Roughly half way through a three-year partnership with a local university to cooperate on technology, innovation and engineering projects, Kal Tire reported the benefits thus far reaped will inspire further investment in innovation, said Peter Nilsson, innovation manager, Kal Tire. The partnership with the University of British Columbia, Okanagan, forged in mid-2016 via a memorandum of understanding, emerged shortly after the establishment of the company’s innovation center. The center was set up to take experience-driven ideas generated by customers and staff and turn the best into patented concepts and marketable technologies. It has cranked out headline-grabbing inventions like the Gravity Assist System, an early prototype of which was showcased at MINExpo 2016, Ram Mounts, and the Power Cart.