Three new centres advance engineering
October 2, 2012
By
Canadian Consulting Engineer
On September 28, George Brown College in Toronto and the Government of Canada announced they are developing a Green Building Centre. Already under construction at the Casa Loma campus in mid-town, the centre will provide full-scale testing...
On September 28, George Brown College in Toronto and the Government of Canada announced they are developing a Green Building Centre. Already under construction at the Casa Loma campus in mid-town, the centre will provide full-scale testing facilities as well as other business supports to small and medium-sized companies that are developing green building materials and technologies. The research subjects could include retrofit materials and smart building automation. Anne Sado, president of the college, also noted that the centre will provide training in green building for students.The federal government contributed $6.6 million through its FedDev Ontario program, and the college itself invested $6.8 million, to the centre.
At the Polytechnique Montréal a new research chair in nano-structured coating materials was launched on September 20. The NSERC Multisectorial Industrial Research Chair in Coatings and Surface Engineering will be the second largest industrial research chair awarded by NSERC, with $5.35 million over five years from the federal government. Other partners include Hydro-Quebec, Pratt & Whitney, JDS Uniphase and the Canadian Space Agency. The researchers at the centre will develop technologies such as “self-healing” layers for architectural and other types of glass.
Another new centre — this for advancing the engineering of smart electricity grid technologies — was officially opened by GE Canada in Markham, north of Toronto, on October 2. With support from the province, GE’s Grid IQ Global Innovation Centre is a 200,000-square foot, $40-million building with a training centre and research, test and simulation laboratories. One of its most exciting features is a 60-ft. interactive video wall that provides an “immersive” look at the energy management tools.
“The opening of the Grid IQ Innovation Centre in Markham is our third centre for innovation in Canada this year,” said Elyse Allan, president and CEO of GE Canada. The other two include a Customer Innovation Centre in Calgary and an Aircraft Engine Testing Research and Development Centre in Winnipeg. A new GE aviation robotics facility is due to open in Bromont, Quebec, next year.
Correction made, October 3, 2012
