Success Stories

Initiative for Automotive Manufacturing and Innovation to Drive the Future of Ontario’s Auto Industry

Dr. David Wilkinson (left) and Dr. Jidong Kang (right) examine the results of a bulge test on a sheet of strip cast aluminum alloy.

With $100 billion in annual sales, the auto industry is the engine that drives Ontario’s economy.

But while we make more cars and parts than anywhere else in North America, in recent years our industry has come under increasing pressure from low cost, less regulated jurisdictions. 

Enter the new Initiative for Automotive Manufacturing Innovation (IAMI), a world-class automotive manufacturing research cluster. 

Jointly based at McMaster University and the University of Waterloo, IAMI’s goal is clear. It aims to give Ontario the technological edge needed to fight off growing competition. 

“The auto industry has changed dramatically over the past decade and it’s going to change even more in the next ten years,“ explains IAMI co-director and principal investigator Dr. David Wilkinson, who is also Director of the McMaster Centre for Automotive Materials and the McMaster Manufacturing Research Institute. “We can’t compete on the basis of cost. We have to compete on the basis of knowledge and innovation and that’s what we intend to do with this initiative.” 

With $46.5 million in funding over five years, including $15.5 from the McGuinty government’s Ontario Research Fund, a program of the Ministry of Research and Innovation, IAMI involves 30 top-notch researchers and a raft of partners that include automotive manufacturers, parts makers, materials developers and equipment manufacturers.  

“What’s unique about IAMI is that instead of addressing one problem, which is what most traditional research projects do, we’ll be tackling the development of the whole auto body structure of the future,” says Dr. Wilkinson. “Thanks to industry and government participation, we’ve got a rare opportunity to have a significant impact on an entire industry.” 

IAMI will conduct state-of-the art research in the key areas of advanced materials and coatings, advanced manufacturing processes and product performance.  

And to ensure that the technological advances created by this research are commercialized and implemented quickly by industry, there’s also an aggressive technology transfer program that taps into the expertise of the Xerox Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at McMaster and the Centre of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology at Waterloo.  

“All the necessary components are in place,” says Dr. Wilkinson. “We’ve got some of the finest researchers anywhere here in Ontario – and this project will train 200 more talented young researchers – a collaborative research environment and strong industry partnerships. Add to that a government that’s actively promoting innovation and the climate is right for success.”

John Wood, Senior Advisor, Research and Development and Technology for GM Canada agrees.

“Innovation is fundamental to the continued success of Ontario’s auto industry,” he says. “By collaborating on this scale, not only will we be able to design better parts and processes that will help to keep us competitive, we’ll also produce better educated researchers who will go on to create even more innovations.”