Natural Resources Canada moving materials technology lab to Hamilton

The Hamilton region’s quest to establish critical mass in materials technology R&D received a major boost with the decision by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) to relocate its Materials Technology Laboratory (MTL) from Ottawa to a new research park near McMaster Univ. The decision was taken at the ministerial level following a concerted lobbying effort by the university and the municipality and comes with a minimum $20-million commitment for new equipment and infrastructure.

MTL is Canada’s largest research centre dedicated to metals and materials fabrication, processing and evaluation. With a staff of about 120, it is considered an ideal fit with the region’s industrial mix and the research strengths of area institutions.

“Canada is facing significant challenges in these industries from countries like India and China and we have to bump up the quality of research,” says MTL director Dr Jennifer Jackman. “It really is a question of better serving our national mandate. There’s a strong university base in the region. The focus is McMaster and materials science but we have good synergies with Ryerson, Waterloo, the University of Western Ontario and the University of Windsor.”

MTL’s re-location is the second major win for McMaster this year. It follows General Motors’ decision to establish two automotive engineering centres valued at $60 million. The Centre for Engineering Design and Centre for Corrosion Engineering Research are part of GM’s $2.5-billion Beacon Project (R$, March 9/05).

“Our mission is applied research with genuine impact on the marketplace,” says Jackman, adding that MTL’s R&D has particular relevance for automotive and supply chain industries, primary metal industry, oil and gas pipeline producers, the construction industry and equipment makers.

“Our network and synergies may get bigger but the staff won’t grow, although we may receive additional soft money to bring on additional staff. We expect to do a lot of contract work with industry,” says Jackman.

The move is expected to occur in about three years.

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