This week, Victoria MP Will Greaves attended UVic to announce that two university researchers would receive a combined $5.43 million for their projects in aerospace and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.
This funding comes through Pacific Economic Development Canada (PacifiCan) the dedicated federal agency fostering economic growth, innovation and job creation in British Columbia.
The first project PacifiCan funding will receive $4 million for aerospace-related research.
The endeavour, led by Afzal Suleman, director of the Centre for Aerospace Research (CfAR), will see to the creation of a system of Western Canadian collaboration for space-enabled industries.
Once completed, the project will give small and medium-sized businesses access to satellite ground stations, spacecraft testing facilities, secure satellite data, applied research expertise and skilled personnel.
PacifiCan hopes the collaboration network, or cluster, will support clean energy, agriculture, dual-use defense, uncrewed systems, marine technology, robotics and natural resources industries.
“This investment allows us to move beyond individual projects to build a strong, inclusive space innovation community,” said Suleman.
“By connecting industry with local talent, infrastructure, and satellite data, we can bring new technologies to market and strengthen Canada’s economic resilience and sovereignty in space.”
The second project will see Homayoun Najjaran, head of UVic’s Advanced Control and Intelligent Systems Lab, receive $1.43 million for AI research.
This investment will go towards the advancement of an AI-enabled drone surveying and mapping system that is designed to improve flood and wildfire risk assessment.
This autonomous, uncrewed system will use AI-driven data collection and analysis to deliver mapping, with accuracy down to the centimetre.
The product of this research could significantly improve existing hazard maps, reduce costs and remove the need for on-site technical specialists.
This AI research could also be fit for applications regarding land-use planning, housing development, infrastructure monitoring and emergency response for smaller, rural communities.
“Accurate, affordable and sovereign solutions for data collection and analytics are increasingly critical, whether for communities managing climate risk or for operations in remote areas or extreme environments,” said Najjaran.
“This technology is designed to close that gap.”
This collective $5.43 million investment is a small part of the $13.8 million released by PacifiCan supporting five projects.
