June 17, 2019

SME in the spotlight - Humanitas Solutions

Technology for humanitarian aid

In 2009, emergency physician Dr. Abdo Shabah was far from imagining that in 10 years he would head a high-tech company that would be the first to fly a swarm of more than 100 intelligent drones.

Dr. Shabah’s life changed in 2010 when he was sent to Haiti under the aegis of the Red Cross in the wake of the Jan. 12 earthquake. It was during this humanitarian mission that he realized how the lack of a reliable communications system was detrimental to the effort on the ground.
Without communications, there is no computer system to manage and coordinate efforts; even several months after the earthquake, communications were still deficient.

Search for a solution
Back in Montreal, Dr. Shabah went on a search for a solution while continuing to work and doing his MBA at McGill University. He was looking for a resilient solution even when there is no longer any communications structure in a region. The lack of communication has been identified as a problem as important as access to water during humanitarian crises. In 2014, Dr. Shabah submitted his idea to Grand Challenges Canada, a program dedicated to promoting bold ideas with great impact. His solution, which requires no server, router, internet access or functional cellular network, was selected and received $114,000 in assistance.

Dr. Shabah found that even in developing countries, cell phones are ubiquitous. The program developed by Humanitas makes it possible to connect users to each other via the Wi-Fi of their cell phones. From the moment there is at least one phone every 100 metres, it is possible to transmit messages and information via several phones that serve as relays.

In a disaster-stricken hospital, it becomes possible to coordinate the efforts between the different groups and to follow up the patients seen. In the field, resources can be used with much more efficiency.

Improvement of the solution

To establish a communications network when it is impossible to have relays every 100 metres, the use of drones is necessary because they can be distanced every three kilometres. Humanitas has developed its own drone, as well as its intelligent system that enables drones to talk and coordinate autonomously. Humanitas’ UAVs can perform several tasks, such as infrared surveillance or search and rescue, and make real-time 3D field surveys. They can exchange information among themselves and share tasks to be more efficient. If necessary, they can stop working in a swarm and work individually.

Transition to commercialization
Intelligent UAV technology will be tested for the first time this summer by the Canadian Armed Forces in a one-kilometresquare field to validate the operation of the system. This cooperation with the military is intended to test the operation of the system in a crisis situation and not to develop a military application.

In its early days, Humanitas was taken over by Centech, which is a start-up incubator. Centech has enabled it to develop a large network of partners including Carleton, Concordia, HEC, McGill and Polytechnique universities. In the private sector, Bell Helicopters, CAE, Dassault Systèmes, Elyssen and Thales are supporting it. Humanitas has about 20 employees; in all about 50 people work on its various platforms when taking into account the resources of its various partners. In fact, Humanitas works in an ecosystem where it collaborates with many partners while remaining the main architect of its technologies.

The goal of Humanitas is to provide free of charge its systems in humanitarian crises and depends on the development of commercial applications. This is why it has developed applications for the smart city, smart office and smart home that are ready for commercialization. Its application for real-time 3D mapping is also ready for commercialization.

To date, close to $10 million has been invested in Humanitas technology research and development, which is about to go through a first phase of commercialization for certain applications.

Les dernières nouvelles

  • Le poste d’inspectrice en 5 questions avec Mélanie Mireault
    March 26, 2023

    Le poste d’inspectrice en 5 questions avec Mélanie Mireault

    Portrait disponible en français seulement 10 ans dans l’industrie...

    En savoir plus