Tom Brooks wasn't sure how his Ottawa-area high school students would react to a couple of software designers from Nortel Networks Corp.
Then he saw what they did.
Working with the programmers, the students developed educational software for the XO, a small laptop computer designed for children in developing countries. "They created many amazing projects that they could proudly share with the world," Mr. Brooks, a technology teacher at All Saints Catholic High School, said in an e-mail. "It was a great experience for the students to work with the mentors and explore new areas in technology."
The course is one of hundreds of educational and research programs Nortel funds in Canada and around the world. The high-school program was launched in September by the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation, or OCRI, as a way of encouraging students to study engineering and technology. Nortel was a key partner, helping to get the course started with IBM and other companies and freeing two software designers to meet regularly with the students.
From scholarships to co-ops, internships, research chairs and high-tech laboratories, Nortel provides more research funding than any other private company in Canada.
In 2007, Nortel spent $1.8-billion on research and development and it has projects under way at more than 20 universities around the world. By contrast, BCE Inc. spent $1.2-billion that year, followed by Magna International Inc. at $725-million.
With Nortel operating under bankruptcy protection, some observers worry that future funding could dry up and that Canadian universities and researchers will lose a powerful partner.
"We need them to be successful," said Jeffrey Dale, chief executive officer of OCRI. "Nortel is at the top of the food chain in terms of working with academic institutions that support the research, but more importantly, that support the development of masters students and PhD students."
Mr. Dale said Nortel officials told him this week that they plan to continue funding their various programs, including the high-school course. But he is concerned about what could happen if the company fails to reorganize and is sold.
He pointed out that along with funding cutting-edge research, Nortel also hires hundreds of graduating students every year. Former Nortel employees have also created more than 200 companies based largely on what they picked up at the tech giant.
For many Canadian universities, losing Nortel as a partner would be a blow. Several universities, including the University of Toronto , the University of British Columbia , Queen's University , McGill University and Carleton University have received funding from Nortel for a variety of programs over the years.
For example, in 2003, Nortel helped launch the Agile All-Photonic Networks, an optical network project that involved more than 120 researchers at five Canadian universities.
With donations drying up and endowment funds pummelled by falling stock markets, universities say they can't afford to lose another source of funding.
"Certainly we're a little bit concerned for longer term," said Victor Atiken, chairman of Carleton's computer engineering department. Nortel is involved in several projects in the department's Technology Innovation Management program and Prof. Atiken said none of the projects have been immediately affected by Nortel's bankruptcy protection. But he added: "It's difficult to say how this will impact that as time goes on."
Canadian universities aren't the only ones affected. Nortel has been involved in dozens of projects at universities across the United States, including Stanford, Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"Nortel goes back to joint research projects at MIT, starting in 1975," said Nicholas Negroponte, chairman emeritus of MIT's Media Lab, a computer science facility that explores human-computer interface.
Mr. Negroponte is also founder of One Laptop Per Child, or OLPC, a non-profit group that designed the XO computer.
Nortel has been involved in OLPC as well over the years.
Researchers at the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh recently launched a Nortel-sponsored venture and the university has another program with General Motors Corp. Chriss Swaney, a spokesperson for the university, said both projects are continuing.
"So far so good," Ms. Swaney said.
