Leitch and University of Waterloo to Create Multimedia R&D Lab

Leitch Technology Corporation and the University of Waterloo havepartnered to create a world-class multimedia communications laboratory,which will provide computing and testing facilities to support researchin multimedia communications.

The Leitch-University of Waterloo Multimedia CommunicationsLaboratory will be the largest and most advanced multimediacommunications research lab in Canada and, combined with expertise andresearch excellence, will be the leading facility of its kind in theworld. The lab will be a magnet for the most talented researchers inthe area of multimedia communications from around the world.

Multimedia communications, which involves the seamless integrationof the telephone, television and computer, is predicted to dramaticallychange everyday life and the world economy for many years to come;however, before this seamless integration can be realized in wirelessand mobile environments, there are still many challenges to beresolved. The new Leitch-University Lab will address these challengesthrough research in areas such as advanced data compressiontechniques.

“We are very pleased to launch this joint venture betweenLeitch Technology and the University of Waterloo,” said ProfessorTony Vannelli, chair, electrical and computer engineering. “Thedevelopment and practical implementation of compression algorithms bythe lab’s lead professor, Canada Research Chair in InformationTheory and Multimedia Compression Dr. En-Hui Yang, and his colleagueswill strongly accelerate the research in multimediatechnologies.”

Leitch contributed over $330,000 to the project, with the totalconsisting of a combination of cash and equipment. Leitch is providingmuch of the lab’s infrastructure, such as audio and videoconversion and interface equipment, test generators and dpsVelocity,the company’s sophisticated 3D non-linear editing system.

Said Terry Cribbey, Leitch’s director of sales, Canada,“The Leitch-University Lab will conduct research to createleading-edge technology, develop ideas that could open up new marketsfor growth, and help train highly qualified personnel that will be wellacquainted with our company and our equipment.”

The lab, which temporarily occupies 650 square feet in theElectrical and Computer Engineering Department, will be expanded tomore than 1,100 square feet and is scheduled to open in the new Centrefor Environmental and Information Technology (CEIT) building inSeptember 2003.