Jim Hanlon, CEO of The Centre for Ocean Ventures and Entrepreneurship (COVE) announced that RBR, Precise Design and Nova Scotia Boatbuilders Association (NSBA) have moved into COVE. “RBR is one of Canada’s well-established ocean instrumentation companies headquartered in Ottawa. Precise Design has been a key partner for us as we build COVE, and they are an important part of the existing supply chain for ocean tech companies in the region. NSBA provides a key linkage between the vibrant Nova Scotia boat building industry and the technology capabilities of many of the other COVE tenants.”
In addition, Hanlon announced early in March that IBM Canada had joined the ocean business park as a tenant, one of 50 currently in residence. “We are very pleased to welcome IBM Canada to COVE,” says Jim Hanlon, “IBM has proven its commitment to the growing field of ocean data analytics and we feel this new tenancy at COVE further helps support COVE’s position as a significant hub for ocean technology, not just in Nova Scotia, but globally.” IBM is one of Canada’s top ten private R&D investors and last year contributed more than $478 million to Canadian research activities. In September 2018, it was revealed that IBM, along with COVE, Dalhousie University, the Ocean Frontier Institute, the Government of Canada, local industry and the Province of Nova Scotia, were collaborating on the rollout of DeepSense – a world class big ocean data innovation environment.
RBR Sales Director, Eric Siegel, commented: “RBR creates instruments to measure the blue planet. From the ocean abyss to the polar ice cap, their sensors track water parameters – temperature, depth, salinity, dissolved gases, pH, and many others. “We presently have a staff of three experienced technical sales and business development managers, and we look forward to adding additional highly-qualified members of the team to focus on global sales, research, and technical initiatives.”
“While Precise Design services many industries ranging from food processing to defence, the ocean sciences sector makes up a significant portion of our customer base,” says Bruce Stover, President of Precise Design. The company is a full-service mechanical engineering group offering design and in-house manufacturing solutions.
NSBA members design, build, and repair a diverse range of semi-custom and custom boats, from 8′ to 80′ in length, for commercial and recreational use. All boats are built to Transport Canada or equivalent standards. “We believe that being at COVE will increase the profile of our members including small vessel manufacturers, repairers, servicers, suppliers, designers, and surveyors,” said NSBA Executive Director, Jan Fullerton.
Centre for Ocean Ventures & Entrepreneurship is a collaborative facility for applied innovation in the ocean sector. Located in Halifax Harbour, in Nova Scotia, Canada, its mission is to provide a collaborative space in which a community of ocean enterprises can start, grow and prosper. Irving Shipbuilding, as part of its commitments under the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS), has invested $4.52 million in COVE. For more information, please visit www.coveocean.com