Transport committee  Thank you.

Transport committee  The biggest determinant of vehicle energy use is the driver's behaviour. The technological factors—the weight and the other systems on the vehicle—are secondary to the driver's behaviour. The behaviour of drivers is also the greatest determinant of road safety. It's how people

Transport committee  I can talk to how AUTO21 has functioned in the last ten years. We have an independent board of directors. AUTO21 is essentially an arm's-length organization. Our board of directors is made up of senior automotive industry executives. The director of engineering and regulatory a

Transport committee  Yes.

Transport committee  As I must point out from the academic perspective, I'm not a business person, but I work with business every day, and it certainly drives much of what I do. The ability of a company to lever costs and to buy down risk in Canada is absolutely indispensable, especially when you'r

Transport committee  Indeed you're quite correct in stating that up until now the basic approach has been one of occupant protection, but I sense a shift in the regulatory environment in the United States towards crash avoidance, with a much larger emphasis on sensors to avoid the crash and to warn d

Transport committee  That's right—

Transport committee  I would hesitate to comment on a specific company's product. I don't think that's a good role for me personally. However, I would say that, as I stated in my remarks, the balance between vehicle safety and environmental performance is one I think everyone should embrace; it's no

Transport committee  I don't agree with that characterization, Mr. Sullivan, with respect. I think the tank with pillows.... I don't agree with that.

Transport committee  Yes. We had an independent study done of the economic impacts of AUTO21. It was done by the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which is a very authoritative group. They're the group that Industry Canada typically hires to do their econometric studies on the

Transport committee  Composite materials have a really good potential for the future, and they are being used today. There are technology barriers that are being worked on. We have worked in composite materials. To Ms. Chow's question, we have worked on the fairings underneath the trailers of truck

Transport committee  Sure. One of the difficulties in a modern factory is that different products are produced at different times of the day or in batches, and it's important that the pieces of machinery in the factory be able to communicate with each other to say that we have a model A coming down t

Transport committee  That's a really difficult issue. We in AUTO21 are continuously oversubscribed. Typically, we turn down about 75% of the projects that are proposed to us. It has to be said that some of those projects would not be eligible for our funding because they don't have industrial partne

Transport committee  It is typically between $100,000 and $200,000 per year, and a large part of our funding goes toward the training of students. That's part of our mandate. I think that brings up another difficulty. I think there are some difficulties with Canadian program design, if I may say so

Transport committee  Our IP policies in public sector science in Canada are not competitive.