| Successes Abound in Canada’s Technology Triangle |
 By Mark Crawford
In the fall of 2007, Internet giant Google moved into approximately 10,000 square feet at TechTown, a professional services building in the University of Waterloo’s Research and Technology Park located in Ontario, Canada’s Technology Triangle — Waterloo Region. Stuart Feldman, vice-president of engineering at Google, said there was one overriding factor that drew Google to the site, and that was tapping into the brainpower being developed next door. “The whole of Google engineering hiring is a straight brain play,” said Feldman. “We’re looking at hiring the best people, and we’ve had very good luck in hiring people in this area…We’re looking for the university to keep providing us good people, and the area having lots of people who might want to join us.”
Other tenants in UW’s 120-acre Research and Technology Park, which was established in 2002, include leading companies such as Open Text and Sybase. The world headquarters complex of Research In Motion (RIM) — makers of the ubiquitous Blackberry — is located adjacent to both the university and the research park. Another innovative company — CSB-System International AG, headquartered in Geilenkirchen, Germany — has opened a Canadian development and support office in Kitchener, Ontario, which is also part of Canada’s Technology Triangle. The company is a leading provider of innovative, platform independent, industry-specific software solutions for process manufacturers in the food and beverage, pharmaceutical and cosmetic, chemical and paint, and retail logistics sectors. According to CSB’s CEO, North American Division, Patrick Pilz, the Waterloo Region’s central location to the hub of the firm’s Canadian clients; German heritage; multilingual, highly skilled labor force; and IT strengths were all factors in the decision to open its Canadian offices in Kitchener.
And, Canada’s Technology Triangle also welcomes Mazak Corporation, the North American manufacturing, sales, and support arm of the leading international machine tool builder, Yamazaki Mazak Corporation of Oguchi, Japan. Mazak’s new 22,000-square-foot Cambridge facility will provide state-of-the-art training along with sales and marketing support for Canada. Brian Papke, president of Mazak Corporation in Florence, Kentucky, where Mazak North American Headquarters are located, says, “While we hear about manufacturing companies going to lesser developed countries, there are truly opportunities for manufacturing in Canada and all of North America.”
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