Industry Partnerships

We work on fundamental research, and the application of that fundamental research to industry problems. By leveraging provincial and federal leveraging programs, we can help solve some of your most pressing operational challenges.

Research Areas Research Team

NSERC Alliance

1:1 or 2:1 cash matching for one-to-five-year technology, research and development projects for fundamental and applied science and engineering

NSERC Alliance

Mitacs Accelerate

1:1 matching for 4-month internships for graduate students.

Mitacs Accelerate

Alberta Innovates

Varied programs providing funding for small to medium businesses and for advanced TRL projects.

Alberta Innovates

Current Projects

Modeling and Online Optimization of Hard Rock Drilling for Advanced Geothermal Systems (awarded by NSERC) with Eavor Technologies, Inc - NSERC Alliance
- Development of modeling and optimization tools for hard rock drilling and improving the understanding of the mechanics of rock failure in hard rocks for both rotary and percussive drilling.
Explainable Geothermal Machine Learning (awarded by Alberta Innovates) with Eavor Technologies, Inc - Campus Alberta Small Business Engagement
- Development of a machine learning workflow for automatic model training and an investigation into model explainability.
Energy Harvesting Processes (awarded by NSERC and Mitacs) with Ashaw Energy, ConocoPhillips, KALiNA Distributed Power, Suncor, Telsec, and Terrador Energy
- Development and modeling of robust thermal property measurement techniques, modeling of thermal flows in reservoirs, and evaluation and optimization of energy conversion processes.
Improving the uptake of community-scale geothermal systems through the development of an open evaluation and implementation platform (proposal under review with NRCan's Towards Net-Zero Homes and Communities Call for Proposals) with multiple partners
- Development of a transparent evaluation framework to design and optimize community-scale geothermal systems for heating and cooling in colder climates and application to case studies in south Calgary and the University of Calgary.
Mitacs Projects
- Techno-Economic Feasibility of Eavor-Loop Electrolytic Hydrogen Production. Mitacs BSI. With Eavor Technologies. 2023.
- Feasibility of a Deep Eavor-Loop for heat and power for the University of Calgary. Mitacs BSI. With Eavor Technologies. 2022.
- Techno-economic map of geothermal potential in Alberta. Mitacs BSI. With Alberta No. 1. 2022.
- Eavor-Loop for district cooling. Mitacs Accelerate. With Eavor Technologies. 2020

New Projects

The research team is always interested in exploring new collaborative projects. New projects can either be in the form of direct collaboration (one-on-one type projects) or as part of industry consortiums (where several companies work together). In both cases, industry funding is matched 1:1 or 2:1 using NSERC Alliance or Mitacs funding programs. IP ownership is negotiable, however, fundamental results must be publishable. Standard university IP policy places IP ownership with the university and the sponsor receives a free, non-exclusive, license to the technology. Exclusive licenses and IP ownership can be negotiated as part of the project scoping process prior to submission.

Each year, fourth-year engineering students undertake a team-based capstone project in disciplinary or multidisciplinary teams. These projects range from full engineering design to feasibility studies. Industry partners may propose projects each summer (July and August) for students to undertake during the academic year (September through April). Industry funding is generally not required unless a physical prototype is to be developed.

Students in the M.Sc. in Sustainable Energy Development program, a one-year intensive professional master's program, undertake a capstone project, frequently in collaboration with an industry partner. The projects frequently investigate the techno-economic feasibility of projects and look at regulatory and social issues. Projects are defined between September and December each year. Many projects are supported by 4-month Mitacs Internships that leverage industry funding.