Under the MITACS Internship Program, graduate student researchers spend approximately 50% of their time over a four month-period at a company, undertaking research on a problem jointly identified by the business, MITACS and the students' supervising professors. The rest of the students' time is spent at the university, further advancing their research under the guidance of their supervisors. For more information, visit www.mitacsinternships.ca.

In the last three years, MITACS has placed over 250 Master's students, Ph.D. candidates and post-doctoral fellows at companies, hospitals, financial institutions and other organizations across Canada to address complex challenges that require complex mathematical solutions.

Founded in 2003, the MITACS Internship Program connects organizations with university researchers who have advanced levels of expertise in areas that address vital research opportunities. These connections provide graduate students with the opportunity to apply their research knowledge to actual business challenges and help partners to utilize new tools and technologies to address advanced scientific issues that are vital to an organization's success.

The industry partner and MITACS share the cost of funding an internship. This results in a $15,000 research grant for the intern's supervisor, with a minimum of $10,000 of the funds for the intern's stipend.

Direct Energy: Navigating energy markets
One beneficiary has been Direct Energy, North America's largest competitive energy and services retailer.

During his four months at Direct Energy in 2005, University of Calgary Master's student Aaron Pratt designed a matrix which correlates all of Direct Energy's positions in gas and power across the locations where they do business in North America, and across all time periods.

This correlation matrix is now being used by Direct Energy's Canadian and U.S. divisions to help navigate energy markets.

Both MITACS and Direct Energy have reaped the benefits of the partnership. "The value for industry to collaborate with academia is gaining access to the collective brainpower at the university. Academics approach problems from a different perspective than those of us in industry, bringing a new way of thinking about our business," says Jeff Michnowski, Senior Vice-President and Chief Risk Officer for Direct Energy. "It's also important for universities to get feedback from industry in terms of the types of skills companies are looking for and the challenges we are facing."

Carmanah Technologies: Brightening solar-powered signs
Carmanah Technologies Corporation, a Victoria, BC-based solar lighting and power system company, is moving closer to market with a new solar-powered product, thanks to the MITACS Internship Program.

During his four-month internship with Carmanah, Kiran Kumar used numerical stimulations and optimization techniques to help the company improve the brightness and uniformity of its solar-based transit and roadway signs.

"I had the opportunity to work with other engineers as well as the company's sales teams and hear from the front-line people what their customers were asking for," said Kumar, and electrical engineering M.Sc. student at the University of Victoria. "This helped to ensure that the products that we were developing addressed the needs of the marketplace."

Kumar's work was so valued that Carmanah offered him an extended contract last September to complete work on a new product.