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Lethbridge Polytechnic secures $1.75M for ag-tech research

Lethbridge Polytechnic’s Centre for Applied Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CARIE) has received approval for its second Technology Access Centre grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). The five-year grant totals $1.75 million.

In a recent press release issued by Lethbridge Polytechnic (LP), funding will support the growth and diversification of the school’s Integrated Agriculture Technology Centre (IATC). The IATC operates as a public resource, offering applied research, consultation, and problem-solving services to agricultural producers in southern Alberta and other regions.

“Renewal of our Technology Access Centre grant is a testament of our worth to industry partners across Canada,” said Dr. Andrew Dunlop, associate vice-president – research at LP.

“We thank our federal partners for this funding as we look to continue using applied research to solve industry problems, particularly around controlled environment agriculture.”

Technology Access Centres are federally designated applied research hubs that operate on a fee-for-service model across Canada. Lethbridge Polytechnic’s IATC is part of a network of more than 60 such centres nationwide. Each centre is designed to serve a specific geographic area and strengthen a significant industry relevant to that region.

“Lethbridge is the hub of Canada’s Premier Food Corridor, and the polytechnic’s presence as a nationally recognized and funded research institute brings immense value to Alberta’s growing controlled-environment agriculture producers,” said Alexis Buzzee, IATC business manager, CARIE, in the release.

“As we respond to shifting priorities in southern Alberta, our multidisciplinary team is ready to provide the expertise, insight and collaboration needed to tackle real-world challenges.”

Read more about the IATC here.

(Source: Lethbridge Polytechnic)