Preparing for Tomorrow’s Industry

Canada’s Superclusters

Last spring, the Government of Canada announced the creation of five superclusters, aiming to transform regional innovation ecosystems in order to stimulate job creation and GDP growth.

Canada’s Five Superclusters

These innovation superclusters are public-private partnerships with companies of all sizes, universities and research centres joining forces to conduct research in specific fields of activity. The Government of Canada’s investment could reach $950 million and is being matched by the private sector.

ÉTS has joined Next Generation Manufacturing Canada as the only Quebec partner of this Ontario group, which is particularly focused on the automotive industry. ÉTS, with its large concentration of professors working in the field of Industry 4.0, as well as its links with many industrial partners and types of industry, including aerospace, is a partner of choice for this supercluster.

Industry 4.0: An Essential Step

Industry 4.0 includes the necessary migration that any company, whatever its size, must embark upon to fully digital processes for all operations: supply chain, manufacturing, management… It is a major transition, requiring complementary expertise, as shown in the following figure.

For ÉTS, this supercluster is an opportunity to transfer its expertise to Industry 4.0, from the aeronautics sector to the automotive industry, and to increase its network of Ontario partner companies by supporting them in this migration. In the longer term, the goal is to monitor common challenges related to the transition to Industry 4.0 for different types of industry while addressing their individual challenges.

Training with Tangible Benefits in a Multidisciplinary Setting

The training offered by ÉTS at all three academic levels will also benefit from involvement in Next Generation Manufacturing. In fact, the supercluster will provide additional undergraduate internships as well as continuing education opportunities. For graduate studies, it will serve as a vector for the creation of targeted and fundamental research projects, while being part of a larger context of existing organizations. Master’s and PhD students will have the opportunity to develop contact networks with both technology creators and users, and to be constantly in touch with project stakeholders in a multidisciplinary framework. In addition to acquiring advanced training, these graduates will enjoy excellent job prospects as demand for this kind of profile, already quite high, will only increase.