August 25, 2009

Engineering and Blackberry® team up

The University of Calgary’s (U of C) Schulich School of Engineering is receiving funding from Canadian technology giant Research In Motion (RIM), maker of BlackBerry® smart phones, to explore topics related to advanced wireless location technologies and their use in mobile devices.

“Alberta is a leader in both developing and using location technologies, such as GPS. Whether for business, industrial or personal use, these technologies increase efficiency, save time and can even help save lives. Guided by our province’s information and communications technology strategy, support for advanced location technologies research is making it easier for global leaders, like RIM, to navigate their way to our door,” said Doug Horner, Minister of Advanced Education and Technology.

The research project will enhance location performance under a variety of outdoor and indoor environments such as city streets and inside commercial buildings and malls.

“Wireless location technology is becoming more widespread because of the emergence of low-cost devices,” said Professor Gérard Lachapelle, Canada Research Chair/iCORE Chair in Wireless Location at the Schulich School of Engineering. “Wireless location and navigation capabilities will be prevalent features in the mobile devices of the future. One of our challenges is to improve mobile phone navigation under less than ideal conditions, such as environments where satellite signals are not easily accessible, including inside buildings.”

“Alberta is home to some of the world’s best talent and research focused on location-based technologies. This field of study is important to Canada, as well as the global wireless industry, and we look forward to collaborating with the talented researchers at the University of Calgary,” said Paul Kempf, VP, Silicon at Research In Motion.

The three-year $1.3-million project is a collaboration among Alberta Advanced Education and Technology, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Waterloo-based RIM. Additional support provided by Western Economic Diversification Canada was previously announced. The project is led by professors Gérard Lachapelle, Elizabeth Cannon and Mark Petovello of the Position, Location and Navigation (PLAN) Group from the U of C’s Department of Geomatics Engineering.

“I’m proud that our Government’s investment is creating new opportunities and building a more competitive Canada,” said the Honourable Lynne Yelich, Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification. “This support is helping Canadian researchers and innovators develop ideas and bring them to market.”

Research In Motion is the Canadian developer of the popular BlackBerry® products and services. On August 17, 2009, Research In Motion was named the No. 1 Fastest Growing Company in the world in Fortune Magazine’s list of the 100 Fastest Growing Companies.

Alberta is a key contributor to Canada’s status as the world’s second largest exporter of global navigation satellite systems receivers and technology.