When the Vancouver Northeastern campus started looking for business partners to support the research work of its CS master’s students, Bill Lakeland did not hesitate to offer support. In fact, the company that he owns, Spexi Geospatial, was the first industry partner to provide work opportunities for Khoury College students in Vancouver.

Students were drawn to work at Spexi Geospatial, which provides a cloud-based platform that makes it easy to capture, process, analyze, and share aerial imagery collected by drones. To date, Khoury College students have worked on three projects, one focused on forest fires and two focused on the railway system. The projects began as capstones, then scaled up to research assistant opportunities for students.

According to visiting associate teaching professor Michal Aibin, Lakeland has been a strong champion of Khoury College students. “He always provides additional resources and help from his team of developers whenever asked,” said Aibin.

Northeastern and Spexi Geospatial have been the recipient have two significant multi-year grants from the Canadian government, one from Via Rail and Transport Canada and the other from Natural Resources Canada.

Lakeland has been impressed by the caliber of Northeastern students and the immediate contributions they make to projects. “Quite frankly, there’s just been a very good response to the contributions students are making, and our clients recognize this contribution,” said Lakeland.

Quite frankly, there’s just been a very good response to the contributions students are making, and our clients recognize this contribution

The research partnership is also one that students are enjoying as well, as they see the impact of their work in real time, explained Lakeland. The students are “getting to make a difference” across Canada as new technologies are being rolled out—technology, for example, that is helping people and communities across the country fight wildfires. “Protecting areas around the city where we know we can reduce the fuel sources” is critical said Lakeland. “Making an impact and saving homes is a real,” he said. “It’s definitely exciting.”

Lakeland says that it’s a great time to study computer science in Vancouver as the city continues to flourish as a tech hub, doing work that will benefit communities locally and globally.