The centre, located in Carleton’s new engineering building, is a venue for cutting-edge research in cloud computing. Students, faculty and industry partners research real-world problems associated with enterprise clouds, including management of computing, on-demand storage and network resources, data-centre networking, scalability, business continuity and security.

“Working with such innovative partners as Huawei and TELUS helps ensure Carleton continues to collaborate with important industry locally and nationally,” said Rafik Goubran, dean of Carleton’s Faculty of Engineering and Design. “Our students get the hands-on, real-world training they need to be competitive in the job market.”

“This initiative will enable Carleton to work with a growing number of innovators in the field of cloud computing research,” says Ibrahim Gedeon, MEng/90, TELUS Chief Technology Officer. “The centre, supported by TELUS and Huawei, will be a vital element of not only academia in Canada but with our industry in helping to develop the most advanced cloud technology and services, ultimately benefitting the consumer and business alike.”

“We’re very pleased to be partnering with TELUS and the dynamic researchers in Carleton’s Faculty of Engineering and Design in developing the cloud computing lab,” says Sean Yang, president of Huawei Canada.  “With Carleton students driving research in leading-edge technologies, this will have significant benefits in the local information and communications technology community as these students graduate and enter the workforce.”

Carleton’s Shikharesh Majumdar, professor of systems and computer engineering, worka with two graduate students on resource management in clouds that give rise to high system performance while conserving power; Professor Changcheng Huang leads a project on traffic control for data-centre networks; Professor Yvan Labiche and students research intrusion detection for clouds;  Professor Samuel Ajila leads a team working on virtual machine migration within the cloud; Professor Winnie Ye leads a project exploring how photonic cross connections can be used to optimize clouds; and a team of four professors and graduate students led by Professor Ioannis Lambadaris is investigating effective techniques for service level agreement based resource allocation.

On May 29, 2012, representatives from Carleton and Delta Controls opened a new facility for teaching and research, housed in a building containing sensors and actuators from Delta Controls to monitor building energy use and respond to occupant needs for light, temperature control and air quality. More than convenience, this monitoring and adjustment ensures that Carleton is using energy efficiently, saving both power and expense.

With Delta Control’s equipment and the expertise of Carleton’s researchers, the building is providing data to further predictive and simulation modeling to enable building managers and designers create smarter, more efficient, sustainable buildings for Canadians.

“Delta Controls has chosen Carleton as a research partner and is investing in our students and researchers by providing them with collaborative space and equipment for discovery and innovation,” says Rafik Goubran, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Design. “The Delta Controls Laboratory will be hub of research to explore and develop new sensor and building automation technology.”

Occupants and visitors to the building can also keep an eye on the building’s performance. A display in the lobby shows current energy uses, weather factors and other variables. “Just seeing this type of data has been shown to decrease energy use by occupants,” says Liam O’Brien, assistant professor in Architectural Conservation and Sustainability Engineering.

Thanks to support from Research In Motion (RIM), the centre is used for research, teaching, outreach activities, technology demonstrations and professional development  for students and researchers working on mobile technology and wireless communication with health care and automotive applications. RIM equipped the centre with software, BlackBerry® smartphones and BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablets on which students experiment and develop apps.

“Carleton is pleased to be working with RIM, one of the world’s leading technology companies,” says Rafik Goubran, dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Design. “This partnership further connects RIM to our world-class researchers and provides our students with the opportunity to experience and explore new possibilities in wireless communications and application development. Together we will train the next generation of leaders in this exciting field.”

Mobile technology is increasingly in focus at Carleton. Through innovative research projects and academic programs like those conducted at the BlackBerry Centre, students and researchers expand the applications for mobile computing and wireless communication. For example, the work of Carleton researchers is enabling the use of smartphones for more efficient delivery of health-care services. RIM has partnered with Carleton in a number of research projects in recent years.

“The BlackBerry Teaching and Collaborative Research Centre continues the mutually beneficial relationship established between Carleton and RIM,” said Dave Dietz, director of University Relations at RIM. “By working with Carleton’s outstanding students and researchers, we are finding important new opportunities, including innovations in industrial design, speech and audio processing, health-care applications and much more. We look forward to the opportunities ahead in this new centre.”

