Sheridan’s Davis campus is home to some of Sheridan’s most exciting applied research projects, dynamic community partnership initiatives, and state of the art facilities in engineering, technology and the skilled trades.
These programs and facilities are designed to not only educate highly qualified graduates, but respond to the unique needs of the community Sheridan calls home. Over the past five years, more than 12,000 students have graduated from our Davis Campus and directly entered the workforce – with a quarter of them – about 3,200 – finding work in the City of Brampton.
Purposeful creativity and applied, realworld problem solving are hallmarks of a Sheridan education. Our engineering and technology programs in Brampton are no different. Through our Centre for Advanced Manufacturing and Design Technologies (CAMDT), Sheridan has created an accessible community innovation hub for Brampton – where manufacturing is the top industrial sector – that’s fueled by creative student thinking and rooted in close collaboration with industry. CAMDT was founded through a $2.5 million
investment by the City of Brampton and has been supported by the Federal and Provincial government and committed industry partners. The Centre brings together large companies who provide technology, software and expertise, with small and medium sized enterprises who are facing a business challenge, and students, who are supervised by faculty members, and who roll up their sleeves to tackle the problem. CAMDT’s research areas and specialized equipment include additive manufacturing (3D printing) and rapid prototyping; sustainable energy systems; plant layout/efficiency; robotics and automation systems.
Through this partnership approach, Sheridan becomes the R&D arm for small and medium sized enterprises who may not otherwise have access to the cutting-edge equipment that’s found in Sheridan’s workshops, studios and labs. Collaboration is critically important in Brampton, where (in 2013) 94% of all businesses had less than 50 employees. To date, CAMDT has worked with more than 40 industry partners – including Hatch, Siemens and ABB Robotics, as well as numerous small companies throughout Peel Region. Over 1,500 students learn by using CAMDT’s equipment every year.
In 2017, the creative community of learners at our Davis campus in Brampton grew to include Sheridan’s School of Skilled Trades and Apprenticeships, which relocated from Oakville. The school now occupies a purpose-built, 130,000 square foot facility in Brampton opened for classes. The new building includes 52,000 square feet of workshops and lab space, a 3,500 square foot Learning Commons, and a sustainable design, including rainwater collection, photovoltaic system, and LED lighting. The building’s new District Energy Centre will centrally supply cooling and heating to the entire campus, and share additional energy with the surrounding Brampton community.
As they join our vibrant campus community, these skilled trades and apprenticeship students will also benefit by being co-located with our Engineering programs, giving
their education a new dimension through exposure to areas such as 3D printing, mechatronics and robotics. They will also be more closely connected to Brampton’s dynamic manufacturing sector, creating countless new opportunities for collaboration and experiential learning with our community.
Sheridan’s commitment to nurturing innovation and creativity in Brampton reaches far beyond its campus boundaries. In partnership with the City of Brampton and the Brampton Library, the college helped found MakerSpace Brampton in 2014. Through regular activities at five Brampton Library branches, MakerSpace Brampton provides technology demonstrations and hands-on workshops – many of which are led by Sheridan professors, staff and student volunteers – that help young children, budding entrepreneurs, newcomers to Canada, and seniors learn new skills and experiment with new technology. Workshops include 3D printing, web design and coding, architecture and basic chemistry. In 2016, Sheridan students logged over 900 volunteer hours at the MakerSpace.
As Sheridan embarks on new partnerships, opens new facilities, and welcomes new students to our Davis campus in Brampton, we are thrilled at the exciting opportunities on the horizon. Bolstering the City’s competitiveness and ensuring its position as a leading Ontario economy is a bigger job than any single organization can achieve. We look forward to our continued collaboration with our industrial and municipal government partners to cultivate innovation and nurture tomorrow’s leaders.
