How to Get Involved

Centennial Innovates leads the applied research, innovation and entrepreneurship activities at Centennial College. We engage a wide range of faculty, staff and students across all Centennial schools in collaborative projects and initiatives with our diverse industry and community partners.

Did you know?

Centennial is the #1 college in Canada for student engagement in applied research through paid internships. Our student researchers work directly with industry and community partners in projects across healthcare, aerospace, advanced manufacturing, transportation, energy, artificial intelligence, social innovation and other growing sectors.

Get Involved as a Centennial Student

Become a student researcher: Students are at the heart of our innovation activities, with student experiential learning being central to their engagement. When students become part of an applied research project, they work directly with industry and community partners on their real-world problems. This practical experience enhances our student researchers’ abilities to modernize and innovate within their field, and provides a valuable opportunity to work with the industry’s emerging and advanced technologies.

See our current student researcher opportunities under the ExperienceCentennial job postings!

Cultivate your entrepreneurial and sustainability mindset: Our Centre of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (COIE) equips individuals with the experience, skills and mindset to become future change-leaders. They hold 2-3 workshops every week throughout the year tailored to all stages of entrepreneurship and innovation. COIE’s workshops and experiential programs are free, online, and open to all. Check out their programming here!

Get Involved as Centennial Faculty/Staff

Become a Faculty Researcher / Principal Investigator: Our faculty provide the expert mentorship, guidance and oversight in all our applied research projects, either as Principal Investigator or part of the project’s research team. They are essential to each project, working with students and industry partners to provide innovation support.

Join the Applied Research and Innovation Fellowship (ARIF): Faculty and staff can apply to our annual Applied Research and Innovation Fellowship (ARIF) grant program, where we provide seed funding for staff- and faculty-initiated innovation projects. Through ARIF, we build internal innovation capacity and empower faculty/staff to lead their own projects.

Get Involved as an Industry/Community Partner

Collaborate on applied research projects with us: We are excited to partner with a diverse range of partners – from committed small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to multinational industry leaders – to build capacity, solve challenges and improve products, services, and processes. SMEs can collaborate with us and access college, provincial and federal funds for their applied research projects.

Interested in leveraging our state-of-the-art facilities, equipment and expertise to solve practical problems and improve operations? Fill out our interest form or contact aries@centennialcollege.ca!

Testimonials from our Innovation Community

"Working [in applied research] at Centennial College has been a game changer for me. The opportunities that [Centennial Innovates] provides research students with to engage directly with partners and clients can be daunting at first, since having meetings with C-Suite executives and high caliber engineers from well-established and ambitious companies is not a small responsibility to take on. However, as research student, you feel empowered by the back up of a team that enables you to develop skills that can only be learned here: establishing proper communication channels, learning to transfer technical knowledge, understanding of stakeholder relationships, and much needed project management skills, such as asset management, teamwork building, and product requirement definition are not only, but a few skills I have gained across multiple projects with ARIES, all while applying and honing my technical skills to develop and create the best solutions sought by partners and clients. I can confidently say that these skills have changed the way I approach projects and have enabled me to have a bigger, more meaningful impact on my teams, environment, and career not only by developing a client-oriented and result-oriented mindset, but also by minding and creating healthy teamwork environments with fellow teammates and peers."

- Jorge Corichi, student researcher who worked on two projects in advanced manufacturing and one project on energy

"Working closely with the CEDA team at Centennial College has been an invaluable partnership for our company. Their expertise in AI development has significantly accelerated our progress in addressing our business challenges, particularly those related to technology. Through their collaboration, we've been able to leverage cutting-edge AI techniques to develop our predictive fermentation data model, a critical component of our business strategy. Their dedication, professionalism, and commitment to excellence have consistently exceeded our expectations, resulting in tangible benefits for our company. We look forward to continuing this successful partnership and achieving even greater milestones together."

– Subhi Alsayed, Founder and CEO, Kulture Rebellion, who collaborated with CEDA to develop a machine learning model to predict the different combination of flavours of beverages.

"[The] SACHAYS hackathon experience was truly transformative, both personally and professionally. The process of building, wire-framing to prototyping and development, challenged and inspired me. It reaffirmed the significance of mentorship to students and youth. I am grateful to Centennial Innovates, SIRC, and WIMTACH for the opportunity to contribute to the development of this app that has the potential to empower countless food banks and foster a culture of continuous growth and learning."

– Mahesh Nileshwar, Executive Director, South Asian Cultural, Health Association for Youth and Seniors (SACHAYS).

"WIMTACH provides a great opportunity to bring industry collaboration with academia. As a professor who teaches research-based capstone projects at the Applied Biological and Environmental Sciences (ABES) department, these collaborations help to establish long-term partnerships with industry partners and future employers. Many successful research projects are integrated into the capstone project curriculum. In addition, students who work as research assistants get experiential learning and professional experience. The skills gained during research and development enhance the employability of students. As an educator, I consider “student success” beyond the curriculum and particularly meeting their original goals of pursuing the degree. As such, I have a clear record of student success in the biotechnology field, which shows over 95% of the student researchers grab leading positions in the food and biotech industries. At least three of my students who worked on my projects have recently joined the teaching team in the biotechnology program. It is a wonderful experience to see students as learners at the beginning, growing as researchers, and evolving as colleagues. Some students contribute to quality work and as coauthors to publications, which highlight the college’s reputation on the global stage."

- Prof. Siyam Subair, ABES faculty, Principal Investigator and ARIF participant since 2018

Questions?

For more information on how to get involved with Centennial Innovates, contact aries@centennialcollege.ca.