FRANCAIS         

The Canada Israel Industrial Research and Development Foundation (CIIRDF) will provide just under $2.3 million in new funding for three industrial research and development projects involving Canadian and Israeli companies. The funding will cover up to 50 percent of the joint development costs of new products that have good commercialization potential in the global marketplace. Funding for each project is subject to final contract negotiations.

The CIIRDF Board of Directors approved the funding on June 22nd in Jerusalem, on the occasion of its 22nd semi-annual meeting. Composed of three Israeli and three Canadian members, the CIIRDF Board has the final say on project proposals that meet basic eligibility requirements and have been subjected to independent technical and business merit reviews in Israel and Canada. At this meeting, the Board had 8 proposals to consider for approval. “Taken together with the previous meeting held last November in Ottawa where 9 projects were presented, this is a record number of projects for a single 12 month period”, said Henri Rothschild, President of CIIRDF, “and the quality of the submissions is clearly increasing year by year”. In fact, two of the unfunded projects presented at the meeting in Israel will be reconsidered by the Board after another review to be conducted under the auspices of the Ontario-Israel accord.

“CIIRDF helps Israeli and Canadian companies improve their competitive offerings and achieve faster access to global markets than they would otherwise do on their own,” said the Chief Scientist in Israel’s Ministry of Industry and Trade, Dr. Eli Opper, who chairs the CIIRDF Board of Directors. “Among many similar bi-national structures with which I am involved, CIIRDF is one of the most effective.”

The new projects represent strong additions to the CIIRDF portfolio of previously approved projects at various stages of completion or in repayment mode. They include pioneering work aimed at providing integration of mobile phones with laptop computer based voice over IP, enhanced imaging for radiographs and the development of lightweight vertical takeoff/landing rotary aircraft. Combined with the projects approved in previous meetings, these newly approved initiatives help connect Israelis world-reknowned technology-based companies with partners from all the regions of Canada.

“But CIIRDF is more than about funding joint projects”, added Les Abelson, CIIRDF’s manager in Israel. “ We take great pride in actually developing deals and creating partnerships that would otherwise not have happened. “ A case in point is that, on the very week that the CIIRDF Board was convening, companies from Newfoundland and Israel were meeting to discuss productive partnering in the areas covered by the sector of “oceans technologies”. Organized and led by CIIRDF and co-sponsored by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as by Canada’s National Research Council’s Industrial Research Assistance Program, the activities were highlighted by the first ever Israel-Newfoundland Round Table on Oceans Technologies, co-chaired by Les O’Reilly of Oceans Advance in St John’s and Udi Gal of O.D.F. Optronics in Tel Aviv. The discussion identified areas of potential synergies, R&D collaboration and joint developments. In practical terms, a minimum of 2-3 projects were identified and, because of the promise for more, a Newfoundland-Israel steering committee on Oceans Technology partnerships was established with a subsequent meeting scheduled for Newfoundland.

About CIIRDF

The Canada-Israel Industrial Research and Development Foundation (CIIRDF) was established in 1994 to promote collaborative R&D between firms in both countries. With a sophisticated research base to draw on in each country, Canadian and Israeli companies are well suited to form productive partnerships. CIIRDF’s President and a small staff are located in Ottawa, Canada. CIIRDF also maintains an office in Israel.

For more information, please contact:

Henri Rothschild
President of CIIRDF
Tel: (613) 724-1482
www.ciirdf.ca

Les Abelson
Manager for CIIRDF in Israel
Tel: (Israel) 972-09-749-4043
Phone (N.America) 613-482-9779
lesabelson@ciirdf.ca

The listing of the 3 funded projects is as follows:

X-Ray Coatings for Digital Radiography by Edge Medical Devices Ltd. of Raanan, Israel and Anrad Corporation
of Saint Laurent, Quebec Canada.
Digital Radiography (DR) systems offers well-defined operational, financial and quality improvements over film-based x-ray and Computed Radiography (CR) systems. This joint R&D program will address the problem of defects in the amorphous selenium coatings. and lead to a cost effective Digital X-Ray system.

Secured Plug ’n Talk by Outsmart Ltd. of Lod, Israel and CounterPath Solutions Inc. of Vancouver, B.C. Canada.
The partners will develop a unique new product that connects to the internet through broadband connection and provides a seamless mobile communication for IP based devices. With this device any PC/laptop running Windows OS will be able to emulate a 3G mobile phone and provide the same user experience as a mobile phone.

Vertical Take Off & Landing Light Sport Aircraft by Vertical U.A.V. Ltd. of Yavne, Israel and Rotary Air Force Marketing Inc. of Kindersley, Saskatchewan, Canada.
The objectives of this project is to build and test a first prototype of the RAF 2020 compound aircraft. This gyroplane with vertical takeoff and landing capabilities will include tip-jets, compressed air generator, new rotor, wing, tail and the modular approach enabling the designers to use the building blocks in the three configurations.

© 2006 Canada-Israel Industrial Research and Development Foundation

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