Carleton and TI officially opened the Texas Instruments Embedded Processing Lab on November 23, 2011. Housed in Carleton’s new canal building, the lab equips the next generation of engineers with the skills to develop innovative solutions across a wide array of electronics in some of the most exciting markets including medical, sustainable energy and smart grid, automotive and home automation. In addition to using TI embedded processors to power these systems, students also have access to TI’s broad portfolio of analog technologies for a complete system solution.

TI offers a wide range of embedded processors, including microcontrollers (MCUs), digital signal processors (DSPs), ARM®-based microprocessors (ARM MPUs). TI has more than 20 years of experience in real-time technologies, working with 80,000 customers worldwide on thousands of different applications. This lab opening reflects TI’s commitment to education for the next generation of engineers who will enter the workforce and develop innovations that will improve the world we live in.

“Texas Instruments is the leader in embedded processing, so this collaboration ensures Carleton students and researchers have access to the best technology and expertise in the field,” says Rafik Goubran, dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Design at Carleton University. “The Texas Instruments Embedded Processing Lab will stimulate innovation and the research done here will result in novel, integrated solutions for almost every area of our daily lives.”

“The educational and project experience gained by students in the unique TI lab at Carleton will help shape the future of biomedical, personal medical and medical imaging industries. TI is dedicated to building productive links between education and industry enabling research to be brought to market rapidly,” says Brad Ruzicka, worldwide manager of University Marketing, Texas Instruments.

Richard Yu, principal investigator, Advanced Lab for Heterogeneous Communication Networks operates out of the Alcatel-Lucent Lab.

On any given day students and faculty members in the Alcatel-Lucent Lab at Carleton University are researching solutions to real problems like traffic jams, CO2 emissions, and ad hoc networks in war zones.

The lab is equiped for research on mobile activity, mobile communications, flexibility enhancements for wireless communication networks, application domain, networking and optics.

In 2001, Carleton was chosen by Alcatel as a Global Strategic Research Partner (one of only eight in the world).

“The goal is to remove human input from small decisions. An autonomous navigation algorithm makes the robot aware of its position in the environment so that it may determine the best route to a destination,” says Jesse Hiemstra, an undergraduate student working with Carleton researchers on the mobility system for the Kapvik microrover prototype for the Canadian Space Agency. A student in the space systems design stream of the aerospace engineering program, he now has access to a state-of-the-art lab dedicated to projects like the rover that enable the exploration of space.

The Jo Yung Wong Laboratory for Terrestrial and Extraterrestrial Mobility, Guidance and Control, opened in 2011, is the result of a generous $100,000-gift from Jo Yung Wong. He retired from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in 1999 after three decades at Carleton. Wong has dedicated his career to research and teaching in terrestrial vehicle mobility and is a former president of the International Society for Terrain-Vehicle Systems. His research has extended to extraterrestrial mobility in collaboration with NASA’s Glenn Research Center. Mobility is of critical importance to planetary exploration, which is exemplified by the immobilization Spirit in sandy soil on Mars, where its wheels had become embedded.

This type of research comes at an important time for space exploration, when scientists and engineers are looking for ways to extend human missions to the moon and beyond, Wong says. When he heard about the idea of establishing this specialized laboratory, he thought that it was a great idea and a worthwhile project to fund.

“The laboratory will link various groups together and eventually could build up significant research activities and teaching in these areas,” he says. “When we group together different faculty members, it can make a much greater impact.”

Part of the new engineering building, the laboratory is open to faculty members, as well as graduate and undergraduate students like Hiemstra. The mobility, automation and robotics components of the previous rover lab was incorporated into the Jo Yung Wong Laboratory.

“Our current space was designed for teaching students to work with small satellites, which have to be kept in a clean environment. We need room to deploy robotic arms and mobile robots, which are dirtier and require open space to explore,” says Hiemstra. “Beyond extra room, the new lab will provide collaborative space and resources. We’ll be able to generate new ideas just by working in the same place.”

