NRC Institute for Ocean Technology (NRC-IOT)

The NRC Institute for Ocean Technology was established in 1985 to provide technical expertise in support of Canada's ocean technology industries. The Institute's capability is unique to the nation — no other organization offers the combination of knowledge, experience and world-class facilities.

NRC-IOT conducts ocean engineering research through modeling of ocean environments, predicting and improving the performance of marine systems, and developing innovative technologies that bring benefits to the Canadian marine industry.

Eligibility Criteria

• ships and structures in ice;
• performance evaluation in the ocean environment;
• underwater vehicle systems;
• applied hydrodynamics;
• marine safety;
• ocean technology industries in general.

Summary

The Institute has established a worldwide reputation for the excellence of its work, building an impressive record of collaborative and contractual research and a history of solid scientific achievement. It has helped to commercialize vessel prototypes, offshore technologies, underwater systems and more. Ongoing research projects provide the long-term investment in knowledge required for Canada to compete in the international marketplace of the 21st century.

In 2003, the Institute officially opened its Ocean Technology Enterprise Centre, a facility to assist in the growth and development of new ventures in ocean technology. With a Young Entrepreneurs Program and an Ocean Technology Co-Location Program, the centre helps new and established enterprises to develop their concepts and technologies in a supportive environment, with access to NRC-IOT facilities and expertise.

The NRC-IOT research program is aimed at improving technology performance and the safety of operations in the ocean. The program is organized into five principal areas:

• ships and structures in ice;
• performance evaluation in the ocean environment;
• underwater vehicle systems;
• applied hydrodynamics; and
• marine safety.

The Institute has a sixth research area known as innovation. Time and resources are allocated to investigate new ideas, even when the results or practicality are unknown.

The research program, together with new technology companies, is supported by an array of unique indoor facilities for the simulation of the ocean environment. These include the Offshore Engineering Basin, one of the world's most advanced facilities for testing models of bottom-founded or floating structures and ships. It is equipped with a multi-segmented wave maker capable of producing long and short-crested waves, as well as current and wind generation systems.

NRC-IOT's 200-metre Towing Tank is equipped with a wave maker and is used for resistance, propulsion, wake survey, flow visualization, sea keeping and other investigations. With a usable ice sheet 76 meters in length, the Institute's Ice Tank is the longest in the world, providing more data per test run than shorter facilities. Two Cold Rooms support ice-related research, enabling the measurement of mechanical properties of real and model ice. The Institute also has a Cavitation Tunnel for propeller cavitation investigations and the study of forces on rudders, fins, submerged bodies, hydrofoils and cable fairings.

NRC-IOT maintains a complete inventory of electronic and electro-mechanical instrumentation required for its test programs, including capacitance probes for wave measurement, strain gauge load cells for force measurement, pressure transducers, and dynamometers for measurement of propeller shaft thrust and torque. It also has electromagnetic and acoustic flow meters, accelerometer arrays for measuring model motions, optical tracking packages for model position and orientation in real time, a radio control and telemetry system for free-running models, and an open water propeller dynamometer. All facilities are equipped with video cameras.

The Institute has capability in all aspects of model construction and has on-site shops for machining, welding, carpentry, fibreglassing and painting. At the core of this capability is a computerized five-axis Milling Machine, used in shaping models of up to twelve metres in length. Several sophisticated pieces of equipment augment the capabilities of the major facilities: the Yacht Dynamometer, which was developed for America's Cup research; the Marine Dynamic Test Facility, capable of evaluating underwater vehicles in six degrees of freedom of motion; and the Planar Motion Mechanism, which provides precise information on the manoeuvring ability of vessels, including ice-capable ships.

Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon Contact(s):
See National Contact.