Ideas with Impact
UNB Faculty of Management

Just over a year ago ACOA announced a $7 million grant to support smart grid research initiatives at UNB. Involving multiple researchers across faculties, the goal of the project is to discover tools and technologies that will facilitate the transfer to smart energy distribution within Atlantic Canada, including relevant analysis, threat detection, infrastructure and business modelling. Since then, Dr. David Foord, a professor of entrepreneurship and innovation management with UNB’s faculty of management, has been leading the research stream on business transformation and over the past summer has employed a team of UNB graduate students to support the project.

In collaboration with NB Power, Emera and Siemens, Foord’s project is researching how utilities, regulators, consumers and technological systems are changing in the region and across Canada in order to learn how some of these could be applied to utility transitions in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

The use of coal, oil and other fossil fuels to meet peak demands is transitioning to new models with lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emission power generation, transmission and distribution. While there is consensus on the broad elements of this change, there are profound differences in the costs, GHG emissions and social changes associated with specific grid implementation scenarios and timetables. Thanks to funding received from the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation and the University of New Brunswick, Foord supervised four UNB graduate students over the summer to answer critical questions about the business challenges of decarbonizing and modernizing energy systems.

Three MBA students were included in the team, Mahshad Inanloo, Heidi Crummell and Samer Alam. Both Inanloo and Crummell will be continuing to pursue their research over the coming year in their Masters theses.

One challenge power utilities face is in managing the creation and adoption of new technologies and innovation, especially in an industry characterized by accelerating transformation. Through interviews with R&D and innovation managers in the industry, Crummell is identifying best practices in utility reduction to practice of new ideas.

Another challenge is how to motivate consumers to adopt sustainable behaviour in order to meet energy efficiency targets. Inanloo is looking at the behaviour of energy consumers and what kinds of innovations and incentives could be introduced to inspire them to use less energy. She has been gathering data on the kinds of incentives Canadian power utilities have built into their residential programs to see which are the most effective in changing consumer behaviour.

Alam, who completed the joint MBA/Juris Doctor program in May, researched the development of new visions and regulatory frameworks for electric power grids. This included examination of not only new utility business models, but also the processes that governments, utilities and non-profits are implementing to shape dialogue about future power systems

Foord joined the Faculty of Management in January 2020 and teaches courses in entrepreneurship, innovation management and competitive strategy. He has been working professionally in technology and innovation management since 1993 and led technology transfer and innovation at the University of New Brunswick from 1999 to 2009. His research and publications focus on the history of bionic hands, carbon black production, natural gas decomposition, water wheels, steam engines, gas lighting, electrical power grids, and wind, water and gas turbines.

He has presented his research in the areas of innovation and entrepreneurship, science and technology studies and history of science and technology at conferences organized by the Academy of Management and the International Sustainability Transitions. In addition to a forthcoming book on innovative medical technology, he has published research articles in journals on energy research and the history of science, technology and medicine.

For more information about this story, contact Liz Lemon-Mitchell.

Learn more about the faculty of management and UNB's Emera & NB Power Research Centre for Smart Grid Technologies.

Photo: Dr. David Foord is researching how utilities, regulators, consumers and technological systems are changing in the region and across Canada in order to learn how some of these could be applied to utility transitions in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.