Grade 7 Student wins Trip to Project Arrow Virtual Reality Cave Tour in Windsor!

Last spring, grades 6-12 students at Sudbury Catholic Schools were invited to participate in the 24 hour Driving Your Career Competition. The competition was hosted by the Ontario Centre of Innovation and ChatterHigh to raise awareness about careers and post-secondary pathways in Ontario’s automotive and smart mobility sector.

Owen Carpenter, a grade 7 student at St. Benedict School scored the highest correct answers in his grade and had to choose from a variety of great prizes including membership sessions with industry leaders.  Being passionate about vehicles made it difficult for Owen to choose a prize!.  Owen comes from a family of car enthusiasts including his father Justin, who is an automotive sales consultant at Mike Doyle Dodge Chrysler.  

After careful deliberation, Owen selected the Project Arrow Virtual Reality Cave Tour in Windsor, Ontario.This tour is an immersive and active virtual reality environment, integrated with state-of-the-art hardware and software. The facility serves as a teaching, training and research tool for the region and beyond, designed to support connected and autonomous vehicle development. Virtual reality provides many valuable opportunities to aid in product development, including simulation, skills training, communication and collaboration. 

On the November 19th PA day, Owen and his father travelled to Windsor to meet Ed Dawson, a Senior Manager, at the Automobility and Innovation- Simulation Team at Invest WindsorEssex.   Mr. Dawson stated; “Owen and his dad Justin visited us at the Invest WindsorEssex VR CAVE this past Friday to experience Project Arrow and our simulation programs.  I wanted to say how happy we were to have Owen and Justin here.  Owen is such a bright young man with impeccable manners and very appreciative!  It was truly a delight for our team to show him all of the great tech that we have thanks to AVIN! “ 

Needless to say, Owen had a fantastic day filled with lots of hands-on learning and fun!  “I like the VR CAVE, I learned so much and I’m so excited to work in the automotive sector when I grow up.”  Peter Prochilo Superintendent of School Effectiveness stated; “The Sudbury Catholic District School Board would like to thank the Ontario Centre of Innovation and ChatterHigh for this opportunity.  Opportunities as such, provide career exploration to our young students and help broaden their exposure to the working world they will one day enter. It helps them to see and dream of the possibilities between school and career”