Imagine walking through a bright, open Italian villa. Only instead of using your legs, you have a remote control to move forward. And instead of wearing sunglasses, you have 3D goggles.
This is how the HoloStation works in Algonquin’s new construction research centre in the ACCE building.
The centre was launched on Jan. 30 and is now open to students for three hours every weekday.
It includes the HoloStation, a 3D printer, 3D laser scanner, thermal cameras and much more technology and equipment, altogether worth $2.8 million.
“The HoloStation is very dramatic,” said Alex Yang, project manager for the centre. “But a lot of people are still figuring out how they can use it for their work. I think there’s a lot of applications, but I think it’ll take a little while for those to develop.”
Yang said possible applications have to do with training in areas that are usually expensive or dangerous, such as power line technician work or aircraft maintenance.
“When we can achieve that,” said Yang, “we can then do very realistic training without any of the capital cost of buying the equipment and the parts.”
The centre will also be open to companies that are partnered with the school.
“It brings a lot of technology that most industry doesn’t have,” said Jared Potvin, a graduate of the electrical engineering technician program.
“They envision having industry partners coming here and using the technology for their own benefit, but also the college’s benefit,” said Potvin. “And the college benefit is partnering with those industry partners and educating students on using the technology.”
Potvin, who has worked as a research associate with the construction research lab on an electric vehicle project, was one of six speakers at the launch ceremony before the centre was made public.
The other speakers were Yang, president Cheryl Jensen, CEO and co-founder of Fractal Tectonics Josè Aguilera and Pierre Normand, the vice president of external relations and communications for the Canada Foundation of Innovation.
Mark Hoddenbagh, the executive director of partnerships and applied research, was MC of the event.
The CFI is a federal foundation that awarded Yang the grant for this project in 2012, which the Ontario Research Fund matched. Private industry also contributed to the project.
“The CFI would like to say that research builds communities,” said Normand. “And it would be hard to find more literal examples of that than this new research facility, or the top-notch building environment that you will find down the hall.”