St. Clair College received a $440,000 grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to develop solutions for manufacturers transitioning from traditional production processes to advanced technology as global competition ramps up in what is being described as the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
"Industry 4.0, the fourth industrial revolution, provides the advanced manufacturing technologies that are being adopted worldwide and need to be more readily adopted in Canada to maintain relevancy," according to lead researcher John Lopez, St. Clair’s Program Manager of Research and Innovation.
St. Clair researchers hope to support and stimulate innovation in Industry 4.0 product and process design while training highly qualified personnel.
St. Clair College will work with various manufacturers to remove the risk of adopting technology while integrating 4.0 solutions into manufacturing products and production processes to compete globally.
The funding comes through the National tri-agency College and Community Innovation (CCI) program’s Applied Research and Technology Partnership (ARTP) grants.
Lopez will manage St. Clair College researchers and faculty to collaborate with leading industrial manufacturers. For the proposed ARTP program, St. Clair College will work with manufacturing companies, completing four to six projects per year, to implement technology solutions that will meet their needs while supporting the economic and innovative growth of the Windsor-Essex region.
"We know the Windsor-Essex region is a vital pipeline in the movement of goods and services across the manufacturing sector in North America," said College President Patti France. "St. Clair College is proud to lead the way in working to find advanced technological solutions for our industry partners, helping to place them in a strong position to compete on the global stage."
Over the years, St. Clair has been awarded 13 grants related to Industry 4.0 projects (including 3 cluster grants), with 28 industry partners, providing 72 students with practical Industry 4.0 skills, and engaged 32 faculty and adjunct researchers.
The NSERC announcement can be found here.