Innovation Blast: Thursday, Jan 06, 2022
Here’s the latest on a wide range of innovation in the Edmonton region. Feel free to share it and let us know how we can improve the Blast. Let’s begin!Here’s the latest on a wide range of innovation in the Edmonton region. Feel free to share it and let us know how we can improve the Blast. Let’s begin!
Local health innovators honoured in 2022 Edifier Awards
Health innovators and companies from the Edmonton region were honoured in this year’s Edifier Awards, which salutes the contributions of individuals and businesses in making Edmonton a better place. The successful nominations includes:
- Andrew MacIsaac, Co-Founder and CEO of Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation, which works to join business with medical research to save lives and diversify Alberta’s economy. MacIsaac called the recognition a “tremendous honour” and acknowledged the entire API team.
- John Christy Johnson, a medical student at the University of Alberta and a research technician at the school’s Rehabilitation Robotics Lab. He also works with charitable organizations such as Sharpen the Quill and the PLAY Program, which encourages physical activity among youth.
- Isha Datar, who studied cell and molecular biology at the University of Alberta. She is the executive director of New Harvest, a non-profit organization that supports lab-grown meat research. She previously founded Perfect Day and Clara Foods (now The Every Company), businesses that work to create animal-free dairy and egg products.
- Park Integrative Health, a Sherwood Park company that works to integrate western health with other practices such as acupuncture and massage.
- Wellness Works, a non-profit that opened during the pandemic, helps employers learn to look after the well-being of their employees.
Funding & Support for Entrepreneurship
- Startup TNT has partnered with Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation (API) to organize the inaugural Startup TNT Life Sciences Investment Summit, which will be the province’s largest investment summit focused on life sciences — with a goal of investing over $1 million into participating seed-stage companies. Entrepreneurs across the province have two weeks to apply for the event, which will take place in March.
- RWI Synthetics has won the Goodwill Project, a competition to secure rent-free office space hosted by CommAlert Group. “I can’t wait to share it with my team,” CEO Myrna Bittner said in a victory speech. “They will be so happy to have a place to call home in Edmonton.”
- According to Start Alberta, tech startups in the province raised $580 million last year. More details can be seen in the group’s report. Adam Legge, president of the Business Council of Alberta, believes momentum will continue. “Based on the deal flow that we’re seeing, there’s clearly a resurgence of interest in investment in tech in Alberta. So I think we’re back on a competitive footing,” Legge told CBC News.
- John Liston, vice president of Alberta Enterprise Group, wrote about Startup TNT in a piece for Business in Edmonton on supporting tech startups in 2022. “Startup TNT encourages business leaders from traditional backgrounds to re-invest their capital and their expertise into a new generation of Edmonton entrepreneurs that are building an innovation-based and knowledge-based economy,” he wrote.
Tech
- Evan Chrapko, chairman and CEO of artificial intelligence firm Trust Science, was featured in a piece about how explainable AI (XAI) can be used to overcome challenges in the AI field. XAI includes transparency, accountability, fairness, and, as its name implies, explainability.
- Space Engine Systems was featured by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in its year-in-review. The company is proceeding with development of its next aircraft, dubbed the Hello 1 Experimental (HELLO-1 X).
- Myron Keehn, vice president of air service and business development at the Edmonton International Airport, spoke to the Logistics Tech Dialogues podcast about how he is leading projects that drive innovation in e-commerce, cargo/logistics, advanced manufacturing, and pharma.
Climate Emergency & CleanTech
- Mayor Amarjeet Sohi told Taproot he would work with the Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board and other regional partners to invest further in hydrogen while fostering better alignment on climate change. “Whether it’s investing in technologies that reduce emissions or investing in technologies that capture emissions and utilization of those emissions, I think that’s an area where there’s potential for us to continue to work,” Sohi said.
- Edmonton’s greenhouse gas emissions have dropped by the equivalent of 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 over 2019 and 2020, according to new data, and the city is working to determine why. “I am incredibly excited that we’ve finally peaked and are on the decline for emissions,” said Chandra Tomaras, the city’s director of environment and climate resilience. Data for 2021 is expected to be released early this year.
- There’s a favourable forecast ahead for wind and solar energy in Alberta, reports CBC News. Currently, 23% of Alberta’s power comes from renewable resources.
Digital Inclusion & Education
- A new series of courses delivered by Athabasca University’s PowerED will offer micro-credentials in data, machine learning, and robo-ethics. “Every company is a technology company to some degree,” said Katrina Ingram, CEO of Ethically Aligned AI which helped develop the courses. “And so I think every organization to some degree is going to encounter these AI technologies and these AI ethics issues.”
Food Security & AgTech
- The CubicFarms Alberta Grow Centre, located just outside of Edmonton, currently has 14 CubicFarm System modules growing butter lettuce, a romaine mix, a spring trio, and microgreens year-round.
Public Health
- Wastewater analysis suggests that the province is entering yet another COVID-19 wave, spurred on by the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. Casey Hubert, Campus Alberta Innovates Program chair in geomicrobiology, said the analysis shows that Edmonton, Calgary, Lethbridge, and other municipalities are in the fifth wave.
- Aurora Cannabis has delivered a cannabis shipment worth $10 million to Israel, believed to be the largest export of medical cannabis into that market.
- Applications for the Roche Alberta Collaboration in Health, which aims to “support health innovation research projects that can provide further insights into challenges faced by patients and caregivers in Alzheimer’s Disease,” are due by 4pm on Jan. 7.
Social Impact
- Ashif Mawji spoke to The Globe and Mail about the Community Safety and Wellness Accelerator which starts this month. The hope is for participating companies to tackle social and security problems with solutions that can be exported globally. “We’ve got to try something different, but give it all the ingredients for success,” Mawji said. The accelerator is supported by funding from Alberta Innovates and Innovate Edmonton.
Arts & Culture
- Local artist Mike Roshuk is rendering Edmonton in dystopian artwork. Considering the pandemic, and the filming of the series The Last of Us on city streets, his work is striking a chord.
Bits & Pieces
- Lauren Briske, formerly the interim director of Startup Edmonton, is the new product manager for Areto Labs.
- Scope AR shared some highlights from 2021 which included launching an API for its WorkLink platform to facilitate integrations and analytics.
- The Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii) is hiring a lead machine learning scientist. Apply by Jan. 10.
Mentions
- The establishment of Innovate Edmonton and leadership changes at Startup Edmonton were included in a Taproot Edmonton article about the startup ecosystem in 2022.
- Inflexion Games CEO and Innovate Edmonton Board member Aaryn Flynn has been talking about the upcoming game Nightingale at CES 2022. “The idea with our shared world is that many survival crafting games end up often having isolated servers and isolated experiences from the rest of the community. We’re investing a lot in our infrastructure and our abilities to offer players a completely united community,” said Flynn.
- Karra-Lee Gerrits, member of the Innovation Growth Council, has left Protein Industries Canada and is now a trade commissioner for Global Affairs Canada.
- Keenan Pascal, member of the Innovation Growth Council and CEO of Token Naturals, announced that his company has received its Sales Amendment from Health Canada, enabling it to sell cannabis products to retailers and consumers across the country.
- Growing Greener Innovations founder and member of the Innovation Growth Council Connie Stacey noted the importance of having a customer in a collection of tips for female founders from 2021 published in Forbes. “Too often people have a great idea but don’t realize that maybe it’s too expensive for somebody to buy… You have to be sure without any doubt that you have a customer,” she said.
The Blast is curated by Taproot Publishing and published by Innovate Edmonton.