Facilities and Technology
Access more than $35M worth of capital assets.
The Technology Access Centre for Aerospace and Manufacturing (TACAM) connects you with cutting edge, highly specialized facilities, equipment and expertise — right at the heart of one of Canada’s major aviation, aerospace and manufacturing centres.
With TACAM, you have access to the following facilities: Smart Factory, Model Factory Machine Shop, Centre for Aerospace Technology & Training (CATT), Composites Model Factory, and Centre for Non-Destructive Inspection (CNDI). We also have flexible work options to come to you and make the service happen on your site or remotely.
Smart Factory
Located at the Red River College Polytechnic Notre Dame Campus in the Skilled Trades Technology Centre (STTC).
The Smart Factory is an applied research space, experiential learning facility, and technology demonstration site that showcases emerging technologies.
The facility allows RRC Polytech students to gain hands-on experience working with the latest tech in a factory setting, while providing Manitoba companies with access to state-of-the-art equipment, instructors, researchers and students.
List of Technologies at Smart Factory
- Okuma Laser Ex Series MU 5000V Hybrid Additive Manufacturing System
- GE vtome m300 Industrial nano-focus X-Ray CT Scanner
- Thermographic Non-Destructive Inspection System
- Systems Controls, Data Acquisition and Industrial IoT Software
- Creaform 3D Metrology High-Speed Laser Scanning System
- AON-M2 High Temperature Polymer and Composite 3D Printer
- Automation Systems (FMS 200, HAS 200 and ITS 200)
- Sawyer Collaborative Robot
- Baxter Collaborative Robot
- Universal Robots – UR10 (Collaborative)
- Ridgeback Omnidirectional Platform
- Boxer Autonomous Factory Vehicle
- Eddie Robot
- Industrial networking system
- ABB Flex Robotic Training Work Cells
- Motoman MH5 (training robots)
- Fanuc LR Mate 200iC
- Motoman Dual-Arm SDA 10D
- Motoman MH6 (welding robot)
- ABB IRB 120
- MIG robotic welding training cell
- High-speed imaging system
Model Factory Machine Shop
Located at the Red River College Polytechnic Notre Dame Campus.
The Model Factory Machine Shop is the College’s centre for applied research and skills development in Computer Numeral Control (CNC) operations, Quality Analysis (QA) dimensional measurements, kanban or pull-based manufacturing systems, rapid-change tooling, and customized production.
List of Technologies at Model Factory Machine Shop
- Haas Vertical CNC Mill: Mini Mill, vf1, vf2, Horizontal
- Computer numerical control (CNC): TL Lathes, SL20 Bar Feeder, SL20 APL, SL20, SL10
- Manual machining: lathes, milling machines, surface grinders, cylindrical grinders
- Gas high heat furnace, gas tempering furnace
- Inspection: coordinate measuring machines (CMM): Mitutoyo CMM & Profile Projector, Brown & Share CMM Optical Comparator
- CNC Training Simulators
Centre for Aerospace Technology & Training (CATT)
Co-located at StandardAero’s Plant 5 facility, and supporting aerospace and manufacturing organizations.
The Centre for Aerospace Technology & Training (CATT) provides students, faculty and aerospace and manufacturing organizations with access to advanced technologies and equipment you’ll find nowhere else.
List of Technologies at CATT
- Advanced robotic Cold Metal Transfer (CMT) welder
- Lasers
- Manual Nd: YAG laser, robotic CO2 laser, laser-MIG hybrid welder, diode laser, plastic laser welding system
- Micro TIG welder
- Industrial cold spray system
- Industrial robots
- Leading and trailing edge robotic compressor blade profiling system
- Robotic welding seam tracking
- Digital industrial X-ray system
- Fortus 400 mc 3D Printer
- Chemical vapour deposition/flouride ion cleaning
- Metallurgy lab
Centre for Non-Destructive Inspection (CNDI)
Co-located across Red River College Polytechnic and at Magellan Aerospace, Winnipeg.
The Centre for Non-Destructive Inspection (CNDI) is home to the only Laser UT System of its kind outside of Lockheed Martin in the United States.
List of Technologies at CNDI
- 5-axis Gantry LaserUT® NDI System
CNDI is the only place where organizations in Manitoba and beyond can access this technology, along with expert operators, to work on innovation and research projects such as developing/evaluating new components and processes, working with new materials, developing new products, and more.
The CNDI facility also contains a productive workspace and training area located adjacent to the LaserUT® system and control room.
Composites Model Factory
Located at the Red River College Polytechnic Stevenson Aviation & Aerospace Campus.
The Composites Model Factory replicates an aerospace composite manufacturing facility. Located at Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport and at Southport, Manitoba, we are at the heart of one of Canada’s major aviation and aerospace centres.
(We also have additional composites capabilities at our Notre Dame Campus)
List of Technologies at Composites Model Factory
- Contamination controlled area shop
- AGFM CNC Cloth Cutter
- CNC 5-axis router
- Enables the automated trimming of composite parts, and the shaping of core material and plugs for composite tooling. Can effectively trim complex shapes and parts.
- Ovens for curing composite parts
- Heated platen press
- This automated press uses high-pressure, closed form molding processes for composite materials.
- Environmental booth
- A clean environment for trimming and repairing large composite parts.
- Paint booth
- Non-destructive inspection
- Ultrasonic, liquid penetrant inspection (LPI), and magnetic penetrant inspection (MPI).
- Optical layup template projector (OLT)
- Our VirtekOptical Layup Template Projector, commonly referred to as an OLT, projects the outline of ply shapes using a laser beam and is used in our aerospace composite layup industry
- Metal/engine-specific
- Sheet metal shop, gas turbine repair and overhaul shop, avionics shop, large aircraft hangar, stores, etc.
Mobile Services and Remote Work
With our flexible work options, we can come to you or work remotely to ensure your project addresses your needs and finishes on time.
With our mobile services, we can take our experts and portable technology to your factory, analyzing and solving issues in loco.
We can also work remotely, ensuring effective communication from project start to results delivery.
When working remotely, we use several communication tools to ensure you’re aware of all steps of your project. To do that, we rely on:
- Teleconference tools, such as Microsoft TEAMS, Skype and Webex
- Day-to-day communication tools, such as email, text message, and voice and video calls
- Timely reports, providing detailed progress or your project