$ 38 Million investment in Aerospace Research and Innovation in Quebec

MONTREAL, Jan. 25, 2023 /CNW Telbec/ - The Consortium for Research and Innovation in Aerospace of Quebec - CRIAQ announces 6 new collaborative research and development projects, for a total of 17 projects approved and funded by the industry and the Quebec government to advance aerospace technology innovations in Quebec in direct response to market demand.

These 6 new collaborative research and innovation partnerships bring together 7 national and international private companies, in addition to 5 academic research centres pooling their expertise to create new solutions.

$38M invested to address the challenges facing the global aerospace ecosystem and accelerate R&D

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Since the Quebec government launched the Quebec Aerospace Strategy Horizon 2026 last February, CRIAQ has set up 17 research partnerships involving a total of 24 companies and 12 research centres for a total value of $38 million. Of this total investment, $15 million comes directly from public funds announced by the Quebec Government, MEIE in April 2022. In addition to these public funds, there are budgetary envelopes from Mitacs and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

One of the major strengths of CRIAQ's R&D investment model is the leverage effect that public funds generate by necessarily adding private sector investments. In the creation of these collaborative research partnerships, the companies that are part of them must invest, which brings the total amount of investment to two, and sometimes, even three times that amount.

 "To meet the major challenges facing the entire global aerospace ecosystem and accelerate the transition to a new resilient and sustainable air mobility, we must be bold and invest in research and development. It is crucial that Quebec consolidate its leadership position by accelerating the evolution of the entire sector through new technologies geared towards decarbonization, customer-centric air mobility of the future and its renewal in the digital age," says Alain Aubertin, President and CEO of CRIAQ.

In a global context where the aerospace industry is facing, more than ever, the challenges of political, economic, technological, societal, and environmental changes; CRIAQ is firmly committed to the increase of the mobilization of the research and innovation community, industrial and governmental partners, and other collaborators of the ecosystem, to stimulate diversity, creativity, talent development and the emergence of entrepreneurs and innovators to support the evolution of the sector.

"Every day at CRIAQ, our role is to bring ideas together, to stimulate them, and sometimes even to confront them with the aim of creating innovation. For the past 20 years, with the financial support of the Quebec government, we have been linking the specialized scientific researchers of our universities with the industrial sector to further develop science and technological solutions to strengthen the leadership of the Quebec aerospace industry," adds Mr. Aubertin.

See the annex for a full list of the 17 new projects and partners teams. Further details are available on request.

64 new project ideas will also be presented by aerospace companies at the RDV Forum 2023 on February 14 and 15, 2023, at the largest meeting of its kind in Canada, bringing together aerospace technology experts. These experts will present their projects with the aim of creating partnerships that will be supported by CRIAQ in setting up these projects and their financing. All the details on this high place of discussions on aerospace technologies and solutions of the future can be found here: https://rdvforum2023.criaq.aero/en.

ABOUT CRIAQ

The Consortium for Research and Innovation in Aerospace in Quebec (CRIAQ) is a unique model of collaborative aerospace research conducted by companies of all sizes involving universities and research centres. Its mission is to increase the competitiveness of the aerospace industry by stimulating business innovation through collaborative R&D. Its role is to bring together ecosystems and develop a new generation of innovators to strengthen Quebec's technological leadership in cutting-edge aerospace applications: digital aviation, future air mobility and sustainable aerospace.

More than 220 projects have been completed and are underway, with a value of more than $300 million, involving more than 1,900 scientific researchers and academic members and 2,200 students over the last 20 years of CRIAQ's existence.

Annex: R&D Projects in aerospace

Projects announced on January 25, 2023
Acronym of the project		Private partners and Research centers	Project title
AROBAS		MDA Polytechnique Montreal	Broadband Reflect array Antenna for Satellite Applications
AVITAGS		RW Aerogroup Presagis Concordia University	Air Tanker Visual Intelligent Tracking Airborne Guidance System
Comp-TGV		Hutchison Aerospace Solvay ETS _ Ecole Technologie Superieure CTA - Centre technologique en Aerospatiale	High-rate composite manufacturing under press
ICARUS		MDA Polytechnique Montreal	Intelligent Load Balancing for Satellite Networks
SIMSCAN		CGI Presagis Polytechnique Montreal	Simulation of Safe Continuous Autonomous Navigation
SODA		VOZWIN ENSCO (É.-U.) Université McGill	Searching Operations for GPS-Denied Areas
Projects announced on September 11, 2022
AHEAD		Bell Textron Calogy Solutions University of Quebec in Trois-Rivieres	Electric hydrogen architecture for the aviation of tomorrow
SALAD		Laflamme Aero CMC Electronics CS Canada NGC Aerospace	Autonomous system for aerial deliveries by drones
AMAF		Thales Digital Solutions Presagis Laval University	Autonomy structure of new air mobility of the future
CAVICA		Cert Center Canada Chrono Aviation Marinvent Corporation CTA - Centre Technologique en Aerospatiale	Icing expertise, research, testing and certification
Projects announced on September 11, 2022
Acronym of the project		Private partners and Research centers	Project title
TextO		Hutchinson Aerospace Groupe CTT - Centre Collégial de transfert de technologie du Cégep de Saint-Hyacinthe	Development of a controlled opening textile to promote the integration of functions in aeronautical composites
DIGITWIN		Cert Center Canada CAE NRCC - National Research Council Canada	Development of digital twins for two flight regimes
BioFlies		Hutchinson Aerospace CTA - Centre Technologique en Aerospatiale	Infusion of aircraft interior parts in bio-based composites
ACTec		Pratt & Whitney Concordia University Polytechnique Montreal	Development of advanced compressor technologies
DEEPS		Tyto Robotics Mejzlik (Czech Republic) University of Quebec in Outaouais	Research and development of an electric propulsion system, including a reliable propeller, thrust mount and an AI model to analyse performance data, for heavy cargo drones or small UAMs.
OCTA		Maya HTT Satellogic (Argentina) Rolls-Royce Plc (UK) McGill University	Development of a thermal correlation tool for aerospace
SEASAT		Maya HTT Airbus France CTA - Centre Technologique en Aerospatiale IRT Saint-Exupery Canada	Preparation and setting up of a partnership to develop a supervision tool for factory assembly environments and satellite integration rooms

SOURCE Consortium for Research and Innovation in Aerospace in Québec (CRIAQ)

Geneviève Dion, Director of Communications, [email protected], Tel.: [phone]