Computer vision and applications in Canadian oil sands

Canada holds oil reserve at 168 billion barrels - in the form of oil sands in the Province of Alberta-ranking it the third largest in the world. In this lecture, I will highlight our collaborative research with Canadian oil sands producers - in computer vision, image processing and machine learning - to address some of the challenges facing this important Canadian industry. Specifically I will provide examples of how we have been able to tackle practical industrial problems successfully and, at the same time, contribute to the progress of scientific disciplines such as computer vision and image processing. These examples include: delivering performance indicators for the optimization of a mining process, monitoring the conditions of mining equipment, and protecting wildlife in and around mine sites. Our experience demonstrates that academic research can be carried out effectively in close collaboration with industry, and that such a partnership can be mutually beneficial.