International recognition Engineering interim dean and professor receives international recognition

Interim Dean of Engineering and Applied Science has received international recognition from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Dr. Octavia A. Dobre received the IEEE Communications Society Joseph LoCicero Award for Exemplary Service, as well as the Technical Recognition Award from the IEEE Communications Society’s Cognitive Networks Technical Committee.

Dr. Dobre was presented with the Joseph LoCicero Award for Exemplary Service for her exceptional leadership as the founding editor-in-chief of the IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society and editor-in-chief of the IEEE Communications Letters, and for exemplary service to the IEEE Communications Society’s publications.

She obtained the Technical Recognition Award for her outstanding contributions to cognitive radio communications and networking.

“I am deeply honoured and delighted to receive these awards from the IEEE,” said Dr. Dobre. “Thank you to all my students and collaborators, as well as my nominator and the selection committee.”

Dr. Dobre is a fellow of the IEEE. She is also interim dean and professor in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science. She was a Royal Society Scholar, a Fulbright Scholar and a visiting professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Her research interests include technologies for the 6G wireless networks, as well as optical and underwater communications, and she has published over 450 referred papers in these areas.

She also serves as the director of Journals of the IEEE Communications Society, and has been a senior editor/editor/guest editor for numerous journals and magazines.

Dr. Dobre has also received various honours, such as Best Paper Awards at leading conferences, and was elected as member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada, and Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering. ■■■

Memorial-led program empowers next generation of ocean leaders

This past fall, 20 research teams got a crash course on all things ocean.

The groups, from seven universities across the country, were among the latest cohort participating in the Lab2Market Oceans.

The seven-week program, hosted by Memorial and part of the Ocean Startup Project, provided post-doctoral fellows, graduate students and faculty the opportunity to explore their ocean research ideas in a new way.

Facilitated by world-class experts, teams learned about everything from stakeholder engagement to intellectual property to revenue stream.

‘Better understanding’

The Lab2Market Oceans program is not just about commercialization, says Dr. Paula Mendonça (PhD’10), director of innovation and entrepreneurship, at Memorial who oversees Lab2Market Oceans.

“It’s about training ocean researchers to be better communicators, entrepreneurs and problem-solvers,” she said. “By participating in the program, these teams are opening up new doors as they enhance their professional networks, explore new business ventures and foster a better understanding of the ocean ecosystem.”

Cross-country participation

Interest in the program has risen since its launch in 2020.

The latest cohort consists of 13 teams from Memorial, along with groups from the University of Victoria, Simon Fraser University, the University of Alberta, Ontario Tech University, Concordia University and Dalhousie University.

Forty per cent of the entrepreneurial leads self-identify as female, up from 23 per cent in 2021 and 11 per cent in 2020.

Participating students receive $15,000 in Mitacs funding to support them through the program.

Ocean-related projects

Memorial’s teams were based in the faculties of Science, Engineering and Applied Science and the School of Fisheries at the Marine Institute.

Dr. Oscar De Silva, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, was one of the participants.

He said the Lab2Market program was “incredibly” valuable.

“It allowed us to methodically assess where our R&D efforts were on the commercialization scale.”

He said students got access to key stakeholders and clients from across the country.

“Our team is focused on developing hardware and software to support aerial logistics and marine autonomy specifically for use in harsh environment applications. Through the Lab2Market program, we were hoping to learn from leading tech entrepreneurs and potential future clients how to better align our R&D efforts and at the same time enable tech startup spinoffs led by students of the lab.”

‘Economic driver’

Dr. De Silva says it makes sense for Memorial to be the host institution for Lab2Market.

“Ocean-related technology research is an economic driver for the province and the university,” he said.

“I think Memorial, with its facilities and network of partners, is uniquely geared to take on challenging ocean-engineering problems, which in turn produces highly marketable skills in the tech sector.”

‘Significant’ benefits

That feedback was welcome news for organizers.

“It’s exciting to see so many ocean researchers exploring commercialization in Canada, which adds to the significant momentum this country has in the blue economy,” said Don Grant, executive director at the Ocean Startup Project.

“Canada is uniquely positioned to be a global leader in developing innovative, sustainable ocean technologies that can help us better understand and protect our ocean resources. The potential for these researchers to create new products and services is huge, and the benefits to our economy and our environment are significant.”

The Lab2Market program is part of the Ocean Startup Project, hosted by Memorial University, and supported by Springboard Atlantic, Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and Mitacs. ■■■