On Monday, April 15, 2019, Rodger Cuzner, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Workplace Development and Labour and Member of Parliament for Cape Breton – Canso, visited Cape Breton University campus to announce federal support for a $318,750 investment on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA).
This funding will allow CBU to incorporate tailored robotics platforms with architecture applications into its curriculum, which will benefit students in the facility’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs. The new equipment will also enable businesses to explore incorporating automation into existing advanced manufacturing processes to improve their competitiveness. This project builds on the relationships between academia and business that translate into new ideas, bringing Atlantic Canada to the leading edge of innovation.
“A thriving innovation ecosystem is imperative to build on Atlantic Canada’s competitive advantages to expand and diversify our economy. This partnership between Cape Breton University and the business community is an important step in meeting the labour needs of businesses that increasingly rely on a skilled workforce to expand into new and emerging markets,” says MP Cuzner.
Bringing academic research facilities and businesses together to find innovative solutions to industry challenges is key to generating income, spurring growth and making lasting impacts on the Atlantic Canadian economy. Cape Breton University is taking steps to ensure its students are equipped to use the new technology necessary to work in existing and emerging industries.
“Ensuring that our students, and our community, have access to state-of-the-art equipment is crucial to the educational experience provided by Cape Breton University. This funding will further allow us to create graduates who are solution-oriented, problem solvers and fulfil our purpose of supporting our students, but also strengthen our connection to the business community through enhanced technology with the purpose of growing the economy,” says President Dingwall.
Support for this project is one way the Government of Canada is working to achieve its Atlantic Growth Strategy outcome of long-term economic prosperity in the region.