Montréal, Friday, November 18, 2016 – Engineering students at Polytechnique Montréal and Concordia University will now have the benefit of learning and experimenting on genuine aircraft test platforms, thanks to the Laboratoire d’enseignement des systèmes intégrés en aérospatiale du Québec (LESIAQ) that Polytechnique and its partners are inaugurating today at École des métiers de l'aérospatiale de Montréal (ÉMAM).

A training lab unique in North America to provide the next generation in aerospace with teaching that is as close as possible to the industrial reality

LESIAQ is a 10,000-square-foot laboratory equipped with a genuine integrated test bed (Iron Bird) for a Bombardier Challenger 300 business aircraft. In effect an airplane without the fuselage, this platform contains all the aircraft’s on-board hydraulic, electric and electronic systems.

The lab has also added the test cell of a Bell 427 helicopter provided by Bell Helicopter Textron, as well as the simulation platform from CAE, making it possible to integrate the operations of the physical and simulated modules of an aircraft.

“Very few laboratories dedicated to teaching aerospace technologies enjoy such full-scale platforms,” said Polytechnique Chief Executive Officer Christophe Guy. “LESIAQ’s focus on integration is unique. For Polytechnique, whose leadership in Québec in matters pertaining to training and research in aerospace engineering is widely recognized, this lab is yet another asset. It helps put our future graduates at the forefront of development of the next generation of more efficient aircraft. It also benefits the industry, which will absorb a new generation that is in sync with the most current technologies.”

The annual contribution from Polytechnique Montréal, manager of the startup of LESIAQ, is $75,000. Concordia University has committed to contributing the same amount.

“Aerospace is a key strategic area for Concordia and its Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science engages fully with pure and applied research demands in this field, training engineers to become next-generation leaders in the aerospace industry,” says Amir Asif, Dean of Engineering and Computer Science at Concordia University. “LESIAQ is the extension of this work, because it enables us to prepare engineers to hit the ground running when entering employment in the aerospace industry.”

A unifying project supported by public and industrial partners

LESIAQ’s creation was proposed by the Comité sectoriel de main-d'œuvre en aérospatiale au Québec (CAMAQ) and backed by a $5.05-million investment announced by the Government of Québec in 2011. Of that amount, $3.5 million was spent to set up the laboratory and $1.55 million went to cover a part of its operating costs over five years.

Québec’s aerospace industry will have to fill more than 40,000 positions over the next decade, according to a forecast by CAMAQ, and represents 70% of Canada’s R&D and 60% of the country’s exports, so it must be able to count on a highly-trained and innovative workforce. As CAMAQ Executive Director Nathalie Paré notes: “The remarkable performance of Québec’s aerospace industrial cluster is supported largely by the synergy between teaching institutions and the companies in this industry. By raising the level of training of our engineering specialists even higher compared to the world’s other regions, LESIAQ will help sustain the development rate of our aviation industry.”

Aref Salem, member of the City of Montréal Executive Committee responsible for transportation, said: “This laboratory is the perfect example of essential networking between the academic world and business. The City of Montréal is proud of its universities, among other things because they are partnering with companies that are the jewels of our economy.” He continued: “By training students who will not only be at the leading edge of technology but will meet companies’ needs in every way, Greater Montréal’s aerospace industry – already recognized internationally as one of the most dynamic – will continue to perform and excel.”

LESIAQ’s highlight, the Challenger* integration test bed, which costs $20 million, was donated by Bombardier. The gift of this test bed by Bombardier provides a notable brand contribution to the academic community while also helping to develop the engineers of the future.

Marc St-Hilaire, Vice-President of Technology and Innovation at CAE, said: “CAE is proud to support this unique training lab for the next aerospace generation. This important initiative is a great opportunity to increase co-operation in our innovation ecosystem and to make it possible for the best talents to take advantage of the most recent technological advances and to work closely with industry experts.” He added: “CAE will supply specialized personnel and financial resources to support LESIAQ, as well as some modelling and simulation software licences. This contribution is equivalent to nearly $650,000.”

Training projects most closely approximating industrial reality

This fall, about 140 Polytechnique students have already taken advantage of LESIAQ lab sessions, where the state-of-the-art equipment offers vast possibilities for training projects.

“The Challenger 300 test bed will make it possible for students to observe and test the behaviour of various components of control systems for all flight configurations,” said Luc Baron, Director of Polytechnique’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and manager of LESIAQ. “They will be able to conduct tests in real-world industry conditions and get acquainted with test and certification methods practiced by aviation firms.”

“A wonderful tool:” this is how students describe the LESIAQ equipment
“Working with real and functional components of an aircraft enables us to adapt the theories we learn in class for practical use,” said Stefane Sved, who is completing a mechanical engineering degree with a specialization in energy and who has done a LESIAQ research internship on the effects of vibrations on the structure of an aircraft. “An airplane’s structure must meet the most stringent technological criteria and it is constantly tested (mechanical tests, etc.). To be able to conduct this thorough and rigorous work in real situations is extremely useful for our engineering training.”
In 2008, Polytechnique Montréal was the first university-level institution to offer a bachelor’s degree leading to an aerospace engineering degree. It’s masters and PhD programs in engineering also train many aerospace researchers and specialists. In recent years, Polytechnique has partnered with the aerospace industry on nearly 70 research and innovation projects as part of several NSERC industrial research chairs and collaborative ventures by CRIAQ, CARIC, GARDN and SA2GE. This synergy creates a very exciting education environment for the up-and-coming aerospace generation.

In the fall of 2015, Concordia University added a bachelor of engineering in aerospace degree to meet growing demand, and through collaborations with industry in programs like the Concordia Institute for Aerospace Design and Innovation (CIADI) and the NSERC Chair in Aerospace Design Engineering (NCADE), the university provides a strong platform for research excellence and experiential learning.

The odyssey of the airplane without a fuselage

Delivering and installing a turnkey platform the size of the Challenger 300 to the ÉMAM site proved to be quite a complex operation, reports Professor Luc Marchand, who co-ordinated its logistics.

“This platform is basically an aircraft with the fuselage removed,” he said. “It also comes with its access ramps, which reach a height of three storeys. Quite the challenge to cart this whole assembly from the Bombardier Aerospace premises to the ÉMAM, especially in a city filled with construction sites! The platform was detached into four sections and the ramp into 20 sections. They were transported by 50-feet tractor-trailers.”

The aircraft and its ramps were reassembled in the huge ÉMAM hangar, specially redesigned for the occasion.