The Canada-Israel Industrial Research and Development Foundation Renewed for Further Five Years
Posted on: March 22, 2010

Here is an announcement from CIIRDF – The Canada-Israel Industrial Research and Development  Foundation:

The Canada-Israel Industrial Research and Development  Foundation, renewed for a further five year period, to  support Joint Industrial Projects totaling over C$8.1m  through the injection of C$3.2 Million in New Funding

CIIRDF Will Support Seven  Industrial Projects that Combine  Canadian and Israeli Strengths for Competitive Advantage

Ottawa, March 2010 – The Canadian government has recently  joined Israel in agreeing to the renewal of the Canada Israel  Industrial Research and Development Foundation (CIIRDF) for a  further five year period. The foundation will provide support  for new Joint Industrial Projects totaling over C$8.1m  through the injection of C$3.2 Million in New Funding for  seven 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 in January  in Vancouver, Canada, on the occasion of its 30th 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.  This meeting the Board had 13  proposals to consider for approval and nearly all received  very high ratings from both the Canadian and Israeli  evaluators.  Competition between the projects was fierce and  only the very best were ultimately selected for funding. “In  the fifteen years since I have been managing CIIRDF never  have we had so many high quality projects to present to the  Board”, said Dr. Henri Rothschild, President of CIIRDF.

“CIIRDF is instrumental in helping 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.

The new projects represent strong additions to the CIIRDF  portfolio of more than 70 previously approved projects at  various stages of completion or in repayment mode.

The projects will result in the development of Insulin feed  additive for animals, Tracking Technology & Trainer for the  Neurogym, Ethernet 5-play Multimedia connection, Air Quality  Mapping in GIS Formats, technology enabling Next-Generation  Wireless USB Radio,  High Resolution X-Ray Non-Destructive  Analysis and Wireless HDMI modules for the TV and PC.

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.

The listing of the 7 funded projects is as follows:

1. Improving Production with Novel Feed Additive by  Nutrinia Ltd. of Yokneam, Israel & East-Man-Feeds Animal  Nutrition of Winnepeg, Manitoba, Canada.

These companies have established a partnership to develop a  new generation of bioactive feed supplements with a special  focus on Insulin. This will be achieved by the use of an  Insulin based product, NovoMax™.which be orally administered,  in order to enhance gut maturation and gastrointestinal  health in young piglets, and consequently reduce mortality  and improve growth.

2. Integration of Timocco’s Tracking Technology & the NeuroGym Trainer by Timocco Ltd. of Tel Aviv, Israel & Neurogym Technology  Inc. of Ottawa, Canada.

The goal of this R&D project is to  develop a hybrid of the NeuroGym Trainer and the Timocco’s  tracking technology. The desired product will enable the  Trainer application to work with a camera and without the  active sensors, thus turning the Trainer into a ‘wireless’  device. The desired device would be able to train gross motor  control around most joints and would attempt to pick up  rotational movements as well flexion/extension and  abduction/adduction movements.

3. Next-Gen Universal and Interactive HDBaseT™ Platform for Enhanced & Uncompressed Multimedia and  Entertainment Applications by Valens Semiconductor Ltd. of  Hod Hasaron, Israel & Icron Technology Corporation of Vancouver, B.C.,  Canada.

The proposed cooperation between  the companies sets to establish a state of the art solution  to fully distribute players/consoles/PC’s and screens around  the house and office. This is accomplished by enabling a real  uncompressed HD quality delivery and enablement of control in  the form of USB connectivity along with several other  controls.

4. Development of Interactive User Interfaces for Air  Quality Mapping in GIS(Geographic information system) Formats  by Envitech Ltd. of Givataim, Israel & A-MAPS Environmental  Inc. of Ottawa, Canada.

Main objective of the initiative is  the development of web based Air Quality mapping, analysis  and forecasting interfaces, based on novel data acquisition,  processing and analysis principles.  The interactive interfaces to be developed will enable direct  on line interpretation, analyses and easy presentations of  the Air Quality records.

5. Enabling Semiconductor Technology for Next- Generation Wireless USB Radio by Wisair Ltd. of Ramat  Hahayal, Israel & Kaben Wireless Silicon Inc. of Ottawa,  Canada.

Main objective of the initiative is the development  of to develop and productize a next-generation, significantly  faster wireless USB integrated circuit.

6. Development of a High Resolution X-Ray Non- Destructive Analysis System by Vidisco Ltd. of Or-Yahuda,  Israel & Dalsa Inc. of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

The  project plan entails development and integration of an X-Ray  portable test device based on high resolution CMOS  (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) digital imaging  sensor that is capable of covering a large area.

7. Wireless HDMI module for the TV and PC markets by  Celeno Communications Ltd. Of Raanana, Israel & Vixs Systems  Inc. of Toronto, Canada.

ViXS and Celeno Communications are  joining forces to jointly develop a hardware and software module that will stream compressed High Definition video over  the air throughout the home, enabling consumers to enjoy wire- free and location-free video entertainment anywhere in their  home.