McMaster and Chrysler announce partnership

(Update)

A major investment by the federal government has brought one of the big three automakers to McMaster University. The goal is to create the next generation of automotive technology. Sean Leathong has the story from McMaster Innovation Park.

The hope is that new technology will be green with McMaster becoming a leader in electric engine technology. Here at the Innovation Park they say that they are ready to change the automotive world. It’s the race to re-invent the automobile, and McMaster is ready to lead the charge.

Joel Roeleveld is a Masters student at Mac. He has been working on electric cars since undergrad, now he gets to work with Chrysler: “It’s a big opportunity for us students.” Sean: “So are you guys going to re-invent the car here?” Joel: “Ya, we will, for sure.”

McMaster will see a 24 million dollar investment. The majority comes from the federal government. But over $10 million is coming from Chrysler, a company that doesn’t currently have an electric or hybrid car on the market, so they’re looking to mac for an innovative edge.

MP Greg Rickford is the Federal Minister of State: “Chrysler is a global company. These companies are looking for research and development opportunities, that they can put in their cars around the world, and McMaster is going to be an important part of that, starting today.”

Over the past 100 years, the basic idea of the combustion engine hasn’t changed at all. So, if Henry Ford were standing with us he would understand what we see here. What they want to do now is change this completely and create something new.

They will focus on creating a new electric powertrain and study new materials which can be used to remove excess weight. Most of the work will be done at the McMaster Automotive Research Centre.

Ali Emadi is with McMaster University: “We have equipment, we have infrastructure, we have the talent, we have the researchers, we have everything.”

And now they have a partnership with a major manufacturer who hopes the bright young minds here, will lead the way in creating a greener future.

Friday’s announcement was part of a much larger investment of $50 million nationwide, $30 million of which comes from the government and the rest from private partners like Chrysler.
So, with almost half of the investment right here, this could soon be called the electric automotive research centre.