Reference number : GC-2017-Q1-00566, amendment number : , agreement type : G, recipient legal name : Joseph, Dileepan (University of Alberta), recipient country : CA, recipient province : nan, recipient city : Alberta, recipient postal code : nan, program name english : Engage Plus Grants for Universities, program name french : Subvention d'engagement partenarial Plus pour les universités, program purpose english : This Engage Plus Grant gives 20/20 Seed Labs, an Albertan company, access to unique knowledge and_x000D_
expertise available in Dr. Dileepan Joseph's lab at the University of Alberta. The purpose is to address a_x000D_
company-specific problem, namely the automated screening of canola seeds using optical microscopy._x000D_
Canola, bred from rapeseed in the 1970s and continuously improved thereafter, is a Canadian innovation of_x000D_
worldwide importance. In Canada alone, the canola industry "generates $19.3 billion annually in economic_x000D_
activity and nearly a quarter of a million jobs," according to the Canola Council of Canada. Moreover, "canola_x000D_
oil has the science to prove its benefits on [critical] health issues," and canola meal is an excellent livestock_x000D_
feed to help meet the world's growing demand for protein._x000D_
To meet trade requirements, seed purity is always a concern. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has_x000D_
some of the highest standards in the world regarding seed and 20/20 Seed Labs is the first private lab in Canada_x000D_
to be accredited by the International Seed Testing Association. Automating visual aspects of purity analysis,_x000D_
i.e., to identify unwanted seeds that resemble canola, is a prerequisite for automated cleaning, something that_x000D_
currently is only partially accomplished by colour sorting._x000D_
In a previous Engage Grant, this industry-university partnership successfully demonstrated the feasibility of_x000D_
discriminating canola from six unwanted species using multilayer convolutional neural networks, an approach_x000D_
also known as deep learning. As expected, parallel processing proved important and, after some investigation,_x000D_
graphics processing units, i.e., GPUs, appeared to be most suitable._x000D_
The objective of this Engage Plus Grant is to make the above proof of concept functionally useful for_x000D_
automated purity analysis. In addition to improving software delivered by the Engage Grant, entitled Purity_x000D_
Analyzer 1.0, a prototype comprising both software and custom hardware will be designed, implemented, and_x000D_
tested to perform automated screening of canola seeds in real time., program purpose french : This Engage Plus Grant gives 20/20 Seed Labs, an Albertan company, access to unique knowledge and_x000D_
expertise available in Dr. Dileepan Joseph's lab at the University of Alberta. The purpose is to address a_x000D_
company-specific problem, namely the automated screening of canola seeds using optical microscopy._x000D_
Canola, bred from rapeseed in the 1970s and continuously improved thereafter, is a Canadian innovation of_x000D_
worldwide importance. In Canada alone, the canola industry "generates $19.3 billion annually in economic_x000D_
activity and nearly a quarter of a million jobs," according to the Canola Council of Canada. Moreover, "canola_x000D_
oil has the science to prove its benefits on [critical] health issues," and canola meal is an excellent livestock_x000D_
feed to help meet the world's growing demand for protein._x000D_
To meet trade requirements, seed purity is always a concern. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has_x000D_
some of the highest standards in the world regarding seed and 20/20 Seed Labs is the first private lab in Canada_x000D_
to be accredited by the International Seed Testing Association. Automating visual aspects of purity analysis,_x000D_
i.e., to identify unwanted seeds that resemble canola, is a prerequisite for automated cleaning, something that_x000D_
currently is only partially accomplished by colour sorting._x000D_
In a previous Engage Grant, this industry-university partnership successfully demonstrated the feasibility of_x000D_
discriminating canola from six unwanted species using multilayer convolutional neural networks, an approach_x000D_
also known as deep learning. As expected, parallel processing proved important and, after some investigation,_x000D_
graphics processing units, i.e., GPUs, appeared to be most suitable._x000D_
The objective of this Engage Plus Grant is to make the above proof of concept functionally useful for_x000D_
automated purity analysis. In addition to improving software delivered by the Engage Grant, entitled Purity_x000D_
Analyzer 1.0, a prototype comprising both software and custom hardware will be designed, implemented, and_x000D_
tested to perform automated screening of canola seeds in real time., agreement title english : Automated screening of canola seeds using GPU-based deep learning: A functional prototype, agreement title french : Automated screening of canola seeds using GPU-based deep learning: A functional prototype, agreement number : EGP2, agreement value : 12500.0, agreement start date : 2017-06-14, agreement end date : nan, description english : nan, description french : nan, expected results english : nan, expected results french : nan, additional information english : Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year. (2017-2018 to 2018-2019), additional information french : Subvention ou bourse octroyée s'appliquant à plus d'un exercice financier. (2017-2018 à 2018-2019), owner organization : nserc-crsng, owner organization title : Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada | Conseil de recherches en sciences naturelles et en génie du Canada