On Mar. 12, McMaster University and Candu Energy Inc. unveiled a new 5,000-square-foot engineering design studio on campus.
The space will be named Candu Core and is meant to be a “hub for innovation in engineering education.”
The space is named in recognition of a $1.5-million gift from Candu Energy Inc. to McMaster University to create the hub and is located in the John Hodgins Engineering building.
The hub features laser cutters, 3D printers, a prototyping area, space for collaboration, and a teaching area with large LED screens and floor-to-ceiling windows.
Candu Energy Inc. is the original equipment manufacturer of CANDU® nuclear technology and is a subsidiary of the global engineering services and nuclear organization AtkinsRéalis.
McMaster University says that the name for the hub, Candu Core, “is a nod to the connection between the core of a CANDU reactor – an iconic achievement in Canadian engineering – and the centralized location of the new space on campus.”
“Like a reactor core, where controlled neutron interactions generate energy, the studio is designed to become an incubator of energy and activity, a place where ideas collide as engineering students gather to innovate, share knowledge, and solve complex problems.”
The two-storey Candu Core space will be used by first-year students who take the Integrated Cornerstone Design Projects (1P13) course.
The full-year, project-based course reportedly “exposes students to a series of design projects that will develop both technical and professional skills.”
Use of the space by those Bachelor of Engineering students will start in Fall 2026.
Heather Sheardown, Dean of Engineering at McMaster University, said, “We’re tremendously grateful for Candu Energy’s support in enriching the learning environment in our faculty.”
“The Candu Core will be a hub for experiential learning and preparing students to take on the complex challenges facing our world.”
McMaster is considered “Canada’s nuclear university” since it has “the nation’s most powerful research reactor on campus.”
The university launched a new interdisciplinary Minor in Nuclear Studies and Society in 2025 and is nearing approval of a Bachelor of Engineering program that specializes in Nuclear Engineering.
The McMaster Nuclear Reactor (MNR), which is also a world-leading supplier of medical isotopes, recently received $15.5 million in funding from the Government of Ontario to support 24/7 operations.
At the original funding announcement by Candu to support the new engineering hub, Gary Rose, President and CEO of Candu Energy, said, “Ontario faces a pressing talent shortage across engineering, project management, and skilled trades. This poses a risk to the vast expansion of the province’s clean power grid, so critical to servicing the growing demand for power.”
“Our gift not only reflects our commitment to fostering the next generation of engineering talent, but also our desire to see STEM students studying and working in Ontario in such critically important sectors like energy and infrastructure to sustain Ontario’s competitiveness.”
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