HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SYMPOSIUM ON MICROELECTRONICS RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT IN CANADA (MR&DCAN 2001) Held at the National Arts Centre/Centre national des arts, Ottawa, June 7, 2001

Almost 400 people attended an extremely successful MR&DCAN 2001, representing 33 Canadian universities, 37 companies and various research organizations, colleges, Industrie associations, and government departments.

Sponsors & Organizers

The premiere sponsor was Cadence Design Systems (Canada) Ltd., and major sponsorship came from Conexant Systems, Inc., Gennum Corporation, and Zarlink Semiconductor Inc. In addition, Micralyne Inc. sponsored a TEXPO award.

This event was organized by Canadian Microelectronics Corporation in partnership with Strategic Microelectronics Consortium and Micronet.

THE REAL SUBSTANCE UNDERLYING THE NEW CANADIAN BRAND

Brian Barge, President & CEO of Canadian Microelectronics Corporation (CMC), opened the morning session of the Symposium. He emphasized the importance of CMC's role in enabling research and the development of Highly Qualified People (HQP) in microelectronics and related technologies.

• "You are never more than five feet away from microelectronics" — this simple statement was the opener for a meaty presentation by David Lynch on MPOWR* Technologies — Canada's Growth Engines (PDF). Vice-President, Gennum Corporation and Vice-Chair, Micronet, Lynch entertained delegates with images of potential technological developments that would render microelectronics more and more ubiquitous and increasingly influential as a contributor to Canada's economic growth — consider intelligent clothing that will alert our washing machines to the correct laundry cycle! However, he emphasized that the potential growth was endangered by the lack of Highly Qualified People (HQP) in the economically dynamic MPOWR fields. The new private/public partnership, eMPOWR Canada, was working to address these needs by seeking to "build capacity in Canadian universities through a rapid expansion of the number of faculty and postgraduate students". To make Canada a dominant brand in the knowledge economy Lynch called for strategic investment to:
  

  • establish Canada as a magnet for world-class minds from around the globe
  • create the environment where knowledge clusters thrive in every region
  • use eMPOWR Industrie's high export ratios to showcase technological excellence abroad
  • target the higher potential eMPOWR areas to leverage us into the kind of community that will build the brand.
  
  * Microelectronics, Photonics, Optoelectronics, Wireless and Radio

• Gaylen Duncan, President and CEO, Information Technology Association of Canada, put aside the technological niceties of PowerPoint and computer projection units and delivered an insightful and humorous talk on Branding & Innovation — The Context. Duncan reflected on Canada's history of failing to commercialize "Canadian-influenced" inventions - reminding us of Alexander Graham Bell! Although the trend has changd and information technology is now the leading Industrie in all provinces, Duncan asserted that our image abroad is still poor. He challenged the IT Industrie to take action to influence the national dialogue on innovation and commended campaigns like eMPOWR. He also encouraged delegates to participate in "telling our story", the story of successes such as RIM and Gennum, both to build advocacy within Canada and our image abroad. His closing challenge, "We must share our knowledge, transfer it to other sectors and show generous leadership as our country finds its place in a world where the common currency is innovation."

• Ninon Charlebois, Director General, Branding, Marketing and Communications, Investment Partnerships Canada, Industrie Canada engaged the audience with an overview of The Branding Canada Initiative (PDF). Innovation is a key pillar of the federal agenda, and the branding initiative is aimed at attracting investment that will drive innovation. Charlebois presented telling statistics identifying the inconsistency between the perception of Canada by those outside and Canada's actual strong achievements and potential. Recognizing this disparity, a clear priority for the branding initiative was a focus on the image of Canada. We enjoy success in the recognition of the strength of our workforce and education system, our business environment and infrastructure, and our proximity/access to markets — all key attractors for external investors.   Charlebois echoed Duncan's view that individuals in the MPOWR sectors need to be involved in "telling the microelectronics story" and become branding ambassadors for Canada.

Morning Session Discussion Panel: (left to right) Arthur Carty, President, National Research Council Janet Walden, Director General, Research Partnerships Program, Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council Resve Saleh, Professor, University of British Columbia Ian McWalter, President & CEO, Gennum Corporation Jacques Guerette, Vice-President Corporate Communications, Zarlink Semiconductor Inc.

• The morning session closed with a series of presentations from an impressive array of panel members.  Chaired by Gaylen Duncan, the session delivered views on branding and innovation from a range of perspectives. Arthur Carty, President, National Research Council, addressed the need to improve Canada's R&D performance and increase investment in R&D — meeting the government target of elevating Canada from 15th to 5th place in R&D investment rankings.  Jacques Guerette, Vice-President Corporate Communications, Zarlink Semiconductor Inc. provided significant insights from his experiences with the "branding Ottawa" campaign and the identification of key competitive differentiators Ian McWalter, President and CEO, Gennum Corporation, spoke of the need for investment in education and Resve Saleh, Professor, University of British Columbia built on this theme and shared his experiences (the good, the bad and the ugly) in seeking to return to Canadian academia from the States. Janet Walden, Director General, Research Partnerships Program, Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council (NSERC) rounded out the presentations by looking at the challenges faced by government agencies, such as NSERC, and others in supporting the development of increasing numbers of skilled people, new discoveries, and innovation. The presentations fuelled significant discussion by delegates throughout the remainder of the day.

• Dan Gale, Vice-President of CMC, wrapped up the discussions by presenting highlights of the CMC program in 2001.

