A group of senior administrators and researchers from McMaster are among a select number of delegates joining Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne on a week-long trade mission to China.

Led by Mo Elbestawi, Vice-President (Research and International Affairs) and Peter Mascher, Associate Vice-President (International), the McMaster contingent will sign two major partnership agreements with Chinese academic institutions and industrial leaders in the presence of the premier and high-level Chinese officials.

“This mission is an ideal opportunity for McMaster to build relationships, showcase our strengths in the areas of research and commercialization and identify potential areas of future collaboration with key players in China,” says Elbestawi. “We are pleased to be among those invited to take part in this important delegation.”

While in China, McMaster will sign two separate partnership agreements with Chinese academic and research institutions as well as with both Ontario-based and Chinese industrial partners.

On Monday, Elbestawi will sign a partnership agreement with Delin Corporation, Forsee Instrument Ltd., Soochow University and the Centre for the Internet of Things, a research institute established and financed by the Chinese government. The agreement will see the development and commercialization of water quality monitoring technology.

The second agreement, to be signed Friday, concerns a joint project on condition monitoring protocols of powertrain components in electrified vehicles. The partnership includes the Beijing Institute of Technology, Electronix Co., Shanghai e-Drive Co., and D&V Electronics.

“It’s the perfect situation. Agreements like these create a crucial link between academic research, industrial relations and commercialization,” says Mascher.  “As a research intensive university, we don’t want to just export our knowledge, we want to create productive, mutually beneficial partnerships that help us to accelerate the process of discovery and maximize our societal impact.”

During the trip, Elbestawi will present at the China Jiangsu Conference for Technology Transfer and Commercialization and will participate in a panel discussion on the commercialization of research outcomes.

The McMaster delegation has also been invited to meet with representatives from Nanjing University and Shanghai Jiao Tong, two of China’s top universities, and the University of Science and Technology Beijing to explore opportunities for collaborations in the future.