CMC Microsystems Enables Microsystems R&D:

CMC Microsystems provides the tools, technologies and services that make microsystems research and development possible in universities across Canada.

Faculty members and graduate students depend on CMC’s services to design, manufacture and test microsystems concepts for future applications in industrial sectors.  Working with leading suppliers from across Canada and around the world, CMC offers products and services in microelectronics, MEMS, optoelectronics/photonics, microfluidics and embedded software.  

In the current five-year period (2005-2010), CMC combines NSERC funding of $48.5 million with in-kind contributions from industry and added value from CMC to deliver a microsystems-centric program valued at $175 million. This program serves over 3,100 faculty members and graduate students in more than 43 universities across the country.

The fusion of microsystems technologies with knowledge from many disciplines generates innovations in diverse economic sectors.

How Does CMC Microsystems Do It?

CMC Microsystems delivers a consistent set of industry-calibre tools, technologies and support as part of its national program. This common infrastructure achieves significant economies of scale by:

• providing researchers at more than 43 universities across Canada with millions of dollars worth of advanced tools and technologies for R&D in microsystems

• developing tools and methodologies and sharing them with over 3,100 researchers

• maximizing the potential for researchers to share their knowledge and experience
• minimizing the cost of development, delivery and support that would otherwise need to be undertaken by each individual researcher
• enabling many researchers who would not normally be able to participate in the microsystems research area if the common infrastructure did not exist
• providing researchers with access to technical support, targeted training and networking opportunities to accelerate research efforts while decreasing time to graduation

The Result—A Strong Foundation for Innovative Applications, New Products and Companies:

The microsystems research enabled by CMC stimulates innovation and fosters the development of highly qualified people who create new products, companies and jobs, fueling all sectors of the economy.

CMC has helped to create:

• 225 jobs per year;
• $300 million in corporate revenue attributed to CMC ‘graduates’ per year; and
• $11 million of private sector investment for university research per year.

The highly qualified graduates, with their many ideas and innovations fostered in the university research environment, form the foundation for new startup companies, or stimulate further research and development in Canada's private sector.

Since April 2003, more than 1,700 graduate students who benefited from access to tools and technologies provided by CMC have moved to positions in Canadian industry. These skilled people have joined Canadian companies such as Acceleware, Advanced Molecular Imaging (AMI), BTI Photonics Systems, Med-Ox Diagnostics, Medical Intelligence Technologies, MDA Space Missions, Nortel Networks, PMC-Sierra, Research in Motion (RIM), Snowbush and Smart Technologies.