A new partnership announced today between Conestoga College and Lockheed Martin, one of the world’s largest engineering companies, will enhance Canada’s capacity for research and training for the aerospace sector and help students to develop the industry-ready skills required by today’s employers.
Under the new agreement, Conestoga will gain access to a wealth of electronic courseware products developed by the global leader in aerospace and systems engineering and used internally to train Lockheed Martin employees. The courseware, valued at $3.7 CAD million, will be used to augment existing curriculum in areas such as systems engineering, project management and quality assurance for students in areas related to business, engineering and corporate training.
The agreement remains in effect until December 31, 2017.
“This is a tremendously valuable investment for Conestoga and for our community,” said Dr. John Tibbits, president of Conestoga. “The students will clearly benefit from having access to training materials from industry, as will the industries that ultimately employ our graduates. We look forward to implementing these new training tools to enhance the student learning experience.”
In addition to the courseware, the agreement also creates new opportunities for research collaboration between the two institutions.
Immediately following the announcement, representatives from Lockheed Martin and other aerospace industry leaders participated in an industry roundtable event with Conestoga faculty members to identify the education and training needs of the sector.
The partnership between Lockheed Martin and Conestoga results from the Government of Canada’s Industrial and Regional Benefits Policy, which requires firms that win military contracts to place economic benefits into Canada.
For media inquiries, contact Brenda Cassidy, Corporate Communications Manager, 519-748-5220 ext 3336 or bcassidy@conestogac.on.ca