COVE Connect | August 2023

17 August 2023 | 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. (ADT) Brightwood Brewery Beer Garden | 2 Ochterloney Street, Dartmouth, NS, B2Y 4W1

This event is almost sold out, get your ticket today!

Join COVE at Brightwood Brewery Beer Garden for our annual summertime social event! No presentation or keynote speakers – this Ocean Connector is about networking with the local marine tech community. We hope to see you there.

Click HERE to register.

20 August 2023 | 11:00 a.m. or 1:00 p.m. (ADT)

Rissers Beach | 5366 NS-331, Petite Rivière Bridge, NS, B0R 1C0

Rain date activated: The OffshoreWind4Kids Interactive Showcase is now happening on Sunday, August 20th.

Looking for a fun and educational summer activity the whole family can enjoy? Love going to the beach? Add the OffshoreWind4Kids Interactive Showcase to your 2023 beach agenda and learn how to build and test mini offshore wind turbines and learn how they benefit the renewable energy sector!

You and your family are invited to join Kat Mataya, Education and Outreach Manager, and Sydney Silver, Training and Education Coordinator, for the interactive event on August 20th, from 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. or from 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., at Rissers Beach (if the event is cancelled due to rain, it will take place August 27th). The event is recommended for ages 8 – 13 and youth must be accompanied by parentals.

Click HERE for more information and to register.

21 September 2023 | 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. (ADT)

ESL Labs | 221 Joseph Zatzman Drive, Dartmouth, NS, B3B 1M6

ESL Labs’ environmental product and material testing lab provides an extensive range of testing services delivered by a highly experienced and knowledgeable team that has been serving the testing requirements of the defense, marine, oil & gas, and aerospace industries for the past 25 years. ESL Labs is also a Military Spec Standard testing lab.

Join us at ESL Labs for our Ocean Connector on September 21st, from 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. for an exclusive tour of their state-of-art facility and learn about their environmental testing lab and capabilities, and network with fellow members of the marine technology sector.

Click HERE to register.

25-28 September 2023 | Mississippi, US

Don’t miss COVE’s Director of Workforce Development, Tanya Lush, deliver her seminar, Building a Diverse and Inclusive Talent Pipeline for the Ocean and Marine Sector of Atlantic Canada, Tools for Best Practice and Lessons Learned, at the Oceans 2023 Gulf Coast Conference and Exposition!

OCEANS is an annual event for global marine technologists, engineers, students, government officials, lawyers, and advocates. At OCEANS2023 Gulf Coast, industry thought leaders gather for four days to highlight relevant topics and current trends while creating a community of learners and influencers who consistently advance research, practices, and policies for the marine field.

The conference, which will have over 2000 attendees and unprecedented networking, will include:

• Over 500 professionally reviewed technical papers, including sessions focused on local themes.
• Plenary sessions with leaders from industry, academia, the military and government.
• 100+ exhibitors showcasing the latest innovations in products and services.
• A student poster session featuring outstanding projects from around the world and other student activities.
• Training sessions, workshops, demonstrations, government listening sessions, social and networking opportunities, professional field trips, and much more.

Click HERE for more information and to register.

14-15 November 2023 | Rostock Germany

COVE has a strong relationship with German industry and government, having signed an MOU to strengthen capabilities in commercializing new technologies and to create opportunities for collaboration focused on innovation and growth.

Melanie Nadeau, CEO, Michel Lechmann, VP of Growth, and James Kesten, Director of Strategic Partnerships at COVE, will be attending the Rostock Ocean Convention to focus on joint commitments and to build new connections with those across the marine industry.

The Rostock Ocean Convention brings together companies and scientists in the marine sector from across Germany, Europe, and worldwide. The convention focuses on the current developments, trends, and projects in maritime and underwater technology.

In addition to focusing on current developments, trends, and projects, other topics of discussion will be:

• Digital underwater technology
• Talents / International Ocean Accelerator
• Political and regulatory framework for sustainable use of the ocean
• Offshore maintenance and energy supply
• Aquaculture

Click HERE for more information and to register.

