Cellula Joins Ocean Networks Canada

Cellula Robotics Ltd. has joined the Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) Innovation Center’s Industry Network.  Cellula looks forward to working with ONC to develop new markets for our seafloor drills and geotechnical tools around the world.

Ocean Networks Canada (www.oceannetworks.ca) was created in 2007 to manage the cabled observatory being constructed on the sea floor off the B.C. coast. A total of approximately $200M has been invested to date to build and operate the Observatory, primarily with funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the Province of British Columbia. It is the first, largest and most advanced regional-scaled cabled observatory in the world. The Ocean Networks Canada Innovation Centre is a business division within Ocean Networks Canada that has leveraged this observatory to develop a suite of products and services called Smart Ocean Systems™.

The Centre was established as a Centre for Excellence in Commercialization and Research (CECR) in 2009 under the Canadian Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) program to leverage this investment, accelerate the development of new technology, grow industry, and help our international clients build their own ocean observatories.

New Hires

Cellula Robotics is pleased to announce the hiring of two new staff members as our team continues to grow:

Alex Smith joins us as our latest Software Developer. Alex brings 12 years experience in Earth Sciences and Geophysics including six years in Japan studying earthquakes and the thermal regime of subduction zones at the Earth Simulator Centre in Yokohama for JAMSTEC. As a Certified Labview Associate Developer, Alex has developed software to control a full waveform resistivity/IP system, a water contamination detection system and various geophysical and observation equipment aboard submersible ROV’s.

Adrian Woodroffe joins us as our new Business Development Manager. Adrian is a Professional Engineer with 15 years of experience in subsea and satellite engineering.

Successful ISO Audit

Cellula Robotics Ltd. successfully passed their first of two surveillance audits for maintaining ISO 9001:2008 certification.  The audit was passed with zero non-conformances, a tribute to the time and effort dedicated to the Quality Management System (QMS) by both the quality committee and the rest of the staff this past year.  The Cellula QMS process will continue to evolve as we strive to meet and exceed every client’s expectations.

Modular Autonomous Biosampler

Cellula Robotics Ltd. has been awarded a contract by the University of Delaware to design and build a unique ROV mounted deep water Modular Autonomous Biosample (MAB).  The MAB supports three simultaneous pore size filters with each capable of taking over discrete 200 samples.  The MAB will be capable of capturing bacteria grade samples with no cross-contamination and provides long term preservation using ethanol, RNA and high-salt buffers.  Built in environmental sensors measure CDT, Dissolved Oxygen and Chlorophyll-A.  The controller allows user, event or timer triggered samples.

The design phase of this project is due to complete in May 2014 with the first prototype ready for sea trials towards the end of 2014.  Cellula is pleased to continue our relationship with the University of Delaware with the ongoing development of scientific plankton samplers.

This project is made possible through Principal Investigators Art Trembanis and Craig Cary, as well as the funding from the National Science Foundation (OCE-1235133).