Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador’s (MUN’s) newest $22-million facility, dubbed The Launch, will serve as an innovation hub to further research and technology development for the oceans sector.
Located on the shores of Conception Bay in Holyrood, N.L., The Launch is set up to test research in real-life scenarios.
“The facility and where it’s located provides what we like to call a living lab environment,” said Kelly Santos, the director of The Launch. “It’s a safe, sheltered environment, but it provides real-world conditions. Our clients are able to bring their technology here and to demonstrate it, to test it, to move it into a stage where they’re able to move it into their operations.”
While The Launch sits on the site of an older Marine Institute facility, which was housed in an old fish plant, the addition of the new Arthur W. May building adds both workshops, office spaces, collaborative spaces and classrooms for students and clients alike to take full advantage of the facility. The 36,000-square-foot facility has been in development since 2010.
“It really is going to provide that one-stop-shop approach, so that clients can do their work more efficiently and just get the most value out of the time that they’re here.”
The Arthur W. May building is named after the former president of MUN, who presided over the university from 1990–1999. He is also credited with bringing the Marine Institute under the Memorial University umbrella and highlighting the importance of advancements in the province’s oceans sector.
While May died in 2014, his wife, children and grandchildren were in attendance for the grand opening and ribbon cutting.
“Dad would have been honoured and humbled to have this building named after him,” said Stephen May to the crowd gathered for The Launch’s inaugural ceremony. “While he had many achievements, serving as president of his university was his proudest.”
The Launch will also provide students at the facility an opportunity to access their chosen industry through their education. According to Santos, the companies doing research and development in and around the Arthur W. May building will have internship and career opportunities available.
“We do have a work term program. We work pretty closely with our industry partners on that, and it provides really easy pathways for our students to connect with industry as a part of their work term,” said Santos. “Oftentimes, those work terms turn into career approaches or a long-term career with our industry partners.”
Clients and students will have access to spaces like the Centre for Applied Ocean Technology (CTec), an Offshore Safety and Survival Centre (OSSC), the SmartAtlantic ocean observation system, the Holyrood Subsea Observatory and SmartBay Holyrood.
CTec is the research and development wing of Marine Institute’s School of Ocean Technology. It’s designed to provide technical experience from organizations and researchers in the field and foster the development and adoption of technology within the sector.
The OSSC at The Launch is one of many in the province that provides nationally and internationally accredited safety and emergency response courses for offshore oil, marine transportation, fishing and other industries, with a staff of over 40 knowledgeable instructors.
The facility is home to SmartAtlantic, the ocean observation system in Canada that provides data in the areas of climate change, fisheries and ocean management and safety.
In partnership with Ocean Networks Canada, The Launch’s Holyrood Subsea Observatory allows for the monitoring of life in the ocean for the purpose of testing instrumentation designed for harsh environments.
SmartBay Holyrood is another applied research facility for the development and testing of commercial cold ocean technologies.
Santos believes that with the reputation they’ve garnered and the inauguration of The Launch, the Marine Institute will continue to serve marine industries worldwide as a key partner in the future of ocean technologies.
“Technology is such that it doesn’t matter what the ocean sector is, there’s room for growth. Doesn’t matter if it’s aquaculture or fisheries or marine shipping or the ocean tech sector in general. It’s an incredibly exciting place to be right now,” said Santos. “Our local ecosystem is incredibly strong — it’s growing at a very significant pace. The timing of this facility is fantastic in that it will be able to support that growth.”
