I am Youssef Helwa, the CEO and co-founder of NERv. I am a University of Waterloo Nanotechnology Engineering graduate with extensive experience in the field of biosensors and microfabrication. NERv is one of the first members of the Velocity Science program. It aims to develop its sensors to one day eliminate the anxiety and worry associated with the occurrence of post-operative complications and the dangers associated with it.
NERv is a Waterloo Institute of Nanotechnology (WIN) startup; it is developing a biochip to detect post-operative complications. NERv’s implantable biochip consists of multiple biosensors that are aimed towards detecting abdominal post-operative complications, such as dangerous inflammations, internal bleeding, bacterial infection, ischemia, and internal leakages.
Ever since I can remember, my mom would come back home from work looking worried and anxious. She worried about the surgical procedure that she had done earlier in the day and whether her patient would be potentially suffering from a complication after the surgery. She would never be sure if the patient is suffering from any potential problem because of the surgery she had just performed. As a result, I decided to use my university experience and everything I had learned to try to eliminate this problem.
During my undergraduate period here at the University of Waterloo, I started seeing how entrepreneurship and startups here were growing. I could see that the Waterloo region was booming as an entrepreneurial society and I could see the immense amount of support that the region was offering to startups here. This encouraged me to further develop my idea into a potential startup where I can build a future for myself and improve the general healthcare system here in Canada.
My co-founder, Amr Abdelgawad, is a 4th year Nanotechnology Engineering student here at the University of Waterloo. I have known Amr ever since his first year and we have been partners in everything we do. I knew Amr has a great potential as an engineer and as an entrepreneur, and I knew he would be a great fit for the team. His expertise and skill set would fit exactly with what NERv was hoping to accomplish and as a result, he became the co-founder who helped me build NERv to the startup that it is today. NERv has been around for almost two years now and has since managed to raise a lot of funds to maintain its growth through government-related funds, pitch competitions, and university grants.
I
would
advise
aspiring
entrepreneurs
here
at
UWaterloo
to
never
give
up
on
their
ideas
and
to
always
work
hard
in
order
to
succeed
at
what
they
are
doing.
They
also
need
to
take
advantage
of
the
facilities
that
are
offered
here
at
the
university
and
the
Waterloo-Kitchener
region;
they
offer
a
lot
of
support
and
funding
to
emerging
startups.
