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Feds give RRC's research arm a $1.7-M boost

By: Nick Martin

Posted: 11/14/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

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WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Gary Goodyear announces applied-research grants Tuesday.

Does your aerospace company need some really quick research done?

Give Red River College a call.

The school received $1.7 million in applied-research federal grants Tuesday, 10 per cent of the pot of federal money Gary Goodyear, minister of state for science and technology, dished out to 50 colleges across Canada Tuesday.

The money will be paid out over five years and will allow RRC to hire additional staff to focus on research and training by creating a technology access centre, said Fred Doern, Red River's research chairman for the school of transportation, aviation and manufacturing.

Doern said the main focus of the grant will allow RRC to do research for Manitoba's aerospace industry.

"For most of those companies, the answer is needed in a matter of weeks," he said.

Doern said Red River's strategic plan emphasizes the college's role in Manitoba's economic development. He said there has been an underfunded space between research and its commercial application for too long.

Companies will pay Red River to do research and, in some cases, will provide internships for graduates, Doern said.

"It's a fee-for-service element. It's basic cost recovery," he said.

The money will allow RRC to put more than $20 million in technological and other equipment under one umbrella. Doern said there would be a board meeting to start doing that at noon Tuesday, barely an hour after Goodyear finished.

Goodyear said the Harper government is an enthusiastic supporter of science, research and innovation, particularly of post-secondary institutions that can commercialize their research and "keep the country at the forefront of discovery." He said partnerships between industry and schools have never been more important.

The federal grants give small businesses access to research they could not otherwise afford, he said, and "they are the leading job-creators."

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 14, 2012 B3

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