Networking within a CIPI-funded project led to the award of a substantial Canada Foundation for Innovation grant. Headed by Dr. Jean-Claude Kieffer of the INRS (Institut national de recherche scientifique), the group of Canadian researchers involved are all recognized world leaders in the area of ultrafast laser technology. With the aid of the CFI grant, they are setting up the Advanced Laser Light Source (ALLS) at the INRS, in Varennes near Montreal. Once completed, this facility will further strengthen Canada's leadership role in the dynamic investigation of light-matter interactions. ALLS will bring together outstanding researchers in biology, chemistry and physics from Canada and around the world and will provide an exceptional environment for the multidisciplinary training of the next generation of scientists.

The ALLS project may lead to increased business for CIPI Affiliate Axis Photonique. The company is planning to bid to provide pulse measurement service at ALLS.

ALLS officials will be using Michel Piché's P2 parameter (see paragraph under Research Excellence) as the basic concept of their pulse measurement.

With support from a CIPI Technology Exploitation and Networking grant, CIPI researchers from the Université Laval and McGill University organized a topical workshop on mode-locked fibre lasers in 2002. The event attracted 50 participants : several graduate students as well as representatives from industry. Given that fibre lasers are an enabling technology, the workshop provided a unique opportunity to learn about the fundamentals and recent developments in the area from internationally recognized experts and CIPI researchers on hand.

In 2001, CIPI hosted an international workshop that brought together 43 leading photonics researchers from Russia and Canada. The purpose of the meeting was to define new research partnerships combining Russian expertise and know-how with Canadian leading-edge knowledge, material resources and state-of-the-art facilities. Since then, despite limited funding, collaborative research activities are being pursued between CIPI researchers and their Russian counterparts. Joint publications and visits have resulted from the partnerships forged, and a second workshop was held in Moscow in 2002. This prompted the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research to sign a memorandum of understanding recognizing the importance of scientific collaboration between the two countries.

In the fall of 2003 CIPI's TEN program help fund a workshop on ultrafast dynamic imaging, an area where Canada holds considerable expertise. The event attracted 50 world-leading experts in the area and concentrated on experimental and theoretical methods for the measurement of femto and attosecond dynamics of electrons and nuclei in molecules and extended systems. It also highlighted the emergence of the Advanced Laser Light Source being completed at the INRS.

With funding from the TEN program and in collaboration with Vitesse Re-Skilling Canada, CIPI held Canada's first biophotonics primer and workshop in Gatineau in November 2003. The 3-day event drew 120 participants and initiated a diologue between physicists, photonics experts, biologists, medical scientists and practitioners for the purpose of enhancing the emergence of the biophotonics sector in Canada. The workshop featured talks by 22 speakers, all internationally recognized Canadian and US experts in medicine, biology, physics, photonics and biomedical engineering. The success of the workshop has prompted CIPI and its partner Vitesse to seriously consider holding a similar event in 2004.

CIPI has taken a leadership role in initiating discussions that will lead to the deployment of a national coordinated effort in the area of photonics research and development performed at large national facilities such as the Canadian Light Source in Saskatoon, the Advanced Laser Light Source in Varennes, Quebec, and the Canadian Photonics Fabrication Centre in Ottawa.

In March 2002, CIPI Premier Affiliate JDS Uniphase offered CIPI researchers the opportunity to purchase surplus equipment at substantial savings.

In recognition of the excellent work being performed in computational chemistry and photonics by CIPI researcher André Bandrauk's group at the Université de Sherbrooke, IBM Canada contributed $1 million worth of workstations and computing nodes. This donation to the computer facilities in Dr. Bandrauk's laboratory has increased the speed and power of the existing system in such a way as to make it one of the three most powerful computers in the country.

CIPI closely monitors the activities of the photonics industry in Canada through a seat on the board of directors of the Canadian Photonics Consortium. This involvement enables CIPI to foster industry support for university-based photonics research in the country, to promote technology exploitation and networking and to stay abreast of developments in the field.

CIPI has been a consistent supporter of various networking activities in the field of photonics. Events such as the annual congress of the Canadian Association of Physicists, Photonics North and the Canadian Undergraduate Physics Conference have received CIPI sponsorship and, especially in the case of the two former events, have attracted a strong contingent of CIPI researchers.

In 2001, Osaki Electric of Japan sought assistance from CIPI in locating Canadian photonic component manufacturers for the Japanese Fibre-to-the-Home market. Distributor agreements have since been signed with 2 Canadian companies and another is under discussion.