Fanshawe College landed an 8.1-million dollar investment from the federal government to help create a new 20,000-square foot manufacturing facility, called the Canadian Centre for Product Validation.
Projected to finish construction in the spring of 2016, the new space will allow companies to test and validate their products while increasing and improving research and development at both Fanshawe College and in the city of London.
“This fuels research, innovation and wonderfully creative students that Fanshawe has, and it allows for a partnership with industry here in the region.” said Fanshawe College President Peter Devlin. “This is a venue that will push that research-innovative theme in all that Fanshawe does.
The one in a kind facility will be the only in Canada to offer full, developmental multi-modal (i.e., electrical, mechanical, environment and thermal systems) testing of products in one central location, for sectors ranging from military and defense, automotive, aerospace and renewable energy.
“The single multi-modal testing space will mean companies can develop their products with greater speed and efficiency. It will mean simple things like savings on transportation costs, driving their product from one lab to another, to different testing centres. Now it can all be done in one place.” said Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Federal Economic Development.
The federal contribution is the first through FedDev Ontario’s investing in Commercialization Partnerships initiative, which is aimed at encouraging business-led partnerships with post-secondary institutions for not-for-profit organizations to create innovative products, technologies and services.
This project is expected to create 115 permanent jobs and 50 temporary jobs during construction. This includes p to 105 jobs at companies that will benefit from facility’s testing services.
