Precarn R&D and Commercialization Programs
Precarn's suite of CORE research programs targets industry-led collaborative research projects in the broad area of intelligent systems. The overall objective of the program is to support mission-oriented, industrially-relevant, pre-competitive and pre-commercial collaborative research and development, having applications within the operations of the participating organizations, or that will result in the development of new or enhanced products, processes or services for sale in Canada and around the world. All project proposals are expected to include clearly identified commercial goals and commercialisation strategies.
What Kind of Technology Qualifies? Intelligent systems innovations have application across all sectors of the Canadian economy. Traditional sectors such as mining, forestry, agriculture and manufacturing are using sensing systems, artificial intelligence and expert systems, to robotics and automation, the human-machine interfaces, or "Intelligent Systems " to improve human performance, safety, productivity or competitiveness. Intelligent Systems can also be applied to new, emerging issues in areas such as: space and aerospace; e-commerce; medical and healthcare technologies; environment and sustainable development, and information technology. The quintessential principle of a Precarn project, regardless of "sector ", is that it be designed to provide an intelligent systems solution to a real business or technical issue.
What are the project and team requirments? Precarn projects are collaborative in nature and, by definition, involve a number of team members. Participants in a project will include a combination of industrial firms (research companies, technology developers and suppliers, and end user companies), research organizations, universities and subcontractors. Projects must include at least two Precarn members and a university or community college. There must also be an end-user involved in the project. Laboratories operated by the Federal Government can participate on a self-funded basis. Projects must be Canadian-led and Canadian-based. Precarn funds can only support the eligible expenditures of the Canadian participants. International participants can, however, be part of the project team.
What are the programs? The suite of Precarn funding programs has been developed to address a specific technology, application, regional, or company need:
