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Advanced manufacturing and an evolving class of microelectronic devices were the hot topics at Innovation by Design, a symposium for the micro- and nano-electronics sectors, held in Gatineau QC last week.

As a key research driver in Canada’s microelectronics sector, CMC Microsystems is making four separate applications for funding as core components of its support are set to expire. This time, the 30-year-old, Kingston ON-based organization is placing greater emphasis on support for advanced manufacturing, which is shaping up as the developed world’s response to counter the growing appetite of lower-cost jurisdictions for an ever increasing sharing of global manufacturing capacity.

Opportunities for Canadian social sciences and humanities researchers to collaborate with their international peers is about to get a lot easier with the formation of a new organization designed to streamline the application process and maximize the impact of multinational research projects .

Concept pioneered in Silicon Valley

From its humble beginnings in Silicon Valley as a single bootstrapped operation, the Canadian Technology Accelerator (CTA) program has blossomed, expanding to 11 accelerators of varying sizes and business models to assist small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in penetrating global markets.

North American universities are feeling the pressure from emerging Asian academic powerhouses according to a new global ranking by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (WUR). Using a weighted set of criteria (see chart), the WUR shows that the number of qualifying US institutions placed in the top 200 dropped slightly from 77 to 74 between 2013-14 and 2014-15, while six of Canada’s eight universities in the top 200 slipped in the ranking.

Canada needs to boost its research investment to the OECD average to maintain and enhance its global competitiveness, according to a new position paper published by the Royal Society of Canada. The paper — the first in a series planned for the next few years — also calls for the government to develop a 10-year plan for research, innovation and skills development, as well as making greater use of academic societies which are currently underutilized.

Media policies of the Department of National Defence (DND) and National Research Council (NRC) are ranked most highly within the federal government, according to an otherwise gloomy assessment on the systems and procedures by which media must follow to engage scientists employed by science-based departments and agencies.

Sector forges ahead with transformation

The Forest Productions Association of Canada (FPAC) has renewed calls for the federal government to loosen the purse strings on a largely untapped $500-million tech fund that could help the sector transform into a more sustainable and globally competitive industry.

Industry calls on Ottawa to renew

The forestry industry is betting it can once again secure funding for a suite of academic research networks that are helping to transform and sustain the sector for decades to come.

Canada’s pharmaceutical industry is intensifying calls for the way its R&D spending is reported following the release of new data showing the largest one-year decline since 1988. The new data from the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) show that pharmaceutical R&D expenditures in 2013 fell 15.