Atlantic Canada 2022-23
Hosted By
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FINALISTS
1st place
TechStar Digital
Labs
The GREENHUT solution for the prevention of stormwater runoff is an innovative, do-it-yourself, intensive roofing solution for households provided with a local form of vegetation. It is eco-friendly, powered by green cement layering and can be customized in various sizes.
2nd PLACE
SÙ
SÙ manufactures reusable & biodegradable drinking straws from invasive reed. Their solution will help solve the problem of single-use plastics related to drinking straws. It will also help preserve the Canadian wetlands by controlling the propagation of invasive reeds.
3rd place
Seacycle
Seacycle is a water filtration system designed to remove plastic waste ranging from water bottles, to microplastics by use of a gravity filter, while also generating automated water quality reports.
4th place
Kamino
KAMNIO provides STEM-The-Tide, a low-cost technology solution for private property owners to install and maintain green infrastructure aligned to municipal stormwater reconstruction projects. This solution uses real-time data from an Internet of Things mesh network that works offline to collect and monitor the performance of Low Impact Development.
5th place
Sense H2O
SenseH2O is a cloud-based platform that aims to deliver automated real-time water quality data as a service to watershed organizations and open databases using SenseH2O Water monitoring Station. The Cloud-based platform will allow for real-time monitoring and analysis of water quality data using web and mobile applications.
About the Challenge
Atlantic Canada is home to a spectacular system of dynamic freshwater and marine environments. Water is core to ecosystems and communities across the region; from Indigenous, to rural, to urban. Water is the life-giving force that unites all beings within this vast geography.
This program is focused on solutions. We engage talented young innovators from across Canada to put their skills to work for freshwater.
Water has no substitute.
The time is now for solutions and change.
The Water issues
SALT WATER
INTRUSION
How can we provide well water users cost-effective solutions for salt water intrusion?
Water Issue Leaders
Logan Horrocks, GIS Specialist and Charlynne Robertson, Senior Manager - Clean Coasts at Clean Foundation
AQUATIC
INVASIVE SPECIES
How can we improve the control and management of aquatic invasive species?
Water Issue Leaders
Kaylee MacLeod, Senior Field Technician - Species at Risk and Biodiversity at Coastal Action and Erin Francheville, MSc App Sci (2024) at SMU
AUTOMATED
WATER QUALITY MONITORING
How can we provide automated and cost-effective solutions to monitor water
quality?
Water Issue Leaders
Curtis Forbes, Project Biologist and Kalen Mawer, Aquatic Science Program Manager at Eastern Charlotte Waterways Inc.
stormwater
and green infrastructure
How can we improve green infrastructure maintenance and care practices to ensure long term stormwater management?
Water Issue Leaders
Jamylynn McDonald, Climate Change Coordinator at ACAP Saint John
Innovations for
water alteration projects
How can we innovate to improve the alteration projects occurring in our lakes and rivers to mitigate environmental impacts?
Water Issue Leaders
Annamarie Burgess, Senior Water Resources Engineer, Water Resources Management Unit,
at Nova Scotia Department of Environment & Climate Change
WATER ISSUES
SUMMARY REPORT
Additional information, resources and data about the water issues.
The Prizes
Half-way through the program, all teams pitch their solution during the AquaHacking semi-final event. This is a huge feat, and we welcome all semi-finalists into the AquaHacking Alumni community!
From these pitches, the top 5 teams are selected to go onto Phase 2 of the program. These finalists receive $2,000 to support the continuation of their work as they refine their solution in preparation for their pitch at the AquaHacking Finale.
All 5 finalist teams are winners and receive kick-start business training, leadership training, a spot in a local incubator, Lavery Lawyers credits and seed funding.
Eligibility
Eligible participants in an AquaHacking Challenge are between 18-35 years of age, a resident of Canada and enrolled in a post-secondary institution or be a recent graduate. They are interested in freshwater and have skills in water science, engineering, programming, sustainable development, data, marketing or entrepreneurship. Most importantly, they believe ingenuity anchored in a respect for the natural world can make the difference we need in our climate impact world.
How To Participate
Register & create your water-hacker profile
Build your multi-disciplinary team
Choose a water issue & tackle it
Develop your solution & pitch it to the judges
Timeline
Advisory Committee
Emma Wattie
Director, Atlantic Water Network
Sheila Paterson
Chief Operating Officer, COVE
Elizabeth Hendriks
VP, Restoration and Regeneration, WWF Canada
Colleen McNeil
Analyst, Water and Ecosystem, Environement and Climate Change Canada
Anne-Marie Léger
Director Policy, ACOA
Gordon Check
Senior Hydrogeologist, Nova Scotia Environment
Amina Stoddart
Assistant Professor, Dalhousie University
Lorie MacCarthy
VP Relationship Management, RBCx
Matthew Mizzi
CEO, Drinkable (Alumni)
Dominique Monchamp
Executive Director, de Gaspé Beaubien Foundation
Gwen Klees
Senior VP, Business Support ESG, OVIVO
Cristina Cismasu
Data Specialist, The Gordon Foundation
