General Motors of Canada Automotive Centre of Excellence marks first year of operation

Oshawa, ON – One year ago today dignitaries and guests gathered to officially open the Automotive Centre of Excellence (ACE) at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT). Today, this state-of-the-art facility is attracting attention from manufacturers of all descriptions, start-up companies and prospective clients from around the world. 

“ACE is the first testing and research facility of its kind in Canada, and in many respects, the world,” said John Komar, director, Engineering and Operations, ACE. “As a result, we are generating interest from a broad range of sectors, including automotive, aerospace, transit, national defence, green energy, competitive athletes and the movie industry. People like the fact that they can work, test and validate their products using a $100 million tool that is truly independent, highly secure and operated by a team of top notch engineers and technicians. ACE is a place where industry can collaborate with world-class experts on scientific research and engineering development projects.”

Some of the highlights over the past year include:

• A visit by a production crew from the United Kingdom to film part of a groundbreaking documentary on severe weather for the National Geographic Channel in the United States. The crew was shooting the impact of high winds, freezing rain and driving snow as well as simulating earthquake conditions in both 3D and 2D. These segments were filmed in both the climatic wind tunnel and the multi-axis simulation table chamber;  

• A crew from the Discovery Channel used the climatic wind tunnel to simulate hurricane conditions for a documentary that aired in November 2011; and

• CBC comedian Rick Mercer used the climatic four-poster shaker chamber and the climatic wind tunnel for a segment of his nationally broadcast program, the Rick Mercer Report.

ACE is equipped with a full range of test chambers that allow for full climatic, durability and lifecycle testing, including one of the largest and most sophisticated climatic wind tunnels in the world. ACE has an area of approximately 16,300 square metres and is divided into two distinct sections, a core research facility and an integrated research and training facility.  

The core research facility is a heavy lab area with five distinctive test chambers:

• Climatic Wind Tunnel – In this chamber wind speeds can exceed 240 kilometres per hour, temperatures range from -40 to +60°C and relative humidity ranges from 5 to 95 per cent. It also has a readily reconfigurable solar array that will replicate the effects of the sun and is hydrogen-capable, allowing for alternative fuels and fuel cell development;

• Climate Chambers (2) – ACE has a large and a small climate chamber that provide exacting conditions of both temperature and humidity. The large climate chamber is a higher feature chamber that includes an input dynamometer coupled with a solar array. Temperatures range from -40°C to +60°C and humidity from 5 to 95 per cent;

• Climatic Four-Poster Shaker – ACE has a drive-on four-poster shaker within a climatic chamber. This vertical axis shaker can provide the motion for simulated drive surfaces and provides suspension and body durability for applications like squeak and rattle. It is also capable of performing severe structural durability and life cycle testing. Temperatures range from -40°C to +60°C and humidity from 5 to 95 per cent; and

• Multi-Axis Simulation Table (MAST) – ACE has a multi-axis shaker table (or MAST) in a hemi-anechoic (semi-soundproofed) chamber. The inverted hexapod design allows for products to be tested for structural durability and the detection of noise and vibration in a three-dimensional envelope using six degrees of freedom.  

The integrated research and training facility spans five floors with space dedicated for research, education and training. It has offices, laboratories, conference rooms and common work areas that are available to rent for single-focus or collaborative projects. ACE is fostering an environment of collaboration and interaction between industry, researchers and students.

ACE was developed in partnership with UOIT, General Motors of Canada, the Government of Ontario, the Government of Canada and the Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE).

For a tour of the ACE facility please visit: www.ace.uoit.ca.

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Media contact
Bryan Oliver
Communications and Marketing
Ontario Tech University
905.721.8668 ext. 2209
bryan.oliver@uoit.ca