Esri Canada congratulates Marauders mApp, the 2nd Runner-Up of the App Challenge 2018!
App: Energy Revolution
Hosted on GitHub:
Mission Statement:
The current energy climate in Canada and the United States is heavily reliant on the concept of centralized generation facilities. These facilities are commonly decades old and are connected to a network of high voltage power lines that distribute energy to end users, often hundreds of kilometres away. These systems are commonly dependent on non-renewable and environmentally unfriendly energy sources. They are also notoriously susceptible to power outages and are expensive to maintain; not to mention the end user must pay for transmission and distribution fees for transporting the energy. The shortcomings of the modern Canadian energy system to adapt to advanced technologies has left the door wide open for new, innovative ideas.
Decentralized energy (a.k.a. distributed or on-site generation) is a modern electrical generation strategy with a simple core concept: generate energy where it is needed. This is a feasible strategy for any community, especially with the recent advances and subsequent price drops in renewable energy. Decentralized energy is also highly resilient as it functions autonomously in localized areas. This means that any power outages on the central grid will not leave communities connected to a microgrid without power. Our app seeks to show the potential and feasibility of decentralized energy when applied to a prominent Canadian city: Calgary, Alberta.
Video Presentation
Documentation
Team Members
Matthew Brown: (left) I am a first-year master’s Candidate in the Geography program at McMaster. This is my second time participating in the app challenge. Since last year’s challenge, I’ve been self-teaching myself programming, so I hope to apply my skills this year. Having just attended the Esri DevSummit, I have a lot of new app ideas that I can’t wait to apply! May the best team win!
Michele Tsang: (middle) I am a first year Master’s student in the School of Geography and Earth Sciences at McMaster University. My research focuses on how accessibility of the road network is affected by flooding events in Calgary and Winnipeg. I am an ECCE Student Associate and this is my second year competing in the App Challenge. Some of my hobbies include cooking, hiking and traveling.
Anastassios Dardas: (right) Anastassios Dardas is currently a PhD student at McMaster University, specializing in the spatio-temporal dimensions of health and transportation geography on informal caregivers. His other specialties are GIS, spatial statistics and network analyses, and has a strong background in computer programming. After completing his PhD, Anastassios has a strong desire to learn deep learning and applied artificial intelligence. In the current midst of his PhD studies, he and his teams competed the app challenge and placed 3rd two consecutive times in a row. Hobbies: traveling, hackathons, ultimate frisbee, and rowing.