Sault College has been deemed eligible to administer funds through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
That eligibility means the college can access NSERC funding grants, which go towards the costs of applied research projects, including physical infrastructure at the colleges. NSERC programs are designed to “accelerate innovation and commercialization in communities by strengthening and expanding the support of local enterprises through the leveraging of existing and creation of new assets in their community colleges,” according to a news release.
“This is a significant milestone for any research institution and a great achievement for Sault College that will enable us to grow our research infrastructure and expand our support for local enterprises,” John Coccimiglio, manager of applied research at Sault College, said in a news release. “In order to obtain eligibility, the college participated in a rigorous process of documentation of its policies, programs and infrastructure that were in place to support applied research.”
College president Ron Common said the announcement means the school can translate academic-industry partnerships to new products, processes and services that expand the institution's innovation capacity.
“This will now enable us to better promote research-based innovation, further develop partnerships and train our students to become the next generation of discovers and innovators,” he said in the release.
Sault College has been involved in applied research projects since 2010 through the Sault College Applied Research Centre (ARC). Areas of priority for the ARC include automation, information and communication technologies, health and life sciences, alternative energy, and environmental technologies and construction.