Premier Ford and Ministers tour Davis Campus to see COVID-19 relief efforts

Earlier today, Premier Doug Ford, along with Ross Romano, Minister of Colleges and Universities, and Prabmeet Sarkaria, MPP for Brampton South and Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction, visited Sheridan College’s Davis Campus in Brampton. The delegation toured two spaces operating under enhanced safety measures that are being used to support COVID-19 relief efforts.

Premier Ford and the Ministers first visited the Centre for Advanced Manufacturing and Design Technologies (CAMDT), one of Sheridan’s six research and incubation centres, which houses industrial 3D printers, robotic arms, circuit board printers, laser and water-jet cutters and other advanced technologies. Overseen by Director Dr. Michelle Chrétien, CAMDT’s team has a wealth of experience in addressing industry problems, which positioned them well to pivot to address shortages in the supply chain at the outset of the pandemic.

Since April 2020, a team at CAMDT has been fabricating two types of face shields for donation to health care workers at hospitals and long-term care homes in Brampton, Mississauga, and Oakville – Sheridan’s campus communities. CAMDT’s production of face shields has been financially supported in part by FedDev Ontario’s SONAMI network, of which Sheridan is a member, and design input from the Toronto Emergency Device Accelerator and local clinicians.

More recently, through a partnership with Coca-Cola Canada, the CAMDT team fabricated two styles of a protective countertop shield for use by small businesses across Ontario at their points of sale. With plexiglass in short supply, the team opted to make most shields with recyclable polyethylene terephthalate supported by an aluminum frame. More than 200 shields are being distributed by Coke Bottling, and Sheridan’s designs will remain openly available online.

“The efforts of our CAMDT team to produce thousands of units of protective equipment for use by health care workers and small business owners is a tremendous achievement,” says Dr. Janet Morrison, Sheridan’s President and Vice Chancellor, who helped lead the tour. “Using skills and technology to fill an immediate need is where Sheridan shines.”

Minister Romano continued the tour with a visit to the Practical Nursing (PN) program lab in the Centre for Healthy Communities. On July 14, 41 students returned to campus  to complete crucial hands-on lab requirements that were disrupted in March due to the pandemic, prior to embarking on their final field placements. This optional opportunity for final semester PN students will launch more much-needed professionals into the health care industry.