Grant: Technology Access Centre

Camosun College is excited to receive its second five year Natural Sciences and Engineering ResearchCouncil (NSERC) Technology Access Centre (TAC) Grant to support the continued success of theCamosun Technology Access Centre (CTAC). This centre of excellence in Advanced Manufacturing,Prototyping, Automation, Robotics, Composites and Human Performance has been the backbone ofCamosun Innovates in offering innovative services to local companies and community partners.Camosun College is located in beautiful Victoria, British Columbia. Our two campuses serve approximately19,000 learners a year in certificate, diploma, bachelor's degree and continuing education programs. And,our impact as a college extends well beyond our highly skilled, job-ready graduates. We provide contracttraining opportunities for local business; research, innovation and prototyping services for industry; andwell-trained co-op students for employers. With over 900 employees and an annual budget of $123 million,Camosun is one of our communitys top employers and generates close to $1 billion in economic impact inour province every year.Camosun Technology Access Centre (CTAC) exemplifies innovation within our community and within ourcollege. CTAC has become an important catalyst for innovation within our local small to medium businesscommunity, contributing significantly to their growth and development by offering practical innovativesupport. CTAC also plays an important role in enhancing faculty engagement with real world projects whileexposing our students to real-life applied learning projects that strive to solve industry and communitychallenges.The College has started construction of the new Babcock Canada Interaction Lab which will be the newhome of CTAC. The College has received Western Economic Development funding to assist with theserenovations, with the College committing $304,000 in fiscal year 16/17 and $282,000 in fiscal year 17/18 insupport of the development of this CTAC space. Babcock Canada has generously agreed to donate$800,000 for equipment for CTACs new home. This space is close to three times the space originallyoccupied by CTAC with state of the art equipment, office space and lab facilities. Included in theexpansion is an additional stand alone building which will house CTACs new Composite Research &Education Lab, a dedicated space for research and fabrication of composites.