EADS ETL
28 February 2013
The highly successful EADS tour of Canada’s “automotive corridor” was completed today at a Canadian regional conference that confirmed this country’s interest in innovative technologies and know-how to improve its manufacturers’ productivity and competitiveness.
During the Canadian Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA) meeting in Windsor, Ontario, representatives from major manufacturers, suppliers and government acknowledged that Canada is lagging in applying innovation – which is important for bolstering its position in a rapidly-changing industry.
EADS’ broad portfolio of technologies available for licensing has attracted significant Canadian interest, including expertise in materials and manufacturing processes, along with electronics, sensors, vibration control, noise reduction and situational awareness aids.
The EADS Technology Licensing initiative’s exhibit was a centrepiece of the APMA regional conference in Windsor, Ontario.
Wulf Hoeflich, Head of the EADS Technology Licensing initiative, said this interest was expressed across-the-board by subcontractors, Tier 1 suppliers, the major OEM (original equipment manufacturers), and Canada’s research community.
“Our slogan for this week’s visits is: ‘EADS brings innovation technology down to Earth,’ and we found Canada to be very open to this opportunity,” he explained. “My team – and the resources from across our company – will now be available in bringing EADS technology to road-level with Canada’s automotive industry.”
The EADS Technology Licensing initiative’s outreach in Canada was arranged with support of the Canadian embassy and consulate in Germany, as well as the APMA.
“This week’s visit of EADS is an important first step toward developing new links with industry, and it provided insight into many innovation opportunities that we previously were not aware of,” said Dr. Bruno Wiest, Trade Commissioner – Science and Technology at the Embassy of Canada in Berlin.
Cliff Singleton, Trade Commissioner at the Canadian Consulate in Berlin, added that EADS’ back-to-back meetings with companies, the academic community and government researchers across Canada’s “automotive corridor” have clearly set the stage for potential long-term relationships.
“The EADS strategy of having its technology licensing team accompanied by top-level technical experts was highly appreciated, and has resulted in discussions of substance rather than keeping things at a theoretical or abstract level,” Singleton stated.
EADS participants in the Canadian tour were Wulf Hoeflich; Dr. Peter Westphal, the EADS Senior Manager – Strategy, for Technology Licensing and Intellectual Property; Lawrence Stein, Senior Manager of Technical Marketing for EADS’ Corporate Technical Office (CTO); Dr. Christian Weimer, Head of Operations for the composites technical capability centre in the EADS Innovation Works corporate research and development arm; and Olaf Heinzinger, the Senior Manager of Intelligent Systems in EADS Innovation Works’ technical capability centre for electronic, communication and intelligent systems.
The EADS Canadian outreach will conclude this evening with the Canada-U.S. Automotive Dinner in Detroit, Michigan, to be attended by Dr. Jean Botti, the EADS Chief Technical Officer.
• Learn more about the EADS Technology Licensing initiatives’ achievements and activities with the archived news stories.
