Establishing relationships with industry

This workshop is organized by CIRMMT. This workshop is open to all with registration.

Workshops and Research Meetings
January 31, 2014
14:00 - 16:00
A832, New Music Building, 527 Sherbrooke St. West.
iCal

Registration

Seating is limited. Please confirm your attendance here: Establishing relationships with industry - registration form

Speakers

  • Marie-Pascale Morissette, McGill University, Research & International Relations Office
  • Rebecca Reich, Director Business Development, Team Lead Quebec and Atlantic Canada
  • François Santerre, Research and Innovation Development Officer, Quebec Regional Office, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
  • Mark Weber, Commercialization Officer, Office of Sponsored Research, McGill University

Schedule

  • 2:00-2:10pm - Marie-Pascale Morissette

Marie-Pascale Morissette will be introducing MUBEC - the McGill University Business Engagement Center, which serves as a single point of entry for corporations interested in taking a comprehensive approach to engaging with McGill University. As a Corporate Relations Manager, Marie-Pascale helps businesses, large and small, navigate the sometimes complex university structure, connecting their organization to potential collaborators, state-of-the-art facilities, future employees or interns, and researchers who share the company’s interests and required skills, in collaboration with specialized units within McGill. http://http://www.mcgill.ca/mubec/team

  • 2:10-2:45pm - Rebecca Reich: 
Bridging the “divide” between academia and industry can be challenging, yet rewarding! In the first half of the presentation, Rebecca gives an overview of the ‘tips and tricks’ of the major steps of prospecting. Whether one is trying to find an internship, a research partner or even a job, there are certain fundamentals which will greatly improve one’s odds if used correctly. In the second half, Rebecca will illustrate how to use these skills to maximize the benefits of Mitacs’ programs.
  • 2:50-3:25pm - François Santerre: 
One key lesson to be drawn from the various studies on Canada’s innovation system and the challenges it currently faces is that institutions of higher education and private firms must align their efforts to improve technology and knowledge transfer, considering the realities of the local innovation systems in which they are embedded. NSERC prides itself on having implemented a strategy for partnerships and innovation that provides tools that improve knowledge and technology transfer because they are adapted to the realities and models at play in any particular regional innovation ecosystem.

Key NSERC Research Partnership Programs will be briefly presented in such a way that participants will be able to understand each program’s key features and advantages, envision a funding stream adapted to their technology roadmap and rapidly assess how some of these programs intertwine and can be used concurrently to best suit their short to long-term needs. Testimonials and success stories will be provided that clearly demonstrate how NSERC programs stimulate collaborative efforts towards innovation.

  • 3:30-4:05pm - Mark Weber: 
The commercialization of research outcomes is an important objective not just of researchers, but of most public and private funding programs as well. It can also be very rewarding, with potential impact on society, the economy, and the environment at large. The Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) receives more than 100 reports of inventions per year, and a key function of the office is to evaluate the disclosures from a business point of view in order to decide whether they are commercializable. Mark Weber will review the format used by McGill for invention reporting and commercialization, and discuss the strategies necessary to best protect inventions so that they bring value to the University and the inventors.

ABOUT The Speakers

Rebecca ReichRebecca Reich has been with Mitacs since 2010.  Prior to Mitacs, she worked in Canada for Octasic Semiconductor and in USA and Europe for Analog Devices.  With degrees in Electrical Engineering from McGill and MIT (and a minor in Arts-Music), Rebecca has done research in acoustics and signal processing, and has spent the more technical part of her career providing support for customers in building audio systems for electronics.
 






François SanterreFrançois Santerre is an ardent supporter of enhanced  innovation through collaborations with post-secondary expertise. François has beenappointed as Research and Innovation Development Officer, in 2008.  Under NSERC’s mandate to foster innovation by encouraging Canadian companies to participate and invest in postsecondary research and training, he promotes various research partnership programs and tools and links companies with college and university expertise and equipment. François has a diversified experience in both the private sector and academia.  He worked as a professional in the field of scientometrics and marketing research, and before that as a process engineer in the field of OLED displays.  François obtained a PhD in material sciences from INRS and an MBA from HEC-Montreal. 
 
 
 


Mark WeberMark Weber: After receiving his doctoral degree from McGill in Chemical Engineering, Mark moved to the province of Alberta to work for NOVA Chemicals as a polyethylene product development scientist. Mark had several stints at NOVA, including as a team leader in both technical service and polyethylene product development. He also worked as a project manager for an engineering firm and as the vice president, research and development, for an energy start-up company. Mark moved back to Montreal in 2011 and is now employed at his alma mater, with responsibility for commercializing technologies developed within the Faculty of Engineering.