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The Federal Minister of Innovation Science and Economic Development took a tour of a massive 40,000 square foot warehouse at the corner of Aberdeen and Longwood today. He also brought with him a cheque of $12 million in order to help turn that empty space into the next addition to the McMaster Innovation Park that will focus on merging health science with manufacturing.
It will be the site of the McMaster-Fraunhofer Project Centre for Biomedical Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing, or simply B.E.A.M. The $35 million project will look to create new tech that will help create products more affordably. Despite Canada ranking first out of G7 countries in research and development in universities, many promising products end up leaving the country for manufacturing and commercialization due to being ‘too risky’ or ‘too expensive’ to produce here. One such product involves using your own cells to create cancer medication. Research at the new facility will look to create a table-top mechanism that could be sold to hospitals.
The minister hopes the centre will help Hamilton progress to a city of innovation while maintaining it’s manufacturing roots. The vice president of research partnerships says B.E.A.M will be finished and open for business by the end of 2017.
