Written by Jennifer Gawor

Members of Centennial College came out to show their support as a founding DAIR academic institution member for our FedDev Ontario funding announcement event on August 23.

This exciting event included a VIP tour with the Honourable Helena Jaczek, Minister of FedDev Ontario, the Honourable Filomena Tassi, Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Member of Parliament for Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas and Minister responsible for Canada Lands Company, and Ya’ara Saks, Member of Parliament for York Centre. Andrew Petrou, Chair of the DAIR Board and AVP of Strategic Initiatives and External Relations (SIER), led attendees through the Bombardier Centre for Aerospace and Aviation facilities at Centennial’s Downsview Campus highlighting the state of the art CNC lab, as well as the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Aerospace Engineering Centre, and plans for the future MOTH Building development.

CNC lab at the Bombardier Centre for Aerospace and Aviation Photo
Andrew Petrou leads VIP tour through the CNC lab at the Bombardier Centre for Aerospace and Aviation facilities at Centennial College’s Downsview Campus
SIER team in front of plane photo
SIER team (from Left to right): Peter Groot, Manjeet Kang, Nancy Wun, Jennifer Gawor, Samia Khandakar, Charlene Fernandes, Andrew Petrou, and Mezart Daulet.

We’d like to thank the following attendees from Centennial College for participating in this milestone for DAIR:

  • Dr. Craig Stephenson – President & CEO
  • Andrew Petrou – AVP, SIER
  • Brad Chapman – CFO, VP Business Development
  • Glen Lowry – Associate VP, Applied Research, Hyflex Learning and Academic Partnership
  • Henri Dekker – AVP Real Estate Strategy and Facilities Operations
  • Eric Blaise – Director Applied Research and Innovation (Aerospace, Advanced Manufacturing)
  • Julie McFayden – Director, Communications
  • Josh James – Aerospace Technician
  • Milad Hoorzad – Project Coordinator, Research and Innovation Team
  • Manjeet Kang – Manager, Strategic Partnerships, SIER
  • Samia Khandakar – Manager of Government Relations, SIER
  • Charlene Fernandes – Communications & Marketing Strategist, SIER
  • Jennifer Gawor – Social Media Manager/Office Administrator, SIER
  • Mezart Daulet – Manager, grants and External Relations, SIER
  • Peter Groot – Grants Coordinator, SIER
  • Nancy Wun, Centennial College Project Manager of Environmental and Related Technologies Hub (EaRTH) District

We are thrilled to have Centennial College as a founding DAIR member and look forward to celebrating future achievements in advancing the aerospace industry.