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Home / 2016 / October / 17 / UBC and Kal Tire announce research partnership
Policy & Social Change, Research

UBC and Kal Tire announce research partnership

October 17, 2016


Kal Tire’s Mining Tire Group and the University of British Columbia have formed a research partnership that will allow the two organizations to collaborate in developing technology and innovative solutions for the mining tire industry.

In the recently-signed memorandum of understanding (MOU), both parties agree to pursue research and innovation as part of a partnership that matches expertise from UBC Okanagan’s School of Engineering with the innovation goals of Kal Tire’s Mining Tire Group.

“We wanted to harness the knowledge and ideas of our team members to advance innovation, and through this partnership with UBC, we now have access to the skills, knowledge and facilities that we didn’t have prior,” says Dan Allan, senior vice-president, Kal Tire’s Mining Tire Group. “Research like this fuels the innovation that takes great ideas forward.”

The MOU lays out an initial three-year term of collaboration on mutually beneficial areas of research as well as Kal Tire’s significant investment in the partnership. Individual researchers will submit their project ideas for consideration to a small committee that represents both Kal Tire and UBC Okanagan’s School of Engineering. The projects may include everything from robotics and metallurgical design to environmentally-responsible ways to use recycled tire crumb.

“As a campus committed to innovation, we look forward to bringing our research expertise to bare in this exciting new partnership,” says Deborah Buszard, deputy vice-chancellor and principal of UBC’s Okanagan campus. “We see this partnership as another key step in our goal of helping to advance economic development opportunities in our region.”

Kal Tire’s Mining Tire Group has been servicing mine sites for more than 40 years in Canada, and now provides service to more than 150 mine sites across five continents. The company, based in Vernon, BC, takes pride in its pioneering approach to providing mining tire solutions, and in its ability to bring new technology and processes to mine sites around the world. In fact, Allan says, customers demand it.

“Being in so many different countries and geographies has really brought the need to innovate to the surface, and we’re glad that at the same time, we can support local education and opportunities,” says Allan. “In 2015, we opened an Innovation Centre in Vernon to begin to develop some ideas brought forward by our team members—this partnership is the next evolution of that.”

The School of Engineering at UBC’s Okanagan campus was established in 2005 and currently has more than 50 faculty members and 230 graduate students. The school has considerable expertise in a number of areas, including materials and manufacturing, infrastructure planning, sensor technology and power systems, and automation.

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Media Contact

Matthew Grant
Associate Director
Public Affairs

The University of British Columbia
Okanagan campus
Tel: 250-807-9926
E-mail: matthew.grant@ubc.ca

Content type: Media Release
More content from: Faculty of Management, School of Engineering

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About UBC Okanagan

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning founded in partnership with local Indigenous peoples, the Syilx Okanagan Nation, in whose traditional, ancestral and unceded territory the campus resides. The most established and influential global rankings all consistently place UBC in the top five per cent of universities in the world, and among the top three Canadian universities.

The Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world in British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. For more visit ok.ubc.ca.

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