the nine thematic workshops to further discuss projects, identify project leaders and form the research teams. The executive summaries will be prepared by the project leaders and presented at the coming CRIAQ Research Committee, next June 3, to begin the evaluation process.

For more information, please visit the CRIAQ website.

• Projects,5th Round
• 5th Forum (French version)

Thank you all for your participation… See you in 2012 for the 6th Edition

Appointment | Clément Fortin to head CRIAQ

Starting August 2010, Clément Fortin will lead CRIAQ as its new CEO. This appointment has been approved by the CRIAQ Board of Directors at its January 21, 2010 meeting.

Clément Fortin is stepping down as director of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at École Polytechnique de Montréal, a position he has held since 2005. He earned a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree from the Royal Military College in Kingston in 1973, a Master of Applied Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, in 1975, and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Queen's University in Kingston in 1985.

Entrepreneur and initiator of projects, Mr. Fortin established the Prototech Center for rapid product development at École Polytechnique and founded Polyplan Technologies Inc., a spinoff of Polyvalor, which developed an innovative software to manage manufacturing processes (Manufacturing Process Management - MPM). More recently, he helped develop the undergraduate program in Aerospace Engineering at École Polytechnique, a first in Québec.

Through his knowledge of academia and research, his experience in running an SME, his 1600 hours of flight (he was a pilot in the Canadian Armed Forces at the beginning of his career), Mr. Fortin will unquestionably be an asset to CRIAQ.

Clément Fortin is a member of the Order of Engineers of Québec (OIQ), the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and the Design Society. He was awarded the SAE Teetor Award in 1985 and the Dean’s Excellence Award from École Polytechnique de Montréal in 1990. In 2008, he was named Pratt&Whitney Canada Research Fellow

Report | MDEIE Report on CRIAQ’s Performance

An evaluation process was initiated by the Québec Ministry of Economic Development, Innovation and Export/Trade to assess the performance of CRIAQ. The work, which spanned several weeks, included a survey of CRIAQ’s partners (118 industrial representatives and 81 researchers have been interviewed). The MDEIE report has just been released.

The findings are impressive and the reviews are very positive about the impact of the organization, customer satisfaction, services offered and benefits observed. Some highlights of the report:

• The estimated economic impact of CRIAQ’s activities is $30.2 Million. The performance ratio of the Quebec government’s funding is estimated at 5.4.
• The organization offers a real added value in the Québec technological innovation environment.
• Industrial researchers interviewed in the survey considered themselves overwhelmingly satisfied (95%) of the projects in which they participated.
• Moreover, according to the nine evaluation criteria, CRIAQ exceeded the targets and the expectations of 8 of them!

Provincial Budget | Quebec to Invest $70 Million for the ECOLOGICAL AIRPLANE

CRIAQ welcomes the announcement made Quebec’s Minister of Finance, Mr. Raymond Bachand, for the Ecological Airplane demonstration program, which will show the feasibility of new concepts for the aircraft of the future.

Based particularly on the concepts developed by CRIAQ, the project will cover five areas where Quebec-based companies will lead projects in collaboration with other industry partners, Research Centers and Universities:

• Composites Fuselage Structures | Lead by Bombardier Aerospace and Bell Helicopter Textron
• More Electric Engines | Lead by Pratt & Whitney Canada
• Integrated Avionics Applications | Led by Esterline-CMC Electronics
• Integrated Avionics for Core Systems | Led by Thales Canada
• Landing Gear of the Future | Lead by Heroux-Devtek

This partnership will strengthen business networks among SMEs and OEMs, will contribute to making the Quebec Aerospace industry more competitive, and will enhance the integration of Quebec content on new platforms for the development of environmentally friendly aircraft.

The Quebec government will invest $70 Million over four years to fund this “mobilizing” project, while Industry will contribute $80 Million, for a total investments of $150 Million over four years.

More on the Quebec Budget »

Tribute | André Bazergui

As the CRIAQ 5th Research Forum was coming to a close, a surprise tribute was presented to André Bazergui to celebrate his outstanding contribution during more than seven years at the helm of the consortium since December 2003. André was also a founder of CRIAQ in 2002 when he established the structure and methods that have enabled the Consortium to achieve the level of success it has experienced to date.

Québec Ministers Clément GIGNAC (MDEIE) and Raymond BACHAND (Ministry of Finance) joined some 400 Forum participants and other guests to deliver an eloquent testimonial to Andre Bazergui. During the ceremony, many long-term partners shared their memories with André, who was offered for the occasion, a commemorative 2010 Olympic torch and a traditional leather Bomber jacket. André Bazergui was visibly moved.

In the photo collage, one can see Ministers Raymond Bachand and Clément Gignac, as well as Guy Lambert (Bombardier; Chairman of the Board, CRIAQ), Christophe Guy (École Polytechnique: Vice Chairman of the Board, CRIAQ), Jean Nicolas (University of Sherbrooke, a founder of CRIAQ with Hany Moustapha), Clément Fortin (Newly appointed CEO of CRIAQ), Martin Lévesque (Prof. at École Polytechnique, testimony of a young researcher), Members of the CRIAQ Executive Committee, Members of CRIAQ’s team.