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view . fall 2012 . CEI
North American Firsts
The Centre for Engineering Innovation will be a truly groundbreaking facility for the University. Equipped with
features not found anywhere else in North America, and some not even in the Western Hemisphere, the CEI
will also be groundbreaking for Canada.
Centre For Structures Safety And
Failure Analysis
The structures lab features one-and-a-half
metre thick concrete walls paired with an
equally strong floor to test durability and
failure of test components. Nothing like it
has ever been seen in a university setting
before. Equipped with a 20-ton crane, the
strong room offers unparalleled learning
opportunities for our students.
The wall is 4.92’ thick by 35.4’ high and the floor
is 3.6’ thick. Casting of these elements was a
challenge and precautions were taken to minimize
concrete cracking due to high temperatures
reached in the concrete.
Far left: construction crews on site as the strong
wall was built before the exterior wall around
it. Left: Naseem Samaan BASc ’12 shows the
complete wall, and it’s impressive size.
Intelligent Manufacturing Systems Centre
Students will experiment with the entire chain of innovation in the first centre to offer rapid
prototyping and trial manufacturing assembly of small consumer goods in the Western
Hemisphere. Industry will no longer need to reconfigure their entire factory assembly chain
to test new methodologies; they will be able to utilize UWindsor’s factory within a lab to
find and gain efficiencies within hours.
Engineering post-doctoral fellows Sameh Badrous (left) and Tarek AlGeddawy examine a desk set they
designed and assembled in the Intelligent Manufacturing Systems Centre.
BMO Learning Forum
This 350-seat classroom turns the
traditional Socratic teaching style on its
head. Representing the inception of a new
brand of cooperative learning, the BMO
Learning Forum utilizes clustered student
groups, unique placement of whiteboards
and teaching spaces, and integrated audio-
visual equipment to create a truly innovative
educational experience.
Wind and Renewable Energies
Centre of Expertise
The first of its kind in North America, our
wind energies centre will help to fuel new
industry for the Great Lakes Region and
offer students practical and actionable skills
they just won’t find elsewhere.
