Quantum and digital technologies: 2024–2025 Annual Report

As drones are increasingly used to deliver everything from ordinary mail packages to lifesaving medical supplies, it is critical to understand how the airflows around buildings in urban environments affect drone stability. To investigate this, our Aerospace Research Centre partnered with Transport Canada and InDro Robotics to conduct a field study in downtown Montréal, Quebec. This first-of-its-kind study used drone- and rooftop-mounted wind sensors, as well as wind tunnel testing, to measure wind speed and turbulence along a pre-defined route through the city. These test flights were the longest ever conducted in a downtown core in Canada and yielded results that will help inform regulations, standards and capabilities for safer drone use in the country.

Ships passing through ice-covered waters, such as those along Northern shipping channels, are slowed by sea ice that quickly closes over again once parted by an icebreaker. Experts at our Ocean, Coastal and River Engineering Research Centre and Memorial University are exploring a new approach: a swarm of smaller, self-driving vessels that can keep channels clear in an icebreaker's wake. The AI model uses distributed intelligence comparable to the behaviours seen in colonies of insects, like ants and bees all working toward a shared goal. To test the performance of the vessels, the team will run experiments first in a simulated environment and then in the NRC's offshore engineering basin research facility, which can recreate real-world conditions. This research will help establish Canada as a pioneer in the growing field of marine autonomous surface ships.

In 2024–2025, we showed the promise of a new method of producing microlenses to accelerate and simplify the design and fabrication of optical devices. Developed by our Digital Technologies and Quantum and Nanotechnologies research centres, blurred tomography (a method of producing a 3D image of a solid object) offers a faster, more affordable alternative to existing tomographic methods using projected light and 3D printing, with the ability to produce commercial-grade optical components in as little as 30 minutes. This method could also underpin the development of future technologies, eventually allowing optical designers to rapidly prototype new devices at the relatively low cost of materials and a 3D tomographic printer.

AI tools can analyze vast stores of data, identify patterns and trends, and generate actionable insights in seconds. A new service available through the NRC's Data Analytics Centre helps public- and private-sector organizations unlock this analytical power. The service draws on the expertise of researchers in AI, data science and machine learning to help Canadian companies extract the strategic value hidden in their data through tailored AI. With access to this expertise, along with the Data Analytics Centre's state-of-the-art algorithms and powerful computing clusters, companies in Canada can gain a competitive edge with AI.

As we help Canadian firms realize the benefits of AI, we are also exploring applications of this technology within our own operations. In 2024–2025, we developed prototypes for 2 new AI use cases. One of these, a suite of generative AI tools named BlueskAI, is designed to enhance the ability of the NRC Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) field staff to more efficiently and effectively access data to support Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises.

The tool allows staff to use natural language queries instead of traditional keyword searches, making it easier for them to find and summarize information about Canadian firms. Our AI experts also worked with Public Services and Procurement Canada to develop an AI-driven recommendation engine for NewsDesk, a platform that provides more than 70 Government of Canada departments with access to digital media content. By eliminating the need to manually rate NewsDesk articles for relevancy, this project has the potential to bring significant time savings.

While we are testing commercially available AI tools to determine if they can be used safely and responsibly in our work, we also built our own. NRC employees are increasingly embracing AI Zone, the generative AI chatbot we developed which is hosted in our own internal cloud to protect our sensitive intellectual property and data. AI Zone's custom tools and extensions can help solve technical problems, summarize long documents, write computer code and more—and the chatbot continues to evolve with new features and functionality. Additionally, we launched student AI projects to help meet needs across the NRC such as automating processes and staying on top of tasks.

We continue to work with Indigenous communities and language experts to develop digital tools that will help people more easily learn Indigenous languages. The newest is Gramble, an open-source framework that allows Indigenous educators to create grammar apps in an intuitive, user-friendly way, through a spreadsheet-like interface.

So far, Gramble has supported the development of verb conjugator tools for the Mi'kmaq, Michif and Anishnaabe languages. Verb conjugators for several new languages, including Nêhiyawêwin (Plains Cree), Oneida and SENĆOŦEN (Saanich), are also in development.

