THUNDER BAY – With its new Centre for Advanced Studies in Engineering and Sciences constructed, Lakehead University is now focused on adding the bells and whistles to make the building state of the art.
The university on Friday received $1 million from the federal government through FedNor for equipment and technology to outfit the new building, which has an expected total project cost of more than $26 million.
Andrew Dean, university vice president of research and innovation, said the 24,000 square foot building is functional and in the process of moving in people.
“A building is a shell but what really goes into the building are the people and the people working on the equipment. Anything that provides us with new equipment, different types of equipment, new technologies is absolutely vital to make sure this building actually does what it’s supposed to do,” Dean said.
The centre, which was built on the site of the former natural resources and forestry building immediately south of the Chancellor Paterson Library, will feature new research laboratories and space for a number of the university’s Canada Research Chairs.
The new building will be home to two high-priced new pieces of equipment – a new transmission electron microscope and an x-ray photoelectron spectroscope. Together, they carry a price tag of about $3 million and are expected to be installed in March.
Half of the FedNor contribution is specifically earmarked to help cover that cost.
“It allows us to do things we weren’t able to do. This will be the only (transmission electron microscope) between Toronto and Winnipeg so not only is it going to help our scientists, our students but it will also allow us to connect to industry and business partners as well,” Dean said.
Dean said the university is recruiting a new Canada Research Chair in material science from Germany. Investments in top notch research equipment are key to being able to attract world-class faculty, he added.
“We need to be one of the ones to provide state of the art equipment to the region and to our researchers,” Dean said. “One of the things that’s important is it allows us to recruit faculty and to retain faculty.”
Liberal Thunder Bay MPs Patty Hajdu and Don Rusnak were present to make the announcement.
Hajdu, the federal minister of employment, workforce development and labour, said increasing opportunities at Lakehead University can help foster growth in the community and region.
“It’s important because we want to attract the best and the brightest. We want to be able to keep the best and the brightest,” Hajdu said.
“The more we can offer through Lakehead University, the more we can ensure we’re attracting those students that want to do research and have those innovative ideas.”
The building will also be home to a 4,300 square foot Ingenuity business incubator space, which is open to both students as well as the community.
Dean said it is meant to work with existing entrepreneurial resources already operating in Thunder Bay, while having an on-campus presence for Lakehead students.
“We’re seeing a lot more people starting their own businesses, developing products, developing ideas, social innovation, economic innovation. We find that students are pretty excited about this,” Dean said.
“A lot will fail but you learn from failure and a lot start.”
Hajdu said entrepreneurs often become the future job creators.
“There’s a large conversation about the impact of innovation and technology on jobs but what we do know also is that it’s creating opportunity,” Hajdu said. “What we need to do and the work we’re doing at the federal government is better integrating what’s happening in academia with what the needs of employers are.”
The newly announced funding brings Ottawa’s contributions to the project to $9 million. The university also received $6.5 million from the province and another $1 million from the city.
“This is a project that’s pretty much funded completely. There’s a last little bit we need to do and that will probably be done through fundraising,” Dean said.
