Grant: Collaborative Research and Training Experience

This Industrial Stream CREATE program for Building Trust in Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) will attract, retain, and train Canada's leaders in CAVs, and address the technological and societal challenges associated with CAVs. CAVs have been envisioned to enhance transportation efficiency, reduce accidents, improve safety, and provide great mobility and environmental benefits. Despite the potentially promising vision of CAVs, significant challenges remain to be addressed before their widespread deployment for intelligent transportation systems. Recently, several fatal accidents have occurred involving the CAVs. In 2019, Transport Canada identified gaps in "regulation, safety, security, privacy, and policy development and training in CAVs". Engineers Canada has highlighted CAVs as an important emerging technology requiring new skills and the importance of supporting paid post-secondary engineering co-operative placements. This CREATE program will specifically help address this looming skills shortage by training a cohort of high-calibre HQP with the necessary technical knowledge related to CAVs and auxiliary the professional skills to successfully transition to the workplace, as well as exposing the trainees to real CAVs and all-weather L5 test tracks through internships with industry and government organizations.