“Partnering with the Mitacs Accelerate Quebec program is helping us meet the goals we set right from the beginning of our R&D project,” says Marc Faucher, Director of Product Development Solutions at Teledyne DALSA of Montréal.
Teledyne DALSA is a Canadian manufacturer of specialized electronic imaging components with offices in Montreal. The company is a leading manufacturer of heat (infrared) sensors for use in satellites, surveillance and medical applications — fields which attract extensive research and development investment from both government and industry.
As the company looked to invest in the kind of R&D needed to push to the forefront of the technology, they understood that more investment was required than they initially anticipated. “We realized that we needed more resource personnel with strong and diverse backgrounds for the project. We looked into partnering with the universities to help us accelerate the development of our new technology,” said Mr. Faucher.
After approaching faculty at the Université de Sherbrooke and École Polytechnique de Montéal, Teledyne was connected to Mitacs Senior Strategic Account Manager Jesse Vincent-Herscovici to prepare an application for funding of a large-scale research project valued at nearly $1.7M. The company matched the funds for 15 interns from the two universities to develop infrared technologies for the company’s latest products. Such technologies could be used in components of ultra-high definition cameras for wildlife photography, as well as advanced security systems or deep-space telescopes.
The cluster project will span four years, ending in 2016, but has already seen considerable success after the first stage. An imaging prototype has been developed, and two interns have been hired as full-time staff while an additional two internships were added to the project.