Gas turbine engines are commonly used in the propulsion of large vehicles such as airplanes and ships, as well as for electricity generation. The goal is to develop more efficient and dependable engines that won’t break the bank—but will help reduce our carbon footprint.

“The lab provides our students with critical, hands-on experience on the latest measurement technologies and practice—giving them the knowledge and skills they need for a successful career in this field,” explains Metin Yaras, Chair of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

The laboratory is the legacy of the former professor and chair of Carleton’s mechanical and aerospace engineering department, Herb Saravanamuttoo—renowned for his research and education on gas turbines. Finding solutions to real-world problems, such as energy generation and sustainable technology, is a key commitment for Carleton. The new gas turbine laboratory—“second to none in Canada”, as Yaras describes it—will play a key role in finding these solutions.

With the opening of the Hydro Ottawa Laboratory for Smart Grid Technologies in November 2011, Carleton students can experiment with the emerging intelligent electricity infrastructure to learn about integrating alternate and sustainable power sources and improving the efficiency and reliability of the energy supply. A unique feature of the laboratory is its real-time monitoring, analysis and control capabilities, allowing the demonstration of self-diagnostics, self-healing and seamless-operation principles for the power grid.

“The teaching and research conducted in the Hydro Ottawa Laboratory for Smart Grid Technologies will help transform how Canadians receive, use and conserve electricity,” said Rafik Goubran, dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Design at Carleton University. “Hydro Ottawa’s commitment to optimizing energy use and promoting conservation in our community is reflected in the tools and opportunity it has given to Carleton students. I’m thrilled that this partnership is providing hands-on education for future industry leaders.”

This exciting partnership also allows students to visit Hydro Ottawa’s facilities and hear directly from leaders in the business about the challenges and opportunities facing the electricity industry.

“Leading utilities are integrating technology to create a smarter, more efficient electricity system that benefits customers and the broader economy,” said Bryce Conrad, Hydro Ottawa’s president and chief executive officer. “By partnering with Carleton University, we are empowering the leaders of tomorrow as they advance the knowledge and practical application of smart grid principles.”

Carleton opened the Dipak and Tara Roy Advanced Sensor Processing Laboratory in November 2011. The lab will help focus research to take wireless communications further, to improve medical instruments and imaging, and to strengthen the intelligence and defence industries.

“My intent is more than just lab-specific. I want to create a centre of excellence,” says Dipak Roy, Chairman of D-TA Enterprises Inc. He says there’s not much research being done on sensor processing in Canada and he would love to see Carleton become a national leader in this type of engineering. “The lab is already delivering on one of its mandates—to delevop skills in a displine that has a serious shortage of skilled manpower. It is also becoming a model for how industry and academia should work together to create a win-win environment.”

Roy’s company D-TA Systems will provide financial and technical support, including the donation of the lab’s signature piece of equipment, the D-TA Systems Multi-Sensor Interface. Once connected with a computing platform and Carleton’s research-related acoustic and radio frequency sensors, students can explore a variety of advanced applications that were previously hindered by the complexities of hardware interfacing.

Roy came to Canada in 1972 to pursue his PhD in electrical engineering at Carleton. It’s where he met Tara (a BCom graduate), earned his PhD, and laid the foundation for his engineering career. “I learned a great deal from Carleton. I owe my success to Carleton,” he says. Roy started a defence electronics company called Interactive Circuits Systems Ltd. in 1978, which is now part of General Electric. Roy also founded and is currently involved with two high-technology companies in Ottawa and Washington.

“As a student, Dr. Dipak Roy was attracted to Carleton by the brilliance of internationally recognized faculty. Dr. Roy has now provided us the environment to make that excellence sustainable,” says Roseann O’Reilly Runte, President and Vice-Chancellor of Carleton. “With such extraordinary facilities we will be able to continue offering our students the fine education and research opportunities which have established Carleton’s reputation in engineering and which have led to the highly distinguished careers of exceptional graduates such as Dr. Roy.”