NGen unveils 15 new advanced manufacturing projects at N3 Summit

At its N3 Summit last week, NGen announced more than $32.3 million in Global Innovation Cluster funding for 15 new advanced manufacturing projects. Combined with industry contributions of $54.4 million, the 15 projects represent a total of $86.7 million invested.

NGen is part of Canada’s Global Innovation Cluster program (formerly Super Cluster program), which targets specific industry domains (or clusters) in which Canada has a global advantage. The federal government’s 2023 budget renewed the program, approving roughly $700 million to be spread over five clusters, including Protein Industries, Digital Technology, Scale AI and the Ocean clusters.

The Advanced Manufacturing Cluster, which NGen oversees, received up to $177 million to support the commercialization of projects that “develop, scale up and apply advanced technology solutions in manufacturing.”

Projects accepted by NGen are commonly a pairing of one or more Canadian up-and-coming technology companies with one or more manufacturing firms. The intent is to incentivize innovation adoption for established Canadian firms while also supporting the development and commercialization of Canadian-made advanced manufacturing technologies.

In addition to green-lighting funding, NGen often plays match-maker for these collaborations and may also serve as a consultant, providing feedback on the strengths and weaknesses applicants’ proposals. The final submissions are then filtered through an anonymous evaluation process to determine the short list of accepted projects.

While NGen’s first N3 Summit served as a launch event for its latest round of projects, it also celebrated the successful advanced manufacturing projects the non-profit has approved funding for in the past. Between 2019 and 2023, NGen says it completed 165 Global Innovation Cluster projects with 370 industry partners and 311 research groups from across Canada. According to NGen, those investments resulted in $7 billion in new sales, a 32x return on NGen’s investment and a 4.8x return on federal taxes. In addition, NGen says 55 new companies and 3,449 new jobs were created as a result.

“The Innovation Cluster model is working and the results speak for themselves,” said NGen CEO, Jayson Myers. “NGen is excited to build on our successes with another round of advanced manufacturing projects. Our role as an innovation catalyst is only possible because of the commitment from our industry and ecosystem partners, and the support of the federal government’s Global Innovation Cluster program.”

The latest round of successful collaborative project applicants for funding include:

Gas Oscillation Superplastic Forming Technology
AEM Power Systems Inc. (Windsor, ON)
Macrodyne Technologies Inc. (Vaughan, ON)

Implementing Cement-Free Concrete Technology
CarbiCrete (Montreal, QC)
Macron Industries Corp. (Port Colborne, ON)

A Transformative and Fully Integrated Digital Solution for Food Manufacturing
FPS Food Process Solutions Corp. (Richmond, BC)
Saint Germain Bakery Ltd. (Scarborough, ON)

Recycling and Production of Rare-earth Oxides from Permanent Magnet Scrap
Geomega Resources Inc. (Boucherville, QC)
NeoCtech Corp. (Montreal, QC)

Micro-Factory Deployment and Integration Project
Mosaic Manufacturing Ltd. (Toronto, ON)
Microart Services Inc. (Markham, ON)
Wrmth Corp. (Toronto, ON)

Advanced Biomanufacturing of Cartilage Implants Using Cocoon Automation
Octane Orthobiologics Inc. (Kingston, ON)
C3i Center Inc. (Montreal, QC)
Orthopaedic Innovation Centre Inc. (Winnipeg, MB)

Metal Additive Manufacturing of Next-Generation Biomedical Lattice
Orthopaedic Innovation Centre Inc. (Winnipeg, MB)
OrthoPediatrics Canada (Laval, QC)
Spinologics (Montreal, QC)

Scaling of Autonomous Navigation Sensors through Photonic Wirebonding
One Silicon Chip Photonics (Montreal, QC)
AEPONYX Inc. (Montreal, QC)

Advanced Production Scheduling Optimization System
Panevo Services Ltd. (Vancouver, BC)
Saputo Dairy Products Canada G.P. (Montreal, QC)

Advanced Tool Manufacturing for Critical Hydrogen Fuel Cell Components in Canada
Precision Resource Canada Ltd. (Cambridge, ON)
Miltera Machining Research Corp. (Cambridge, ON)

Canadian Magnesium Cement Boards
ZS2 Technologies Ltd. (Calgary, AB)
Falkbuilt Ltd. (Calgary, AB)
LithiumBank Resources Corp. (Vancouver, BC)
Occam’s Technologies Inc. (Calgary, AB)
Progressive Planet Solutions (Richmond, BC)

Recombinant Collagen Fiber Manufacturing
3D BioFibR Inc. (Halifax, NS)
Plantform Corporation (Toronto, ON)

PTAAM Robotic Additive Manufacturing System
Canadian Innovative Materials Ltd. (Calgary, AB)
Manluk Mining (Wetaskiwin, AB)
Suncor Energy Inc. (Calgary, AB)

Enabling Advanced Therapeutics & Domestic Supply Chain for Biomanufacturing
CCRM (Toronto, ON)
BioVectra Inc. (Charlottetown, PEI)
Global Life Sciences Solutions Canada (Vancouver, BC)
Northern RNA Inc. (Calgary, AB)
OmniaBio Inc (Toronto, ON)
Precision NanoSystems Inc. (Vancouver, BC)

Discrete Manufacturing Assembly Transformation
Price Industries Ltd. (Winnipeg, MB)
Innovair Automation (Winnipeg, MB)
Mode40 (Steinbach, MB)
www.ngen.ca