Westinghouse has opened a new engineering hub in Kitchener which aims to support both Canadian-based and international nuclear power projects.
The grand opening and ribbon cutting of the new, 1,200-square-metre facility on Sportsworld Crossing Drive on Tuesday was attended by Mayor Berry Vrbanovic, Ontario's Minister of Economic Development Vic Fedeli, and a number of Westinghouse executives.
The company says 50 engineers will work on designing the future of nuclear reactors, including the highly anticipated eVinci microreactors that could prove invaluable to some rural and Indigenous communities.
Westinghouse intends to hire 100 more engineers for this facility by the end of next year — 90 per cent of which are expected to be new graduates.
Kitchener's proximity to post-secondary schools, like the University of Waterloo — Canada's largest engineering school — was a big factor in the decision to make Kitchener their fifth engineering hub, Westinghouse CEO Patrick Fragman said in an interview with CBC Kitchener-Waterloo.
"We are in the knowledge-based business," Fragman said. "People who have the right mindset and the right skills that we can grow and develop in the nuclear industry, for us, is number one."
