NRC Annual Report 2001-2002

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N R C – F R O M D I S C O V E R Y T O I N N O V A T I O N...42Innovation is a global issue, rooted in eachnation's ability to create, exploit and transform newknowledge into the innovative products that cancreate a competitive edge in global markets.Canada’s participation in international S&T is vitalfor the nation to gain access to the S&T knowledgeand information it needs to succeed in the knowledgeeconomy. This global reach improves thequality of knowledge produced by Canadianresearchers. It creates access to the world’s bestS&T facilities, equipment and talent. It providesvital access to the knowledge produced byresearchers in other nations, a necessity for Canadaand Canadian businesses. It opens doors forCanadian firms to access the technology opportunitiesand information they need to remaincompetitive.NRC has created international S&T networks ofstrategic importance for Canada. NRC uses theselinkages and networks, not only to transfer S&Tinformation back to Canadian firms, universitiesand public sector partners, but also to generatenew business opportunities for Canadian SMEs.NRC’s international activities are focused on sevenkey objectives:• Developing/renewing international S&T alliances ofvalue to Canada• Enhancing NRC’s reputation and credibility forleading-edge R&D around the world• Securing access to international R&D programs andfacilities for Canadian researchers• Promoting international standards harmonization• Stimulating foreign direct investment in Canada• Increasing recognition of its role as an effectiveintegrator and facilitator of international researchon behalf of Canada• Improving its S&T foresight and forecasting for newresearch and technology domains.Highlights of NRC’s 2001-2002international workThroughout 2001-2002, NRC continued to buildnetworks, collaborations and strategic alliancesaround the world for Canada through hundreds ofbilateral organization-to-organization and multilevelagreements, technology and researchalliances, as well as over 50 formal collaborationagreements with 22 nations. In 2001-2002, NRCreceived over 180 incoming delegations and ledover 40 formal outgoing missions to other countries,plus numerous other informal internationaloutreach activities. NRC employees sat on 589international committees and attended 646 internationalconferences. NRC also organized105 international conferences and workshops.New and renewed international tiesNRC worked with international partners to renew anumber of agreements and memorandums ofunderstanding (MOUs), continuing access forCanadian scientists to international R&D projects,programs and opportunities.• Canada and Taiwan renewed their MOU on scienceand technology cooperation for another 10 years,expanding areas of collaboration to includenanotechnology. The value of the agreement is$4 million. This MOU continues a strong history ofcollaboration between the NRC and the NationalScience Council of Taiwan. Since 1997, there havebeen 16 co-research projects, 13 workshops andalmost a dozen patents as a result of the MOU.This is the largest corporate collaboration for NRCoutside of North America• On the occasion of the visit to Canada of thePresident of Spain, H.E. José Maria Aznar, NRCsigned a letter of intent with the Consejo Superiorde Investigaciones Cientificas to foster technologicaland scientific cooperation between the twonations. The letter identified several cooperationareas to be explored in four scientific workshops:innovation policy and technology transfer, biotechnology,microelectronics/telecommunications andmarine research. Two of the workshops were held in2001-2002, one in each country• NRC and the British Council renewed their MOUfor the Joint Science and Technology Fund thatprovides financial support for collaborative
esearch between NRC and British laboratoriesin strategic areas of mutual interest, includingadvanced materials, biotechnology and communicationstechnologies. It also supports theexchange of students and staff working in mutualresearch areas through Researcher ExchangeAwards. Seven new cooperative research projectawards were approved, worth some $1.4 million.Some $2.5 million has been awarded to dateunder the MOU• To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Canada-Germany S&T Agreement, NRC signed an MOU withGermany’s Hermann von Helmholtz Association ofNational Research Centres. The MOU established ajoint fund of $1.5 million per year over the nextthree years to conduct-leading edge collaborativeresearch projects.• NRC and the Centre national de la recherchescientifique of France (CNRS) renewed their MOUfor an additional five years until 2006. ThisAgreement promotes research collaboration infields of science and technology. Since 1998, thisagreement has financially supported ten suchcollaborative projects in the following sectors:biotechnology (3), manufacturing technologies (1),information technologies and telecommunications(2), and molecular sciences (4)NRC: 2001-2002Access to international S&T for Canada• NRC-United Kingdom – seven R&D projects• NRC-France – 16 R&D and standards development projects• NRC-European Union framework programs – five FP5 projects• NRC-European Union member states – over 170 projects• NRC-European Union – seven ongoing projects, workshops,conferences, and networks – such as the Canadian-EuropeanResearch Initiative on Nanostructures (CERION)• NRC-Spain – two workshops• NRC-Taiwan – 18 R&D projects, missions/visits, workshopsand exchanges• NRC-Singapore – eight R&D projects, training & exchanges• NRC-Thailand – missions, exchanges/training & R&D• NRC-Japan – 10 R&D projects• NRC-People’s Republic of China – 10 missions/visits fromhigh-ranking officials, exchanges & several R&D projects• NRC – access to worldwide astronomyfacilities/projects/agreements for Canada’s astronomers• NRC-CISTI, NRC-INMS – dozens of collaborativeagreements/MOUs• NRC-IRAP – missions/visits/competitive intelligence forCanadian SMEsInternational R&D collaborations –benefits across the boardInternational R&D collaborations benefit partnernations through new knowledge, new technologies,new business opportunities and improved qualityof life, as some 2001-2002 highlights from NRC’slong-term collaboration with Taiwan’s NationalScience Council (NSC) demonstrate:• The development of copper source reagents forthe production of copper containing thin filmswith applications in micro-electronics and hightemperaturesuperconducting ceramics has resultedin a U.S. patent for the technology and filingfor a patent under the Patent Cooperation Treaty• Development of a method to model and simulatewhat happens when light aircraft collide withairport lighting towers, which will lead to improvedsafety through the design and construction oflighting towers that cause minimal damage toaircraft in the event of a collision43I n t e r n a t i o n a lS C I E N C E A T W O R K F O R C A N A D A
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NRC Annual Report 2001-2002

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