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University of Windsor
Industry minister tours auto research centre
The man responsible for fostering a competitive, knowledge-based economy in Canada got an inside look yesterday at one of the first facilities in the country to house a research partnership between industry and academia.~
“It’s great to see this kind of collaboration between industry and academia and the University of Windsor has been a real leader in this area,” Minister of Industry Tony Clement told members of the media after touring the Automotive Research and Development Centre and meeting with some of the researchers there.
The 205,000 square foot Rhodes Drive building—a joint operation between the university, which owns the building and land, and Chrysler, which operates the facility—was opened in 1996 with an initial investment of about $4 million. Since then Chrysler has invested about $600 million into the facility. In addition to UWindsor faculty, graduate students, and research associates, about 225 co-op education students have worked there since it opened.
“Their passion for their work was great to see,” Clement said. “You can tell that they’re very excited about what they’re doing.”
After a presentation by AUTO21 CEO and UWindsor professor Peter Frise and Tony Mancina, ARDC’s head of engineering, Clement toured the building with Chrysler Canada CEO Reid Bigland, UWindsor President Alan Wildeman, VP Research Ranjana Bird, engineering dean Graham Reader, and Essex MP Jeff Watson.
Along the way, they saw some of the automotive coatings work being done by civil and environmental engineering associate professor Paul Henshaw and stopped for a visit with mechanical, automotive and materials engineering assistant Jennifer Johrendt, who told Clement about her research on suspension systems. Researchers at the facility also specialize in vehicle safety, corrosion, idling technology, alternative fuels, steering columns and headlight performance, but because of the competitive nature of the auto industry much of the work is proprietary and kept under wraps.
“We’re very proud of our collaboration with the University of Windsor,” Bigland said. “That’s not a secret.”
Chrysler Canada CEO Reid Bigland, Essex MP Jeff Watson, Industry Minister Tony Clement, UWindsor President Alan Wildeman, and Chrysler Head of Canada Engineering ARDC Tony Mancina.