complement the network of research facili-
ties across Canada’s North. Research labs,
centres for technology development and
knowledge sharing, facilities for training,
teaching and community engagement—
the CHARS campus is over 80,000 square
feet (one of the largest in the region) of in-
novation, mixed with public spaces.
Matthew Hough is Chief Engineer for this
infrastructure project. Hough was a natural
choice for the project, with a background of
nearly 20 years of civil engineering in the
North—his first job out of university was in
Nunavut, and since then he has consulted
in the Northwest Territories, and managed
the National Assessment of First Nations
Water and Wastewater Systems at INAC.
Hough has lost count of the amount of
times he has travelled to Cambridge Bay
since the project began, and was heading
there the week after this conversation.
“When we were planning the station we
often spoke of its potential to be a hub for
research,” Hough says. “Smaller mobile
locations are sometimes used, so the idea
here is to have a space where field logis-
tics can be coordinated, equipment can
be available—like an emersion tank to pre-
pare underwater vehicles before placing in
Northwest Passage, or labs complete with
the necessary tools, equipment and space
for scientists and researchers to complete
their work on site. Space—like the Knowl-
edge Sharing Centre, the multi-use space
DECEMBER 2017
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