Latest Freshperspectives Podcast Episodes

Studying Sunlight by Moonlight

COSIA - Innovative Minds - July 18, 2022 16:39 - 20 minutes
Dr. Frank Gu explains the late-night research behind H2Nano’s ground-breaking SolarPass™ technology, which uses sunlight to treat industrial water so it’s safe for aquatic life.

Celebrating 10 Years of Innovation

COSIA - Innovative Minds - May 04, 2022 20:25 - 15 minutes
In celebration of COSIA’s 10th anniversary, Brenda Leeds Binder, QC, joins me to discuss what it was like being on the team tasked with drafting the organization’s original governance agreements and what she believes has been the “secret sauce” in advancing clean tech innovation.

Pots & Pans of Energy Efficiency

COSIA - Innovative Minds - April 12, 2022 12:38 - 19 minutes
Engineering Specialist, Denis Westphalen, shares with us what efficiencies are being explored in the oil sands industry as well as the steps he’s implementing at home to reduce his energy use.

Gadgets to Gases: Exploring CCUS’s Role in Emissions Reduction

COSIA - Innovative Minds - February 23, 2022 20:18 - 17 minutes
Karo Afiegbe, P. Eng, explains how his childhood curiosity of gadgets and his father’s book collection lead him to his current role as Technology Development Specialist & Advisor for CO2 Capture at Cenovus Energy.

Nerds and Nanos Leading Net Zero

COSIA - Innovative Minds - December 10, 2021 20:34 - 28 minutes
COSIA’s Chief Executive, Wes Jickling, shares insight into his role at COSIA, and his perspective on oil sands innovation. 

The Down and Dirty on Wetlands Research

COSIA - Innovative Minds - November 24, 2021 03:47 - 15 minutes
Michael Wendlandt, Graduate Researcher, shares how he got down and dirty gathering wetland samples to advance reclamation efforts as part of the NSERC/COSIA Industrial Research Chair Program at the University of Calgary.

Clean Tech Scale-Up

COSIA - Innovative Minds - November 01, 2021 22:34 - 18 minutes
There’s a new clean-tech accelerator program aimed at giving new cleantech companies a kick start. Peter Beaudoin, COSIA’s Senior Advisor is leading its implementation and shares learnings from the pilot and details for those looking to build or participate in such a program.

Steaming Up the Lab

COSIA - Innovative Minds - October 01, 2021 15:43 - 14 minutes
Marlon Norona, a researcher at SAIT-ARIS’s Centre for Energy Research and Clean Unconventional technology solutions (CERCUTS), explains how his dreams of becoming a chef lead him to pursue a career studying water fouling, erosion and corrosion at this world-class Once Through Steam Generation fa...

Injecting Innovation

COSIA - Innovative Minds - June 24, 2021 12:00 - 17 minutes
Winners of the NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE, CarbonCure’s Director of Engineering, Travis Janke, describes his experience competing during a global pandemic, how their technology injects CO2 into concrete to make it stronger and cleaner, and shares his advice for other innovators developing pathways ...

The Butterfly Project: Transforming Northern Landscapes

COSIA - Innovative Minds - April 29, 2021 21:14 - 17 minutes
He carries his net proudly across Alberta’s Northern boreal forest, finding and tracking the region’s butterfly species. On this episode, learn how Dr. Federico Riva is seeking to understand how different species of insects and plants respond to both human and natural habitat changes along seism...

Beyond Diversity: Celebrating Inclusion in Energy

COSIA - Innovative Minds - March 04, 2021 20:58 - 25 minutes
In recognition of International Women’s Day on March 8th, Samantha Heigl, a coordinator on COSIA’s tailings team and Chair of COSIA’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, discusses the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and discussing her personal efforts to forge close...

Celebrating International Day of Women and Girls in Science

COSIA - Innovative Minds - February 05, 2021 21:04 - 16 minutes
February 11th is International Day of Women and Girls in Science. In this episode, we’re celebrating Nannette Ho-Covernton, a woman who has made her mark both in her career and in her community and hearing about the challenges she’s overcome in achieving her many successes.

Approaching Zero Land Disturbance

COSIA - Innovative Minds - December 11, 2020 00:50 - 13 minutes
New and improved techniques are being sought to reduce and eliminate land disturbance from exploration activities across Alberta’s boreal forests.  Christine Daly, Senior Advisor of Reclamation Technology and Megan Boutin, Geotechnical Program Lead from Suncor, describe COSIA’s challenge and s...

Vodka vs. Concrete

COSIA - Innovative Minds - December 03, 2020 23:00 - 15 minutes
The COSIA NRG Carbon XPRIZE challenges the world to reimagine what we can do with CO2 emissions by incentivizing the development of technologies that convert CO2 into valuable products.  On this episode, hear from Marcius Extavour, XPRIZE Lead for Environment, Energy and Climate, and learn about...

Not Just Bird Watching

COSIA - Innovative Minds - November 01, 2020 22:40 - 17 minutes
Over 1,000 sites are monitoring air quality, water quality and changes in wildlife and plant life in Alberta’s oil sands region as part of North America’s largest environmental monitoring program. In this episode, Ty Veness, COSIA’s Senior Technical Advisor for Monitoring and Ole Mrklas, COSIA’s...