November 01, 2023
Passenger

Alstom, Earth District Team on Mobility Career Development

Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor

“At Alstom, we work every day to tackle climate change through sustainable mobility,” said Michael Keroullé, President of Alstom Americas, which employs more than 2,200 people in the GTA and has rolling stock production facilities in Ontario. “We want to share not only our passion with the [Earth District] students, but also provide them with the opportunity to join us and to drive urgent shift toward sustainability through research, development and technology.”

Alstom has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Environmental and Related Technologies Hub (Earth District), a consortium of five universities and colleges in Ontario, Canada, to create new learning, research and work opportunities in the mobility sector.

The MOU will help develop the talent needed to “deliver sustainable mobility solutions critical to tackling the climate crisis,” according to Alstom, a mobility technology company, and the consortium, which spans the eastern Greater Toronto Area (GTA) to Peterborough and the Kawarthas and includes Centennial College, Fleming College, Ontario Tech University, Trent University, and University of Toronto Scarborough. The partners added that fostering development and access to talent is “key to the growth and success of the province’s transit projects, rail ecosystem and supply chain.”

Earth District’s five colleges and universities collectively enroll 80,000 undergraduate and graduate students (full-time and part-time) and deliver a variety of programs from skilled trades with specializations in transportation to engineering and project management for the mobility and energy sectors.

The partners said they will:

Cooperate on hiring Earth District interns, co-op students and new graduates.
Share opportunities to use Alstom’s global network of senior experts in rail-related lectures and assist student-led technical challenges.
Assess and define the opportunity to “develop the first Canadian rail specialization in engineering accessible to undergraduate students from the different Ontario Tech engineering programs through Alstom University, Alstom’s in-house learning and skills development entity, and where applicable, other learning program opportunities across all parties.”
Explore additional opportunities that would benefit all parties, including opportunities related to joint research and development.

“Ask any Alstom employee what they love most about their work, and they will tell you it is because we do something that truly matters,” said Michael Keroullé, President of Alstom Americas, which employs more than 2,200 people in the GTA, notably in Whitby and Bramptom, and has rolling stock production facilities in Ontario. “At Alstom, we work every day to tackle climate change through sustainable mobility. We want to share not only our passion with the students, but also provide them with the opportunity to join us and to drive urgent shift toward sustainability through research, development and technology.”

“Collaboration amongst post-secondary institutions that aligns with the goals of industry partners like Alstom, will allow us to create change and develop innovative solutions that are critical to a sustainable future,” said Les Jacobs, Vice President of Research and Innovation, and project leader on behalf of Ontario Tech University.

“This exciting, new partnership will provide Ontario’s postsecondary students with valuable internships at Alstom to prepare them for jobs in the high-demand rail and sustainable technology sectors,” said Jill Dunlop, Minister of Colleges and Universities. “It is a true win-win as Alstom will have access to some of the brightest, new talent coming out of our postsecondary sector to meet their workforce needs.”