City of Vaughan

Convergence Robotics has made the decision to commit to contributing business practices and activities that respond to the Sustainable Development Goals as issued by the United Nations. The following is a list of the 17 goals outlined by the UN, and how we plan to commit to practices that best meet those goals.

Discounted pricing on our orthotic products will be made available for those who demonstrate financial challenges in their lives. Extended payment plans for other products and services will be offered to those who need financial support.

In addition to donations to local Food Banks, we commit to growing our own vegetables in a rooftop garden with an aim for community distribution.

In areas concerning public health, we commit to following local and federal government guidelines. We also provide orthotic products to our staff and support programs that address mental health issues for our employees. As part of our benefits package for those we employ, we offer extended health coverage and dental care.

In an (upcoming ) partnership with the University of Waterloo, we will offer a co-op program that provides skills training to students. We also commit to subsidizing the costs of education programs that increase the skill sets of our employees.

Our hiring practice affords equal opportunities to women. We also offer financing plans for our female clients who demonstrate a need for support. We also intend to provide workshops for women to introduce them to STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) to stimulate growth among women in this sector, and work with local maker spaces.

In addition to providing a water cooler dispensing clean drinking water free of charge for our staff and clients, we collect rainwater and sanitize it for drinking. We also plan to establish partnerships with local businesses for well water creation and maintenance.

Our corporate goal of becoming carbon negative includes investment in and commitment to using solar panels and their resulting energy for our manufacturing facilities. Our pre-fabricated homes &  buildings will also have optional solar package upgrades. We also commit to supporting research in up-and-coming renewable energy technologies.  We’re interested in forging manufacturing partnerships for Gravity Batteries to maximize energy efficiency.  A novel location for Gravity Batteries is abandoned coal mines.

A gravity battery is a type of energy storage device that stores gravitational energy. The energy stored in an object resulting from a change in height due to gravity is also called potential energy. Gravity batteries work in a similar way to pumped hydro, which involves funnelling water uphill before releasing it through turbines to generate energy 

* Estimates* are savings of 50% compared to conventional batteries, without natural resource depletion. * Estimates* show state it can last up to 50 years in comparison to 5-10 years.

We aim to build our company to a level that uses more technology than any other company in Canada. We commit to hiring graduate students across multiple disciplines, such as mechanical engineering, material experts and marketing, to further develop new technologies that stimulate economic growth for all., Furthermore, we also have the willingness to provide flexible work hours to better serve our team’s family needs.

Our company is committed to innovative ways of developing environmentally-friendly new technologies, particularly in the field of robotics sheet metal forming, and advanced manufacturing (industry 4.0) augmented by the help of 3D printers.

We commit to raising the awareness of those suffering from social inequalities by providing training and workshops that address these issues. Our training programs in this regard aim to provide opportunities and skills that reduce inequalities for those living in these conditions.

We will also consider special efforts in hiring and/or training programs for refugees.

Our company is committed to developing smart city projects. We will be participating in lobbying activities that aim to change the city planning and make smarter, greener communities; we also exploring free wifi access and increased green spaces.

We practice responsible consumption and production through the regular disposal and recycling of biological waste and technical components. We limit our consumption of paper through two-sided printing, intending to go paperless altogether. By using design thinking and a Cradle-to-Cradle approach to product design, our end goal is to produce nearly zero waste. Producing products which can be infinitely recyclable.

We will be producing energy efficient pre-fabricated systems for affordable housing projects and clean energy solutions, with an end goal of creating houses and buildings that are completely off the grid. Our goal will be to provide houses at cost for homeless people for every ___ home produced. (The current target is 1 house for every 10 sold, still TBD). This activity greatly reduces our carbon footprint and the resulting contribution to climate change.

We also commit to supporting climate action groups such as the UNFCCC and its Youth Climate Report programs through social media subscriptions, website links and information postings.

We commit to reducing single-use plastic, when possible, during the production process. With an end goal of using only sustainably produced alternatives, and provide information on our website that help our customers reduce their use of traditional plastics.

We are also looking to leverage 3D-printing technology to create artificial coral reefs (more information on this technology here.)  We’re exploring two options: 3D-printed Clay (more information here: https://youtu.be/G7VR08z99iU) and 3D- printed concrete (more information here: https://youtu.be/dVJ1unOwmtw).

We commit to recycling components throughout the manufacturing process, with the goal of using only environmentally-friendly materials in manufacturing our products. One example will be the use of rice hulls instead of wood for our office desks. An example of this process can be found here. Our goal is to use this and similar materials for more sustainable alternatives to wood. Rice hulls are 100% tree-free and are free of phenol, formaldehyde and adhesives. It resists water, weather and pests, guaranteed not to rot, crack, or splinter and its use reduce our dependency on trees and lumber.

Another example is an up-and-coming wood 3D printing technology which uses recycled sawdust and lignin. We will eventually be able to reuse the sawdust from our CNC operations for 3D printing products. (More information here.)

We support rehabilitation programs and work with programs that support police initiatives in our local community.

We have begun building out an environmental sustainable supply chain with like-minded companies which share our passion for sustainable manufacturing. Partnerships we’re working towards are solar panel manufacturing, (CRI would be the OEM manufacturer), the rice hull supplier for wood alternatives & CO2-free cement and CO2-negative concrete.