NRC launches Manufacturing and Automotive Innovation Hub in London, Ont.

Photo courtesy of NRC.

The National Research Council of Canada(NRC) officially opened its Manufacturing and Automotive Innovation Hub.

This state-of-the-art facility, located in London, Ont., will bring companies, governments, universities, and colleges together to collaborate on breakthrough projects.

The Manufacturing and Automotive Innovation Hub includes four flexible labs, two vehicle bays, a high crane bay and collaborative workspace on the second floor. A moving partition that separates the automotive bays doubles as a whiteboard.

“We are very excited to open the NRC London Manufacturing and Automotive Innovation Hub, our newly renovated collaborative facility to better support Canadian industry with the rapid advancements in manufacturing and vehicle technology,” said David Muir, Director of Research and Development at the National Research Council of Canada in London.

According to NRC, work cells include advanced automation, laser manufacturing and advanced machining to be used for scale-up and on-site digital factory. Capabilities include additive manufacturing of metal parts through laser powder bed fusion, laser cladding and laser powder deposition micromachining, laser fabrication, laser polishing, texturing and welding; specialty coatings and surface functionalization; sensors for connecting devices, collecting and using real-time data in manufacturing processes; sensors and systems for preventing collisions between collaborative robots and human workers; digital twinning of processes; developing vision systems for picking and packing and quality inspection; and cybersecurity for IoT devices.