Seneca College is the first college in Ontario to offer a unique advanced manufacturing facility. On February 12, it celebrated the opening of the Mechatronics and Demonstration Centre to help students develop skills for advanced manufacturing.
Mechatronics is an interdisciplinary field of engineering that integrates electrical, mechanical and computer engineering to make manufacturing more efficient and productive. Graduates trained in mechatronics can access jobs in a number of manufacturing industries, including aerospace, materials processing, machine building, automotive, transportation, building technologies and mining.
In February 2015 Siemens Canada signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Seneca College and Sheridan College to offer the Siemens Mechatronic Systems Certification Program.
As part of the 2015 Budget, Ontario invested $651,000 to support the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment for the new centre at Seneca, which will be used to simulate manufacturing scenarios so students can practice and improve real industry processes. The new equipment includes:
A mechatronic manufacturing training system
- 20 simulation computers
- 10 specialized computers
- 10 industrial controllers
- 10 pneumatic robots
- 24 industrial motors.
According to a press release from the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, supporting Seneca College’s Mechatronics Simulation and Demonstration Centre is part of Ontario’s Business Growth Initiative, which is helping to grow the economy and create jobs by promoting an innovation-based economy, helping small companies scale-up and modernizing regulations for businesses.
