Building better (and more efficient) batteries and developing new ways to manage expended ones (such as the lithium-ion supply pictured here) are top priorities for the team at the Ontario Battery and Electrochemistry research Centre at the University of Waterloo.
Building better (and more efficient) batteries and developing new ways to manage expended ones (such as the lithium-ion supply pictured here) are top priorities for the team at the Ontario Battery and Electrochemistry research Centre at the University of Waterloo.
Batteries are a hot commodity right now: Demand is surging as the market for electric vehicles and other battery-powered tech steadily grows. The most common rechargeable batteries, which power everything from EVs to smartphones, are made with lithium 鈥 but extracting the element exacts a huge toll on the . And once those batteries run out of juice, there aren鈥檛 many viable answers to the question of what to do with the waste. While recycling is an option, it鈥檚 costly and hard to scale.
Luckily, innovations in this realm are multiplying in tandem with increasing demand for batteries. Bolstered by nearly $5 million in combined funding from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and the University of Waterloo, the (OBEC) at the university will work to accelerate the development of innovative tech. According to Linda Nazar, the 91原创 Research Chair in Solid State Energy Materials and one of the centre鈥檚 lead researchers, OBEC is exploring a range of options. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no silver bullet,鈥 she says. The ideal solution would be 鈥渓ow cost, inherently safe, sustainable and high in energy density with great power capabilities and long cycle life. And you can鈥檛 hit all of those targets with one technology 鈥 at least not yet.鈥 That means Nazar and her colleagues are digging into everything from sodium ion batteries (popular in the 鈥80s, this rechargeable tech uses sodium to carry a charge) to (where power is generated when metals react with oxygen), as well as overseeing a fabrication facility. 鈥淟iterally everything is on the menu,鈥 she says. Nazar also notes that the centre鈥檚 location is ideal because of its proximity to both automotive manufacturers and startups.
While OBEC homes in on the cells themselves, startups across the country are working on other innovations to help optimize batteries. For instance, Montreal-based startup is focusing on tech to help batteries power motors more efficiently. The company has developed an inverter that uses gallium nitride, a semiconductor material that conducts energy . An algorithm controls and reduces the amount of energy used by a vehicle, preserving battery life and saving electricity. For now, FTEX鈥檚 technology is used in smaller modes of transport (like e-bikes and scooters), but Ramee Mossa, FTEX鈥檚 co-founder and CEO, says that there are plans to eventually scale up to motorcycles and cars.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
It stands to reason that the country is seeing such promising battery-related innovation, says OBEC鈥檚 Nazar: 鈥淚t鈥檚 an area where 91原创 is poised to make a tremendous contribution. We have a fair amount of the natural resources needed for a lot of these systems, a highly educated population, and the combination of that and the science and technology should be instrumental in pushing this forward.鈥澛
Quebec鈥檚 agtech incubator takes root
Cutting-edge labs, tech workshops, and access to drones and other infrastructure will be among the highlights of Zone Agtech鈥檚 new innovation centre in the Montreal suburb of L鈥橝ssomption, which is funded by a $42-million investment from the government of Quebec. Zone Agtech is hoping to help startups accelerate their development of new solutions to agricultural problems.
New Ontario budget supports innovation centres
The government of Ontario , which contains investments to the innovation sector. An additional $100 million will be added to the Invest Ontario Fund and there are plans to create a $12-million Health Technology Accelerator Fund. Doug Ford鈥檚 government will also launch a new in Barrie to further expand innovation and economic growth. It will be the 18th Regional Innovation Centre in the province.
IBM sets its sights on Quebec鈥檚 DeepSight
A new partnership between /R茅alit茅 Augment茅e and IBM will facilitate the integration of the Quebec-based startup鈥檚 AR-powered learning platform and the computing giant鈥檚 AI technology to create real-time training and guidance for workers. DeepSight harnesses augmented reality 鈥 interactive tech that superimposes digital content on real-life surroundings 鈥 to provide workplace guidance by letting users engage with holographic simulations of potential scenarios and/or equipment.
By the numbers:
$4.5 billion:The amount that Ontario school boards are suing social media platforms Snapchat, TikTok and Meta for in a class-action lawsuit. The school boards allege the social platforms are deliberately harming students.
$2 billion-plus: big pharma firm AstraZeneca is shelling out to buy Hamilton-based biopharmaceutical precision oncology company Fusion Pharmaceuticals.
$16 million: the federal and Quebec governments are investing to establish an AI computing cluster in Laval, Que.
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