Grant: Collaborative Research and Training Experience

Cyber-physical systems are penetrating every aspect of our lives and will transform how we interact with the physical world. These systems will enable self-driving cars, safer and cleaner airplanes, smart renewable energy systems, intelligent homes, and new types of medical devices. The next generation of such systems will be even more ubiquitous, interconnected, tailored, and heterogeneous than today's systems. The ability to engineer such systems is critical to Canada's technological leadership and international competitiveness, including automotive, aerospace, renewable energy, and resource-exploration sectors. Model-based product-line engineering is a key technology to conquer the complexities of such systems by allowing virtual prototyping and derivation of such systems from common platforms. We have formed a partnership between world's foremost researchers in this key technology and leading Canadian automotive, aerospace, and software companies to design a training program that will pioneer the research behind this technology and prepare HQP with the knowledge and skills necessary to engineer the next generation of cyber-physical systems. This program will lead HQP through an innovative, international and industrially-relevant training model, which integrates core courses in software, computer, mechatronic, and systems engineering; mentoring by a multi-disciplinary team of leading researchers and industry experts; participation in world-class research; hands-on demonstrator-based training; and tailored industrial internships. Elite trainees will gain specialized professional and technical knowledge in the two application areas that are key to Canada's high-tech leadership: automotive and aerospace systems.