NSCC Joins The Bays at Invest Nova Scotia
Tuesday, July 4, 2023
The Bays at Invest Nova Scotia is home to some of the province’s most promising early stage clean technology companies. But our facility residents also include organizations that help those start-ups as they advance their products, teams and businesses.
We’re delighted to welcome our newest resident support organization at The Bays – Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC).
NSCC’s Applied Energy Research (AER) and SEATAC groups are setting up shop in one of the 10 light industrial spaces and some offices at The Bays.
The AER group develops and tests sustainable energy alternatives, and the SEATAC team provides research and development services.
“Both the bay and office space are shared by AER and SEATAC,” said SEATAC program director, John Stratton. “The two teams pursue independent projects on clients’ behalf, but for us at SEATAC, projects are primarily related to the ocean technology sector. SEATAC and AER have some shared projects, and I expect these will mostly be in the clean/green marine propulsion area, specifically, electric and hybrid diesel-electric propulsion.”
The SEATAC group is excited to have more space to carry out work for the marine sector. The team aims to expand their offering to benefit businesses in more sectors, which means more Invest Nova Scotia clients can get support for their funding proposals and R&D projects.
“A key initiative for NSCC, which the spaces at The Bays support, is the engagement of college students in R&D projects and similar activities,” said John. “We use the office space as a collaborative facility for different types of student projects, involving different schools and programs. The industrial space serves as a general mechanical/marine workshop to support testing, prototype development and the operation of our soon-to-be-delivered 9m research vessel.”
Through NSCC’s partnership with Mitacs and with the help of Mitacs Accelerate funding, Nova Scotia companies can apply for 50 per cent of the cost to employ a student or recent grad (up to two years after graduating) to work on an innovative project. Their goal is to place graduates and co-op students with Invest Nova Scotia clients and other start-ups to help with their talent gaps.
If you have any questions, email NSCC’s Industry Liaison Office – Joanne Firth. Joanne creates and connects opportunities between NSCC researchers, students, and companies across Nova Scotia.