Commercialization Statement

The Province of Ontario issued its Commercialization Mandate Policy Framework in early 2022. The objective of Ontario’s Commercialization Mandate Policy Framework (CMPF) is to harness the intellectual property generated with the institution’s resources to achieve Ontario’s goal of ensuring that made-in- Ontario innovations benefit Ontarians.

Humber College is committed to supporting Ontario’s Commercialization Mandate Policy Framework within the context of the role Ontario colleges play in applied research and innovation.

Humber College is uniquely positioned to collaborate with industry partners to advance innovation and facilitate commercialization of intellectual property in Ontario that creates economic and social benefits for our communities. In particular, applied research activities taking place at Ontario’s publicly funded colleges in partnership with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) create innovative solutions to challenges being experienced in our communities in a variety of settings. These innovations will be a key driver for sustainable economic recovery, growth, and competitiveness in Ontario and will be critically important as we collectively emerge from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In order to increase innovation at the community and regional level, Humber College will continue to rely on funding from granting agencies, primarily federal agencies, as the operating funding provided to colleges does not reflect the overhead costs of exploring, developing and overseeing applied research projects.

Ontario’s Commercialization Mandate Framework provides an opportunity to advance the role of the publicly funded college sector in research and innovation. Humber College looks forward to continuing to support our partners in the commercialization of intellectual property to realize the full benefits for all Ontarians.

IP Development and Commercialization Success

In alignment with CMPF objectives, Humber supports intellectual property development and commercialization activities through training, applied research collaborations and the Centres of Innovation Network.

Training

In collaboration with other colleges, Humber has embedded the Intellectual Property in Applied Research Training Module into our learning management systems which is now freely available to Humber employees and students. During our applied research information sessions, Humber’s intellectual property and commercialization policies are discussed. Annually, Humber’s Office of Research and Innovation (ORI) hosts an “Applied Research, Intellectual Property and Commercialization session” open to Humber employees and students.

Applied Research Collaborations

Humber continues to grow its applied research with industry and community partners. According to RESEARCH Infosource Inc., Humber secured the 15th position overall across Canada and 5th position in Ontario. Notably, Humber has the top spot, ranking #1, in the “Industry Research Income for fiscal years 2018-2022 (large tier) category”. Humber has achieved rankings of #4 in the “Paid Student Researchers” category and #6 in “Research Partnerships”. With the support of NSERC, Humber launched the Greenfield Research and Innovation Fund supporting applied research collaboration across various sectors. Also, Humber has established the first Broadcast-Broadband Convergence B²C Lab—a world-class industry research centre designed to explore multi-sectoral business applications enabled by a new ATSC 3.0 test bed for emergency response and Position-Navigation-Time/GPS solutions in collaboration with community and industry partners.

We welcome you to read the research and innovation publications: Annual Reports, SPARK Magazine, and Journal of Innovation in Polytechnic Education.

Centres of Innovation Network (COI Network)

The COI Network brings together interdisciplinary teams of faculty members, students, community, and industry partners to solve complex, real-world problems. Partners gain access to cutting-edge technologies, expertise, and a pool of talent eager to transform the world through their innovative lens. Humber’s Barrett Centre for Technology Innovation (Barrett CTI) and Longo Centre for Entrepreneurship (Longo CfE) are two of five centres of innovation that support the CMPF objectives.

The Barrett CTI is a 93,000-square-foot facility, designed to be a powerhouse of technological innovation and to leverage Humber’s proven leadership in automation and robotics, systems Integration, design, augmented and virtual realities, user experience testing. The Barrett CTI helps SMEs understand and successfully compete in digital transformation environments through process improvements, technological advancements, and potential new sources of revenue. SMEs also have access to the Barrett CTI Advanced Manufacturing Skills Consortium whose members include MNEs Cisco Canada,

DMG MORI Canada, Festo Didactic, Javelin Technologies, KUKA Canada, Magna International, Rockwell Automation, SEW-EURODRIVE and SICK Canada.

We welcome you to read the Centres of Innovation Impact Report.