Transatlantic partnership will drive joint research in emerging technologies
Katherine Bennett CBE, CEO of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, and Jean-François Houle, Vice-President, Engineering, and Executive Champion for the UK at the NRC.
The High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) which will see the two organisations share facilities, exchange staff and collaborate on research and development programmes.
Under the agreement, HVM Catapult and the NRC will explore joint research activities in areas of mutual strength. This includes health and biomanufacturing, manufacturing and materials, climate change and sustainability, and emerging technologies such as quantum, digital and artificial intelligence.
The partnership will also prevent duplication of resources through complementary infrastructure investment, shared expertise and business networks. Under the partnership, Brendan Fish, Director of Biologics and the RNA Centre of Excellence at CPI, one of the seven HVM Catapult centres, has joined the NRC Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre advisory board.
The MoU strengthens the collaborative research and development between the United Kingdom and Canada. It builds on the partnership between UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the NRC who signed an MoU in July 2018 and have since worked on a number of joint research funding calls, including the Canada-UK 2024-2025 collaborative industrial research and development call for proposals.
Katherine Bennett CBE, CEO of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, said:
“This partnership represents a significant step towards a more integrated and collaborative approach between the UK and Canada to address the global challenges and opportunities in the manufacturing sector.
“By leveraging our respective strengths in high value manufacturing and advanced research, we can drive innovation, foster technological advancements and develop the cutting-edge solutions that can enable businesses in both countries to compete on a global scale.”
Jean-François Houle, Vice-President, Engineering, and Executive Champion for the UK at the NRC, said:
“This partnership is based on our commitment to working as partners, sharing business networks and best practices and encouraging joint research activities to advance knowledge in priority areas for Canada and the UK. We look forward to continuing to exchange ideas and strengthen our engagement with our UK partners.”
A steering committee will establish the collaboration activities as part of the MoU, which will last until 2029.
In April 2024, Jean-François Houle was a keynote speaker at the Future of UK Manufacturing conference in Sheffield, organised and hosted by HVM Catapult, the Institute for Manufacturing (IfM) at the University of Cambridge and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
