14 The Trusted Source for Canada’s Pork Producers Better Pork | October 2024 Another is to host challenge competitions for engineering students focused on solving on-farm issues faced by livestock farms to introduce them to the opportunities in the sector. The industry can also offer topics and mentorship for the fourth-year immersive design projects that all undergraduate engineering students at Waterloo have to complete by applying what they’ve learned in class and through their co-op placements to a real-world problem. And finally, notes McLaren, nothing beats farm tours for students and researchers to show them the integration of technology and agriculture first-hand. “We look forward to continuing to engage with LRIC and its members to build new networks, determine needs and create new partnership opportunities so we ensure that research results are practical and useful,” says Wells. It’s a relationship McMorris says LRIC will continue to foster, along with outreach to other engineering schools, as part of its ongoing mandate to drive innovation in Ontario’s livestock sector. “The future is rife with possibility, and new approaches and initiatives like Engineering a Better Farm will help us unlock its potential,” he believes. BP Livestock Research Innovation Corporation is funded in part by the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP), a five-year, federal-provincial-territorial initiative. This article is provided by LRIC as part of its ongoing efforts to report on research, innovation, and issues affecting the Canadian livestock industry. A student works with a 3D printer. University of Waterloo photo Engineering a Better Farm LILIAN SCHAER Lilian Schaer is an agricultural journalist with over two decades of experience in the Canadian agri-food industry. Growing up on a dairy farm, she began her career with Ontario Pork and specializes in writing about farming for audiences of all kinds.
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