A team of Â鶹´«Ã½ student researchers recently won a prestigious global ocean engineering challenge by tackling one of the fundamental problems in polar research: how to collect vital ocean data from sensors deployed beneath huge ice sheets.
Their winning project — a wireless communication system capable of transmitting critical sensor data across ice-covered oceans — could revolutionize how scientists monitor polar regions facing rapid change due to a warming climate.
As climate change accelerates the melting of polar ice, understanding these environments becomes increasingly critical for predicting global climate patterns, sea level rise, and ecosystem changes. A human connection to climate change inspired the project.Ìý
What drove us was understanding the real-world impact of receding ice sheets on Inuit hunting territories
"What drove us was understanding the real-world impact of receding ice sheets on Inuit hunting territories," explains Hunter Alloway, the project's student lead and MASc candidate.
The IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society Ocean Challenge, designed to "develop groundbreaking technologies and approaches that contribute to ocean health and sustainability," attracted student teams from around the world. After advancing through a rigorous two-phase selection process, the Â鶹´«Ã½ team emerged as champions and presented their work at the IEEE Oceans conference in Brest, France in June.
Bridging the communication gap
Traditional methods of data collection in harsh polar environments are often limited, expensive, or impossible to implement. The Â鶹´«Ã½ team’s sea-ice communication array uses magnetic inductive technology to wirelessly transmit sensor information across the air-ice-water boundary — a breakthrough that could transform how scientists monitor ocean conditions in polar regions.
The ability to continuously monitor underwater conditions without the need for expensive ice-breaking missions or dangerous manual data collection represents a major advancement in ocean-science capabilities.
A team member works on a component of the communicatoins array.Ìý
For team member Boris Bam Nges, a PhD candidate specializing in digital signal processing, the project represented more than an engineering challenge.Ìý
It was a transformative experience that pushed the boundaries of my skillsÌý
"It was a transformative experience that pushed the boundaries of my skills and challenged me to find real-time solutions to real-world problems under pressure," he says.Ìý
The project's success demonstrates how student-led research can address complex global challenges.Ìý
Accelerating climate science
Supported by Â鶹´«Ã½'s MINDI hub and the Transforming Climate Action research program through the Ocean Frontier Institute, the team exemplifies how academic partnerships can accelerate innovation in climate science.
Dr. Jean-François Bousquet, associate scientific director of OFI's Transforming Climate Action Research Program and a Dal engineering professor, advised the team. He emphasized the project's alignment with UN Decade of Ocean Science goals — a global initiative to reverse the cycle of decline in ocean health through scientific collaboration and innovation.
In an era where climate change demands immediate action, solutions like the sea-ice communication array offer hope that technology can help experts better understand and protect our planet's most vulnerable ecosystems.
The award was presented at a world recognized IEEE Oceans conference in Brest, France.