Backgrounder: Federal and Provincial Governments Support Ocean Sciences and Marine Technology Industry

UVic researchers are contributing to knowledge about Earth’s life support systems, with ongoing research in many areas including ocean physics and acoustics, marine geology and geophysics, and undersea vehicle design.

A proposed Ocean Technology Park (OTP) model will support that research as well as provide new and emerging opportunities for ocean industries and ocean-related coastal development. In addition, it will increase economic diversification of BC’s coastal communities to ensure their participation within the larger ocean economy; encourage technology transfer, market access, and business development opportunities for ocean products and services provincially, nationally, and internationally; and offer significant support facilities and services to BC post-secondary institutions and industry.

The Pacific Centre for Ocean Energy and Engineering (PCOE) is part of the park. The PCOE will feature two testing facilities—a tow tank and a deep basin tank. “While most of the work we currently do is based on modeling and small scale experiments with component technologies, at some point one has to view the whole device to understand the intricacies of its operation,” explains UVic mechanical engineering assistant professor Dr. Brad Buckham who researches underwater vehicle and wave energy converter dynamics. “As it’s an uncontrolled environment, the ocean is not the optimal location to learn such lessons. All sorts of things can go wrong—including losing your equipment because of bad weather or having it vandalized. The tanks provide a controlled environment that is easily accessible and less costly than going out to sea.”

For example, if you wanted to test the design of a rowing scull you might suspend the model in the long, skinny tow tank—which will measure 150m x 5m and be 3m deep—to measure hull resistance and test how variations in the hull design improve this property. Meanwhile, the square deep basin tank—which will measure 40m x 40m and be 20m deep—is designed to model the coastal waters of Vancouver Island and will be ideal for testing equipment such as autonomous underwater vehicles.

Currently the only such facility in Canada is the Institute for Ocean Technology in St. John’s, which is used by researchers from around the globe. The St. John's Ocean Technology Institute currently works to support development of ocean technology conducted by Canadian academics and industry.  By including tanks whose form, function and location complement the world-class IOT facilities, PCOE will accelerate the commercialization of ocean technologies nationwide and create a network of ocean engineers and technologists from coast to coast.