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Home > About Us > News Room > News Releases > TRLabs sets stage for continued supply of high-tech talent TRLabs sets stage for continued supply of high-tech talent
March 18, 1998 -- New agreements signed with five prairie universities
March 18, 1998 - TRLabs recently renewed partnership agreements with all five of its university sponsors - the Universities of Alberta, Calgary, Manitoba, Regina and Saskatchewan - ensuring that its telecommunications research program will continue to produce a highly-skilled workforce and innovative technology.
Through the TRLabs industry-university collaborative research model, students complete their graduate research programs at TRLabs working on industrially relevant projects under the supervision of professors from affiliated universities. The new agreements have significant features to enhance the experience of students and professors working with industry and to assist in generating increased numbers of Canadian graduates in the high-demand field of telecommunications, including:
- funds to universities in support of additional professors;
- scholarships for graduate students;
- TRLabs-operated laboratories with state-of-the-art equipment and software;
- representatives of industrial sponsors on site to help guide research relevant to industrial needs;
- employment opportunities with sponsor organizations;
- financial awards for students, professors and other researchers for successful technology commercialization; and
- intellectual property exploitation opportunities for universities as well as industrial sponsors.
"People are a critical factor for transferring knowledge and ensuring that Canada will be able to compete, today and tomorrow, in telecommunications and other knowledge-based industries," says TRLabs President and CEO Glenn Rainbird. "Industry-University collaboration consistently produces high-value graduates who can hit the ground running with minimal training in their new jobs. Our new agreements are aimed at ensuring a steady stream of outputs of people and technology for the future."
TRLabs graduates have always been highly sought after. One hundred percent have been employed in the high-technology industry or have gone on to pursue advanced degrees, with some receiving as many as five or six job offers. Seventy percent of these graduates have been hired by TRLabs industrial sponsors and forty percent have remained in Western Canada, a much higher regional retention rate than normal.
TRLabs has produced 137 graduates, 168 major technology outputs, over half of which have been transferred to industry, and 55 patents issued or pending.
"TRLabs students benefit from a best-of-both-worlds situation. They take classes at their University and prepare their theses under the guidance of university professors, but they have the opportunity to do practical, applicable research and interact closely with industry sponsors. It's no wonder that they all go on to have successful starts to their careers, " says University of Manitoba Acting Vice President of Research and External Programs Joanne Keselman.
It's reassuring to know that TRLabs will be putting out increased numbers of high-quality graduates," says Nortel Vice President Reg Bird. "Last year Nortel hired eight TRLabs graduates, and we hope to hire as many as possible in the future."
TRLabs is the largest not-for-profit telecommunications research consortium in Canada. Industrial sponsors include major telecom carriers, multinational equipment manufacturers, and telecommunications service providers, as well as over twenty SMEs located in the five cities in which TRLabs operates: Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon and Winnipeg. University sponsors are Universities of Alberta, Calgary, Manitoba, Regina and Saskatchewan and government sponsors are the governments of Canada, Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Since its inception in 1986, TRLabs has been helping to enhance Canada's telecommunications expertise and improve its international competitiveness.
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