A $73-million federal-provincial investment in UOIT
Oshawa MP Colin Carrie, left, Jim Flaherty, MP for Whitby-Oshawa and federal Finance minister, and Wayne Arthurs, MPP for Pickering-Scarborough East, stand just beyond the bustle of construction for UOIT's Automotive Centre of Excellence (ACE-Global) as they announced $73.4-million in federal-provincial funding for capital projects on campus.
Planning and construction for two new state-of-the-art facilities designed to deliver the energies and vehicles of the future are now underway at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT), thanks to a $73.4-million joint funding announcement from the Provincial and Federal governments.
The governments announced $28 million in funding for Phase 2 of the Automotive Centre of Excellence (ACE-Global), which will be a world-class research, design and training centre focused on the next-generation automobile industry. Construction on Phase 1 began in 2007 and ACE-Global will be a sandbox for the entire automotive and aviation sector, luring industry partners from around the world to access the leading-edge facility. The new investment will expand the centre's climatic wind tunnel and create the capacity for a rolling road, both of which are key design and testing structures. The wind tunnel is large enough to accommodate cars, buses, trucks, trains and airplane wings.
"This new investment bolsters an industry and community in transition, providing the innovation infrastructure for a prosperous and sustainable future," said UOIT President Dr. Ronald Bordessa. "This is education and research taking a leadership role in the auto recovery, and in the future of transportation in all its modes."
A second investment of $45.4 million ($27.7 million from each of the two governments) will see the creation of the Energy Systems and Nuclear Science Research Centre, designed to house UOIT's unique-in-Canada programs, including courses in wind, solar, hydrogen, hydraulic, nuclear and geothermal energy. It will also provide undergraduate, graduate and second career training and a new home for the innovative research being conducted by faculty.
"The centre will give this region, the province and Canada the energy solutions and the highly skilled workforce that will power our economy for decades to come," said Dr. Bordessa. "Given our location in the heart of Ontario, where energy is already a major industry, this investment couldn't come at a better time to focus eyes on the future prosperity that this initiative will help to create. This centre is a perfect fit for the region and our campus."
Construction on both projects is slated to begin in August.
