Almost 100 Students Now Involved In R&I Projects

Wed, February 28, 2024

PICTURE ABOVE: A sample of one of the industrial client R&I projects conducted by the college recently.

An increasingly important function of the college – and a “real world” curriculum bonus for students – is the school’s involvement in Research and Innovation, both as a tester/prototype-maker of manufactured goods and as a health-care and social-science experimenter.

During its February 27th meeting, the college’s Board of Governors received the annual update of the activities of the St. Clair’s R&I Office.

If noted that, this past year, 91 students in a variety of programs were involved in a first-hand manner in R&I projects that were being overseen by St. Clair faculty members. That’s the largest number of students to be involved in such undertakings since 2018, when the college launched its concerted effort to become a significant R&I practitioner – with either its own projects, or by partnering with industries, businesses, other educational institutions and agencies.

The report to the Board noted:

To support R&I, St. Clair partners with local businesses and organizations to address their specific innovation needs through the development, testing and implementation of new products, services, processes and technologies. These innovations are then implemented through R&I investment, commercialization activities, and enhanced student and employee training.

Collaborative participation with the R&I Department will help position Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent as competitive regions for innovation, generating new revenue and high-value jobs, both locally and throughout Canada.

The following outlines the Research and Innovation initiatives that operationalize the objectives within the 2023–2024 Strategic Directions:

1. Researchers, primarily from the Honours Bachelor of Social Justice and Legal Studies program, successfully completed the Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS Core 2002) training.

2. New researchers successfully completed the RedCap software training. RedCap is a data analysis software system.

3. There were a total of approximately 30 faculty, staff and students who attended the WE-SPARK Health Research conference; and approximately 35 faculty, staff and students who attended Emerging Technologies.

4. With the change in R&I leadership, an orientation and onboarding plan is being developed that will provide administrative and research related information to all new researchers, including students. This is scheduled to be delivered by end of the 2024 fiscal year or the first quarter of the 2025 fiscal year.

5. At the 2023 WE-SPARK conference, a student researcher from the Concurrent Early Childhood Education program took home first place in the rapid-fire competition.

6. A student researcher from the Social Justice and Legal Studies program was awarded the Senior Women Academic Administrators of Canada Student Leadership Award.

7. Research students have enjoyed success in the Ford Innovation Showcase, with a student from Mechanical Engineering Technology – Automotive Product Design (APD) taking home the top prize. In the same competition, a student from Electromechanical Engineering Technology - Robotics, finished in second place.

8. Student researchers from Mechanical Engineering Technician – Industrial and Mechanical Engineering Technology – APD, participated in an exchange with CEGEP St. Jerome in Montreal, working on a research project through the Canadian Materials Circular Economy Syndicate (CMCES). They spent six weeks in Montreal, testing molds designed and machined at St. Clair College.

9. Thirty-five student researchers delivered a Science Technology Engineering Math (STEM) based Robotics curriculum to 800 Grades 7 and 9 students from the four school boards in Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent, and 200 summer camp students, supported through a grant from Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN).

10. A formal, accessible, research project data base will be established by March 2024 for students and staff.

11. Launched our new R&I website, identifying our Areas of Research, capabilities and the research team, at https://stclairresearch.ca/

12. Launched Twitter and LinkedIn social media accounts to share and promote R&I accomplishments.

13. An R&I newsletter is sent out throughout the college.

14. St. Clair was the “platinum sponsor” for the Emerging Technologies Conference, providing the opportunity for the R&I department to have a booth and provide a presentation on the main stage, outlining research capabilities.

15. St. Clair Research was highlighted in the media for the EV Truck Conversion project and two Social Innovation Fund awarded grants.

16. Participation in dozens of conferences of R&I-related organizations.

Almost 100 Students Now Involved In R&I Projects

OTHER STORIES FROM THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS MEETING

Links

Contact Us

Yearbooks

Varsity Sports & Rec

College News

Saints Gaming Esports