The Calgary International Airport is set to become the new home of Calgary’s latest industry and academia connection space, with the launch of the Aerospace Innovation Hub (AIH).
The opening of the hub was announced on March 11, by AIH partners Innovate Calgary, Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund (OCIF), the Calgary Airport Authority, WestJet, the University of Calgary, and Chapter.ai Ventures.
Funding for the AIH totalled over $10 million, with the Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund investing $3.9 million of that funding over four years.
Dr. John Wilson, CEO of Innovate Calgary, said that the creation of the hub was a recognition of another important sector of the Calgary economy that had flown under the radar.
“I’m now my eighth year in Calgary, and right from the beginning, people have been telling me ‘Actually, there’s a lot going on here, we should celebrate it,’ and the start of celebrating is convening,” Wilson said.
“There are three things you need to get a business going. It’s money, intellectual property, and everything else, and the hub is everything else, which is facilities, space, experts, and a place where one company can learn from another and have a sense of community.”
Hub to create jobs, and develop intellectual property for Calgary companies
Brad Parry, CEO of OCIF, said that the hub was expected to have big impacts on the Calgary economy and that the OCIF investment was expected to generate 150 jobs, connect 180 companies, and produce $1.5 million of intellectual property including an estimated 40 patents.
“I think what it comes down to is us diversifying the economy but also looking for innovation, and we think the aerospace industry—for us, we’ve been talking about this for years—how we have a chance to really own some of that space in North America,” Parry said.
“This just goes to help us build that flywheel for us to bring companies in to try new technologies invest in those technologies but have real-world solutions happening right here.”
He said that the hub would also allow Calgary to become a net exporter of intellectual property, which would also scale companies in Calgary.
“We want to have that IP developed here built here, and scaled here, versus having to take us somewhere else,” Parry said.
“Companies don’t have to leave Calgary anymore to do that. They can actually get the funding here. They can get the talent here, and you can scale their companies and part of that work is to get IP developed.”
WestJet to act as anchor airline for Aerospace Innovation Hub
WestJet is acting as the hub’s anchor airline company, to connect businesses looking to innovate in the airline space a real-world test bed.
“We have ambitious growth plans, and we need innovation for them. This hub will make our operations more efficient, improve processes, free up resources to fuel that growth and looking I’m looking very much forward to that innovation to streamline some of the airline airport experiences that we all go through,” said WestJet’s Chief Digital Officer Christian Novosel.
CEO of the Calgary Airport Authority, Chris Dinsdale, echoed those sentiments by saying that innovation in the aerospace sector was no longer a luxury.
“We know that we belong to an ecosystem that we stand not on an island, but part of a much larger chain. A chain that spans advanced manufacturing to startups, from government at all levels to academia, a chain that also includes this entire community,” Dinsdale said.
“We have a responsibility to make sure that those traveling through our airport have the best possible experience. Make no mistake, meeting that objective is wholly dependent on innovation. On smoother and more efficient digital infrastructure, on safer and greener aircraft, and on working to innovate everything that we do. But innovation doesn’t happen on its own. It can only thrive when it’s given space and support.”
Dr. Wilson said that he had already been impressed with the work that WestJet had been doing with their own innovation hub, and the possibilities that could prove for other firms.
“I recently went to WestJet Innovation Day, and I was blown away. There were somewhere between 50 and 60 companies, all creating innovative products for just one company WestJet. That’s 50 or 60 companies in this local area for one company,” he said.
“So imagine how many other small companies around here are creating products for de Havilland, for Raytheon, and many other large companies here. These companies can all learn from each other. And so this really is a convening space in a place where we grow the community.”
