Red River College (RRC) in Manitoba, Canada, is set to receive an investment from the federal government to expand its Centre for Aerospace Technology and Training (CATT).

The expansion will be carried out as part of a C$10m ($8m) investment to be made by Western Economic Diversification Canada over the next five years.

Marking the centre’s third expansion, the proposed development will include cold spray technology, non-contact inspection and high-speed laser scanning systems, in addition to robotic welding seam tracking and a compressor blade profiling system.

The centre’s existing digital X-ray, lasers systems and induction heating will also be upgraded.

“Having access to this kind of space and technology helps us to consistently be trailblazers in innovation.”

Established in 2009 under a strategic collaboration between RRC, StandardAero and federal and provincial governments, the CATT is co-located at StandardAero’s Plant 5 facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

StandardAero and RRC are also planning to respectively invest C$4.5m ($3.5m) and C$1.2m ($955,019) into the expansion.

StandardAero engineering and quality senior vice-president Kim Olson said: “Having access to this kind of space and technology helps us to consistently be trailblazers in innovation.”

RRC will also receive a new smart factory as part of the newly announced federal investment.

To be situated at RRC’s new Skilled Trades Technology Centre, which is currently under construction and due to open next year, the factory will be an applied research space, experiential learning facility, and technology demonstration site.

It will also incorporate emerging technologies such as robotics, automation, additive manufacturing, high-speed robotic inspection and industrial networking.

Once completed, the these projects will complement RRC’s existing Technology Access Centre for Aerospace and Manufacturing (TACAM), which offers research, innovation and customised training to the aerospace and manufacturing sectors in Manitoba.

Image: Artist’s rendering of expansion at Red River College in Canada. Photo: courtesy of Number Ten Architectural Group.