College unveils home of mechatronics program

Assiniboine College’s new mechatronics program will help fill a gap in local industry, the program’s chair says.

The college unveiled the new home of the three-year program — part of a roughly $5.2-million facility that helps support automation in the manufacturing sector — at its North Hill campus during a press conference in Brandon on Tuesday.

Academic chair of food science and agricultural technologies Jeremy Timmer said he worked in dairy manufacturing for about 15 years, and he could see a gap in industrial automation and any form of controls.

Locally, he said, a lot of that work is given out to third-party companies.

“I genuinely believe that as more and more companies leverage automation for success — which almost all do now in manufacturing — it’s going to become such a vacancy if we don’t do something to help increase that knowledge amongst employees entering the workforce,” Timmer told the Sun after the press conference.

The program, which started last year, currently has six second-year students and 13 first-year students. It has capacity for 24 students per year, and Timmer said he thinks there will be a “natural increase” in enrolment as younger people have a “natural tendency” to be interested in the field.

He said when graduates enter the workforce, they will help increase efficiency and reduce downtime as plants continue operating for longer periods. That helps with companies’ profitability, which is why the program is needed, Timmer said.

“I see it as a bit of a future-proof career to get into because AI and automation is not going to slow down,” he said. “This is going to keep advancing. More and more companies are going to leverage this to try to remain efficient and remain cost-effective.

“There will always be the need to have the individuals behind who understand how to program and how to repair and how to maintain and optimize those systems.”

College president Mark Frison told the crowd of about 45 people attending the press conference that the program will be increasingly important in the future.

“This program, I think … is incredibly important to not only what’s happening today in our economy, but certainly is important to what’s going to be happening tomorrow, whether that’s in the processing sector, the manufacturing sector, agriculture or others,” Frison said.

After the press conference ended, a couple of students showcased a small Modular Production System, which included conveyor belts and robotic arms.

Zane Hudson, a second-year student of the program, said this year compared to his first is a lot more hands on. It includes a lot of automation, including taking apart and putting machinery back together “to make sure that it’s wired nicely together and everything’s automated and flowing correctly.”

So far, he said, the class is “going phenomenally,” and he loves the program.

The name of the facility, the Price Mechatronics Centre, was also unveiled on Tuesday.

Mike Nicholson, general manager of Price Electronics, said the mechatronics program is fantastic.

He said to remain relevant, organizations have to keep innovating, and that this program is the perfect example of that.

In April, Prairies Economic Development Canada announced $2.25 million for the project. The provincial government is funding $1.58 million, Gerry and Barb Price, through Price Industries — which operates Price Electronics — donated $500,000 and the Anthony Matlashewski Charitable Foundation is also putting in $500,000.

The remaining funding is coming from Assiniboine College, a spokesperson for the college said.

» alambert@brandonsun.com