Federal Government announces new design engineering chairs

Ottawa, December 1, 1999 -- Secretary of State (Science, Research and Development) Dr. Gilbert Normand today announced that NSERC (the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada) will invest up to $16 million over the next five years in a new program of "Chairs in Design Engineering" at Canadian universities.

The first phase of the program will see the creation of five regional "Chairs in Environmental Design Engineering" in the year 2000. These Chairs will train students and create innovative designs and design tools for new or improved products, processes or technologies that are environmentally friendly and ecologically efficient.

"We want to foster the creation of new 'climate friendly' production and process technologies that help industry reduce greenhouse gas emissions while enhancing competitiveness. This NSERC program delivers on that commitment," Dr. Normand said.

The second phase of the program, to be announced later, will expand the program with the addition of eleven "Industrial Chairs in Design Engineering" that will expand Canada's pool of design engineering talent and enhance design engineering activity in our universities and in industry.

"Our universities are very good at doing research, and as a result, the quality of their research effort is outstanding. However, we have not been as good at turning our discoveries and inventions into innovations that improve our well-being and quality of life. The Council has identified the need to improve the level and quality of design engineering activity in our universities if we want to improve our innovative capacity," said Dr. Tom Brzustowski, NSERC's President.

NSERC will match financial contributions from sponsoring private and public organizations up to $ 1 million over five years for every Chair. Proposals for a Chair may be submitted by any Canadian university.

It is expected that the first Chairs will be announced before March 1, 2000. Full application details can be found on NSERC's Web site

NSERC is the primary federal agency investing in people, discovery, and innovation. The Council supports both basic university research through research grants and project research through partnerships of universities with industry. NSERC also supports the advanced training of highly qualified people in both areas.

For more information, contact:

Arnet Sheppard, NSERC, at (613) 995-5997

Robert Roy, NSERC, at (613) 725-7624 (cell phone)

Sonya-Kim St-Julien, Press Secretary, Dr. Gilbert Normand, at (613) 943-0868