Focusing on Research and Development
The Research Park
The Research Park is a joint venture of the University of Western Ontario, the County of Lambton, and the City of Sarnia. The Park is operated by the University of Western Ontario. Staff at The Research Park works with businesses and industry to assess their innovation needs, access innovation resources, and works with them to unlock the innovation potential in their business, product, service, process, or idea.
The official sod turning for The Research Park's new green building took place September 24, 2008. The 75,000 square-foot office building will be a state-of-the-art expansion to the park, said executive director Joel Adams. “This new facility will be one of the first office buildings of its kind in southwestern Ontario,” he said. “We will strive for ecological management of the construction site and have plans for indoor air quality monitoring and showers for employees who use active transportation modes, such as bicycles.”
Other green elements include natural lighting, energy efficient design, local materials and products, and recycled products.
The $20-million building has been designed to achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) designation by the Canadian Green Building Council. The rating system is a third party certification and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance and environmentally friendly buildings.
Construction is scheduled to be complete in early 2010.
The Research Park offers unprecedented resources, including;
- Leading research from The University of Western Ontario, one of Canada’s top research-intensive universities, and other academic partners across the country and around the world
- The expertise of world-renowned scientists, engineers and scholars
- Talented undergraduates, graduate students, and experienced hires
- Cutting edge equipment, one-of-a-kind facilities and fully equipped labs
- Government grants, low cost services, venture capital, and other ways to maximize the return on innovation investments
- A growing community of innovative tenants and partners throughout the region
The University also offers three Masters of Engineering Programs at The Research Park Sarnia-Lambton campus (chemical engineering, biomaterials and biochemical engineering, and environmental and green engineering).
The Bioindustrial Innovation Centre
Work is currently underway on the second phase of a multi-million dollar renovation within The Research Park in Sarnia-Lambton, including lab and pilot plant facilities, funded by both federal and provincial governments. These renovations are shaping The Bioindustrial Innovation Centre - Canada's centre for the commercialization of large-scale industrial biotechnology. Sarnia-Lambton was chosen as the location for this national centre.
Other R & D in Sarnia-Lambton
Imperial Oil's Sarnia Research Centre houses 130 scientists, engineers, technologists and support staff are engaged in developing and improving lubricating oils and specialty products, carrying out crude oil analyses and providing technical support. The engine test lab provides a range of industry, standard and in-house tests, as well as customized tests to meet clients' specific needs.
Lambton College
Building on its history of more than 40 years of process technology leadership, Lambton College's Alternative (Sustainable) Energy Engineering Technology program provides theory and application skills in current and emerging energy technologies.
The College's Advanced Materials Engineering Research Lab (major sponsor Lanxess) is dedicated to the use of polymer and biodegradable materials and advanced manufacturing technologies.
Also at Lambton College, opened in late 2008, the Suncor Sustainability Centre is the hub for sustainability initiatives in the region. The Sustainability Centre is part of the industry-led Bluewater Sustainability Initiative, which brings together business, industry, and civic organizations with a shared vision of Sarnia-Lambton as a hybrid, green community recognized worldwide.
The College's Centre for Advanced Process Technology provides training in leading edge process technologies and applications. Theory and applications are tested through dynamic simulations or processing of samples in the advanced technology laboratories.
An exciting provincially-sponsored Hydrogen Fuel Cell Demonstration project was conducted by the Sarnia-Lambton Economic Partnership and Lambton College - with Sarnia-Lambton being the first community to receive funding under the Ontario Fuel Cell Innovation Program. Through this project a range of fuel cell powered market-ready devices were tried and tested by members of the local community.
