Mohawk College opens new technological center

Mohawk College’s aviation training programs have been brought together in one location at Hamilton International Airport.

The college has provided a virtual tour of its newly opened Centre for Aviation Technology, a 75,000 square foot complex featuring labs and classrooms, and built in cooperation with KF Aerospace.

The training center features a 25,000 square foot maintenance hangar with 16 aircraft.

Grant Stevens of KF Aerospace says the hands-on training is critical to industry partners, since “we expect those students to be able to come into our facilities, and be able to interpret blueprints and technical drawings, technical instructions and then be able to execute their job.”

Stevens adds that “you just can’t do that with theoretical learning.”

Mohawk College President Ron McKerlie says their aviation programs, previously capped at 175 students and offered through four different locations, can now double their capacity to 350 students.

McKerlie notes that they had reached their enrollment capacity “based on available space, and students were spread across the city.”

He describes their new facility as “the newest and most innovative aviation training facility in the country.”

While passenger traffic has plummeted during the COVID-19 pandemic, Hamilton International Airport President Cathie Puckering says the amount of cargo moving through Hamilton’s airport surged last year by 24 percent.

Puckering says Mohawk College’s Centre for Aviation Technology will support the city’s post-pandemic recovery by “further strengthening of the strategic advantages that Hamilton has, and will continue to create jobs in this region.”