Hamilton,
14
November
2019
|
16:24 PM
America/New_York

Applied research projects create jobs of the future for Mohawk students

338.

That’s how many full-time co-op and part-time R&D jobs were created for students in the last three years at Mohawk College.

IDEAWORKS, Mohawk’s Applied Research division, focusses on introducing and training students on the technologies of the future through applied research work. While many are involved through paid jobs, hundreds more participate in applied research activities through capstone projects and volunteer roles.

IDEAWORKS has been hiring students to work on industry projects since its first applied research lab was established in 2007. The recent announcement that Mohawk ranks seventh in Canada as a research college (up from #16 in 2018) shines a light on the hands-on opportunities students gain when industry and community partners come to the college for help.

Currently, teams of students, supervised by Mohawk faculty, are working with industry partners from across Ontario on six-week to semester-long projects focused on testing and adopting new technologies in engineering, business, energy and digital media. In 2019-2020 students are being hired to work on projects with companies such Enertics, IRIS R & D, Rayonier Advanced Materials and Hamilton Container Terminal. Their projects are related to energy and power, IoT, 3D optical scanning and more

These projects are supported by grant funding from the provincial government. The Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) College Voucher for Technology Adoption (CVTA) has created 60 new student jobs at IDEAWORKS in the last two years - with 15 new positions planned to start in January. Companies that partner with Mohawk through in the OCE CVTA program receive $10,000 through the government and make matching contributions to cover student salaries, equipment and material costs. Industry partners are able to address a pressing business challenge and the student gain practical research experience, all with the benefit of this shared-funding model.

As an added benefit, the jobs for students help to create jobs for Ontarians. Last year, 22 new jobs were created at partner organizations as a result of Mohawk’s applied research on OCE CVTA projects.

With this applied research job model in place, the future looks bright and full of new job possibilities for Mohawk College students.