MASI is Western Canada’s centre of excellence in marine, aerospace, subsea and naval systems, anchored at the University of British Columbia. MASI is establishing Canada’s first Pacific-Arctic hub for world‑leading research, innovation and training that supports national sovereignty, security and sustainable blue economy growth.
Canada’s vast coastline is one of its greatest assets – and vulnerabilities. Stretching across three oceans, it remains largely unmonitored. That lack of data limits our ability to prepare for climate change, respond to acute environmental events and safeguard coastal sovereignty.
Collecting data across such a vast and remote area is a major challenge. Conventional sensors fail in murky water, strong currents or low-visibility conditions. Batteries drain quickly in cold oceans. And the cost and risk of sending vessels or divers to monitor or repair infrastructure is high, making large-scale persistent observation difficult if not impossible.
Dr. Adrien Desjardins, jointly appointed to the departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, is developing the next generation of autonomous systems to thrive in these environments. We spoke with the Seaspan Chair in Robotics for Marine Vessels about his research that integrates sensing, robotics and AI, and how this work could transform the depth, accuracy and reach of our understanding of Canada’s coasts.
How does your research fit into this?
My work bridges high-level AI and the physical realities of harsh environments. I focus on sensing, imaging and robotics – developing hardware and algorithms that can process complex data from ultrasound, optics or radar in real time. The aim is to enable machines to interpret their surroundings in even the most challenging situations.
I take great joy in developing new sensing systems that extend human perception into places we’ve never been able to observe well. Along the coastline, for example, water is often murky or fast-moving from powerful currents. While we have AI tools that can interpret data, we need to be able to gather data from these environments. Autonomous systems such as underwater vehicles can do this for us safely over a large area.
Tell us about your work with Seaspan
Seaspan has identified the need to more comprehensively visualize subsea infrastructure, from ports to vessel hulls. If we can understand what’s happening underwater, we can make more targeted maintenance decisions, which ultimately reduces costs and extends the lives of assets. The combination of sensing, multimodal imaging and robotics has strong potential to provide transformative solutions. Seaspan is also interested in Indigenous partnerships and how marine robotics can be used to conduct inspections and monitor ecosystems and structures.
Why did you want to get involved with MASI?
MASI brings together a multidisciplinary group of people who want to innovate in the overlapping areas of marine, aerospace and subsea at a scale where we can have lasting impact. The challenges we face – be that climate change or Arctic security – are too big for any one lab to solve. MASI breaks down silos across engineering disciplines and creates opportunities to advance an idea from a whiteboard all the way to the Pacific or Arctic Ocean.
Any final thoughts?
MASI is more than just a research centre. We see it as an engine for the next generation of Canadian high tech. There’s so much knowledge and capacity across province and we want to accelerate innovation while bringing as many voices into that process as possible.
