Governor General Honours Canada’s Top Scientists and Engineers

The annual Synergy Awards for Innovation recognize examples of collaboration that stand as a model of effective partnership between industry and colleges or universities.

Innovation paves the road to success in the new global economy. The Synergy Awards for Innovation were launched in 1995 by NSERC to recognize partnerships in natural sciences and engineering research and development (R&D) between universities and Canadian industry. Since their inception, the Awards have honoured the most outstanding achievements of these collaborations in the natural sciences and engineering. By working together, award-winning companies and post-secondary institutions have proven that effective partnerships are the foundation of achievement. Their success has enriched the academic and research programs within Canadian post-secondary institutions while providing tangible benefits to Canadians.

NSERC Synergy Award for Innovation

Category 1: Small and Medium-Sized Companies
University of Ottawa
Larus Technologies Corp.

In today’s networked society, we rely more and more on sensor technology to monitor and detect physical or environmental conditions. Managing an ever-growing amount of sensor data is a difficult task faced by many industries that rely on accurate information to make decisions essential to operations. Dr. Emil M. Petriu at the University of Ottawa has teamed up with Larus Technologies Corp. to develop innovative solutions to this problem.

The long-standing partnership has produced countless multi-sensor monitoring technologies that have led to increased risk assessment and improved decision support systems. Among their many accomplishments, the team has developed the Larus Technologies predictive risk-aware decision support system, Total::Insight™. The system uses computational intelligence and advanced learning techniques to analyze large volumes of data and consistently produce accurate predictions and information to enhance the situational awareness of decision-makers. The technology has been applied to defence, security, health care and infrastructure protection, with local and international recognition and application.

View of a video of Dr Petriu and Dr Abielmona discussing Total::Insight™.