Grant: CCI Mobilize Grants

Cambrian College has been the leading post-secondary institution in Northern Ontario since 1967. Cambrian has a vibrant community across its three campuses in Sudbury, Espanola, and Manitoulin Island. Over the past five years, Cambrian has become a global destination of choice for postsecondary education, as demonstrated by five years of consecutive enrolment growth, including a 300% increase in international students from over 30 countries. More specifically, Cambrian R&D, Cambrian College’s Applied Research department, has continued to develop partnerships and deliver innovative research solutions since its inception in 2009. In that time, the College has undertaken 247 applied research projects in sectors from mining to health sciences, accounting for over $12.6 million of leveraged funding. In only the past two years, Cambrian has worked with 41 companies to complete 50 projects. Cambrian is seeking funding to support technical and business development resources in its Applied Research department in order to keep meeting the innovation needs of its partners. Moreover, Cambrian is also requesting funding to execute an annual portfolio of projects with both industry and community partners. The key focus in delivering these activities is student experiential learning opportunities and training them for the jobs of tomorrow. Cambrian R&D has been steadily growing over the past five years and the outcomes of this work has made an impact in our community and with our industry partners. The Mobilize grant presents a watershed opportunity to solidify the resources and expertise that Cambrian R&D has been building towards. Having dedicated research and business development resources will allow the department to continue to grow in other sectors, namely health sciences and community-engaged research. This funding is important for our partners as it will allow them to develop more high-tech products and services which will lead to business expansion, increased competitive advantage and revenues. This will ultimately lead to the creation of net new highly-skilled jobs. With our resources in research engineering and business development stabilized, Cambrian will be able to take applied research to new heights. This foundation will allow the College to keep meeting the innovation needs of its partners and train the next generation of highly-skilled and innovative workers.