On May 11, the McMaster Manufacturing Research Institute’s (MMRI) brand new, state-of-the-art facility officially opened its doors to the Hamilton community at their 8th annual open house event.
The MMRI welcomed more than 300 guests, made up of current and potential industry partners, government officials, McMaster faculty and researchers, as well as special guest and keynote speaker Tony Schmitz, professor of mechanical, aerospace, and biomedical engineering at the University of Tennessee and joint faculty member of the Oak Ridge National Lab and director of the Southeastern Advanced Machine Tools Network.
“The MMRI is such an important piece of Hamilton’s manufacturing history and legacy,” says Stephen Veldhuis, MMRI director and the Braley-Orlick Chair in Advanced Manufacturing Engineering. “It allows the manufacturing work that’s done in Hamilton to really reach the next level. Working with different companies in the community, understanding what their problems are and being able to work with them to solve those problems is just such a great thing for McMaster Engineering and the manufacturing sector across Ontario as well.”
MPP Effie Triantafilopoulos, parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade helped kick off the grand opening ceremony with spoken remarks. Senior Analyst Craig McClelland from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev) and Keith Palmer, assistant deputy minister for the Ministry of the Solicitor General were also in attendance.
In true innovative fashion, the official ribbon cutting was done by one of the machines at the facility.
Guests enjoyed a panel discussion on robotics and the role of AI in manufacturing and automation. McMaster’s industry partner, TERAGO talked about their newly launched 5G mm Wave Private Network. There was also an exhibition of 15 industry companies across Ontario.
While the new facility and continued excellence of the MMRI will provide industry leaders and manufacturers across the province with advanced opportunities, the newly unveiled space also promises students a unique hands-on learning experience with real-world impact.
“Our biggest mandate at McMaster Engineering is to train our students, and this facility really gives students access to state-of-the-art infrastructure and real problems that they’re solving,” says Heather Sheardown, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at McMaster University.
