CREDIT: JOHN SING
Fanshawe College and FedDev Ontario announced plans to open the Canadian Centre for Product Validation in spring of 2016.

Fanshawe College and FedDev Ontario announced on March 6 its plans for a $16.2-million centre scheduled to open in spring 2016.

The Canadian Centre for Product Validation will allow companies to test and validate industrial products in the automotive, military and renewable energy sectors, among others, as well as consumer products in a centralized 20,000-square foot facility.

The purpose of the centre will be to accelerate the development and commercialization process for new products.

It will be the only of its kind in Canada.

“This is incredibly exciting for Fanshawe and for London and for Southwestern Ontario,” Fanshawe President Peter Devlin said. “This is key to bringing that imagination, bringing research, bringing innovation to life with Fanshawe, with Fanshawe students, with Fanshawe professors and industry partners.”

FedDev Ontario will invest $8.1 million through the Investing in Commercialization Partnership Initiative. Fanshawe will match the donation.

Fanshawe projects that the Canadian Centre for Product Validation will create 115 jobs, including up to 105 at companies that will benefit from the centre, and 50 temporary jobs will be created during the construction of the project. The centre itself will employ 40.

How Fanshawe students and employees will benefit from the centre is not clear. Classes will not be taught at the centre, and professors will not have access to the facility through their work at the college.

The centre will only accept six Fanshawe co-op students when it opens. The number is expected to ramp up to 30 over the next four years, according to Ben Cecil, associate vice president of academic excellence and innovation at Fanshawe.

“This is good news for Fanshawe,” London Mayor Matt Brown said. “This is great news for London. It’s great news for our entire region.”

Conservative MPs Gary Goodyear, Susan Truppe, Joe Preston and Ed Holder were present at the announcement.

“This project demonstrates our government’s commitment to building strong, collaborative partnerships between Canadian businesses and the research and development organizations that nurture their growth,” Goodyear said.

“Our government is investing in the right kind of business relationships in the London area which will support and enhance Southern Ontario’s vita manufacturing sector.”

The centre will be located at the Advanced Manufacturing Park at Bradley Avenue and Veterans Memorial Parkway, where The Collider, WindEEE Dome and Fraunhofer are located.