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Strengthening Public Safety and Security

In addition to  the pain and suffering caused to children from car crashes, a disabled child represents a cost to Canada’s health care system of more than $5 million over their lifetime. Thus, preventing even 15 Canadian children from being crippled by a car crash will pay for the entire public investment in AUTO21 over its 14 year lifespan.

Making Safer Booster Seats for Children

AUTO21 researchers teamed with Magna International to develop the clek™ booster seat, the first of its kind to use a vehicle’s build in LATCH seat attachment system to provide additional safety and protection for Canadian children. The clek™ has been available in stores nation-wide, with strong sales over the past few years. New seat models based on the original AUTO21 research are now coming onto the market and the company is continuing the product development process in collaboration with the network’s research team.

Reducing the Number of Car Thefts in Winnipeg

An AUTO21 research team of psychologists, sociologists, criminologists and legal experts worked with the RCMP and the Winnipeg Police Service to tackle one of Canada’s most preventable crimes – auto theft. The study led to the development of prevention initiatives and policies (the Winnipeg Auto Theft Abatement Strategy), such as incentives for people to install anti-theft systems in their vehicles. The Attorney General of Manitoba credits this research program with decreasing auto theft in Winnipeg by over 60% in just a few months.

Preventing online “eavesdropping”

A new encryption technology based on quantum physics creates decoys to distract hackers from accessing a company’s confidential data. The technology, developed by researchers supported by the Canadian Institute for Photonic Innovations, uses particles of light to share secret encryption keys transmitted over fibre-optic networks.

Helping Emergency Planners Better Forecast Floods

Quebec’s Ministry of Public Safety is using special maps generated from a GEOIDE (GEOmatics for Informed DEcisions) research project to better monitor and manage frazil (loose ice crystals), ice jams and flooding in the St. Lawrence River. New technology was developed and new algorithms were generated using data from the RADARSAT earth observation satellite to produce detailed and timely images of icy waters, including information on ice topography and structure.