Success Stories
Turning Good Ideas Into New Economic Opportunities
Through the Ontario BioAuto Council, the province is investing $2.5 million in The Woodbridge Group, Canadian General-Tower Limited and GreenCore Composites Inc.
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Inna Dolgopolsky
Product Development Director
The Woodbridge Group
Inna Dolgopolsky has ‘gone green’.
Whether she’s studying different aspects of natural and alternative medicines for herself and her family in her spare time, or developing new products and applications using natural oils and fibres for the Woodbridge Group’s line of eco-friendly automobile components, Inna is at the forefront of the green revolution.
As a product development director at Woodbridge, just north of Toronto, Inna’s job is to “grow the business.” And at Woodbridge, that means introducing its expanding line of bio-based components to the auto industry today – and promoting their eco-friendly products for the new vehicles that will be built in the future.
The Woodbridge Group’s BioFoam technology, derived from plant seed oils instead of petroleum, is now used in the seat cushions, head restraints and arm rests of several popular vehicles. And that has led to new applications for the material – one application meshes BioFoam with natural fibres to create automotive ceilings (headliners) that are lighter and provide better cabin sound quality. Through the Ontario BioAuto Council, the province is committing $1 million to this project.
Inna has seen a lot of changes since she began with the company in 1996 as a graduate from McMaster University with a Masters in Engineering. Her biggest challenge is to create products that use a higher natural content without compromising the integrity.
And in fact, that’s the best part about working at Woodbridge, she says. “I get to be creative and at the same time create products that are used in everyday life. It’s very exciting when you can see the car on the street and know that the headliner was produced here and that it’s part of my shop and my work. At Woodbridge, we have the ability to change the face – and impact the future -- of the automotive parts industry.”
That face is already changing. “We have lots of interest from the automotive industry. It’s coming from all of our customers, not just one. North American and Japanese automakers are very interested in the new, greener car. In fact, they would like to see more of the greener component.”
Kevin Liping Dong
Product Development Research
The Woodbridge Group
Kevin Liping Dong really is an Ontario success story.
Arriving in Canada from mainland China in 1996, Kevin faced a problem shared by many newcomers to Canada: finding a job, and more importantly, finding a job in his chosen field.
And like many newcomers, he worked where he could to support himself and his family.
Then he landed a job with the Woodbridge Group, an international parts supplier to the automotive industry, located just north of Toronto. It was tough at the beginning, but Kevin gladly accepted positions as a machine operator, a loader and a packer. “I worked everywhere,” he says.
A couple of years later, Kevin had an opportunity to discuss his educational background with Dr. Hamdy Khalil, Woodbridge’s global director of research and product development, who discovered that Kevin was a highly trained and skilled chemist. In fact, he held Bachelor and Masters degrees in chemistry from Chinese universities.
Dr. Khalil encouraged Kevin to apply for a lab technician position and today, Kevin is one of the company’s top product development researchers. He describes himself as a “new ideas generator. I turn out new ideas,” he smiles.
His dedication to the company that unearthed his talents and gave him an opportunity is evident in everything he says. “I have made Woodbridge my home,” he says proudly, “home for me and my family. This is a good company. And I am proud to be a member of the product development team. I want to contribute all of my knowledge and my skills to this company,” he says.
Without taking a breath, he adds, “and to this country.”
Kevin’s love for his new country is inspiring: “I am a Canadian now. I am most proud of being Canadian. And Ontario has the most beautiful land, fresh air and fresh, clean water.”
A true Ontario success story.
Dr. Hamdy Khalil
Global Technical Director for Research and Product Development
The Woodbridge Group
Dr. Hamdy Khalil knows that all the talent and all the materials he needed to position the Woodbridge Group as a world leader are right here in Ontario.
As the global technical director for research and product development at Woodbridge, a major multi-national supplier of component parts to the automotive industry, Hamdy is unapologetic in his support for everything Ontario has to offer.
“We have talent here that is unmatched anywhere in the world. We have the largest amount of biomass available in the world. We can stand up to anybody and show that we have the competence and the ideas, and that we are able to execute.”
It will take a great deal of talent and even more biomass to propel Woodbridge to world status as a supplier of choice for bio-based products for the automotive industry.
The Woodbridge Group’s BioFoam technology is making serious inroads in new car production. Derived from plant seed oils instead of petroleum, BioFoam today is used in the seat cushions, head restraints and arm rests of several popular vehicles.
And with their sights set on the cars of the future, Woodbridge is also developing new applications for their eco-friendly material.
One is a system that incorporates BioFoam with natural fibres to create automotive ceilings (headliners) that are lighter and provide better interior sound quality. Through the Ontario BioAuto Council, the province is committing $1 million to this project.
The company’s move to bio-based materials is in keeping with Woodbridge’s original vision, which was to create challenging and meaningful jobs. “Once you identify what is a challenging and meaningful job, then what comes from that is a very clear policy for development, a clear strategy of continuous growth, and clear direction of how we manage our own affairs and interface with our various departments. And that vision has been the cornerstone of the company from the day it was founded.”
Hamdy is constantly on the search for qualified individuals to join Woodbridge’s team of researchers. That includes working with Ontario universities to select the proper students for the company’s co-op program.
“We’re looking for a good fundamental foundation in science. But we’re also looking for attributes that the individual would offer in their ability to think in a wider perspective, not to be confined to dogma of any kind. We want people who work well with others in a team, people who can accept new ideas and accommodate change. We always start looking at Canadian universities first.” Seldom does he need to venture further than Ontario.
“Many of our employees are graduates of Ontario universities, specifically Waterloo. Our own CEO is a graduate of Waterloo. He started here as a co-op student. All of our senior management and many of our scientists and engineers are graduates of Ontario universities as well.”
It’s one of the main reasons why multi-national Woodbridge is very much an Ontario company. “We stay in Ontario because we know we can succeed here. We have an excellent pool of talent from the universities around us, outstanding skilled labourers, and that gives us a great deal of differentiation from other jurisdictions.”
And he’s proud of the advancements Woodbridge has made to make automobile components greener and more environmentally friendly. “We’ve been able to show that bio technology is not a fantasy, it’s not a curiosity. Our products clearly demonstrate that bio technology can be used in durable products, in the most demanding applications and can be applied using existing manufacturing processes.”
