Officials at NORCAT are calling it a milestone announcement. The federal government is providing $4.5 million for a major expansion at the NORCAT underground innovation centre. The expansion will create testing opportunities for the Canadian Armed Forces and NATO-aligned defence partners. The NORCAT underground innovation centre is located in Onaping. “For background, our underground centre is an operating mine, which allows companies – startups, technology developers -- to test and validate their products in a real-world environment in an underground centre,” said NORCAT CEO Pejman Salehi. The $4.5 million from the federal government means the expanded facility will be able to replicate complex mining- and defence-related environments. “We are a unique centre across not just Canada but the world,” said Brendan Skiffington, NORCAT innovation manager. Opens new opportunities “We are looking at exploring a bunch of different opportunities. One of them being making it a NATO DIANA test site. This would allow for companies from NATO-allied countries to come to Sudbury and test and validate their technology here, as well.” Sudbury MP Viviane Lapointe made the announcement Friday morning, saying the expansion gives Sudbury the potential to become a defence powerhouse. “We know that they do some great testing of mining innovation, but this will allow them to now do testing of defence innovations,” Lapointe said. “They also plan to submit an application so they can be a certified and validated site to do testing under the Canadian Armed Forces. So it is a huge step in us being able for us to step into the defence sector.” NORCAT said the expansion will mean larger equipment can access the centre and it will also expand testing capabilities. “By having a test bed underground, we are able to replicate harsh subterranean environments,” Skiffington said. “So how (can you) be able to communicate with a technology in a GPS-denied scenario? So there are also situations where there is low light or no light.” NORCAT said RFPs have been issued for the expansion and construction is expected to start in the new year.
