Yukon Innovation Prize finalists have been chosen

Four Yukon innovators have been short-listed for the 2016 Yukon Innovation Prize. These finalists will each receive $10,000 to further develop their idea and compete for the grand prize of $60,000.

Cold Climate Innovation at the Yukon Research Centre (YRC) and Government of Yukon’s Economic Development created this prize to support Yukon innovators whose ideas have an environmental or economic benefit to the Yukon.

The selection committee reviewed 28 proposals and chose four finalists whose ideas have high market and commercialization potential in food security and agriculture.

“Yukon has an exceptional community of innovators. These projects have the potential to provide economic benefits to a wide cross-section of people in the territory,” Minister of Economic Development Stacey Hassard said. “The Yukon government recognizes the importance of furthering innovation our territory, and we are very pleased to provide support for the Yukon Innovation Prize.”

“This contest discovered Yukon innovators whose ideas could enhance and expand both food security and agriculture in the North and globally,” said Stephen Mooney, Director, Cold Climate Innovation, Yukon Research Centre. “We have chosen four excellent ideas that have great market potential and the hardest task will be choosing the winner.”

The four finalists include:

• Maxime Dugre-Sasseville: (thermodynamic greenhouse)
  Proposed a controlled thermodynamic greenhouse that will regulate temperature in order to extend the growing season in the North
• Bob Mellett: (aquaponics system)
  Proposed a design and a working model for an aquaponics system that manages the growth of both plants and fish
• Sharon Katz: (plant-sourced ink)
  Investigated a Yukon native plant as a non-toxic ink source that could reduce packaging in the food industry and create a lucrative crop for Yukon
• Alexandre Poitras: (organic feed source)
  Proposed the concept of using ducks in a hydroponic system to grow duckweed as an organic feed source

In order to win, the finalists will spend the next two months further developing their idea and provide evidence of its technical and economic viability. These four finalists will then submit their refined plans to compete for the grand prize of $60,000, to be used to bring their innovative idea towards commercialization.

The Yukon Innovation Prize winner will be announced on the end of June.

Cold Climate Innovation is one of a number of thematic areas at the Yukon Research Centre. The others include biodiversity monitoring, climate change, environmental remediation, technology innovation, and social science.

The Yukon Research Centre is funded by Government of Yukon’s Department of Education with funding for Cold Climate Innovation from Economic Development.