Funding fostering future talent

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This article was published 15/04/2024 (549 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Ali Dehkordi started working on his PhD at the University of Manitoba in electrical power systems in 2003, he got an internship at RTDS Technologies Inc.

At the time, the Winnipeg company had 13 employees.

A few years later, Dehkordi received one of the first internship grants from national non-profit organization Mitacs for a research project at RTDS.

He’s now R&D supervisor and technical lead — and one of 20 PhDs and 50 engineers working at RTDS, which now has a staff of 80 people.

It’s also become the world leader in digital power system digitization, selling its software and hardware around the globe.

On Monday, Research Manitoba announced it has renewed its partnership with Mitacs, increasing its funding for the non-profit to $4.8 million over three years – enough to cover an expected 400-plus program internships.

Mitacs is funded by the federal government and all 10 provinces and acts as a matchmaker between the private sector and mostly graduate students. It splits the cost of four-month projects (averaging around $15,000) with the company or organization that needs the research.

(In its early days, Mitacs was known as Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems, referring to its original mandate to connect mathematics researchers to industry. After it became an independent, national not-for-profit organization in 2011, the acronym was phased out and is now simply referred to as Mitacs.)

The research Mitacs helps fund must be applicable to the students’ thesis.

In Dehkordi’s case, his research into power systems has served to improve the lives of people.

“That’s something that was a dream of mine,” said the graduate of Sharif University of Technology in Iran.

John Hepburn, Vancouver-based CEO of Mitacs, said RTDS was one of its original partners in Manitoba and Dehkordi one of its first interns.

Dehkordi is one of 13 former Mitacs interns who now work full-time at RTDS, a company with customers in 55 countries.

The company was acquired by a Pennsylvania firm called Ametek Inc. in 2022.

Its technology is used in the development and testing of electric power grids and associated equipment. With the increased emphasis on including renewable energy generation into electrical grids around the world, RTDS technologies have become even more in demand.

Kelly McNeill, company president and CEO, said revenue has doubled over the past 10 years.

While Mitacs funds research that allows graduate students to deploy their education and training in real world applications, it’s also a great recruiting strategy for companies.

McNeill is proud of the fact all of RTDS’s work and all of its employees are based in Manitoba. As a small company in a highly specialized and niche market with a global customer base, the recruiting of talent can be a challenge.

“Sponsoring Mitacs is a great way to foster future talent,” McNeill said.

The company has sponsored 23 interns over the years.

Jennifer Cleary, who has been CEO of Research Manitoba for less than two months after an extensive career in research administration with the University of Winnipeg and the province, said increasing its support to Mitacs — by $1.5 million over the length of the three-year agreement — is exciting.

Research Manitoba has an annual budget of around $14 million, with $1.6 million now going to Mitacs.

“I have been around for a while in the research community. I’ve seen the benefit of Mitacs,” she said.

At least $500,000 of that will be specifically committed to Mitacs’ Indigenous Pathways program, which provides 75 per cent of the funding for research done by Indigenous students and/or for Indigenous organizations, with its partner only required to fund 25 per cent.

Among other attractions of Mitacs-sponsored research is if the student does a Mitacs internship in Manitoba and successfully completes their post-graduate degree, they are automatically registered in the Provincial Nominee Program, making them eligible for landed immigrant status in Canada.

“A lot of our students do stay,” said Hepburn.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.cs