New workstations at Cambrian College benefit several engineering programs – September 28

SUDBURY, ON – Some made-in-Sudbury workstations for trades and engineering students are making their debut this semester at Cambrian College.

Cambrian has partnered with Sudbury-based IONIC Mechatronics to design and build ten instrumentation workstations for use in such programs as Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, Chemical Engineering, and Power Engineering.

The workstations were acquired through funding from Ontario’s College Equipment Renewal Fund (CERF), which supports colleges in acquiring and renewing instructional equipment.

Each workstation is a closed-loop water system equipped with monitors, gauges, valves, and other instrumentation. Students get to see first-hand how changes to pressure, flow, and temperature affect a working system. They are also learning how to operate and interpret the instrumentation.

What makes the stations particularly valuable for students is that IONIC designed them using instrumentation and components representative of what is currently being used by industry.

For IONIC, the project also represents an opportunity to contribute directly to the education and development of the skilled workforce that industry will depend on in the years ahead.

“For us, this was about taking what we work with every day and putting that same type of technology into the hands of students,” says Ryan Catton, Business Development Manager at IONIC. “When graduates enter the workforce, we want them to recognize the equipment in front of them and already understand the fundamentals of how it operates. Supporting that kind of hands-on education is good for students, good for industry and good for our community.”

The partnership also draws on a connection that already exists between IONIC and Cambrian. IONIC employees who have graduated from Cambrian or teach at the College helped construct the new workstations, bringing their industry and teaching experience together in the design and development of the equipment.

“As a former Cambrian College mechatronics technology graduate, I can confidently say that the new instrumentation labs are a huge step-up and show Cambrian’s commitment to education in the north,” adds Jacob Greennough, a mechatronics technologist with IONIC.

“There’s one phrase I kept repeating while we were making and testing these stations: ‘Wow, I wish I had these when I was a student.’”

The ten new stations also demonstrate how partnerships between post-secondary education and local industry can strengthen training opportunities while helping prepare graduates with skills that align with the needs of employers.

“One of the most important things we can do for our students is give them hands-on experience with the same types of equipment and technology they will encounter in the workplace,” says Alison Caruso, Chair of the School of Engineering at Cambrian College. “These new workstations allow students to take the principles they learn in the classroom and apply them in a practical setting, while developing the technical skills and confidence they will need when they enter the workforce.”

For more information about engineering programs at Cambrian College, visit https://cambriancollege.ca/schools-of/engineering-technology-and-environmental-studies.

For more information about IONIC Mechatronics, visit https://ionicmechatronics.com/.