AquaHacking Lake Winnipeg Challenge 2020

AquaHacking is a start-up competition designed to support technology and business development addressing environmental problems related to fresh water. Launched by the de Gaspé Beaubien Foundation, the AquaHacking Challenge has been running in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence region since 2015 resulting in 18 new start-ups.

In 2020, we were thrilled to host one of three regional AquaHacking initiatives which will focus on Lake Winnipeg and its watershed. We challenged students and young professionals to team up and develop innovative solutions to problems plaguing the Lake Winnipeg watershed, such as algal blooms, pharmaceuticals and microplastics.

On October 20th, we held our virtual awards ceremony to announce where each team placed and celebrate their success. Particuleye Technologies won first place, earning $20,000 in seed funding for their smart camera device capable of quantifying and classifying microplastic particles in real-time in running water using machine learning.

This report takes you through the whole year, from the kick-off in January to the final in October, introducing to all the faces of the competition, the prizes, and, of course, the innovative and exciting solutions to the issues that plague Lake Winnipeg.