Grant: Technology Access Centre

To further enhance specialized applied research capacity with industry, Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning will be establishing the SMART Centre (Smart Manufacturing and Advanced Recycling Technologies). The SMART Centre will engage two key areas of applied research at Conestoga Smart Manufacturing and Digital Innovation and the de-manufacturing (recycling) technologies associated with Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment. The SMART Centre will provide a collaborative research environment that will support industry in full end-to-end life cycle technology solutions, allowing industry partners to work with College faculty and students on research projects focused on the design of products and processes that will address end-of-life reuse and recycling - providing a unique one-stop-shop for industry collaborations for a new Digital Circular Economy. The SMART Centre has dedicated facilities located within "The Foundry", in Cambridge Ontario, and will be configured with collaborative research labs totaling > $13,000 sq.ft, providing industry access to technologies such as robotic assisted manufacturing and de-manufacturing, electronics and mechanical design and prototyping facilities, machine learning software, data collection and visualization. The SMART Centre expects to engage dozens of faculty and hundreds of student researchers on an annual basis to work with industry on cutting edge applied research projects. The SMART Centre team will also provide specialized training and consulting services to these industry clients.