Ocean Idea Challenge Alumni

The Ocean Idea Challenge has had three cohorts – including a specific cohort dedicated to coastal communities called the Ocean Communities Climate Challenge. Below are the team one-liners who began their customer discovery journey as part of this program.

2024

Ocean Idea Challenge

  • Creating an iceberg detection system using drones to enhance maritime safety and environmental monitoring. 

  • Tackling the issue of unreliable and expensive maritime communication in remote ocean areas by equipping marine operators with advanced antennas

  • Building a zero-emissions vessel for the adventure sailing market

  • Turning fishery waste, such as crabs shells, into valuable raw materials.

  • Pioneering environmental sustainability with innovative microalgae technology for air purification

  • Building an affordable autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to assist with large-scale ocean exploration and monitoring

  • Developing a software platform to increase the efficiency of experiments in fluid mechanics research

  • Pioneering sustainable performance fibers by transforming organic bio-waste into a high-performance spandex alternative through advanced bacterial fermentation

  • Creating specialized coatings to deliver superior durability and antifouling protection for marine and industrial applications.

  • Developing a resilient hydrokinetic turbine to harvest clean energy from tidal and river currents

  • Develop a solution for integrating near-real-time environmental data into navigation route optimization tools

  • Utilizing digital twin technologies based on artificial intelligence to enhance aquaculture production techniques, leading to low production costs and high-quality fish products

  • Designing a resilient battery with smart control as a cheap and reliable solution for ultracold weather applications

  • Engineering a new type of bandage using seaweed that provides effective cooling treatment and painless removal for burns

  • Developing underwater robotics solutions, designed to provide offshore marine vessel maintenance and inspection to avoid unnecessary dry docking

  • Building a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) specializing in underwater maintenance using metal additive manufacturing concepts

  • We deliver turnkey automated solutions for seafloor resource and biomass assessments using marine robotics and artificial intelligence

  • Using satellite imagery and artificial intelligence for rapid detection of oil spills to mitigate environmental damage and protect marine ecosystems. 

  • Addressing the critical energy challenges faced by remote and underserved communities, through the use of Triboelectric Nanogenerators (TENG) to harvest ocean wave energy

  • Developing Hybrid Piezoelectric-Electromagnetic (Piezo-EM) Vibration Energy Harvesters (VEHs) to harness vibrational energy from natural sources, such as ocean waves and wind flow

  • Develops an artificial predator to detect and control aquatic invasive species.

  • Developing biodegradable acoustic panels from local seaweed by rethinking our relationship to materials and their origin. 

  • Develops a technology that hooks onto fishing nets and lifts them off the seabed to reduce impacts on ecosystems and increase profitability for fishermen. 

  • Develops a retractable cofferdam solution for climate-resilient coastal communities| Développement d’une solution de batardeaux rétractables pour des communautés côtières résilientes face aux changements climatiques

2023

Ocean Communities Climate Challenge

  • Harnessing the power of sonar and AI to detect and map locations of ghost fishing gear underwater so that it can be retrieved

  • Replacing single-use plastic waste from research labs and medical facilities, using ocean-based materials for a greener future

  • Developing a technology to avoid trawler seabed scraping and reduce fuel consumption in the fishery industry

  • Recycling ocean plastic waste to produce filament for 3D printers

2022

Ocean Idea Challenge

  • Building an automated video review software for scalable and affordable electronic monitoring of commercial fisheries. Their solution will assist observation companies that currently review millions of hours of video footage from fishing vessel decks manually, helping them cut costs and scale.

  • Developing biodegradable and non-toxic bioplastic from seaweed, grown in partnership with Indigenous Nations in British Columbia.

  • Developing a digital twin remote real-time monitoring system that will improve the predictive maintenance of marine vessels’ in-service equipment.

  • Developing a sustainable, multi-species hatchery model that will supply seed products for the aquaculture industry.