Industry R&D Project Management

Dr. Bao Lian, P.Eng.

Research and Technology Advisor

SR&ED Program, CRA

Overview of R&D in Canada

• Nortel, Bell Canada, ATI, IBM, Ericsson, Alcatel, Cognos, Telus, RIM

• Apotex, Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck Frosst Canada, Biovail

• Pratt & Whitney, Bombardier, CAE, Honeywell, MDA

• AECL, Suncor, Ballard Power Systems • Magna International

Government Objective

• Rank among the top five countries worldwide

• Federal Spending

• Provincial funding for innovation.

• Canada offers the most generous tax treatment for R&D operations among G-7 countries

Information and Communication Technologies

• $100B industry, with highest R&D intensity

• Invested more in R&D than any other industry, focus in areas such as wireless communication, e-commerce, nanotechnology, photonics, special effects and animation, software development

Aerospace

• 2005 Revenues: $21.7 billion (1.85% of GDP)

• 400 firms, 75,000 people (12,000 scientists and engineers, 20,000 technicians and technologists)

• Annual R&D investment: $1.1 billion

Aerospace

• Regional passenger jets, turboprops, business jets, helicopters, jet engines, avionics, advanced composites, services such as flight training, maintenance, repair and overhaul.

• Top four countries: United States, the United Kingdom, France, Canada

Aerospace in Canada

• All three tiers: Tier 1 (large manufacturers such as Bombardier), Tier 2 (builders such as PWC that supply major subsystems (engines), to the large manufacturers) and Tier 3 companies (firms that provide smaller subsystems and engineered components to the other tiers)

• Mostly civil aviation, with a small military aviation subsector

• Mostly exporting

Aerospace-Advantages

• Complete expertise

• Sophisticated infrastructure: Big players are the world leaders in Bombardier, Bell Helicopter, Pratt & Whitney and CAE, fully supported by a chain of second-tier and third-tier manufacturers, as well as a tremendous MRO facilities

Aerospace-Growth Opportunities

• Major growth in Asia• U.S. and European markets: Airbus and Boeing

new and replacement design for Canadian participation

• Military and Canadian Forces retooling• Longer operational time, increasing services for

maintenance, repair and overhaul• Aircraft design and fabrication using composite

materials

Aerospace-Opportunity

• Airbus A-350, Boeing 787 and 747-8.

• Replacements for Airbus 320 and Boeing 737 families

Aerospace-Opportunity

The re-equipping of the Canadian Forces:

• To get on board and to stay for life

• Example: the Hercules military aircraft were designed in 50’s

Aerospace-Opportunity

• Special purpose helicopter platforms for Bell Helicopter, and potentially for Tier 2 and Tier 3 companies.

• Example: Oil industry, public safety and disaster relief

Aerospace-Opportunity

• New material in composite based on ceramics, carbon, polymers and other substances will bring about fundamental changes in aircraft design and construction

• Example: the new Boeing 787 airliner, about half the airframe is made of composites instead of metal

Aerospace-Opportunity

• Maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO): from local into global markets

Aerospace-Challenges

• Brazil, France, the U.S., Germany, the U.K.

• More R&D funding/subsidy by European governments

• Defence R&D contract benefits the U.S. aerospace industry: cost covered, IP later used in commercial project (Boeing, Lockheed Martin)

• Still competitive? More high-level design and manufacturing seen in lower cost countries

Aerospace Companies• Field Aviation• Bell Helicopter Textron Canada • Bombardier Aerospace • Pratt & Whitney• CAE • Standard Aero • Rolls-Royce Canada • L3 Communications • CMC Electronics • GE• EMS• Honeywell aerospace• Messier-Dowty• Mecachrome• Air Canada Technical Services

Aerospace Companies

• Air Canada (Technical Services) - The Technical Maintenance Centre operates an aircraft overhaul base in Montréal that provides maintenance services for C and D type cells, components, engines and auxiliary power units (APU). It also offers specialized services covering training, technical file management, technical publications, engineering, flight data analysis, supply chain, etc.

