NL Student Teams Receive Grants from IEEE Canadian Foundation for Autonomous Vehicles Competitions

The teams received grants to participate in autonomous underwater and aerial vehicles

Published: May 3, 2022 by IEEE Newfoundland and Labrador Section

In their April AGM and Board meetings, the IEEE Canadian Foundation approved the awarding of three Special Grants, two of them to NL student groups aiming to participate in international competitions for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).

The MUN Robosub AUV team is an engineering student group at Memorial University, comprised of engineering students designing a bio-inspired AUV to represent Memorial University in the RoboSub Competition. RoboSub is an international student competition by RoboNation, a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote hands-on educational experiences that empower students. The competition is held each summer at the U.S. Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific’s TRANSDEC Anechoic pool in San Diego, California. Student teams design and build autonomous underwater vehicles that can identify and distinguish objects through machine learning, pick up objects, drop markers, monitor subsea structures, collect data and touch buoys under the water, thus mimicking those of real-world systems. The aim is to challenge students and advance the field of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV), which are widely used for underwater exploration, seafloor mapping, and sonar localization, amongst many others.

Phoenix Aerospace is an aerospce club run by Memorial University Students, with the goal of “creating a safe space that opens up new opportunities for students to explore the inner workings of UAVs and aerospace applications.” The team received the IEEE Canadian Foundation Special Grant to compete in the 2022 IEEE Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) Competition. The goal of this year’s competition, named “Research Infrastructure for Real-Time Onboard Vision Enabled Robots” (Ri4rover), is to have “autonomous drones actively track one of several ground robots in a miniature city”.

According to their website, “[t]he IEEE Canadian Foundation awards “Special Grants” to an IEEE Student Branch, an IEEE Section, an IEEE Canada Committee, a non-IEEE entity such as a high school , or in rare cases an individual, all in Canada. Special Grants are intended to partially fund one-time new and innovative projects that advance IEEE’s core purpose to foster technological innovation and excellence to benefit humanity.”

In Memoriam: Neil P. Riggs, P. Eng. (1948–2023)

Co-Founder of IEEE NL OES Chapter and Former IEEE NL Executive Member, Neil Riggs passes away at 74

The IEEE NL community is grieving the passing of Neil P. Riggs at the age of 74. A pioneering figure in oceanic research and engineering in Newfoundland and Labrador, Neil was part of the beginnings of the Newfoundland Oceans Research and Development Corporation (NORDCO) and an integral part of the development of commercial underwater acoustics projects in Newfoundland.

Neil was a dedicated volunteer of the IEEE NL Section, being one of the two founders of the NL chapter of the IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society, serving multiple times as its chair between 2010 and 2019. Neil was also a member of the executive committee in the IEEE International Oceans 2014 conference, held in St. John’s. He was also a keynote speaker in the 2018 edition of the annual Newfoundland Electrical and Computer Engineering Conference (NECEC).

Funeral arrangements and memorial service details can be found at Carnell’s website. The engineering community is invited to pay their respects and share their memories of Neil P. Riggs, a true pioneer and advocate of innovation in oceanic engineering.

Applications to the 2023 IEEE NL Term 4 Scholarship are now open

Active IEEE student members in term 4 can compete for a one-time $1000 scholarship. Deadline is June 11, 2023.

The Awards committee of the NL Section has released the call for applications to the Term 4 Scholarship for IEEE Student Members. The deadline for applications is 11:59 PM on Sunday, June 11, 2023. For more information on eligibility criteria and application procedures, click here to read the call for applications.

Holy Trinity Student Receives IEEE Award at the 2023 Eastern Newfoundland Science and Technology Fair

Honourable mention given to intermediate student at St. Bonaventure's College.

Ryan Cullen, a senior student at the Holy Trinity High School, received the IEEE Award in the 2023 Cenovus Energy Eastern Newfoundland Science and Technology Fair. The IEEE Award at the Eastern Newfoundland Science and Technology Fair is given to the best senior project in an Electrical and Computer Engineering-related field, selected by a judge for the IEEE Newfoundland and Labrador Section.

Ryan’s project, entitled “Equilibrium - it goes both ways. Simulating Le Chatelier’s Principle,” is a software for educational use that demonstrates the Le Chatelier’s Principle, written using Rust, Tauri, and SvelteKit.

Congratulations to Ryan, winner of the @ieeenlca Award for the Best Senior Electrical and Computer Engineering project in the 2023 Eastern Newfoundland Science and Technology Fair! https://t.co/dFGwlToXzK
— IEEE Newfoundland and Labrador (@ieeenlca) April 4, 2023

In Memoriam: James Paul Thorburn (1946–2022)

Longstanding IEEE NL volunteer and Former Section Chair, Paul Thorburn Passes Away at 76

The IEEE NL Section is deeply saddened to hear the news of passing of Paul Thorburn, at the age of 76. Paul assumed various roles within the IEEE NL section executive over the years, being chair of the IEEE NL Section in 1992 and chair of the Newfoundland Electrical and Computer Engineering Conference (NECEC) in 1995. For his “outstanding and longtime contributions to section and regional activities,” Paul received the J.J. Archambault Eastern Canada Merit Award in 2013.