Lakehead University is partnering with Laurentian, Nipissing and Trent universities to create a Northern and rural innovation cluster focused on critical minerals, cleantech, and electric vehicles.
Laurentian is leading the initiative, which the Government of Ontario prompted in 2022 by releasing the Critical Minerals Strategy to identify essential components required to transform the province into a leading producer of critical minerals.
One of the six pillars in the strategy focuses on the network necessary to foster collaboration between industry and academia, a network that would support innovation from early-stage discovery to validation and prototyping to scale up and commercialization.
In late April, Intellectual Property Ontario announced that it would provide $2 million in funding for seven projects proposed by 10 postsecondary institutions across the province.
"Lakehead University is excited to see increased intellectual property literacy within the institutions and ecosystems, improved connectivity between stakeholders, and enhanced economic development through collaboration," said Ellen MacKay, Lakehead University's Director of Innovation Development.
"Lakehead is well positioned for this partnership as we have research and development strength in critical minerals through the hiring of two new research chairs in critical mineral processing and exploration, and the continued work from the Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Mining and Exploration."
