Business Chief USA – August 2019

promises to contribute a great deal

to achieving zero waste. And each of

these facets has come out of SFU.

The founders of Intuitive AI Hassan

Murad and Vivek Vyas are both alumni

of SFU, where they first developed

software to tackle the problem of

recycling. SFU itself may have made

great strides but globally only around

3% of waste is recycled. Even in a

four-stream system, waste identification

remains a problem – what is recyclable,

what is not, where should you put it?

They began with a simple vision,

to create a zero waste world. This led

them to develop an AI platform driven

by sensors that empower spaces to

be more sustainable.

Murad and Vyas launched Oscar,

an AI-powered visual sorting system,

with a camera that detects people

approaching a bin, automatically

identifies each item and tells people

where to place it. “This is a true

innovation story from SFU,” explains

Blok. “They spent a great deal of time

formulating this idea at our labs on

the Surrey campus. We were able

to support this project right from

the ideation phase, and the Sustain-

ability Office was there at the initial

consultations providing key facts,

giving operational and logistical

feedback, and providing expertise.

The testing phase was carried out on

our downtown Vancouver campus and

we were successful in providing space

for them to test the platform and

promote their message.” The Surrey

campus now houses the first higher

education Oscar waste station in

Canada and have been taken up

at coffee chains and an airport in

Toronto. Intuitive is currently part

of the Next AI accelerator in Toronto

Erica Lay, Associate Director at SFU’s
Sustainability Office presenting at a 20-year
sustainability visions and goals session.
262

AUGUST 2019

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY