As governments, industry and academia work collectively to strengthen Canada’s economy, RRC Polytech’s Price Institute of Advanced Manufacturing and Mechatronics is proud to launch the new Centre for Automation and Manufacturing Technology Transfer (CAMTT) — a vital solution designed to drive technology adoption across the sector while training the workforce of tomorrow.

Serving as a hub to connect business and industry with applied research, innovation, technology transfer and talent, CAMTT will strengthen our workforce and economy by helping small and medium-scale enterprises in Manitoba address productivity through automation, artificial intelligence, robotics and mechatronics.

By leading collaborative projects as they upskill and reskill in their careers, students at the Price Institute will gain valuable experience solving real-world challenges.

“CAMTT is a collaborative workspace where industry and academic partners can work together to bridge gaps by accelerating the acquisition and adoption of existing and emerging technology,” says Fred Meier, President and CEO, RRC Polytech.

“Our students will not only hone their skills by leading applied research projects — their insight, energy and expertise will lead to innovative solutions that support Manitoba businesses in today’s competitive global market.”

CAMTT is the first of its kind in Manitoba, with a new working space that can connect faculty, students and partners anywhere in the world. Manufacturers-in-residence will effectively guide teams dedicated to each venture as they experiment to perfect new concepts and processes under a shared vision.

An initial success story is already in use on the production line of a local manufacturing leader, and the namesake of the Price Institute. In CAMTT’s inaugural project, a student-led team worked with the Price Industries’ Electronics division to automate a time-consuming manual inspection process.

Together, they created a trainable automatic vision system that combines hardware with a camera to capture images of printed circuit boards with trainable software that uses AI to predict and validate whether they pass quality control and quality assurance metrics of production.

“The students did a great job to get a working test fixture completed, tested accurately and deployed into our production line,” says Mike Nicholson, C.E.T. General Manager, Price Electronics. “We look forward to our next project at CAMTT as we continue integrating components that optimize cost, time, quality and efficiency.”

Partners can expect extensive cost-effective collaborative projects that leverage all of RRC Polytech’s research facilities and resources — including funding through the Digital Technology Transformation Initiative — and that are positioned for success by maximizing emerging technologies, state-of-the-art equipment and outside-the-box thinking to tackle specific challenges.

“CAMTT takes an interdisciplinary approach to system, product and solution development helping manufacturers harness emerging technology to reduce their labor market challenges, while training their future workforce,” says Dr. Vikram Banthia, Director of RRC Polytech’s Price Institute of Advanced Manufacturing and Mechatronics.

“Partner with us to leverage our technology, innovation, expertise, assets and talent and take your project from idea to reality.”