Fleming College has achieved an impressive milestone by securing three highly sought-after Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Applied Research Tools and Instruments (ARTI) grants, totaling over $565,000.
Fleming submitted three proposals to the Federal funding competition - the maximum permitted for any college - and in a resounding validation of its research program, all three were awarded.
The funding was part of an announcement made last week by Yasir Naqvi, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and Ryan Turnbull, Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry on behalf of the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry.
Each of Fleming's ARTI awards will be used to purchase innovative equipment for one of the college's three research centres: the Centre for Advancement of Water and Wastewater Technologies (CAWT), the Centre for Advancement in Mechatronics and Industrial Internet of Things (CAMIIT), and the Centre for Innovative Aquaculture Production (CIAP).
"Receiving three NSERC ARTI awards is a tremendous honour for us," stated Fleming College President, Maureen Adamson. "Our state-of-the-art research centres are known for providing high-quality research services to our regional partners, who rely on innovation to stay competitive. With the addition of new advanced tools, we're ensuring that our centres remain vital hubs for collaborative research and innovation in our community."
For the Centre for Innovative Aquaculture Production (CIAP), the funding will be used to acquire a smart fish feeding technology to be used at the centre's brand-new research facility. CIAP's impressive facility, set to open in a few weeks, has already garnered significant financial support from various other sources, including private donations and grants from NSERC, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Ontario Research Fund, and the Ministry of Colleges and Universities. The facility was custom designed from the ground up to meet the research and development needs of Ontario's aquaculture industry.
"Our research partners will be delighted with the outcomes of these NSERC ARTI awards, which will enable us to deliver even more impactful results," remarked President Adamson. "I look forward to the exciting opportunities ahead as we leverage these grants to further strengthen our research partnerships."
Fleming's CAMIIT will use an ARTI award to purchase a new Laser Power Bed Fusions (LPBF) metal 3D printer, significantly improving their in-house capability to produce complex and intricate metal parts. The CAWT will acquire an additional Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP-OES) for their accredited laboratory, allowing researchers to efficiently analyze multiple trace elements in water, including heavy metals.
