19 March 2021

PRESS RELEASE – While the pandemic continues to hinder business, Sherbrooke Innopole announces technical and financial support to six Sherbrooke companies as part of the 4^th call for projects of its VITE program for marketing technological innovations. These companies are: Bravad Fabrique Numérique HPSH, IBIOM Instruments, Lumed, TERA Amérique du Nord, and Vision Météo.

The VITE program (Validation d’innovation technologique à l’essai – Validation of pilot technological innovations) provides Sherbrooke companies developing technological projects with the opportunity to co-develop their innovative technology by pairing them with an organization or business. This field partner has the potential to become a first customer, and will provide companies with relevant feedback to accelerate marketing of their innovation.

In the context of COVID-19, the program was enhanced through the City of Sherbrooke’s economic recovery plan, awarding more businesses and allocating an increased maximum for financial assistance – up to $30 000. To create a leverage effect conducive to the recovery of Sherbrooke’s economy, the new version of the program also allowed pairing with a private company, in addition to public, parapublic, and institutional organizations, and adapted the non-repayable contribution according to the location of the partner organization or business.

“As a first-line economic development organization, we stay in close contact with Sherbrooke’s industrial and technological companies, which have demonstrated their innovative attitude and resilience in the current pandemic context. To continue holding their own, our companies must absolutely continue developing their innovations, among other commitments. The direct assistance we are providing to these seven businesses, combined with the 100% local partnerships we have established, will help them in this regard while accelerating the marketing process and fostering the local economy,” said Josée Fortin, Director General of Sherbrooke Innopole.

The VITE program’s 4^th call for projects was open to companies from the five key sectors (Advanced Manufacturing, Information and Communication Technologies, Cleantech, Life Sciences, and Micro-Nanotechnologies) with a technological innovation to propose. Winners were selected based on several criteria, including projects being required to represent a significant innovation or breakthrough with a measurable and controlled risk, and to respect the fundamental principles of sustainable development.

The next call for projects of the VITE program will be launched in fall 2021 on Sherbrooke Innopole’s digital platforms (website, social networks, newsletter).

Winners of the VITE program – 4^th edition

Company: Bravad Fabrique Numérique
Key sector: Information and Communication Technologies
Project: Improve the client experience and service offered using artificial intelligence (AI)
Partner: City of Sherbrooke, Department of Information Technologies
Details: Develop artificial intelligence technology that connects to a database and analyzes communications (e-mail and IP telephony) between the organization and clients to generate predictions on levels of client satisfaction and retention. The organization can then connect to the system and contact clients at risk of discontinuing their use of services to offer them more personalized solutions. In the context of this project, the technology will first be implemented within the partner organization to foster a quick, risk-free iteration process.

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Company: HPSH Inc.
Key sector: Advanced Manufacturing
Project:  Validate a new technology (HPHS – High Performance Hybrid Structures) aiming to become a sustainable alternative for extending the life cycle of reinforced concrete structures using fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite sheathing.
Partners: City of Sherbrooke and Produits de Ciment de Sherbrooke
Details: Compare the times and costs required to manufacture and install conventional structures versus HPHS structures across the value chain. Further quantify the increase in product performance and durability in real-world conditions compared to conventionally reinforced concrete products exposed to the same conditions, specifically for street lamp bases and potentially for structural columns.

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Company:  IBIOM Instruments Ltd.
Key sector: Life Sciences
Project:  Motorized adjustable treatment chair
Partner:  Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux de l’Estrie – Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke (CIUSSS de l’Estrie – CHUS)
Details: The newly developed chair will allow to easily position patients in any position between sitting and lying during treatment, from installing to positioning the patient, and getting them off the chair. The IBIOM chair will facilitate the clinical staff’s work while providing improved patient comfort for treatments up to 8 hours.

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Company: Lumed
Key sector: Life Sciences
Project: Improve algorithms for antimicrobial prescription monitoring using artificial intelligence
Partner: Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux de l’Estrie – Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke (CIUSSS de l’Estrie – CHUS)
Details: Lumed’s APSS software provides optimized care for hospitalized infectious disease patients. The improvements made by carrying out this project will enable better integration of pharmacist feedback in antibiotic use monitoring algorithms.

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Company: TERA Amérique du Nord Inc.
Key sector: Cleantech
Project:  Air quality management in Sherbrooke
Partner: Société de transport de Sherbrooke
Details: Optimization and integration of a network of fixed and portable smart sensors to measure Sherbrooke’s air quality. These sensors communicate using information and communications technologies and can contribute to real-time data collection to support urban planning and improve the quality of life of residents, especially those most susceptible to respiratory diseases.

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Company:  Vision Météo
Key sector: Information and Communication Technologies
Project:  Develop a snow height measurement unit to optimize the organization’s snow removal operations and to facilitate decision-making processes.
Partner:  City of Sherbrooke, Maintenance and Road Department
Details: Complete development of a snow height measurement unit that uses a variety of low-cost technologies based on the principles of the Internet of Things (IoT) to minimize resources for energy consumption and data transmission, aiming to assess the impacts of winter weather on managing material, human, and financial resources in a snow removal organization

Photo: Josée Fortin, Director General of Sherbrooke Innopole; Jocelyn Dupuis, Interim Head of the Emergency Department of the CHUS Fleurimont; Jasmin Bibeau, President, Sales and Marketing, and Stéphane Mongeau, Vice-President, Research and Development, both from IBIOM Instruments, around the motorized adjustable treatment chair to be co-developed as part of the VITE program. The other Sherbrooke companies that won the 4^th call for projects are Bravad Fabrique Numérique, HPSH, Lumed, TERA Amérique du Nord, and Vision Météo.

Source: Sherbrooke Innopole