Funding and Awards
 To encourage and support innovation, SAIT assists with funding of applied research projects and rewards outstanding achievement from its students, faculty and staff.  | SAIT is also working with organizations that offer voucher programs and has successfully piloted a new program that helps new and recent graduates launch their innovative business ideas. |
Alberta Innovation Vouchers Program
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| "I really enjoyed working with the SAIT team on the development of a new solar heating product. Their knowledge and technical skill is matched by their professionalism and creativity."
Tom Jackman, President
Simple Solar Heating Ltd. | The program is designed to help small technology and knowledge-driven businesses in Alberta get their ideas and products to market faster with a $15,000 or $50,000 voucher. There are four competitions per year with the possibility of additional special calls. Deadlines are on the first day of January, April, July and October. Note: the July deadline will be moved to August 1, 2011 and there will be no July 2011 competition. Some basic information: -
$15,000 vouchers can be used for an opportunity assessment or specialized services related to business development and mentoring, small scale prototyping or intellectual property services. -
$50,000 vouchers can be used for more substantial technology development activities such as product prototyping, lab verification or field testing. Applicants must submit an opportunity assessment that meets criteria stated in the Program Guide. - Companies applying for either voucher must have fewer than 51 employees and gross income from the preceding fiscal year not in excess of $5,000,000
This program was developed as a two-year pilot project by Alberta Advanced Education and Technology through the Ingenuity Fund and transferred to Alberta Innovates - Technology Futures on April 1, 2010. Please note that some changes have recently been made to the program that may affect previous voucher recipients. For eligibility details on the current program, go to the Alberta Innovates web site. We encourage you to contact us to review the nature of your project as early as possible. Calgary Regional Partnership Voucher Project  | A new voucher program designed to help green building technology companies in the Calgary region expand their markets. | This funding opportunity is expected to open for applications early in 2011. Vouchers to a maximum value of $15,000 will be available to eligible companies in the emerging clean, green building technology sector. Applicants must first complete a Productivity Assessment, then may download questions for the full application before completing and submitting the form online (note: link takes you to general info page with links to all forms). Some basic information: -
Business must be registered in Alberta or Canada and carry out more than 50 per cent of its operations in the Calgary Regional Partnership area (see map on Program Guidelines). -
Must be an established and existing green building technology business with gross revenue not exceeding $10,000,000 in previous fiscal year. -
Voucher must be used as partial payment to SAIT Polytechnic for the development of a comprehensive marketing plan. -
Voucher recipient must contribute at least 25 per cent of the total project costs. Find out more with the brochure (link opens .pdf) or check the website.
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