Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University

Anchor Organization

Meeting Objectives

Benefits of MI Partnership:

  • Potential to leverage R&D funding to improve a company’s product or service;
  • Use of company technology in a classroom setting providing for product improvement and visibility by the next generation of scientists and employees;
  • Assistance to deploy and test equipment at-sea via MI vessels and experienced technicians;
  • Ability to assess the feasibility of a particular port and/or vessel requirements for renewable energy projects (e.g. hydrogen, wind, tidal) through MI’s marine simulation facilities;
  • Potential to leverage MI’s relationships with remote and indigenous communities for projects that look at data capture, filtering and transfer in Arctic regions and hard to reach areas;
  • Access to highly skilled engineering and technical teams to test equipment and technology in unique operational field environments.

Organization Profile

Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University The Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University (MI) is Canada’s most comprehensive centre for education, training, research, and industrial support in ocean sectors.

 

The Launch is MI’s hub of ocean innovation and discovery. It provides stakeholders with at-sea access to enhance their technology pipeline through researching, testing, and improving their products and services, increasing their Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) for commercialization. With direct access to the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, one of the harshest marine environments in the world, The Launch is ideally located to mobilize ocean research – if it works here, it will work anywhere. The Launch is home to a subsea test facility, a latent seabed oil field installation, situated at 30m water depth. This facility enables the development and testing of next-generation ocean/subsea technologies, paints and coatings, real-time vehicle visualization, sonar camera systems, and other technologies.

 

It is also home to a new initiative called MAST, maritime autonomous systems testbed. This initiative looks ahead at how autonomous systems, both subsea and surface, will influence the national and global maritime transportation networks in the future. Work will be undertaken to research both user-centric and outcome-driven technology, decarbonization, human-machine interface, remote operations, skill and training requirements, regulatory challenges, insurance implications, legal issues, cybersecurity, and operational impacts. www.thelaunch.mi.mun.ca

 

The Launch utilizes experts from MI’s Centre for Applied Ocean Technology (CTEC), whose core expertise is using equipment for ocean mapping and ocean monitoring. Their focus is on converting data into useful information to service the needs of those who work on the ocean. They manage both SmartAtlantic, the largest applied ocean observation system in Canada; and the Holyrood Subsea Observatory, a subsea ocean monitoring platform powered to shore by a fiber optic cable.

 

MI’s Centre for Marine Simulation (CMS) is the largest marine simulation facility in North America, comprising 25 simulators ranging from full mission/motion capable ship bridge simulators to remotely operated vehicle (ROV) simulators. Particular areas of expertise include the modeling and simulation of harsh maritime environments; human performance in moving environments, simulation of offshore energy operations, risk assessments, performance training, and port development analysis. CMS has been involved in simulating every gravity-based tow-out that has taken place in the Grand Banks – East Coast Canada. CMS has also worked on port development projects, facilitating the analysis of port layouts for optimal traffic efficiency and operational safety; assessing dredging needs; and determining vessel suitability for specific operations.

 

The Centre for Aquaculture and Seafood Development (CASD) is a comprehensive industrial response unit within MI’s School of Fisheries. The Centre is internationally recognized for its applied scientific and technical expertise, comprehensive research facilities and commitment to clients in the seafood processing and aquaculture industries. CASD possesses the largest pilot plant facilities of its kind in Atlantic Canada, with a combined area of nearly 1,400 square metres. Facilities include a 1,100 square metre state-of-the-art food processing pilot plant, an aquaculture facility and a marine bioprocessing facility. Services span the entire value chain from:

  • post-harvest handling and holding technologies
  • equipment design and prototype development
  • product and process development
  • pilot scale processing of test market samples, through to by-product utilization for the seafood processing sector.
  • Likewise, an egg to plate approach is available for aquaculture clients with services ranging from:
    • site selection
    • diet development and formulation
    • development of land-based live holding systems to
    • aquatic health services