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(Photo L-R: José Aguilera, local entrepreneur; Alex Yang, Construction Research Centre Project Manager; Cheryl Jensen, President, Algonquin College; Pierre Normand, Vice-President, External Relations and Communications, Canada Foundation for Innovation; Jared Potvin, Algonquin College student; Dr. Riccardo brun del Re, Acting Director, Applied Research & Innovation, Algonquin College)

They say if you build it, they will come. In the case of Algonquin College’s Construction Research Centre, the hope is this new centre will attract clients for the College’s Office of Applied Research & Innovation while also providing students and graduates with access to cutting edge equipment.

“Applied research is an important part of what makes Algonquin College a polytechnic learning institution,” says Cheryl Jensen, President, Algonquin College. “This new research centre will enhance the hands-on learning opportunities for many of our students and deepens our ties with local industry. We are pleased to open this new centre and we thank our funding partners for their support of our students’ learning.”

“Our recently announced Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy reaffirms our commitment to support world-class research infrastructure to enhance our country’s research and innovation capacity,” says Ed Holder, Minister of State (Science and Technology). “Through the Canada Foundation for Innovation, our government is proud to partner with Algonquin College to support the use of 3-D printers and simulation tools, along with advanced data analytics, to address challenges facing Canada’s construction industry in order to create jobs, growth and opportunity for Canadians.”

This centre was established through funding from Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the Ontario Research Fund (ORF), and contributions from private industry – all told, the support totals $3.15 million of equipment and infrastructure to enhance Algonquin College’s capabilities to conduct research in the area of construction in both Ottawa and Perth, Ontario.

The Construction Research Centre facility itself contains approximately $2.8 million worth of cutting edge research equipment and software to support applied research – projects which connect students, faculty, and industry clients to solve everyday challenges. The equipment and software will largely be used by students in construction and media and design programs.

The equipment includes a professional 3D laser scanner used to create 3D digital models of structures; a HoloStation, an immersive environment to visualize 3D models using 3D glasses and a hand-held remote; a sophisticated 3D printer that can produce parts with a high degree of accuracy; powerful infra-red cameras that can take video of thermal images and measure traffic flows to buildings; and a lab outfitted with powerful Mac and PC workstation computers.

Funding will result in new User Experience Lab, 3D laser scanner for buildings, upgrades to the College’s Ciena Optophotonics Lab, and a digital microscope for wood identification.

Determine the second a user lost interest in your smartphone app. Scan a building, manipulate it digitally, and then 3D print a model. Experience what it’s like to be a network technician at one of the big phone carriers. And figure out what kind of wood you’re looking at before starting a restoration project and without cutting a piece out of it.

Thanks to over $360,000 in research funding through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) College and Community Innovation (CCI) Program, Algonquin College’s Office of Applied Research and Innovation will now be able to acquire:

• A User Experience Research Lab that would allow for detailed testing of tablet, computer, smartphone, and interactive multimedia user interfaces. The lab will include gesture controllers, a self-tracking video camera, video and audio recording for tracking of detailed user feedback, 3D Oculus Rift goggles, and a table and wall you can project your computer onto and then interact with as if they were giant touch screens. This lab is a collaboration between the College’s Health and Wellness Research Centre and the College’s Design Centre. It will be used to assist the Health and Wellness Research Centre in working with clients in the healthcare industry to refine and improve user interfaces for health applications. It will also enable the Design Centre to conduct usability testing for projects focused on user experience (UX) design using state of the art multimedia technologies.
• A survey-grade 3D laser scanner with a range of 120 metres that can be used to create 3D digital models of buildings, structures, or other spaces. Students will now be able to capture buildings digitally, manipulate them using software, and then 3D print the building model for further analysis, as just one example of how this over $140,000 device (and other existing equipment) could be used. Other uses include surveying, forensic science, heritage and museum studies, game development, architecture, interior design, and building energy modelling.
• Over $140,000 in equipment to upgrade the College’s Ciena Optophotonics lab. The lab contains a microcosm of the hardware and software infrastructure that makes modern telecommunications happen. This includes optical fiber communications at industry standard transmission rates counted in tens of Gigabits per second. The equipment includes sophisticated electronics systems that will act as a live ‘window’ into the network to enable precise, real-time display of data flows and network performance. With connections to several research networks, the equipment will enhance the applied research activities at the College by allowing faculty, students, and partners to test new equipment and to perform ‘data engineering’ studies aimed at improving the quality-of-service of their optical communications networks.
• A digital microscope, and accompanying workstation and software, that identifies wood types. The microscope will allow students taking the Heritage Carpentry program in Perth to identify what type of wood they are working with when completing restorative work – no need to cut a sample from the piece! No other companies or organizations in Eastern or Southern Ontario have this microscope.

This equipment will be used to further the leading applied research being done at the College. Applied research unites students, employees, and real world clients to create products and solutions that address everyday challenges and result in new and innovative products and ideas. The equipment will arrive over the course of the summer and is expected to be ready to use during the fall term.

“This funding recognizes the strong opportunities for hands-on learning and the economic benefits provided by Applied Research at Algonquin College,” says Dr. Mark Hoddenbagh, Director, Applied Research and Innovation. “Our students, our employees, and our partners in the business community will benefit tremendously from the new research we can now carry out thanks to this new, cutting edge equipment. It will especially benefit our students by giving them hands-on exposure with the latest equipment in their fields of study. We are proud to be able to offer access to this leading edge equipment to our researchers and our faculty to enhance the learning outcomes for our students.”

The funding was recently announced by Ed Holder, Minister of State (Science and Technology), as part of several million dollars’ worth of funding given out to colleges across Canada under the College and Community Innovation (CCI) Program. The CCI Program is managed by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), in collaboration with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

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For more information, please contact:

Phil Gaudreau Communications Officer, Algonquin College 613-220-7796 Email: gaudrep@algonquincollege.com

About Algonquin College – www.algonquincollege.com:

The mission of Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology is to transform hopes and dreams into skills and knowledge, leading to lifelong career success. Algonquin College does this by offering hands-on, digitally connected applied learning in over 185 programs. Based in Canada’s capital, the Ottawa Valley, and Saudi Arabia, Algonquin College is the largest polytechnic institute in Eastern Ontario with 18,000 full-time and 43,000 part-time and online registrants.