Severinsen joins Sensor Globe team

A former AKVA Group executive has teamed up with Canadian firm Sedna Technologies to promote and develop an innovative water monitoring device for the aquaculture sector.

Trond Severinsen – formerly Senior Vice President, Technology & Development with AKVA – will, as Sedna’s Norwegian partner, lead the commercialisation of Sedna’s Sensor Globe, a wireless multi-functional sensor the size of a small grapefruit.

Sensor Globe enables aquaculture operators to monitor real time data through an app on a smartphone, tablet or via the Internet, or alternatively to log data autonomously over a period of time.

Sedna’s Canadian co-founders Sheamus MacDonald and Aleksandr Stabenow, said: “We are now launching the first version, which is available with micro-sensors such as optical oxygen, temperature, pH, acceleration and shock. Later this year nitrate, ammonia and salinity micro-sensors will follow, and we will keep adding many new sensors and features going forward.”

The Sensor Globe was originally designed to monitor water quality and animal welfare for the live lobster fishing industry on Canada’s East Coast. Its internal ballast is adjustable, so that it can float like a small iceberg, sink or operate with neutral buoyancy. It measures only 95mm diameter, weighs 325 grams and is designed to “flow-with-the-fish” through pipes, hoses, fish pumps, lice treatment and other machinery. This means it will be able to measure both water quality and physical impact on the fish (acceleration and shock).

Trond Severinsen said: “I am very excited to work with such young and talented entrepreneurs in Canada, to offer my lifelong experience in the aquaculture technology industry and together grow the company, work on R&D, and set up a global sales and service network.

“We discover new uses and markets for the Sensor Globe concept just about every week right now. Including the growing need for environmental impact monitoring by various companies involved in mining, forestry, energy, construction, engineering and consulting, as well as in many government agencies. The product is in reality a ‘disruptive technology’ and with a price point that opens up a huge global market.”

Sensor Globe monitoring dissolved oxygen (Photo: Sedna Technologies)