NEW CAMPUS HOME TO AEROSPACE PROGRAMS
When Centennial College’s newest location, Downsview Campus: Centre for Aerospace and Aviation, opens in January 2019, it will become home to two of the school’s newest programs — aerospace manufacturing engineering technician and aerospace manufacturing technology.
“These programs both launched in September,” says Patrick Kelly, dean of Centennial’s School of Engineering Technology and Applied Science, of the two-year technician and three-year technology programs. “To develop these programs, we worked closely with industry partners in the aerospace sector, who told us about the importance of aerospace to the Canadian economy and the need for highly skilled grads. So, they both came about as a result of industry need.”
Both programs, says Kelly, share commonalities that include offering students a solid understanding of aircraft manufacturing operations, aerospace systems and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology. The three-year option will take these lessons a step further by covering additional advanced topics.
“Because these are project driven programs, they have a high percentage of lab time and hands-on opportunities,” says Kelly. “There is also room for industry interaction through a capstone project, guest speakers and industry tours.
“On top of that, students will have applied research opportunities through our Applied Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Services (ARIES), where they’ll work with companies looking at the commercialization of products and processes.”
At Downsview Campus, says Kelly, students will benefit from worldclass facilities including some that are especially designed for the two programs, such as a quality control mechanical lab, a computer numerical control (CNC) lab and an UAV automation lab.
“These sophisticated labs have been designed to replicate what students will see in industry,” says Kelly. “Industry is telling us it wants grads who can apply theory right away, so our practical focus and facilities to match will allow grads to hit the ground running.”