Centre de technologies avancées: crowning R&D with success
Irrefutable industry leader, fertile breeding ground for innovation and technological development, laboratory for growth-generating projects—these are just a few of the qualifiers that could be used to describe the Centre de technologies avancées BRP (Bombardier Recreational Products) – Université de Sherbrooke (CTA). The fruit of a strategic partnership forged in 2006, the CTA is dedicated to the research and development of original and innovative technologies, mainly in the motorized recreational products sector.
Canada Economic Development is proud to have helped fund the creation of the CTA. The establishment of this centre of excellence in Estrie allows the region to play an important role in the technological development of Quebec.
Where technology transfer and product development meet
As part of its mission, the CTA encourages the transfer of its know-how to businesses in the sector so that they, in turn, can take advantage of the centre's research and development outputs in order to raise their technological capabilities and design and develop path-breaking recreational products. From the outset, the centre has also been devoted to strengthening the competitiveness of enterprises in Quebec's recreational products cluster and to facilitating their inclusion in global manufacturing chains.
The CTA conducts a number of projects aimed at advancing environmental technologies. It goes without saying that developing parts and components that generate less pollution, less noise and are more energy efficient can only result in undeniable benefits.
Portrait of an innovator
Mihai Rasidescu has been at the helm of the CTA from the very start. With a master's degree in aerospace engineering from the Polytechnical Institute of Bucharest, Romania, this visionary has made a significant contribution to the improvement of recreational vehicles—from snowmobiles to motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles and watercraft—and has a number of patents to his credit to that end. Mr. Rasidescu benefits from the support of a team of highly-skilled professionals at the CTA, the only centre of its kind in Canada to possess equipment with unique capabilities perfectly adapted to its in-house R-D activities. Indeed, the centre has an estimated $5 million worth of equipment at its disposal with which to pursue its mission.
The mark of success
The CTA encourages the transfer of its know-how to businesses in the sector so that they, in turn, can take advantage of the centre's research and development outputs in order to raise their technological capabilities and design and develop path-breaking recreational products.
After nearly five years of operation, the CTA already boasts an impressive track record. In a bid to capitalize on its growth potential, the centre diversified its client base, allowing it to expand its staff force from 32 to 65 employees. Moreover, its projected revenues for 2011 stand at $7 million, a 133% increase over 2009. The centre has also extended its reach to the international stage, forging partnerships and landing clients in the United States, Germany, Italy, Finland, Austria, India and China. Actively engaged in innovation, the CTA has applied for five patents since its establishment. Two of these innovations have already been adopted by BRP; the others are currently being incorporated into the manufacturing process.
Sharing expertise
Building on the powerful synergy among its partners, the CTA is one of the few establishments to have centralized all of its research, training and technology transfer activities under one roof in an effort to bridge the distance between university research and the industrial world. To accelerate the process, the centre offers bursaries—and is, in fact, the only one in Estrie to do so—to engineers wishing to pursue post-graduate studies in mechanical engineering or mechatronics. In 2011, nearly $500,000 in such bursaries will be awarded, which bodes extremely well for the future.
To Canada Economic Development, funding the establishment of the CTA was a natural decision given the organization's strategic importance to the Estrie region and to the province as a whole. That importance is already being felt and the centre's activities are yielding positive results, be it in terms of training the next generation and keeping young graduates in the region, bolstering the competitiveness of current and future CTA partner firms or improving air quality and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The CTA has clearly shown its ability to capitalize on know-how and to combine innovation with what is needed. In short, it brings past, present and future into perfect alignment.
