The second NSERC CREATE TOP-SET Annual Challenge was launched at this year’s Summer School in July 2019. Five teams of four and five undergraduate and graduate students as well as postdoctoral fellows from the University of Ottawa, Université de Sherbrooke and McMaster University were formed and over the course of the next few weeks, each team analyzed future prospects for new devices or systems, drawing together science, engineering, and economic analysis. Teams reported back via videoconference on September 3 in front of a panel of three judges composed of Richard Beal, co-founder and CEO at Spectrafy, Adina Luican-Mayer, assistant professor in the department of physics at the University of Ottawa, and Geoff Wright, vice president market research at Brookfield Renewable.
The high level of this year’s presentations resulted in two teams winning this year’s Annual Challenge:
- From the University of Ottawa, undergraduate summer students Adam Johnston (McMaster University) and Avya Stolow (McGill University), and MSc physics candidate Erin Tonita as well as McMaster University MASc engineering physics candidate Ruslan Khabibrakhmanov for their presentation titled “The Economic Case for Bifacial Solar Installations in the Canadian Arctic”;
- University of Ottawa electrical engineering MASc candidate Kevin Shimotakahara and PhD candidates Neda Nouri and Mikhak Samadi, Université de Sherbrooke PhD electrical engineering candidate Alexandre Heintz and McMaster University MASc engineering physics candidate Taz Colangelo for their presentation titled “Residential Energy Cost Analysis: A Demand Management Case in Ontario”.
Congratulations to all!