Tech Roundup

Headlines

• RUNWITHIT Synthetics, SpectraCann, Elementiam, Phase Metron, and Vancouver-based M2M Tech will participate in a pitch competition during the Alberta Aviation, Aerospace & Defence Summit in Edmonton from May 3 to 5, organizers from Alberta Aviation, Aerospace and Defence told Taproot. "Great to watch this technology move from the Intelligent Wireless Technologies (IWT) and Centre for Applied Research in Defence and Dual-Use Technologies (CARDD-Tech) at the University of Alberta into a venue where operators, primes, and investors are in the room together," posted Rashid Mirzavand in response to Phase Metron's acceptance; Mirzavand leads the Intelligent Wireless Technology Group at the University of Alberta.
• Samdesk founder James Neufeld met with Mayor Andrew Knack to discuss Edmonton's AI leadership, the company's growing work in defence and national security, and how the local tech sector can support city-building efforts.
• The Edmonton International Airport is testing hydrogen/diesel dual-fuel technology in runway snow sweepers, in partnership with Diesel Tech Industries and Alberta Innovates. The project is described as the first of its kind globally, aimed at demonstrating a practical pathway to decarbonize heavy-duty airport ground operations.
• Areto Labs co-founder Jacqueline Comer won an international award for AI safety for work that helped lead to the company's hate-speech index and microaggressions detection tools.
• Four Edmonton tech companies — Firesafe Analytics, AIRmarket Inc., ELIXR Simulations, and Wyvern — will join a fireside chat at Edmonton Unlimited on April 28 to discuss practical wildfire resilience technologies, marking 10 years since the wildfire that swept through Fort McMurray.
• Punchcard Systems has helped build Arvo, an online marketplace connecting local farmers, ranchers, and artisans directly with consumers. Punchcard's Sam Jenkins and Arvo co-founder Whitney Shaw discussed the platform with RealAgriculture, describing it as a simpler alternative to fragmented online listings.
• Artificial Agency has made its first acquisition, bringing in Reflection Tree, an on-device collaborative planning system for the game development software Unreal Engine 5. Founder Alando Ballantyne will join the team as the technology is folded into Artificial Agency's generative behaviour engine.
• Inflexion Games is releasing an enhanced version of Conan Exiles on May 5, updating more than 10,000 art assets, fixing hundreds of bugs, and adding dozens of quality-of-life improvements.
• The Alberta government released ATIS 2.0, an updated tech and innovation strategy that allows Alberta Innovates and the Alberta Enterprise Corporation to take minority equity stakes in Alberta startups. The strategy also established the Alberta Intellectual Property Office, an $8-million nonprofit housed within Alberta Innovates to help researchers commercialize and protect their IP.
• The City of Edmonton is increasingly adopting automated machines, such as robotic floor scrubbers and autonomous line-marking robots, to improve service quality and sustain maintenance levels. City officials said the technologies are intended to help staff, not replace them, allowing employees to focus on more detailed work. Automated mowers were used in Coronation Park from 2019 to 2021, and they may be used next in Hawrelak Park. Mayor Andrew Knack said automation can help keep pace with Edmonton's population growth and meeting climate targets.
• Edmonton-founded Unbounded Thinking has launched Kwokka by UBT, an innovation management platform that aims to help organizations move more easily from ideation to execution. Co-founder Shannon Phillips posted that the platform aligns with top innovation management standards. "We are moving innovation from sticky notes to a sticky system — providing the structure and evidence that today's global standards demand," he said in a news release.
• University of Alberta computing science PhD student Fei Wang, computing scientist Russ Greiner, and biochemist David Wishart are part of an international team using a "chemical language model" capable of identifying previously unknown metabolites in mammals.
• Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute researchers are presenting multiple papers at ICLR 2026 in Rio de Janeiro, covering advances in reinforcement learning efficiency, long-context memory architectures for large language models, and fairness in generative AI data synthesis.
• An undergraduate team from the University of Alberta's eHUB Entrepreneurship Centre finished sixth overall at the Venture Capital Investment Competition global finals and tied for second in the investment committee pitch and memo categories.
• At the Canadian Hydrogen Convention, Japanese firm Kawasaki Heavy Industries signed a memorandum of understanding with Edmonton Global, Alberta's Industrial Heartland Association, and the Edmonton Region Hydrogen HUB to build a supply chain for liquefied hydrogen in Canada. "Liquefied hydrogen is moving from demonstration to reality," Kawasaki's Kei Nomura said on April 21. "We think Canada, and especially Alberta, (has) strong potential — not only for domestic use, but for export."
• University of Alberta chemistry professor Steve Bergens has patented a process to create hydrogen from water and has licensed it to a clean-energy company called Cipher Neutron. Most hydrogen comes from burning natural gas, which generates carbon dioxide, but this technology makes it possible to derive the gas from seawater.
• Messer Canada, which makes industrial gases for welding and other uses, is bringing its industrial expo to Edmonton on April 30. The company, which has a main facility in northeast Edmonton and a secondary one in Nisku, saw an opportunity to raise its profile here at a time when shovels are hitting the ground for major projects, suggested Messer's Ryan Brodrecht. "We see a need in bringing the latest and greatest in welding technology to our customers," he told Taproot. "We really felt that there was a need to do something out here in Alberta."

Jobs and opportunities

• Emissions Reduction Alberta has launched the Future Fuels Challenge, a $50-million initiative to back lower-carbon transportation fuel technologies with $1 million to $10 million per project. The deadline for expressions of interest is June 4.
• CKUA is hiring a software developer for a temporary 12-week Canada Summer Jobs position.
• Deloitte is hiring an AI developer in its Edmonton office.
• Jobber is hiring a product analytics manager.
• Promise Robotics is hiring a software developer.

Happenings

Here are some events coming up over the next seven days:

• April 28: Antigoni Studios Launch Event starting at 9am at Brew and Bloom (Southside)
• April 28: Built Here, Built Together: How Edmonton companies are solving real-world problems together starting at 5pm at Edmonton Unlimited
• April 29: ELIXR Industry Roundtable starting at 9am online
• April 29: ASTech Awards Information/Office Hours Sessions starting at 1:30pm online
• April 29: ERIN AGM starting at 3pm at Edmonton Unlimited
• April 30: The Ethics of AI in Marketing starting at 4:30pm at Fu's Repair Shop
• May 3-5: Alberta Aerospace & Defence Summit at Edmonton Convention Centre

And here are some upcoming events to keep in mind:

• May 5: What Life Sciences Investors Actually Fund: Panel Discussion at Edmonton Unlimited
• May 7: YEG Startup Community Awards
• May 15: Friendly Fridays - May Edition: Collaboration by Design at Reimagine Architects

Visit the Taproot Edmonton Calendar for many more events in the Edmonton region.