St. John's Company Aims High with Drone Technology
News release
New equipment helps to position Seamatica Aerospace for growth
December 18, 2018 – St. John's (NL) – Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
Helping to advance new technologies builds a stronger, more innovative economy and creates new jobs and opportunities across Canada. That is why the Government of Canada is supporting projects at Seamatica Aerospace that will contribute to the company's growth and enable it to acquire new equipment to demonstrate the effectiveness of its drone (unmanned aerial system or UAS) technology.
Seamatica Aerospace (SMA) is conducting land-based trials of its GuardianEye anti-collision system for the Royal Canadian Navy, which will enable safe operation of drones beyond visual line of sight. New hardware components for the GuardianEye will help SMA demonstrate the system to the Navy, while a permanent installation of the demonstration system will enhance the company's capacity to further develop and commercialize its technology, and become better established in the marketplace. The company is also improving its business systems and strategies to capitalize on growth opportunities and advance commercialization efforts.
Following a tour today, Nick Whalen, Member of Parliament for St. John's East, on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), announced support for the company through ACOA's Business Development Program. A $150,000 repayable contribution will help to offset equipment and production costs for the demonstration project, while a non-repayable contribution of $50,000 will assist the firm's business improvements.
This investment supports the Atlantic Growth Strategy, one way the Government of Canada is working to achieve its Innovation and Skills Planoutcomes in this region by supporting innovative businesses that are creating well-paying jobs for the middle class and those working hard to join it.
"The Government of Canada recognizes the importance of harnessing expertise in emerging areas such as drone technology, which create new opportunities and highly skilled jobs for the middle class. That is why we are proud to support innovative start-up businesses like Seamatica Aerospace, which focus on commercializing newer technology that has applications across many industries."
- The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for ACOA
"Technology is often driven by R&D. R&D begins at innovative post-secondary institutions like Memorial University. Memorial University cultivates innovative ideas and research, and incubates businesses to commercialize that success. Our government is a proud partner in fostering the start-up ecosystem, companies like Seamatica Aerospace, and the opportunities they create for interesting, high paid jobs, right here in Newfoundland and Labrador."
- Nick Whalen, Member of Parliament for St. John's East
"The era of unmanned aerial systems contributing to the Canadian economy is already upon us. Inspection of crops, pipelines and electrical transmission wires and prospecting for minerals are just a few of the operations that can be performed safely and economically by drones. ACOA's assistance to our company has been key to the development of our GuardianEye technology that will enable safer drone operations for beyond visual line of sight operation."
- Jim Millan, CEO, Seamatica Aerospace
Quick facts
Seamatica Aerospace is a start-up company that evolved from an applied research and development initiative at Memorial University to build "sense and avoid" autonomous collision avoidance systems. Its high level of expertise in UAS technology and sensors has applications in aerospace and defence, as well as military operations such as the Royal Canadian Navy demonstration project.
GuardianEye is an anti-collision system using sensors, including a radar system, to detect manned and unmanned aircraft at long ranges.
