This week, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, the Honourable Amarjeet Sohi, announced a $60,000 investment towards a new electric vehicle (EV) charging station at Red River College’s (RRC) Notre Dame Campus.

“This investment in clean energy technologies will help ensure that Canada remains a global leader in clean energy. The Government of Canada continues to work to reduce pollution, foster change in our transportation choices and leave a cleaner planet for future generations,” said Minister Sohi.

This new Level 3 charging station, which is set to be operational by summer 2020, will use recycled lithium batteries sourced from New Flyer Industries’ fleet of electric buses. Using the recycled batteries will help improve the performance and reduce the cost of operating the station.

Currently, RRC operates five EV chargers at its Notre Dame Campus – one Level 3 charger, and four Level 2 chargers. The chargers are available for public use and are integral to research projects through the College’s Vehicle Technology & Energy Centre (VTEC).

“This investment will help the College to increase our current clean technology research activity on electric vehicles, along with renewable and alternative energy sources. We’re proud to continue our work in helping to develop sustainable infrastructure and technology that will benefit the environment and economy in Manitoba and across Canada,” said Ray Hoemsen, Executive Director, Research, Partnerships & Innovation at RRC.

RRC was the first organization in Winnipeg to install and operate a Level 3 charger in March, 2015. Level 3 stations can charge an EV up to 80 per cent charge in less than 30 minutes; this is compared to a 220/240V Level 2 charger, which can take four to six hours to get to full charge, or an 110/120V Level 1 charger, which can take up to 12 hours.

This morning, the Honourable Jim Carr, Minister of International Trade Diversification and Member of Parliament for Winnipeg South Centre, on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for Western Diversification Canada, announced new funding to support Manitoba’s growth and global competitiveness.

Among the projects announced was up to $3 million in funding to Red River College to increase technology adoption and testing capabilities for heavy vehicle manufacturers in collaboration with industry partners and the Vehicle Technology Centre.

The College is currently preparing for the opening of the new extreme climate test facility MotiveLab™, which will be used to carry on-and-off-highway vehicle performance testing, and will be the first of its kind in Western Canada. The funding project will support industry-driven collaborations to advance technology and knowledge development in the area of zero emission vehicles and their production using advanced manufacturing processes. Activities include testing the performance of new technologies and products in a simulated laboratory or field-based setting, and promoting the adoption of these new technologies at domestic and international events and missions. By increasing awareness within the heavy vehicle manufacturing sector, industry will attract new customers, investment and talent to Manitoba.

Minister Carr announced a total of over $12 million in funding for four projects to support Manitoba’s economic growth and global competitiveness. Learn more about the projects and investments here.

CANARIE, a vital component of Canada’s digital research infrastructure (DRI) ecosystem that supports research, education, and innovation, has announced a Call for Participation that will invest in Canadian universities, colleges, and research institutions that participate in the Joint Security Project (JSP).

This call is open to universities, colleges, and research institutions connected to the twelve provincial and territorial network partners that, along with CANARIE, form Canada’s National Research and Education Network (NREN).

For more information on this call for participation, including timelines and eligibility criteria, please visit the CANARIE website: canarie.ca/JSP-Call2

New session starting October 2019

What you will learn:

• Differences between residential and commercial tests
• Building science and driving forces of air leakage
• Testing standards and code requirements
• Test considerations and planning
• Required materials and equipment
• First-hand experience with setup and use of blower door equipment
• Trouble-shooting common problems encountered during testing

This workshop concludes with a full live test at the Centre for Applied Research in Sustainable Infrastructure (CARSI) at Red River College, which will incorporate diagnostic tools and data analysis.

Each session will be limited to 12 participants.

Course date and cost

Dates: October 16-18, 2019

Times: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (will end at 2 p.m. on the last day to allow time for travel)

Cost: $1,495 + GST (includes parking, lunch and morning coffee)

Location: Red River College, 2055 Notre Dame Ave., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Registration

To register, call or email:
Alexis Epp
204.632.2036 | aepp33@rrc.ca

Instruction

Learn from instructors whose experience ranges from applied research-related to energy efficiency, field observation, commercial and residential airtightness testing, commissioning, education, training and more.

Additional course information:

Cory Carson
204.631.3325 | ccarson31@rrc.ca

Other course offerings can be found at rrc.ca/techsolutions

NSERC‘s College and Community Innovation program will be launching a new competition for the College and Community Social Innovation Fund (CCSIF). The competition will be launched this summer with an application deadline in fall 2019. Applicants will be invited to apply for up to $120,000 per year for a duration of one to two years.

CCSIF grants are intended to support college social innovation research projects in areas such as education, integration of vulnerable populations and community development, in partnership with local community organizations. For your reference, you may also wish to review the program details from the 2017 CCSIF competition, however, please note that the program details may be revised for the 2019 competition.

More program details will be available in the coming weeks. Please contact colleges@nserc-crsng.gc.ca with any questions.

Are you interested in learning more about developing a co-curricular research shop model? Sign up for the latest webinar from Community-Based Research Canada (CBRC) – a national facilitator for community-based research (CBR) and campus-community engagement in Canada. Here is more information from their website:

“A research shop is a co-curricular post-secondary initiative where student volunteers work on research projects in the community. In the context of funding cuts in post-secondary education, lean and precarious resources for non-profit organizations, and multiple drivers towards experiential education, how does a research shop respond most effectively to community research requests? This webinar will present McMaster University’s experience formalizing its research shop, striving to be sustainable and relevant while balancing community needs and student experiences.”

