Boucherville,
Quebec, June 20, 2005 — The Honourable Jacques Saada,
Minister of Canada Economic Development and Minister
responsible for the Francophonie, and Dr.Pierre Coulombe,
President of the National Research Council of Canada
(NRC), today announced a contribution of $4.55 million
for a joint project by the Canadian NanoBusiness
Alliance (CNBA) and NRC aimed at setting up a nanoimprint
lithography prototyping facility. Canada Economic
Development and the NRC are contributing $2.4 million
and $2.15 million respectively to the project.
Financial support from industry is in addition to
the government contribution.
The funding will cover a portion of the new facility's
capital costs. The nanofabrication centre will be
located in Boucherville at the NRC Industrial Materials
Institute (NRC-IMI) adjacent to its existing NanoImprint
Lithography (NIL) research facility. NRC's contribution
is aimed at upgrading its NIL research facility,
which will develop new nanofabrication technologies
to be used at the new centre.
"Canada Economic Development's goal is to help enterprises
increase their innovative capabilities. This is why
we support organizations like the CNBA that can provide
a unique service to SMEs interested in applying state-of-the-art
technologies to improve their product offerings.
Advances in the commercialization of nanotechnology
in areas such as nanofabrication foster a culture
of innovation that the Government of Canada is committed
to support in order to build a more innovative country," stated
Minister Saada.
"The field of nanotechnology is having an enormous
impact on the development of technologies as diverse
as electronic and photonic devices to biotechnology
and clean energy production," said Dr. Coulombe. "This
new complex will build upon NRC's expertise in this
vital field, and will support and accelerate the
commercialization of leading-edge, Canadian nanotechnology
research."
Since its beginning in 2002, the CNBA has been a
leading advocate in the establishment of a National
Nanotechnology Initiative in Canada. This facility
will demonstrate commercial viability for a new generation
nanofabrication technology by offering prototyping
services and low volume production runs for researchers,
small companies, and multinationals involved in the
development of next-generation applications such
as biochips and solar cells.
Recognized globally for research and innovation,
Canada's National Research Council (NRC) is a leader
in the development of an innovative, knowledge-based
economy for Canada through science and technology.
Canada Economic Development's mandate is to promote
the economic development of the regions of Quebec.
Primarily through financial assistance programs,
the Agency elicits and supports the implementation
of economic development projects. The two priorities
the Agency has set itself are to foster innovation
and the knowledge economy in each region of Quebec,
and to help communities that are having difficulty
adjusting to the new economy. In this way, the Agency
contributes to the attainment of the Government of
Canada's objective of building the 21 st Century
economy.
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Sources:
Suzanne
Thébarge
Communications
Canada Economic Development
Tel.: 514 283-8012
E-mail: suzanne.thebarge@dec-ced.gc.ca
Daniel Dezainde
Press Secretary
Office of the Honourable Jacques Saada
Canada Economic Development
Tel.: 514 496-1282
Richard Flynn
Communications Officer
National Research Council Canada
Tel.: 450 641-5143
E-mail: richard.flynn@cnrc-nrc.gc.ca
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