CIADI readies for takeoff
With the province of Quebec generating more than half of Canada’s aerospace industry revenues, it’s no surprise that Montreal has become the industry’s hub. Montreal is one of the few places on the planet where a plane can be built from start to finish.
The city ranks among the world’s largest aerospace industry clusters and is home to every discipline necessary to build a plane, including aerostructures, engines, landing gears and avionics. Along with the approximately 41,000 people employed by the industry, it is the ideal location for pioneering research and instruction.
Recognizing the sector’s importance and the valuable contribution that Concordia University could make to the industry, the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science established the Concordia Institute of Aerospace Design and Innovation (CIADI).
Inaugurated in 2001, CIADI’s original purpose involved arranging for students with a keen interest in aerospace to do workplace internships on actual research projects. Over the past decade, the program has assisted many Concordia students go on to promising careers in the aerospace industry.
It is a particular point of pride for the Faculty that, through CIADI, Concordia was able to initiate the Montreal Aerospace Institutes (MAI), a strategic organization with a mandate to unite aerospace students in engineering or science from several Montreal institutions and enhance their training through industry-driven courses, projects and university exchanges.
The Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science has also developed significant aerospace-related curricula. The Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering has an aerospace option, and the Faculty, in partnership with several other universities, offers a Master’s in Aerospace Engineering.
The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering is taking a leadership role by offering new course options in avionics and flight control as part of its Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering program.
Strong research ties between the Faculty and aerospace industry actually date back over a decade, with the Faculty being a founding member of the Consortium for Research and Innovation in Aerospace in Québec (CRIAQ).
The Faculty, with strong backing from Concordia’s Office of Research, was involved in the consortium’s very first program for the design and manufacture of a composite wing box structure which, at the time, was probably the largest thick-walled graphite/epoxy structure ever built in Canada.
The groundbreaking project involved significant collaboration between Concordia, Bell Helicopter Textron Canada Ltd., Pratt and Whitney Canada, National Research Council Canada’s Aerospace Manufacturing Technology Centre, and supply chain companies. It also entailed complex agreements between CRIAQ, Concordia, supporting industries, federal and provincial governments and the U.S. Department of State.
The project was recognized by the Association pour le développement de la recherche et de l'innovation du Québec (ADRIQ) as a model collaboration and received ADRIQ’s prestigious Prix de partenariat.
Faculty members in mechanical, electrical, computer and industrial engineering have been key participants in all five rounds of CRIAQ programs to date, working on projects involving materials development, new structural applications, lean engineering, airborne systems and flight controls. As a result, strong research ties have been developed with major, original equipment manufacturers, as well as several major supply chain companies.
Through such initiatives, the Faculty is aiming to turn Concordia University into Canada’s pre-eminent centre for aerospace education and research. The new director, Robert Fews, backed by associate director Nadia Bhuiyan, administrator Jayne Claassen, and the Faculty, is leading an expansion to make CIADI a full-fledged aerospace institute.
CIADI is expected to be busier than ever over the next three years with plans to offer a Bachelor’s of Aerospace, and Executive Master’s of Aerospace (mainly targeting new industry recruits who would spend three weeks on the job for every week in class over two years), and a PhD in Aerospace Engineering.
The Faculty has established a curriculum development committee, under the leadership of Martin Pugh, to ensure that the new courses are the vanguard of aerospace research and instruction. This committee, in conjunction with internal curriculum development, will greatly expand CIADI’s horizons. Important trans-institutional partnerships are being established to facilitate and maintain CIADI’s leadership role. Such partnerships might eventually lead to Concordia offering degrees jointly with universities in Europe, India and Australia that have prominent aerospace programs.
CIADI’s tangible rebirth is readily witnessed at its newly renovated headquarters on the 12th floor of the Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts Integrated Complex. The new location has offices for CIADI’s academic and support staff, along with space for support facilities, lectures and meetings.
Strategic recruitment of new faculty members is underway with a greater emphasis on aerospace research. Affiliate professors from the industry are being sought for both research and teaching partnerships.
Through all these changes, CIADI will continue to operate as always, working to promote awareness and provide leading-edge know-how among engineering students in aerospace design and innovation. To enhance and complement the education of undergraduate students, CIADI will continue to offer collaborative, industry-driven workplace design and research internships. In fact, it has established a new internship program development committee, being led by Bhuiyan, with the goal of expanding the strengthening the existing program.
With the 2011 internships already underway, and so many plans afoot, the future is certainly bright for CIADI – and for Montreal’s role in the aerospace industry.
Related links:
• Concordia’s Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science
• Concordia Institute of Aerospace Design and Innovation
• Montreal Aerospace Institute