Off Site Meeting at the McMaster Innovation Park

Thanks to Sharon Lacey, Director of Vocational Services, we were able to meet at the McMaster Innovation Park at 175 Longwood Road in Hamilton. Ruth Liebersbach, CFO at MIP was our host and guide. After an elegant breakfast of fruit, danishes, smoked salmon and boiled eggs, Ruth outlined the purpose of the MIP.  She introduced it in three words: connect, collaborate, commercialize. The  intent is to help market businesses, help develop ideas and financing links and help give technological grads a place to incubate their ideas. By having a variety of advanced manufacturing and bio sciences located on the same site it becomes easier to build synergies among the various players.

After her brief introduction, Ruth took the 33 Rotarians in attendance on a walking tour of the administrative building. We saw labs, meeting rooms and a variety of business enterprises. The facility also has a large gym that is available 24 h a day for both the people who work in the building as well as anyone else who would like to become members. She also took us to the heat exchange room where deep wells beneath the building provide the heating and cooling for several facilities within the complex. Once the complex is fully developed it will contain a hotel as well as multiple buildings like the Ontario Centre for Excellence, the automotive/hybrid engine plant and the mini steel mill.