Some parts of the Halifax harbour turned a bright shade of pink on August 10th — for science.

Researchers with Dalhousie University added pink fluorescent dye to Nova Scotia Power’s Tufts Cove Generating Station in Dartmouth, so the colour can be tracked as it moves through the harbour over the following days.

It’s part of an experiment that could one day help the ocean better absorb carbon dioxide. The experiment began when 500 litres of dye, which is water soluble and safe, was added to the cooling water outfall of the generating station.

Boats, drones and underwater robots were then deployed to map the movement of the dye, so researchers can understand where materials spread and how quickly they do so.

This information will be used in September when Dartmouth-based company Planetary Technologies adds alkaline material into the water. The company wants to add more alkaline material as a way to increase carbon dioxide absorption in the ocean, rather than it being absorbed in the atmosphere.

Click HERE to read more.

In the relentless pursuit of a sustainable and cleaner future, technological advancements in renewable energy sources are crucial for mitigating climate change and reducing our carbon footprint.

Oneka Technologies, a Quebec-based company and member of the COVE community, is using exclusively renewable energy from the ocean to turn seawater into freshwater, it has recently received a significant allocation of US $3.4 M from DOE’s Water Power Technologies Office’s (WPTO) Powering the Blue Economy™ Initiative to further develop its Ice cube project and marine energy subsystem solutions.

Earlier this year, Oneka announced it will lead a $14 million Ocean Supercluster project, dubbed the Oneka Glacier Project. The $14.1 million deal will see Oneka collaborate with shipyard A.F. Theriault & Son, Quebec City water treatment specialists H2O Innovation and the City of Barrington to build and deploy a “utility-scale” version of its desalination buoy.

Of the total cost, $6.7 million is coming from the Ocean Supercluster, in the wake of its recent mandate renewal from the federal government, which included instructions for the Supercluster to scale back its prior, one-to-one private sector matching ratio.

Click HERE to learn more.

Deadline: 25 August 2023.

The DIANA challenge program starts with a competitive call for proposals targeting three strategic focus areas: energy resilience, secure information sharing, and sensing and surveillance.

Derived from defence and security needs across the Alliance, informed by the state-of-development of commercial technologies, and designed for deep tech innovators – DIANA’s program seeks help in solving critical dual-use (civilian and defence) challenges.

Innovators who are accepted into the challenge will receive grant funding to support their technology development and demonstration, participate in a customized commercial and defence-focused accelerator program, gain access to test and evaluation resources across the Alliance, and benefit from curated exposure to investors and end users to support technology transition and adoption.

Click HERE for more information.

On August 1st, Anita Anand, President of the Treasury Board, and Darren Fisher, Member of Parliament for Dartmouth-Cole Harbour, visited COVE.

As the head of the Treasury Board, the President oversees government spending, manages public finances, and ensures transparency and accountability in financial matters. Their visit provided an opportunity to introduce the President to COVE, tour the facility and meet the organizations creating revolutionary technology advances.

During the visit, the President of the Treasury Board engaged in several discussions with various marine tech business leaders. These interactions allow for exchanging ideas, perspectives, and information that can contribute to informed decision-making and effective policy implementation. The President’s visit also served as a platform to communicate industry perspectives, initiatives, and achievements.

For this year’s COVE Internship Program, COVE hired 22 students to work at 18 companies across the marine sector. The interns come from various educational backgrounds such as engineering, computer science, ocean sciences, and business, all with an aspiration to work in the marine technology sector.

With the 2023 COVE Internship Program finishing at the end of this month, the interns were tasked with delivering presentations about their summer work experiences. On August 3rd, the COVE interns gave presentations covering and reflecting on the following:

• Their employer.
• Their project scope and overview of what their role was, the importance of the work, and how it fits into the goals of the organization as a whole.
• Their top experiences, as well as lessons learned.
• Their final outcomes, next steps, and future goals.

Every intern, whether in person or virtual, had the chance to present their work, learn from their peers about their opportunities in different subsectors and roles, ask questions, and network amongst each other and industry professionals.

Congratulations to our COVE Interns so far on all their learnings and accomplishments!