KITCHENER, September 16 - Today, Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning officially opened the new $11 million, 20,000 square foot Manufacturing and Automation Training Centre at a ceremony attended by more than 100 College and community officials, industry supporters, government officials, students and faculty representatives.
The new facility is a major expansion of the existing ATS Engineering Complex at Conestoga's Doon campus in Kitchener.
In addition to 500 current students in programs associated with advanced manufacturing education, Conestoga will eventually be able to serve and additional enrolment of 300.
This new, expanded facility provides students with a learning environment in which academic theory and hands-on project application can be accomplished in a much more effective way than previously possible. The innovative combination of classroom and project facilities in each learning area allows students to absorb academic material on a just-in-time basis, then immediately apply it to project situations, which reinforces and strengthens the learning process.
Students from a variety of programs types - degree-level, diploma-level and apprenticeship - will use the facility in ways that will allow for interaction and the building of teamwork skills consistent with the integrated manufacturing environments in which they will find themselves after graduation.
The facility is now in use. It combines classroom/project space with machine shop space, space for applied research projects and activities in service to industrial needs, plus space for office, storage and maintenance activities.
The Manufacturing and Automation Training Centre is the result of an educational-governmental-industrial partnership designed to advance technical education in a way that will produce an increased number of highly skilled graduates who will contribute to the competitive progress of area businesses and industries, and promote economic growth.
The Ontario Government, through the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, the Strategic Skills Initiative and its research infrastructure support program, provided $3.3 million in special project funding, with the balance coming from the other project partners: Conestoga, Xerox, ATS Automation Tooling Systems, Rockwell Automation, Electralogics, SMC Pneumatics, CAMI Automotive and ThyssenKrupp Budd Canada.
CONTACT: Eric Dahlin, 519-748-5220, ext. 3648, edahlin@conestogac.on.ca
From: Public Affairs Office, 519-748-5220, ext. 3336