The webinar takes place on Thursday, July 18 at 11am CST. Register here.

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) is seeking applications to its PromoScience Grant. PromoScience supports activities and content designed for youth in elementary school and high school, their teachers, and activities that will encourage Indigenous undergraduate students to pursue graduate studies in natural sciences and engineering.

NSERC invites applications that promote the natural sciences and engineering to Canada’s young people, particularly to groups such as girls and Indigenous peoples that are under-represented in scientific and engineering careers.

The application deadline is September 15, 2019. For more information and to apply, please visit their website.

The Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science and Sport, announced new federal funding this morning from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council’s (NSERC) College and Community Innovation (CCI) program that will spice up Red River College’s Culinary Research & Innovation (CRI) program.

The Technology Access Centre (TAC) grant will provide $1.75 million over five years, adding flavour to the program’s culinary research kitchen, a state-of-the-art facility set to open at the Paterson GlobalFoods Institute later this summer.

“This funding empowers our Culinary Research & Innovation area to expand their already rich and advanced program,” said Ray Hoemsen, Executive Director of Research Partnerships & Innovation at RRC. “Our researchers have the opportunity to help fill the gap between idea and full scale-up food centres in Western Canada, and continue to support food companies by providing access to the vast resources of researchers, instructors and students at the College.”

The Culinary Research TAC will be Red River College’s third Technology Access Centre, joining the existing Building Envelope Technology Access Centre (BETAC) and the Technology Access Centre for Aerospace & Manufacturing (TACAM).

The Culinary Research TAC will provide culinary-focused food research to food manufacturing and food services businesses. RRC’s team of chefs and food scientists will work with industry partners, as well as RRC’s School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts instructors and students, to provide unique chef-created product prototypes ready for scale-up and commercialization. Food processing is one of the largest manufacturing sectors in Manitoba.

Recent successes from CRI include a soy-free pea-based tempeh prototype, developed with recent Culinary Arts graduate Anna Borys using Manitoba plant-based proteins. The product won second place at the College’s third-annual Applied Research & Innovation Day.

Canada’s Technology Access Centres (TACs) are specialized applied research & development centres affiliated with publicly-funded colleges and cégeps. TACs are specialized applied research and development centres affiliated with Canadian colleges or cégeps. Learn more at tech-access.ca.

The Opportunity 

Equipment set-up at Parker Hannifin

Parker Hannifin uses the surface mount technology (SMT) for circuit board assembly. Hundreds of parts are picked and placed in a matter of seconds. Defects such as missing and wrong orientation of parts were being observed during final quality inspection/testing. These defects mostly occur in chips about 3 x 1 x 1 mm in size and are usually undetected by automatic inspection techniques built into the production process, resulting in lengthy rework or outright scrapping of the parts. 

The Approach 

RRC’s expertise in high speed imaging was leveraged by Parker Hannifin to study and determine the root cause of the assembly defects. The “pick and place” processes were studied, using in-production and off-production simulated circuit boards. Large imaging data were analyzed to determine the problem. 

The Outcomes

A closer look at the SMT process

As observed by high-speed imaging, the root cause of the assembly defects is the flipping and “misorientation” of parts in the pockets of unnoticeably faulty twin-tape part feeders. These feeders were isolated for repair/replacement. 

The Benefits 

• Flexible and responsive access to emerging technology and technical expertise with reduced cost to Parker Hannifin 
• Determination of the root-cause of a problem that disrupts / halts production activities 

Testimonial

Part missing due to dislodgment

 “Collaboration with RRC was instrumental in finding the true root cause of our “pick” issue. Finding and correcting the root cause gave us a significant step improvement in quality and productivity” 

— Bob Dann, Technical Services Manager 

Collaborator

The Opportunity 

Kelso Energy LTD. manufactures vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) that meet the electricity demands of cellphone towers, isolated communities, research centres, agricultural farms, cottages, ranches, and many other unique applications. Operational efficiency of the VAWT requires performance optimization, which is difficult to achieve by field-testing and trial & error approaches. Kelso also experiences significant fabrication problems including inconsistent product quality, longer fabrication times, and laborious design modifications due to lack of a standardized design blueprint. 

CFD data and flow field

The Approach 

Performance optimization of VAWTs is a fluid flow problem, which is usually difficult to replicate using small-scale prototypes in laboratory environments. Kelso collaborated with TACAM on (1) the 3D CAD modeling to create a blueprint, and (2) analyzing various materials-design-fluid flow parameters for performance optimization of the VAWT, using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). 

The Outcomes 

TACAM delivered a complete blueprint of the 5 kW VAWT to Kelso Energy in Fall 2017 and delivered final optimized design developed using results from CFD in January 2018. Kelso Energy is currently fabricating the VAWT based on the designs submitted as part of this project. 

The Benefits 

• Availability of standardized blueprint for product performance analysis and improvement 
• Significant cost savings of product performance improvement
  

  Installation of Kelso’s Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

Testimonial 

Kelso Energy was very pleased with the professionalism of the Technology Access Centre team. The CFD work and the completed blueprints helped in moving our company forward in performance and promotion of the turbines. Kelso realized a significant increase in the overall power output of the VAWT. This work provided Kelso with a uniform and easy-to-understand set of blueprints used for production and bidding process for components. We realized increased sales and ROI.”

Collaborators