A Niagara College-supported project bid will receive a portion of $950M in government funding, through approved Supercluster bids that see industry, colleges and other partners work together on innovative projects.<\/p>\n
The government challenged Canadian businesses of all sizes to collaborate with other innovation actors, including post-secondary and research institutions, such as Niagara College\u2019s Research & Innovation division, to propose bold and ambitious strategies that would transform regional innovation ecosystems and develop job-creating superclusters of innovation.<\/p>\n
After an extremely competitive selection process, five superclusters were chosen and announced earlier this month. Niagara College is a partner and supporter in one of these. Those five were chosen from a group of nine finalists \u2013 three of which were supported by the college \u2013 that ultimately came from a pool of 50 initial submissions from across the country.<\/p>\n
NC supported an Ontario-based bid to drive collaboration between the tech and manufacturing sectors \u2013 using technologies like Big Data, intelligent machines and the \u201cinternet of things\u201d \u2013 to scale-up production and improve efficiency. This capitalizes on the expertise and experience NC has built up in the advanced manufacturing space, as well as utilizing the unique facilities and industry resources available at NC\u2019s Walker Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre.<\/p>\n
Participation in this supercluster will give Niagara College access to new industry partnerships, and enable its Research and Innovation division to engage in innovative, large-scale research projects.<\/p>\n
This supercluster project illustrates the enormous, and often untapped, economic potential of Canada\u2019s industries, colleges and other partners,\u201d said Marc Nantel, NC\u2019s associate vice president of Research & Innovation. \u201cWe\u2019re thrilled the government is supporting these groups to come together solve Canada\u2019s biggest economic challenges and opportunities. It\u2019s an approach that is at the heart of the College\u2019s Research and Innovation division, and one that is sure to produce extraordinary accomplishments.\u201d<\/p>\n
The government\u2019s investment of up to $950 million, which will be matched dollar for dollar by the private sector, is expected to create more than 50,000 jobs over ten years and grow Canada’s GDP.<\/p>\n