Lambton College is celebrating the launch of its new Canadian Extrusion Lab (CERL).
On Wednesday morning, representatives from the school were joined by research partners, funders, board members, and other dignitaries for a formal unveiling from the Western Sarnia-Lambton Research Park.
VP of Research & Innovation Mehdi Sheikhzadeh said extrusion is a type of a material processing equipment that mixes and blends things.
"So it's used, traditionally, as a main equipment for a lot of material processing projects," he said. "All type of materials that you see, at some point if they need blending, they require extrusion."
Sheikhzadeh said it's been used in the polymeric synthetic environment, the rubber industry, and the plastic industry. He added that with the huge focus on sustainability and the use of recycled and bio-based materials, it's emerged as a very important tool for a lot of sustainable, green projects for clean tech companies.
"We saw one example today with ReVital Polymers," he said. "It's more on the recycle side, but their focus is simply using the recycled materials to produce something that can be used for very different industries like manufacturing and the auto sector."
The total cost of the project over two phases is over $3.4 million. Sheikhzadeh said they're currently in the second phase of purchasing and installing and commissioning equipment.
"We are hoping that all of that equipment is going to be installed by the end of next summer," he said.
Sheikhzadeh said producing sustainable material is a very important focus for Sarnia-Lambton. He hopes this lab will contribute positively to different types of research and development activities.
"Sarnia has a huge focus on the material and chemical industry, as well as with the new bio-hybrid chemistry cluster, there are a lot of bio-based companies," he said. "Also, Sarnia is home to some of the new companies like ReVital Polymers on the recycling side."
Sheikhzadeh said they added two additional extruders to their facility because of the demand in the area.
"But again, extrusion is just one piece of equipment for blending and mixing the stuff," he said. "If anyone has an extrusion facility, you do require a lot of free processing facilities, like grinding and cutting and things like that, but most importantly, you need a lot of past processing."
Sheikhzadeh is hoping this additional capacity is going to help attract another 40 projects to Sarnia-Lambton from across Canada annually. He's also hoping those projects will translate to at least 40 to 50 additional paid positions for research students.
The project was made possible through a two-phase investment from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the Ontario Research Fund (ORF). In a media release from Lambton College, the school said the new lab aims to foster partnerships between academia and industry, supporting up to 40 companies annually.