Aerospace Companies

• Bell Helicopter designs and assembles ten models of light, intermediate and long-haul civilian helicopters. It is the only fully integrated maker of helicopters in Canada. Since 1986, the company has delivered more than 3 000 aircraft in 120 countries, representing more than 50% of global production of commercial turbine helicopters. By 2007, the Mirabel plant will develop four new helicopter models (Bell-429) of the MAPL series (Modular Affordable Product Line), an investment of C$700 million.

Aerospace Companies

• Bombardier Aerospace is the world's third-largest maker of civilian aircraft, after Boeing and Airbus. It designs and builds business aircraft, regional aircraft and amphibious aircraft. The company has produced 16 new aircraft models over the last 16 years (Challenger 604, the Bombardier CRJ200 and the Global Express). The company selected Mirabel as the site for development of the future CSeries, an expected investment of C$2.6 billion.

Aerospace Companies

• CAE is a pioneer and world leader in simulation and modelling technologies. It develops and makes complete flight simulators reproducing all major models of civilian aircraft and many military models. It also offers integrated aeronautics training services for civil aviation and defence forces.

Aerospace Companies

• CMC Electronics designs and makes electronic products for aviation and global positioning systems (GPS). Its products and services include aeronautic communications systems, enhanced vision systems, flight deck systems integration services and various specialized electronic products. The company also offers electronic equipment calibration, maintenance and repair services.

Aerospace Companies

• EMS Technologies specializes in advanced satellite communications equipment such as for commercial space sector, in particular antenna subsystems and products, hyper-frequency subsystems and components, power supply products and digital command and control products.

Aerospace Companies

• General Electric plant in Bromont, Québec, is part of the GE Aircraft Engine (GEAE) division, a global builder of jet engines for civilian and military aircraft. The Bromont plant makes fan blades and compressors for many GE engines and for the CFM56 engine.

Aerospace Companies

• Héroux-Devtek Inc. specializes in the design, development, manufacture and complete maintenance and repair service for aerospace and industrial products. These products include landing gear, turbine components for aircraft engines and electricity production systems, structural components for the aeronautics and space sectors. The company also has a logistics and defence division with plants located in Ontario. Héroux-Devtek made its mark in particular by making the landing gear of the Apollo lunar excursion module (LEM).

Aerospace Companies

• Honeywell Aerospace is a major supplier of integrated electronic systems and maintenance solutions for aircraft builders, air carriers, and the general and business aviation sector.

Main products: fuel control systems for turbine engines. Services include repair and overhaul, as well as complete after-sale service and support for (more than 160 original products (DEM) throughout the world). Its products also have applications in the military, space and airport operations fields.

Aerospace Companies

• L3 Communications is one of the largest Canadian suppliers of services to support and extend the life of aeronautic products and aircraft maintenance services. It serves government ministries and organizations as well as commercial customers and its services affect both military and commercial aviation.

Aerospace Companies

• Mecachrome specializes in manufacturing metallic parts for aeronautics, the automobile industry, auto racing and industrial equipment. Its products are used in aircraft and helicopters made by Boeing, Lockheed, Sikorsky, Bombardier, Airbus, Embraer, Israel Aircraft Industries, Parker Aerospace, SAAB and many others.

Aerospace Companies

• Messier-Dowty is a company that designs, develops, manufactures and supports landing systems

Aerospace Companies

• Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) designs and produces engines for helicopters as well as business and regional aircraft. The company also makes high-technology engines for industrial applications. It has 14 regional service centres in Canada, the United States, Brazil, South Africa and Australia, as well as 6 overhaul facilities (Canada, U.S., England, Germany and Singapore). P&WC is the largest R&D investor in the aerospace industry in Canada and the second-largest in the private sector.

P&WC's 900 engineers have designed 44 different engines over the last ten years. In 2006, the company announced it would invest CDN$1.5 billion in R&D over the next five years to develop new engines.

Aerospace Companies

• Rolls-Royce is active in the civilian and military aeronautics, marine and energy fields. The Montréal facility is focused on the repair and overhaul of civilian and military aircraft engines. In addition, it carries out R&D for the energy industry, assembly and testing of RB211 turbines and Trent engines, as well as component repair services.