The data centres that train and run generative AI models demand huge amounts of energy to power racks of servers, all containing numerous chips and wires, as well as industrial cooling systems needed to manage the heat they generate. To help solve the AI energy problem and data capacity issues, lasers from the NRC's Canadian Photonics Fabrication Centre (CPFC), the only facility of its kind in North America, are being used by Ottawa-based Ranovus. Its light-based hardware, called co-packaged optics, fits onto a chip the size of a quarter.

Sitting beside the processors that train and run AI models, the technology fires photons down glass fibre to move data between chips. Compared to traditional copper cables, the technology carries more information and can move it further while using less power. The CPFC will continue to provide critical components for technologies like these, supporting advancements in AI, quantum and other growing fields.

Magnetometers use the Earth's magnetic signals to find shipwrecks and debris under water, uncover suitable mining sites, and locate and classify objects. With support from the NRC's Quantum Sensors Challenge program, Sherbrooke-based SBQuantum developed a diamond-powered quantum magnetometer that increases sensitivity by 100 times over previous prototypes.

In 2025, that technology was launched into space as part of the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's MapQuest Challenge, which aims to discover a more precise and efficient way to measure the World Magnetic Model used by navigation, attitude and heading reference systems to help prevent magnetic field interference.

The NRC's Earth Observation and Microgravity Group and McGill University's Applied Remote Sensing Laboratory are working to quantify how much heat is lost in district heating systems on Canadian Forces bases and the associated carbon emissions.

District heating systems are made up of underground networks of water pipes that can bring heating to multiple buildings within an area. As the heated water travels through the pipes, some of the energy is lost before it can reach the buildings where people live and work, but is still contributing to costs and emissions on Canadian Forces bases.

Our collaborative research measures this heat loss using sensors on remotely piloted aircraft systems, along with light detection and ranging (LiDAR) techniques. Our most recent survey, at the base in Comox, British Columbia, revealed a minimum annual energy loss equivalent to the amount of total energy used by 321 average Canadian homes. This work will help us better understand the mechanisms of the heat loss and inform improvements to district heating systems.

In 2024–2025, we unveiled 2 new tools developed through the support of our Aging in Place Challenge program that will help older adults in Canada live independently in their homes and communities.

In collaboration with the University of Waterloo, we developed an AI model that can analyze and segment photos of food on a plate, or even at the end of a utensil, to quickly and accurately predict calories, mass, protein, fat and carbohydrates. This technology could help older adults better manage their eating habits and nutritionists create more effective dietary plans.

Meanwhile, in partnership with Carleton University, we advanced a driver assessment system that combines a network of onboard vehicle sensors with data from more than 30,000 drivers to predict changes in safety risk based on an older adult's driving patterns. Feedback can then be shared with the driver as well as their family and caregivers. In addition to empowering older drivers to travel more safely, this project adds to our understanding of how assistive driving features, such as lane keeping assist, affect driver safety.

During this fiscal year, we launched our new vision for the digital transformation of research at the NRC. This 5-year plan will guide our application of leading digital technologies, such as advanced computing and AI, to accelerate innovation and enhance collaboration across scientific fields.

It includes 4 foundational pillars: enhancing data collection through advanced sensors, ensuring trustworthy and well-governed data, maximizing the value of data through technologies like AI and analytics, and using automation to improve R&D processes.

Through this vision, we will meet the highest standards of ethics, legality and security to deliver trustworthy solutions that serve Canada's priorities.

To better align our quantum, photonic and semiconductor science and technology objectives, in 2024–2025, we combined our Nanotechnology, Security and Disruptive Technologies, and Advanced Electronics and Photonics research centres into a single entity. Working with collaborators in Canada and internationally, the new Quantum and Nanotechnologies Research Centre will accelerate and de-risk innovative solutions in quantum communications, quantum sensing and imaging, photonics, nanotechnologies, advanced materials for additive manufacturing, semiconductors, and more.