JOBS FAIR & VENDORS EXHIBIT

• Beginning with a lunch sponsored by Conexant Systems, Inc., the afternoon events included many opportunities for networking and interaction. A total of 17 companies and organizations participated in the Jobs Fair and Vendors Exhibit. Symposium attendees took the opportunity to find out about job opportunities in Canadian companies, and about products and services offered by both Canadian and international companies. Close to 100 student registrants took advantage of the event to pass out their résumés to potential employers.

Premiere sponsor Cadence Le personnel taking time "to dream" with one of the conference delegates at the Jobs Fair		MOSAID representatives engaging with some potential recruits at the Jobs Fair
Conexant Le personnel explaining job opportunities at the company to some of the al most 100 students who attended the Jobs Fair		A lighter moment for Tektronix Le personnel, displaying equipment at the Vendors' Exhibit

TEXPO

TEXPO 2001, sponsored by Gennum Corporation, included 26 demonstrations and poster presentations of microelectronics research activity in 15 Canadian universities, with several of the presentations focusing on system-on-chip projects — a preview of the official launch of the System-on-Chip Research Network at the banquet that evening. A total of 21 of the 26 presentations competed for a total of $8,500 in awards for exemplary presentations.

RECEPTION & BANQUET: CELEBRATING AND RECOGNIZING EXCELLENCE

Sponsored by Zarlink Semiconductor Inc., the reception and banquet were enhanced by the wonderful weather as attendees mingled on the terrace and then enjoyed elegant food under the tent pavillion.

• A key element of the evening program was the launch of Canada's System-On-Chip Research Network.  All of the major partners in the new System-on-Chip Research Network were represented at the official launch; truly a celebration of collaboration and innovation.

Representatives of the enabling partners for the System-on-Chip Research Network: (left to right) Brian Barge, President & CEO, CMC; David Bogart, Ontario Innovation of Trust; Carmen Charette, Canada Foundation for Innovation; Tom Harris, Queen's University; and Janet Walden, Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council	The principal investigators and initiators of the System-on-Chip Research Network: (left to right) Graham Jullien, University of Calgary; Brian Barge, President & CEO, CMC; Resve Saleh, University of British Columbia; Yvon Savaria, École Polytechnique de Montréal; Dan Gale, Vice-President, CMC; André Ivanov, University of British Columbia; and Jon Muzio, University of Victoria

• The banquet that followed featured the presentation of the three TEXPO awards to participating researchers.
  
  • Canadian Microelectronics Corporation CAD/Componentware Award (CMC Award) - $3000
    Winners: Jean-François Pratte and Olivier Menard (Université de Sherbrooke) for their demonstration Design of a Fast Shaping Amplifier for Positron Emission Tomography Scanner Based on Avalanche Photodiode Detectors (PDF)
  • Micralyne Microsystems Design Award (AMC Award) - $2500
    Winner: Wael Badawy (University of Calgary) for his poster presentation A Low Power VLSI Prototype for Video Object Motion Tracking for Mobile Video Applications
  • Strategic Microelectronics Consortium (SMC) Industrial Collaboration Award (SMC Award) - $3000
    Winners: Sazzadur Chowdhury, M. Ahmadi, G.A. Jullien, W.C. Miller (University of Windsor) for their demonstration A Surface Mountable MEMS Beamforming Microphone Array and Associated MEMS Socket Structure (PDF).

Brian Barge, President & CEO, CMC, (left) presents the CMC CAD/Componentware Award to Jean-François Pratte of the Université de Sherbrooke	Wael Badawy (right), University of Calgary receives the Micralyne Microsystems Design Award from Chris Lumb (left) of Micralyne
Andy Molozzi (right)of the Strategic Microelectronics Consortium (SMC) presents the SMC Industrial Collaboration Award to Sazzadur Chowdhury (left) of the University of Windsor	Tom Jackman (left) of the National Research Council and James Wylde (right) of Nortel Networks enjoy a lighter moment during their judging of one of the TEXPO competitions

• Doug Colton, CMC's founding President, and Brian Barge, CMC's current President, were on hand to witness the presentation by Ian McWalter recognizing Tony Marsh for his many contributions to CMC and Canada during his tenure as CMC President from 1993-1999.

Antony Marsh (left), past president of CMC, Douglas Colton (centre), first president of CMC, and Brian Barge (right), current president of CMC	Ian McWalter (left), Chairman of CMC's Conseil d’administration and President & CEO of Gennum, presents a plaque to Antony Marsh (right) recognizing his contributions to CMC as its past president

• The evening culminated in the presentation of the 2001 D.R. Colton Medal for Research Excellence, including a $3500 monetary award, in the presence of leading Industrie personnel and some of Canada's finest microelectronics researchers. In his acceptance speech, Dr. Elliott stressed the importance of CMC's products and services for researchers across Canada working in the area of microelectronics and related technologies. He encouraged researchers to think about the commercial potential of their work, and to "close the loop" by realizing that potential and making jobs for Canadians.

Douglas Colton (left), first president of CMC, presents the D.R. Colton Medal for Research Excellence to Duncan Elliott (right), University of Alberta (graduate of University of Toronto)

CMC, SMC and Micronet want to thank the event sponsors and all of those who helped to make MR&DCAN 2001 such a success.

All photography by Greg Teckles Photography Inc.

Our URL http://www.cmc.ca
This page maintained by Lynda Moore, moore@cmc.ca
Last revised: June 26, 2001