At the official opening of GM Canada's new Canadian Technical Centre (CTC) in Markham, the company announced the GM Canada STEM Fund, a C$1.8 million commitment for educational programs to encourage students in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) and inspire the next generation of Canadian technology innovators.
Work at the CTC Markham Campus will focus on software development and innovation in the areas of next-generation active safety, in-car infotainment systems, and software and controls related to GM's development of self-driving vehicles. It will be Canada's largest new automotive and mobility software centre with more than 700 staff, leveraging an extensive network of university and local company partnerships.
The new GM Canada STEM Fund will build upon the successes of past programs, support new, national partnerships and initiatives focused on introducing elementary and high school students to STEM, with an emphasis on inspiring young girls to try science and technology, including through interactive, hands-on programs across the country.
At the post-secondary level, the Fund will also enable young researchers to complete their education through a new series of scholarships at leading universities. GM Canada announced that the first of these scholarships will be at the University of Waterloo, where it will create the GM Canada Innovators Award for students pursing graduate work in engineering.
"General Motors is redefining mobility and focused on realizing our vision of a world with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion. We believe that to realize this vision, we will need to support far greater participation in STEM," said GM Canada president and managing director Steve Carlisle. "We are proud to be marking today's official opening in Markham by announcing that we are expanding our investments across Canada to inspire the next generation of female mobility innovators."
"The University of Waterloo is proud to have GM Canada as a committed industry and research partner supporting Canada's top engineering talent at Waterloo from scholarships to co-op job placements, we are excited that GM recognizes the need to support Canadian-led innovations and its generous donation of $200,000 will be instrumental in enabling Engineering master's students to tackle the challenges facing our world today and in the future," said Dr. Feridun Hamdullahpur, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Waterloo.
The CTC Markham Campus is Canada's largest automotive software hub and is the latest in a series of investments in innovation, including the CTC campus in Oshawa, Cold Weather Testing facility in Kapuskasing, 2908 innovation lab at Communitech in Kitchener-Waterloo, and coming soon, a new Urban Mobility Campus in downtown Toronto.
GM Canada is also engaging the wider innovation ecosystem across Canada with new university partnerships - most recently, a new partnership with the Creative Destruction Lab at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Business.
"CTC Markham represents a new kind of GM workplace, centred on collaboration, open design, and creativity," said Brian Tossan, director of GM's Canadian Technical Centre. "GM Canada is at the forefront of reinventing mobility right here in Markham. We are helping develop software and systems that will enable us to save lives, reduce emissions and create smarter and better ways to travel, work and play. We've had a great year of growing our workforce, and we're not done yet; we are still actively recruiting several hundred engineers and software developers to help us achieve our vision."
"GM's commitment to diversity in innovation by expanding their STEM program for young Canadian women, will inspire the next generation of astronauts, engineers, doctors and even video game developers." GM is helping ensure that Canadian youth have the digital skills for the jobs of the future. Congratulations to the company on the official opening of their new Mobility Software Tech centre. Proof once more that Canada is truly leading when it comes to the ‘car of the future'," commented Navdeep Singh Bains, Canada's Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development.
