A significant source of support for CIM is the Regroupement Strategique REPARTI, funded by the FRQNT (Fonds de recherche du Quebec - nature et technologie). The mission of REPARTI (Systèmes cyberphysiques et intelligence machine matérialisée) is to analyze, synthesize, optimize and experimentally validate cyberphysical systems or their components to support the technological and economical development of Québec companies.
REPARTI brings together 50 researchers, 12 research professionals and nearly 400 student-researchers and 37 post-doctoral researchers from 6 universities in Quebec. The director is Clément Gosselin, a professor of Mechanical Engineering at Université Laval. He holds a tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Robotics and Mechatronics and is the Director of the Robotics Lab at Université Laval. Seventeen full members of CIM also belong to REPARTI and the organization is an important source of support for CIM's research.
Each year, REPARTI hosts a workshop at a member institution to provide an opportunity for its members to gather and share their recent research findings and network with each other. This includes a talk by an invited speaker and a poster presentation session featuring recent research conducted by student members of REPARTI. At the latest workshop held virtually in 2021, the keynote speaker was Ilian Bonev, cofounder of Mecademic and professor at Ecole de Technologie Supérieure. At the previous workshop at École de technologie supérieure in June 2019, the keynote speaker was John McPhee, a professor in Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo and the Canada Research Chair in Biomechatronic System Dynamics.
An important source of funding is the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). This federal funding includes a wide variety of programs such as Discovery Grants, Engage Grants, Collaborative Research and Development Grants among others. Some programs include industrial contracts which allow researchers to work with companies to solve existing problems or innovate to create new technologies.
Provincial programs also play in important role. In addition to funding REPARTI, the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies (FRQNT) also provides funding to individual CIM members for their research activities. Several members are part of other Regroupement Strategiques including GERAD and CIRMMT, which gather researchers from many institutions to further common research goals within certain thematic areas.
MITACS is an innovative program that pairs companies with students seeking research experience. It provides funding for projects that enable companies to hire post-secondary students who gain real-world experience and help solve industry challenges.
