New program bolsters StFX faculty-student scientific consulting to industry StFX faculty and students now have even greater opportunity to share scientific and technical expertise with small business.StFX faculty can now access the National Research Council of Canada’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) through the StFX Industry Liaison and Knowledge Transfer Office, and secure funding to offset expenses of scientific and technical consultancy services provided to small businesses. “The IRAP supports faculty and student outreach to the local and broader Nova Scotia industrial and business community and assists this community strengthen their competitiveness, enhance their growth through innovation, and provide easy access to the scientific and technical know-how, expertise and scientific research equipment resident at the university,” says Andrew Kendall, manager of the StFX Industry Liaison Office. “The program can benefit students by allowing them the opportunity to tackle a real world problem faced by some industry with their professor while developing and strengthening new collaborative research and development relationships.” Mr. Kendall says typical research and development activities that can be supported by the IRAP program include: • new product development or existing product improvement • enhanced product functionality • resource allocation/optimization • production process improvement • removal of product performance limitations • product or production cost reduction • product reliability / quality improvements For more information on the program, please contact Andrew Kendall at the Industry Liaison and Knowledge Transfer Office at (902) 867-3660, or akendall@stfx.ca.