As the Barrett Centre for Technology Innovation (Barrett CTI) nears completion, Humber gathered more than 100 stakeholders, including industry partners and educators, for its first consortium event to discuss the future of Industry 4.0 for students, technology and industry leaders.
Partners including Cimetrix, Cisco, DMG MORI Canada Inc., Festo Didactic, KUKA Canada Inc., Rockwell Automation and SEW-EURODRIVE joined Humber to discuss their partnership role and help work toward addressing the skills gap by bringing industry and education together.
Through these five-year partnership agreements with each company, the college will develop education towards employment pathways and recruitment opportunities for Humber students and graduates. These initiatives include STEM outreach activities, robotic equipment, audio-visual systems and more to support the vision of the Barrett CTI.
“Together we will be addressing the advanced manufacturing skills gap and working to move the economy forward by working with Canadian and global companies on applied research projects that will tackle real business challenges,” says Chris Whitaker, Humber College president and CEO.
Whitaker says the leadership and investment from the Barrett CTI partners will help to create a technology hub that will position students far ahead of the curve. The partnerships will help support students through awards, scholarships and experiential opportunities.
“The most exciting thing about working with Humber? I could actually summarize this in one word – action,” says Thomas Lichtenberger, Festo Didactic CEO. “In the education sector and industry there is so much talk about the skills gap and the workforce of the future. There is a lot of talking and not so much action. But this is different with Humber. I see action here. I appreciate the vision, innovative power and leadership of Humber.”
Guest speaker Paul Preston, Director of Science, Technology, Innovation Policy from The Conference Board of Canada and Jayson Myers, CEO of Next Generation Manufacturing Canada led a discussion about the Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster.
Originally published on https://humber.ca/today/news/humber-hosts-its-first-advanced-manufacturing-skills-consortium-event