Industrial Collaboration: ÉTS can Help You Innovate!

Does your company want to develop an innovative technology? Do you want to solve a problem linked to one of your products? Are you lacking the expertise, the time or the necessary equipment to move it forward? Have you thought about collaborating with the École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS)? We might have just the expertise and equipment you need!

ÉTS offers several types of collaboration: Choose the formula that suits your business best

Whether your project is small, medium or large scale, there are many ways to collaborate with ÉTS. We can offer you a formula that suits your budget and your timeline: a research and development contract, projects carried out by bachelor's, master's or PHD students, rental of cutting edge equipment, technical or legal expertise. Don’t hesitate to contact us: our counsellors will suggest the formula best suited to your needs.

Research and Innovation projects

Research and Development contract

This formula puts the emphasis on the technological development of a product or service and aims to solve large-scale problems whose deliverables are well defined. It generally relies on a team composed of researchers, technicians and professionals. This type of contract, which is a logical next step to an expert evaluation or business feasibility study, usually extends from a few months to less than two years.

R&D Partnership Agreements: for longer term collaborations

Do you have in mind a more fundamental innovation for your product or service? Does this project require significant scientific foundations? Are you considering longer term collaboration with ÉTS, say between two and five years? A research and development partnership agreement will meet your needs. Under this type of contract, you can provide for the training of highly qualified personnel (master's, Ph.D. and postdoctoral students) who may eventually join your business.

This type of research program can obtain subsidies from the Collaborative Research and Development Grants of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

Strategic Sectoral Projects (funded projects)

You may obtain subsidies from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) or from other sectoral consortia, such as MEDTEQ in health technologies, PROMPT in telecommunications, CRIAQ in aerospace or Prima Québec in advanced materials.

You can also submit projects that will lead to the creation of centres of excellence or industrial chairs, or pre-competitive multi-partner research projects, or… you may also want to join one that already exists! Meet with the team from the Office of the Dean of Research: they will help you identify all the possible opportunities.

Collaborative projects with students

Final year (Bachelor) projects

Do you have a small-scale problem? Our students can lend you a hand through their “End of Studies Project” course. Your project will be added to a project bank, and can then be selected by a student or a team of students. Projects submitted to this bank must include a “design” component. Does your problem require broad expertise? Even better: it can be taken on by a multidisciplinary student team.

The only deliverable of this type of project is the End-of-studies report. For that reason, there is no guarantee of results on the part of the students or ÉTS. You will not have to financially compensate the students. The costs related to hardware and consumables, if any, will be assumed by you. If you want to make a financial contribution, the latter will be paid to the ÉTS Development Fund to finance its program of scholarships based on merit.

Master’s projects (MITACS Scholarships)

You can present your project to a master’s or doctoral student and obtain a grant from the MITACS program! To be eligible, your project must be of short duration and focus on a business problem. Our student will be able to devote about half of his or her time to working within your company, and should be at the University the rest of the time. You can obtain a grant of up to $15,000 per four month block of research, if you make a contribution of $7,500. The maximum period for which this funding can be requested is two blocks for a master’s, four blocks for a doctorate and six blocks for post-doctoral work. For more information on the MITACS program.

Access to research infrastructure and expertise

Standardized testing

ÉTS has cutting-edge high-technology equipment. We are also experts in leading-edge applied engineering. If you are experiencing specific difficulties with one of your products, we can carry out a series of standardized tests to determine areas of improvement. These tests are normally of short duration (ranging from a few hours to a few days) and can then lead to contracts for expert evaluations or R and D. You cover the full costs.

Technical Expertise

This formula is effective for solving specific problems. It is also used to study the feasibility of larger-scale projects. Mandates awarded for technical expertise can last from a few days to a few weeks. The costs of the expertise provided are paid entirely by your company, although they can be financed by certain grant programs, such as the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) program of the National Research Council of Canada for companies with less than 500 employees.

Legal Expertise

Our researchers’ expertise is recognized worldwide in many scientific areas. They can therefore intervene as experts in legal cases. Their interventions generally extend from the preparation of a dossier through the negotiation phases, up to appearances before arbitrators or judicial bodies. The costs of such expertise are fully paid by you.