2 NEWS ‘PRESTIGIOUS AWARD AND $5K FOR GROUNDBREAKING WORK = = Continued from page 3 : a press release, prior to be- ing honoured with a Mi- | tacs Entrepreneur Award 5 at the university's Federa- fd fon! Hal week. 3 ig, the COO and co- : founder’ of Ribbit, said the = goal of his company is to rewire the transportation network to be faster, more mote communities at dont nave reliable air transportat Wang, ane a Riper co-founder and Pigeon, | started Chow an ing drone feohaoleset te recognized need to focus on full- size aircraft to truly make an impact on transporta- tion at scale. "We realized if you can take a pilot out of the plane, you canfit more car- go in the plane, you can fly long hours, you can offer more places, more destina- tions, and you can do that while Keeping your cunt economics pretty low," Wang: Hany te Chronicle. company's design is based on retrofitting exist- ing fixed-wing planes with a a technology stack that al- lows them to taxi, take off, fly and land autonomous- THE CITY OF The applicant, Jala Vi ly, eliminating scheduling barriers, freeing airlines to capitalize on thousands of underutilized private air- ports across North Ameri- ca to provide more direct, non-stop flights between remote destinations, with- out the need to schedule pi- lots or travel through ma.- jor hubs. Working in collabora- tion with Transport Cana- da since its inception in 2020, Ribbit completed its first gate-to-gate, hands- free flight in 2021 — mark: ing a first for Canada — and has demonstrated nearly 200 hours of suc- cessful autonomous flight since then, always with a human safety pilot on board. The company, which op- erates out of a private air- strip in Burlington, has signed letters of intent with six leading online wholesalers/retailers serving the north and is working to achieve regula- tory approval to move for- ward with commercial flights, but it will likely be at cast 10 years before ch a service would begin and even longer before it's more broadly adopted, Wang said. There there are other companies currently APPLICATION FOR NOISE BY-LAW EXEMPTION Notice is hereby given that an application is being made to the Director of Municipal Enforcement Services for the City of Waterloo for an exemption to the City of Waterloo Noise By-law #2010-073 which prohibits amplified sound between the hours of 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. working to develop auton- omousairplanes in the U.S. Ribbit is working along- side dozens of other com- panies and investors and is supported by the National Research Council of Cana- da, among other govern- ment-funded organiza- tions. The company is already approved for flight testing ahuman safety pi- mn ‘board. "In the next 12 months, actually, we're planning on starting to test: commercial pilot flights in northe Canada, Wang said. “The reason is that in northern anada, not only is there a dire need for ~ service, but there's les: traffic. There are less ‘built ‘up ar- eas in the ground. So the operational risk profilei isa lot lower." The company has al- ready conducted thou- sands of hours of flight simulation and remains fo- cused on solving challeng- es related to collision de- Leia and radio commu- mllets normally talk t fo ach other and talk to traffic controllers in order to manage the airspace, and that capability has to be in place for a plane that has autopilot inside as iS ion as follows: to 100 Regi Friday, July 14,2023. Waterloo, from 5:00 p.m. to after 11:00 p.m. on August 5, 2023. Anyone weg to comment on this matter should contact Municipal Enforcement in writing via mail 1a Street South, PO Box 337, STN Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontai 519-747- 3785, or via e-mail at Irumicipslenforcement@waieriog, ca no later than 4:30 p.m. on rio N2J 4A8, by phone at to our attention. waterloochronicle.ca is Ribbit photo Jeremy Wang believes his company's technology can help bring necessities like food and medicine to remote areas of northern well. So in the near term, we're addressing that by having a human pilot on the ground that is not only speak ont behalf of the air- plane ommunicate with or airspace users," Wang Well see if machine learning makes its way in- to that domain of the prob- lem space, but it's an area that's challenging." Wang's groundbreaking work has earned him a prestigious award id $5,000 from Mitacs, Cana- da's leading innovation or- ganization that boosts eco- nomic growth and innova- tion by helping companies solve business challenges with research solutions from academic institu- ions. Wang said the support he's received from the Uni- versity of Waterloo, its Ve- locity incubator, and nu- merous other partners has been instrumental. “A successful innova- annot exist entrepreneurs, Mitacs CEO John Hepburn said. "Startups drive inno- vation in Canada: they dream big and nen boundaries, bringi from ideation ‘to commercialization,” is extremely proud | to splay arole in sup- porting small businesses and em¢ ntrepre- neurs through our contin- ued investment in talent, research, and develop- ment." STORY BEHIND THE STORY: A University of Waterloo PhD grad recent- ly received a Mitacs trepreneur Award for his work developing Canada's first autonomous cargo airline. SUBMIT YOUR LETTER 10 THE EDITOR TODAY! THE CITY OF Waterloo APPLICATION FOR NOISE BY-LAW EXEMPTION 310 BUSHVIEW CRESCENT Notice is hereby given that an application is being made to the Director of Municipal Enforcement Services for the City of Waterloo for an exemption to the City of Waterloo Noise By-law #2010-073 which prohibits amplified sound between the hours of 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. The apptcant Laura Nightingale, is requesting an exemption as follows: venede born 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. on July 14, 2023. Anyone wishing to comment on this matter should contact Municipal Enforcement in writing via mail to 100 Regina Street South, PO Box 337, STN Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2J 4A8, by phone at 519-747-8785, or via e-mail at municipalenforcement@waterloo.ca no later than 4:30 p.m. on Friday, June 30, 2023. Questions regarding this event should be directed to our attention. P. 519-886-1550 TTY. 1-866-786-3941 waterloo.ca P. 519-886-1550 TTY. 1-866-786-3941 waterloo.ca