Nutritional Testing Equipment to Support Emerging Agri-Food Businesses

为了支持伦敦、安大略省及周边地区农业食品生产和加工部门的中小企业的创新需求，范肖申请资金购买营养检测设备设计，以将其服务从产品开发扩展到预商业化和质量保证/控制支持。由于与私人实验室相关的成本，以及对区域生态系统中基于发现的研究（与应用研究相反）的支持之间的差距，凡肖已经拥有基础设施和专业知识，可以通过其生物技术应用研究与创新中心（CARIB）实验室和生物经济中心（CBE@FAN）填补这些实验室的不足，因此所需的设备在很大程度上无法提供给当地和区域中小企业。最终，通过为公司提供测试产品的能力，以确定产品的营养价值、成分和成分的浓度以及配方的稳定性，范莎不仅可以通过支持创新来帮助公司降低产品开发阶段的风险，还可以降低产品开发初期的相关成本，从而成功进入市场。除了这些好处之外，范肖学生还可以通过与行业合作伙伴和所要求的设备进行应用研究项目的工作，并为与范肖学院人员进行项目合作的行业合作伙伴代表提供培训机会。将有助于解决该行业日益扩大的技能差距，并将具有生物技术和仪器技术的学生介绍给需要他们才能的创新食品和饮料公司。

In support of the innovation needs of SMEs in the agri-food production and processing sector in London, ON and the surrounding region, Fanshawe requests funding to purchase nutritional testing equipment design to extend its services beyond product development into pre-commercialization and quality assurance/control supports. The requested equipment is largely unavailable to local and regional SMEs due to the costs associated with private labs and a gap between support for discovery-based, as opposed to applied, research in the regional ecosystem that Fanshawe already has the infrastructure and expertise to fill through its Centre for Applied Research and Innovation in Biotechnology (CARIB) labs and the Centre for Bioeconomy (CBE@FAN) run out of those labs. Ultimately, by providing companies with the ability to test their products to determine nutritional values, concentration of ingredients and composition of products, and stability of formulations, Fanshawe will be able to assist companies in not only de-risking the product development stage through its supports for innovation, but also reducing costs associated with taking products past that early stage of development in order to successfully go to market. On top of these benefits, the training available to Fanshawe students through their work on applied research projects with industry partners and on the requested equipment, combined with the training opportunities available for representatives from industry partners who engage with Fanshawe College personnel on projects, will help to address a growing skills gap in the sector and introduce students with the biotechnology and instrumentation skills to the innovative food and beverage companies that need their talent.