The Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada, on behalf of the Honourable Mark Garneau, Minister of Transport Canada, announced the Advanced Connectivity and Automation in the Transportation System (ACATS) program and Clean Rail Academic Grant Program on August 29, 2018 at Carleton University in Ottawa.
Of the four programs announced, Unmanned Systems Canada will receive a $50,000 contribution towards Unmanned Systems Canada’s new Annual National Student Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) Student Competition that will launch next May in Ottawa.
The competition captured the Minister’s attention as she said she valued the contributions students make to improve the economy and the quality of life for Canadians.
“We are entering a new era of autonomous, connected and electric vehicles that is very exciting and very disruptive. Growth in this sector will last for several decades,” said Barrie Kirk, Director at Unmanned Systems Canada and the UGV Student Competition Project Manager.
“In the rapidly evolving field of intelligent transportation systems, Canadian Youth will need new skills – especially in STEM courses – to keep Canada competitive and to succeed in this new economy,” Kirk continued.
This contribution from Transport Canada plays a critical role in encouraging other government departments and business champions to support college and university students from across Canada’s to compete on a national stage to design, develop, then test new Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) systems. we are very grateful for this investment in our talented students.”
Students will be challenged to design build and demonstrate fully-automated scale models of a vehicle well-known to many Canadians – the snow plow. Teams will have to complete various challenges at the new AV Test track in Ottawa next May, gaining valuable technical, problem-solving and team-building skills. Check out the Competition Announcement-
USC is preparing for the 11th UAV student competion in early May in Alma QC. Over the decade the students have developed sophisticated systems that tackle real life scenarios in agriculture, crime scene investigation, environmental management. Sponsors are welcome to invest in Canada’s top UAV talent by contacting [email protected].
USC is expanding our network of members and communications support for automated vehicle manufacturers, software developers and service providers. Industry support of this competition is central to its success. Organizations and companies interested in joining the Committee or sponsoring Canada’s inaugural competition in Ottawa next May are invited to contact [email protected] for more details.
The ACATS full press release:
You can read more about the TC announcement here.
