WATERLOO — Elisa Knight can explain the mechanics behind her team's robot, and the strategy involved in the tasks it faces, with the precision of an engineer.

There's mention of the challenges posed by a faulty gear box, and of the strategic advantage inherent in being able to lift and carry another robot. There's also talk of the three "power ups" available to be played — levitate, force and boost.

STRATFORD, Ontario (Reuters) - A Canadian town known for its annual theater festival is emerging as a hub of "snowtonomous" research, as automakers face demands to produce self-driving cars that can perform in snow and sleet.

But testing driverless cars in cold climates brings added challenges to an industry grappling with the first fatality involving an autonomous vehicle.

Sidewalk Labs, the unit of Google-parent Alphabet Inc. set to turn a chunk of Toronto’s waterfront into a test bed for “smart city” technologies, took pains at a public meeting Tuesday night to address fears its plans would see citizens spied upon or their governments’ authority usurped.

Hundreds of people packed a room at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre to attend “public round table” sessions put on by Sidewalk and Waterfront Toronto, which last fall picked the three-year-old New York-based company to help develop − for a start − a 12-acre parcel called Quayside.

A new biofuel facility has opened in the Port Kells industrial area of Surrey, British Columbia. According to the City of Surrey, the C$68 million facility is the first fully integrated closed-loop organic waste management system in North America.

The facility will convert curbside organic waste into renewable biofuel to fuel the city’s fleet of natural gas-powered waste-collection and service vehicles. Under this closed-loop system, waste-collection trucks will be collecting their fuel source at curbside. Excess fuel will go to the new district energy system that heats and cools Surrey’s City Centre.

Ramco has announced that it is to set up an Asia-Pacific Centre of Excellence for Workforce Innovation in Melbourne, Australia. The aim of the new centre is to attract talent from across Australia to work on innovative technology for HR. Last year Melbourne was crowned Australia’s tech capital by the Australian Business Review, that followed the announcement of a four year plan by the City of Melbourne. The Lord Mayor Robert Doyle AC said: ”Our vision is for Melbourne to be recognised as the number one destination for start-ups and entrepreneurs to ‘start, grow and go global’, across Australia and Asia.”.

The Netherlands Trade and Investment Office (NTIO) has for decades devoted itself to boosting bilateral ties between Taiwanese and Dutch institutions in various fields, from agriculture to renewable energy. NTIO Representative Guy Wittich discussed how the Netherlands is moving toward a circular economy and strengthening its relations with Taiwan in an interview with ‘Taipei Times’ staff reporter Kuo Chia-erh in Taipei on Jan. 17

Taipei Times (TT): How is the Netherlands turning circular economy from a nice idea into reality?

Five multinational companies with an Ottawa presence are partnering with federal and provincial governments to put Ontario and Quebec on the forefront of fifth-generation network tech.

Ciena, Ericsson, Thales, IBM and CGI will spend $200 million over the next five years on research in an Ontario-Quebec corridor focused on developing 5G technology. The federal government and both provincial governments will match those funds with $67.7 million each.

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- Taipei and Taichung ranked higher than any city in China, including the tier one cities of Shanghai and Beijing, in Mercer's quality of living ranking released yesterday (March 20).

Mercer, the world's largest human resources consulting firm, yesterday released it's 20th annual "Quality of Living Ranking," with Vienna taking the top spot for the ninth year in a row, followed by Zurich (2), Auckland (3), Munich (4), Vancouver (5), Dusseldorf (6), Frankfurt (7), Geneva (8), Copenhagen (9) and Basel (10) rounding out the top ten.

A new 100,000-square-foot expansion to Organigram’s Moncton production facility officially opened on Tuesday.

Organigram currently has 135,000 square feet of production space, allowing it to grow 22 million grams of marijuana a year. That's one of the 50 strains currently being produced at the Moncton facility.

It took just over a year to complete phase two. Phase three could be finished by May, and phases four and five will be closer to 2020.

There is something about Rachel Downie’s voice that suggests she is going to make a difference in the vexed and troubled area of school bullying.

Ms Downie has been a teacher, a head of school and a deputy principal in a 23-year career in education.

She is the mother of two adult daughters.