The Design and Training Facility of the Centre for Integrated Monitoring Technology opened at Laurentian University this week. The facility is a complement to the Virtual Reality Laboratory, the only facility in the world like it designed to meet the needs of mineral exploration and production.
Also unveiled by Laurentian University?s Mining Innovation, Rehabilitation and Applied Research Corp. this week was a collaboration agreement with BLAZE I.T. of Sudbury.
The launch of the design and training facility completes the second phase of a program to fulfill CIMTEC?s mandate of providing state-of-the-art technology in support to interdisciplinary research and development projects being pursued by university researchers. It will provide high-level research infrastructure support and promote Sudbury as a centre for innovative mining technology.
The new facility, valued at $175,000 will serve as a venue for technology transfer by hosting short courses and seminars. It will also enable graduate students, researchers, industry partners, and other research sponsors to prepare for virtual reality sessions, to perform complex modelling and simulation exercises. They will be able to conduct high-level research that demands high speed, large volume data processing and sophisticated computing resources.
Funding was provided by industrial contributors to Laurentian University?s Capital Campaign, the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the Ontario Innovation Trust (OIT). In addition, CIMTEC has recently allocated over $500,000 of the CFI/OIT funds to 10 researchers to enhance data collection capabilities in their respective projects.
