A tech competition where young innovators team up to tackle urgent freshwater issues.
Meet water sector experts. Work on the tech. Start your business. Be part of the change.
Timeline
The AquaHacking Challenge Lake Winnipeg Kicked-off in January 2020 and ran through to the Final in October 2020.
Water Issues
Drinking Water in Northern Communities
We need innovative and cost-effective solutions to support northern communities to test the quality of their own drinking water supplies while addressing community needs and Indigenous perspectives. Water Issue Leader: Pauline Gerrard from IISD
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Water and Land Management
We need exciting and innovative solutions to help farmers understand their fields in this changing climate so they can increase their profitability sustainably while reducing the amount of phosphorus that ends up in Lake Winnipeg. Water Issue Leaders are Mitchell Timmerman from Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development and Alanna Gray from Keystone Agricultural Producers
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Financing a healthier Lake Winnipeg
We need exciting and innovative solutions, ideally using new financial technologies, to help concerned citizens easily invest money in the protection of Lake Winnipeg and find out what the impact of their money has been. Water Issue Leaders are Geoff Gunn and Madeline Stanley from the International Institute for Sustainable Development
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Fish Health
We need exciting and innovative solutions to remove drug residue from wastewater before it ends up in Lake Winnipeg and to assess fish health and populations without having to kill the fish being tested. Water Issue Leaders are Vince Palace, Lee Hrenchuk and Lauren Hayhurst from IISD Experimental Lakes Area
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Microplastics
We need exciting and innovative solutions to understand how microplastics end up in Lake Winnipeg and to remove microplastics from wastewater before they reach Lake Winnipeg. Water Issue Leaders are Chelsea Rochman, University of Toronto, Michael Rennie, Lakehead University and Sarah Warrack, IISD Experimental Lakes Area
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On October 20, the ranking has been announced Live on the IISD NEWS FACEBOOK page!
Meet The Winners
1st Place ($20,000): Particuleye Technologies
Issue – Microplastic.
Solution: their innovation Particuleye helping with their classification and quantification!
2nd Place ($15,000): LasIr Nutrient Technology!
Issue – Water & Land management in agriculture
With their innovation, they’ve brought precision #farming techniques to a new level in the #fertilizer application.
3rd Place ($10,000): Typha
Issue: Watershed Investment
Solution: An innovative eco-packaging made from cattails to fight against single-use plastics and eutrophication.
4th Place ($2,500): Water Secure
Issue – Drinking Water in remote centers
Solution: They have developed a solution to help with #waterquality testing!
5th Place ($2,500): AbbaTek
Issue – Microplastics
Solution: An algorithm Compound Connect to help fight #microplastic pollution.
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To see the program click here & read this article to learn more about the teams!
MORE INFORMATION
Contact Catherine van Reenen, AquaHacking Project Coordinator, IISD
ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Peter Tielmann, President, Palliser; IISD Board Member – Palliser Furniture Holdings Ltd.
Ray Bouchard, President, Chair of EMILI – Enns Brothers + EMILI
Jay Myers, Co-Founder & VP Growth – Bold Commerce
Glenn Crook, VP Commercial Financial Services, MB West; IISD-ELA Board Member – RBC
Mark Alexiuk, CTO & Co-Founder – Sightline Innovation Inc.
Joelle Foster, President – North Forge
Annette Trimbee, President & Vice-Chancellor – University of Winnipeg
Dayna Spiring, President & CEO – Economic Development Winnipeg
Ray Hoemsen, Executive Director, Research Partnerships & Innovation – Red River College
Masoud Asadzadeh, Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering (Water Resources) – University of Manitoba
Joanne Zuk, Assistant Deputy Minister, Renewal and Strategic Alignment – Government of Manitoba
Chris Kirby, Senior Technology Leader – IBM
Anne-Pascale Richardson, Program Manager – AquaHacking
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National Financial Partners
Local Financial Partners
Academic Partners
Contact Catherine van Reenen, AquaHacking Project Coordinator, IISD at cvanreenen@iisd.ca
to learn how to become an academic partner.