Two APSC 169 teams have qualified for the AquaHacking Challenge finals.
B.C. AquaHacking Challenge 2020 – SEMI-FINAL
Welcome to the B.C. AquaHacking Challenge 2020 – SEMI-FINAL & Happy Canada Water Week!VIEWING TIPS: On March 21, 2020, the Okanagan Basin Water Board and Aqua Forum hosted the B.C. AquaHacking Challenge 2020 Semi-Final as a virtual event in response to growing concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. The semi-final was supposed to be an in-person event with a science fair-style expo, judging and celebration, in Kelowna. However, we switched gears one week before the event and worked to hold the event online, allowing teams to pitch their solutions as scheduled while keeping everyone safe. This is the first time the challenge has been held in B.C. and the first time Aqua Forum has held an event, purely online, in its five year AquaHacking history. This required technical teams in Kelowna, Toronto and Montreal, all working behind the scenes, to make this happen. As such, there were some technical hiccups, but all-in-all it was a fabulous event, with some incredible solutions that have amazing potential to improve water in the Okanagan and beyond! There is a delay in the start time (starts at 10:20) and some unfortunate echoing in the first few minutes. We are working to get this resolved, but in the meantime, please note that the echoing stops at the 15:05 mark.NEWS RELEASE WITH FINALIST RESULTS: https://bit.ly/2vQtp9Y
Posted by Okanagan WaterWise on Saturday, March 21, 2020
The teams will now compete for $50,000 in seed funding and placement in a start-up incubator to further refine their solution and bring it to market.
The online competition hosted by the Okanagan Basin Water Board and Aqua Forum held its semi-finals last week featured 30 teams from BC, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec.
The teams pitched solutions to some of B.C.’s greatest water challenges including: contaminants in storm water, outdoor water conservation, flood damage and risks, invasive zebra and quagga mussels, and access to potable water in Indigenous communities.
UBC Okanagan Finalists:
- Elite (UBC Okanagan – Kelowna): Issue – stormwater contamination. Solution: An engineering solution, adapted to the land contour, to collect debris, waste and sediment as it flows over urban landscape in times of high water events. The team includes: Keyvan Khadem, Ahmed Ramadan, Gavin Saini, and Harvir Mann.
- Hydrodynamic Labs (UBC Okanagan – Kelowna): Issue – stormwater contamination. Solution: A gravity-based filtration system that removes oil, dust and petroleum contaminants from water. The team includes: Cole White- Robinson, Jacob Sol, Samira Samad Khan, Rudransh Kumar, and Jayden Wong.
The teams will now compete against each other, and three other teams, for $50,000 in seed funding and placement in a start-up incubator to further refine their solution and bring it to market.
The finals are set for mid-June.
Students teams from APSC 169 submitted a number of proposals to the competition as part of the curriculum. The course is taught this semester by Sabine Weyand.
Learn more at https://www.obwb.ca/top-five-teams-announced-in-b-c-aquaha…/