namrata barai june 17 th 2010. what is mitacs? national research network funded by federal and...
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Namrata Barai
June 17th 2010
What is MITACS?
• National research network funded by federal and provincial governments• Federal government funds NCE, international operations
and internships• Provinces fund internships and training
• Connects Canadian researchers with companies and other organizations
• Original focus exclusively mathematical sciences• Internship program now expanded to include all
academic disciplines and industrial sectors
Core Business
• Mathematical sciences research projects• Large-scale, multi-year, multi-partner
• MITACS ACCELERATE• Cross-Canada, cross-disciplinary internship program
• MITACS International• Globalink, etc.
• Skills Enhancement Program • Networking & Technical Training• Mathematics outreach
What is MITACS ACCELERATE?
• Innovative made-in-Canada program • Links university faculty and grad students/PDFs with any department or discipline with Canadian companies • Focus - short-term research projects
• Company/Organization identifies the research problem• MITACS assists in identifying the appropriate expertise
at the universities• Internships are funded equally by the company and
MITACS with each contributing $7.5K • $15K is provided to professor as a research grant
• Minimum of $10K given to student as stipend• Remaining funds -additional costs associated with project
• Student spends portion of their time on site with company
How does it work?
More details..
• Partner eligibility• For Profit companies, Industry associations, Crown Corp• Not for Profit, Government, Community agencies, Hospitals
• Streamlined application process• No application deadline • 4 weeks turn around with peer review process• Internship can start at anytime
• Building blocks for larger projects• Each 4 month internship can be stacked together to create 8-24
month projects• Research in any field
• Business areas- Marketing, HR, Operations• Social Sciences and Humanities
Even more details…
• Very Flexible• Non industry partners with “significant” industry interaction• On site interaction can be substituted with field Work• Multiple partners (industry + non Industry)• Do not need a student to apply, as long as student is in
place prior to start of internship.• Cluster programs –
• Larger company contribution leads to higher matching ratio (1:1.7)• Minimum of 30K from company and 3 students involved
• Research projects are company driven• Leverages existing R&D budgets• HR recruitment tool; connecting you with potential
employees• Facilitates new relationships with university-based
researchers • No application deadlines; proposals accepted any time
The MITACS Advantage
How MITACS ACCELERATE works
identify research opportunities
access research expertise
collaborative researchCANADIAN INDUSTRY
CANADIAN UNIVERSITY
Steaming ahead with Multi-Fuel Power Boilers
• NORPAC Control Ltd specializes in industrial process optimization
• The goal of this internship was to find ways to improve the operational efficiency of multi-fuel power boilers.
• The intern was tasked to compare existing control algorithms for modelling and optimizing multi-fuel power boilers to recently published control algorithms in the academic literature.
Steaming ahead with Multi-Fuel Power Boilers
Result:• This exercise resulted in
recommendations to incorporate some recent results into the existing optimization control modules.
• After additional testing, the new algorithms will be fully encapsulated in the boiler optimization software package and ready for general
Other Manufacturing examples•Identifying and Prioritizing Critical to Quality Characteristics Partner: Research in MotionDiscipline: Statistics•Process Optimization of Kraft / Dissolving Pulp ManufacturingPartner: AV NackawicDiscipline: Engineering •Multivariate Analysis for Manufacturing Excursion Detection with Complex Equipment Containing Sub-SystemsPartner: Triant Technologies Inc.Discipline: Statistics •Does reducing postural variability lead to an increase in the prevalence of work-related injuries in lean automotive assembly?Partner: Pinnacle RehabilitationDiscipline: Kinesiology
Why MITACS?
Entrepreneurial Front-line staff
across country Bilingual Nimble Results-oriented Innovative
• 537 scientists• 1,080 graduate students and
post-doctoral fellows• 375 partners including:
• Companies• Government
(federal and provincial)• Not-for-profits • Hospitals and research institutes
• 50 Canadian universities• 15 international universities
The MITACS Community
MITACS… 10 years of success
• Exponential growth in number of internships funded between 2003 - 2008• 2003 – 18 internships
funded in math sciences
• 2008 – 243 internships across all academic disciplines
• Projection for 2009 600+ internships
Internships
03-04 04-05 05-06 06-07 07-08 08-09Projected
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
More information, please contactNamrata Barai: [email protected]