ACE facilitates business developnment on behalf of MMRI and more broadly UBC, for connecting community stakeholders with researchers, in support of defining and launching collaborative projects to address technical barriers and accelerate the adpotion of circular economy practices.
Upon receiving outreach and expressions of interest, the ACE management team will initiate discussion with the organization to better understand their activities and business model, the challenges they are facing, and the technical support they are seeking from the UBC team. A preliminary assessment of the impact potential of the project will be made to inform future planning towards maximizing the benefits to the company. A short proposal will then be prepared collaboratively to outline the objectives of collaboration and the activities undertaken by ACE to assist the organization. Various options to fund the project will be explored. These include no-fee opportunities (e.g. the UBC-NRC IRAP Circular Economy Seed Funding), Mitacs, NSERC Alliance, Eminence funds (e.g. UBC Plastics Recycling Research Cluster), among others. Depending on its scope, each project can either become a short-term (4-5 months) project for multiple graduate/undergraduate students, or a long-term (1.5-3 years) thesis projects.
Below are some examples of on-going and completed projects. Please contact the Program Manager for more information on projects and to get involved with ACE.