Space Sector

• Robotics and Control, Remote sensing, Earth observation and surveillance, as well as satellite-based wireless and broadband communications.

Space Sector-Company

• A.U.G. Signals Ltd.: establish in 1986, signal image and data processing algorithms for defence applications, focus on mult-sensor singal image and data fusion methods for detection, classification and recognition applications, data mining techniques, multframe image blur estimation, restoration and tracking, internet, web-based distributed computing and communication employing e-commerce.

Space Sector-Company

• MDA: Advanced robotics and control systems for space shuttle and international space station (system for on-orbit servicing and planetary missions to explore the Moon and Mars)

• Satellite solutions: turn-key systems for earth observation, surveillance of space, information delivery and space science.

• Antennas, digital, microwave and power equipment for communication and remote sensing

Space Sector-Company

• COM DEV International: the largest Canadian-based designer and manufactures of space hardware subsystems, mainly sold t major satellite prime contractors for use in communication, space science, remote sensing and military satellite.

Industry SpendingExample: Automotive

• Annual capital investment in the Canadian automotive manufacturing sector was $2.8 billion in 2003

• The average annual growth rate is 4 per cent since 1993.

Partnership

• Auto 21: funding supports top researchers across the country

• ARDC(DaimlerChrysler Canada and the University of Windsor): A $500-million R&D program:alternative fuel, mechanical, engine/transmission, advanced materials, emissions, bio-mechanics and vehicle safety among others.

Partnership

• PACE(Partnership for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education): A $240-million program. PACE links GM, EDS, Sun Microsystems and the University of British Columbia to focus on R&D in computer-aided design, manufacturing, engineering software, hardware and training.

R&D Institutes working with Canadian automakers

• Canadian Lightweight Materials Research Initiative

• Centre for Automotive Materials and Manufacturing

• Transportation Development centre • Many others

National Research Council´s auto-related programs

• CANMET laboratories

• Industrial Manufacturing Technology Institute

• Industrial Materials Institute

• Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)

• Communications Research Canada

What Motivates R&D

To lead, to survive or to die

• Corporate Goal: Strategic and Long Term

• Market driven with a predictable profit

• Upgrading/improving existing product with technology that became available just now or soon to be available

• Developing own proprietary technology

What Motivates R&D

• Become a real expert in something: better than anybody else in every aspect or in one particular way

• Offer service/product with the best value: feature, cost, reliability and service

• Become knowledge based, technology driven in the long run

R&D Objective

• Basic Research

• Applied Research

• Process Development

• New Product development

• others

R&D Structure

• Expertise/function based• Project based• The Role of a Program/Project Manager• The Role of a Department Manager• The Role of a Chief, a team leader, an “R&D”

Engineer• Industry Standard/Regulations and Design Process• Overall coordination between internal departments

including marketing and sales and clients, deal with change of specs and schedule

What To Know To Start: The Scope

• What to achieve (specs, report, prototype, product, IP, etc.)• When to deliver (scheduling: milestones, critical reviews,

demo, certifications )• Resource available and to be acquired: what is involved,

uncertainty, current technology base, new hiring, or contracting, lab services, supplier, etc.

• Who does what and for how long: system breakdown, top down, bottom up; Anybody does feasibility study anymore? Need an architect and system guy

• Estimate (budget, timeline and risk, are we getting too technical at this moment?)

Good or Bad

• Within budget and timeline, and allow future expandability (be careful)

• Well documented and traceable• Specs/Goal not well defined• Do not see the real issues: lack of knowledge,

underestimate the challenge• Change of plan/market/competition• Supplier/contracting services not cooperating• Many other aspects!

To Deal With Uncertainties

• Initial estimate: find the right people for the proposal (constraints, options, trade-offs, task defined) this is the key

• Watch your resources and secure everything: ability to foresee things, to adjust and to coordinate

• Make sure the management is with you• Stay or change course: Know the subject and the

people, judgment must be made

What To Expect As A New Grad

• Know what is expected of you• Know how to use your eyes, your ears, and know

when it is time to do your homework• Don’t be afraid of making mistakes, and go

always one step further, always see options and ask why, show your diligence, show your willingness, and show you are trustworthy

• Any need to impress?