Founded in the early 1970s, the Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick (CCNB) offers approximately 85 professional and technical training programs to all Francophone and Acadian communities in the province of New Brunswick, through its five campuses located in Bathurst, Campbellton, Dieppe, Edmundston and in the Acadian Peninsula. CCNB’s head office is located in Bathurst. The CCNB decided to take part, in 2005, in the major pan-Canadian initiative aimed at developing applied research capacity in Canadian colleges, with a view to better assisting and helping innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and integrate teachers and students to it. The Centre for Applied Research and Innovation (INNOV) was thus born. The INNOV Network has nearly thirty highly qualified employees, assigned full-time to meet the needs of SMEs in applied research, technical assistance, information dissemination and specialized training. These engineers / scientists / technicians are divided into three divisions located in Bathurst (Advanced Manufacturing), Caraquet (Advanced Materials) and Grand Falls (Bioeconomy). Services are offered in French and English. Some team members also speak fluently Arabic, Dutch, Indian languages [Hindi, Odiya, Telegu], Mandarin, Portuguese or Swedish.) The INNOV Network is a member of the prestigious Tech-Access Canada network through its Advanced Manufacturing Division.

Research Capabilities

Broad services offered
  • Interactive tours and diagnostics
  • Feasibility study
  • Engineering & specialized scientific / technical assistance
  • Design of equipment / tools
  • Process development
  • 3D digital design and simulation
  • Feasibility study & proof of concept
  • Proposal development & funding
  • Project management
  • Post-project support service
  • Process / technology integration plan
  • Improvement of production / productivity
  • Small-scale sample production
  • Professional development (specialized workshops)
  • Access to expert networks
  • On-site training
Bioeconomy Division (Grand Falls, NB)
  • Agriculture
    Integrated in 2012 most of the services previously offered by the Eastern Canada Soil and Water Conservation Center (established in 1991)

    • Plant pathologist on staff
    • Identification of crop pest and diseases
    • Research capacities on plant protection (traditional and biological control)
    • Independent and confidential review of Environmental Farm Plans (EFP)
    • Assistance to producers (potatoes, hops, etc.)
    • Member of a consortium of five Canadian colleges – along with CICan – targeting the cannabis market, the development of workforce relevant courses, the establishment of a cluster of subject matter experts, and the pursuit of funding for applied research
    • Maple syrup grading, grading logistics, traceability, lead analysis, product development
    • Use of biochar in agriculture
    • Research on soil amendments
    • Multidisciplinary projects (four seasons greenhouse, automation in agriculture)
    • Precision agriculture
    • Agroforestry
  • Bioprocesses
    • Promotion of biomass use through biotechnology
    • Fermentation of wastes from agricultural, forestry, industrial, marine and municipal sectors
    • Enzymatic, physical and chemical hydrolysis of various biomasses into sugars
    • Chemical analyses of several organic and inorganic compounds (alpha and beta acids of hops, CBD and THC analyses capacities)
    • Bio product development through the extraction of sugars, proteins, oils, antioxidants, etc.
    • Purification of biochemical products by distillation, evaporation, filtration, lyophilisation, etc.
    • Development of innovative bio-plastics and other bio-products
    • Specialized scale-up equipment
    • Steam biomass fractionation system (biomass pre-treatment)
    • Biogas production system (150 kg capacity/day)
    • Bioreactors/Fermenters (2L, 4L, 40L)
    • Fermentation and distillation system (1200 L)
    • Co-founder/Co-organizer of the Atlantic Canada Biorefinery Conference (annually since 2012)
  • Beverages
    • Microbreweries & micro-distilleries start-up assistance
    • Basic brewing/distill techniques taught at the facilities
    • Mentoring and recommendation on equipment
    • Confidential benchmarking of microbreweries in NB, NS, PEI, QC, ON
    • Development of award-winning beer and spirits
    • Value-added beverages (cider, juices, syrup, etc.)
    • Equipment
      • 40 liter Holstein still system
      • Laboratory-scale micro-malting system
      • Friability meter
      • Modern analytical chemistry apparatuses
  • Environment
    • Eco-responsible management of waste snow
    • Bioremediation of contaminated sites (dendro-remediation, mycoremediation, phytoremediation)
    • Habitat improvement for indigenous pollinators in blueberry fields
    • Evaluation of ecosystem services related to hydrology and water quality of a watershed
    • Development of a severely degraded wetland as a nature park and ecological showcase through education, awareness and knowledge transfer activities
    • Development of a tree inventory system as a management tool to build cities resilient to climate change
Advanced Manufacturing Division (Bathurst, NB)
  • Advanced manufacturing
    • Prototyping Services
    • 3D Modeling and Simulation
    • Fabrication Drawings
    • Heat Transfer and Loading Analysis
    • Additive Manufacturing Design (metal, carbon fiber, Kevlar, nylon, PLA)
    • 3D Laser Scanning
    • Infrared Thermography
    • Manufacturing Equipment
      • Wire and Sinker EDM
      • 5 axes CNC
      • Metrology
      • Plasma & Water Jet Cutting
      • Plastic Injection
  • Advanced Welding
    • Two engineers specialized in metallurgy and welding
    • High efficiency welding for steel and aluminum
    • Welding equipment:
      • Fronius TPS500 & MIG / MAG 400A Miller Dynasty TIG for aluminum and steel
      • Ultrasonic peening
      • PTAW, SAW, GTAW, GMAW
      • Welding robot with seams tracking
    • Distortion and residual stress management in welding
    • Virtual fabrication of weldments
    • Optimize welding parameters, heat treatment and reduce distortion
    • Predict residual stress and fatigue failure of the products
    • Optimize robotic welding paths
    • Cost reduction and improved quality
  • Automation and robotic
    • Engineer specialized in automation-robotics-artificial vision
    • 8-axis robotic cell with visioning system
    • Risk assessments
    • Feasibility study
    • Simulation & proof of concept
    • Integration
    • Programming
    • Training
    • Technical support
  • Laboratory services
    • Mechanical and metallurgical tests
      • Metallography and image analysis
      • Portable metal analysis spectrometer
      • Charpy tensile, compression and impact test
      • Heat treatment
      • Hardness test (micro, Rockwell & Brinell)
    • Non-destructive testing
      • Liquid penetrant inspection
      • Magnetic particle inspection
      • Ultrasonic detection with phased array transducers
Advanced Materials Division (Caraquet, NB)
  • Scientific and technical team
    • One researcher and one engineer specialized in advanced materials
  • Manufacturing process
    • Mould design, manufacturing and modification
    • Technology integration plan
    • Training and development
    • Manufacturing equipment
      • Hydraulic press of 75 tons with two heating platens
      • Convection oven
      • Infusion table
      • 3D printer
  • Laboratory services
    • Destructive testing: Tensile, bending, shear and compression
      • Instron tensile machine with 50 kN load-cell
    • Non-destructive testing: Physicochemical properties of advanced materials
      • Viscometer
      • Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)
      • Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)

Springboard Representatives

  • Joey Volpé

    Joey Volpé

    Business Development Manager, INNOV, CCNB