Chemical engineering grad student wins $5,000 in Concept Pitch Competition with a biomedical device.

Monday, April 18, 2022

The competition was stiff at the 2022 Concept Pitch Competition. Twenty-two teams of University of Waterloo Students pitched their ideas at the

James Lowman
Concept $5k semi-finals. Four teams won the coveted $5,000 prize! James Lowman, chemical engineering Ph.D. student, and his team, Cauchy Analytics were one of the big winners! This win exemplifies how a degree in chemical engineering can be applied to fuel biomedical advancements. James commented on winning the $5,000 award,

 We entered the Concept 5K pitch competition, not with the intention to win $5000, but rather to hone our idea and refine our fundraising pitch fundamentals. 

The idea

Cauchy Analytics is developing a hands-free device to continuously image the heart during emergency cardiac care situations. The device will use two ultrasound probes to examine blood flow and pressure directly in the heart. Cauchy Analytic combines ultrasound, machine learning, and computational fluid dynamics to create a real-time, non-invasive cardiac hemodynamic monitoring device.

Strengths of the team

Team members feel that their strength lies in their diverse academic backgrounds. Rakshit Shetty, a critical care physician, and one of the founders of

Chest, connections, and heart monitor cartoon image
Cauchy Analytics realized he needed a non-invasive real-time device to properly monitor the state of his patient’s hearts in the intensive care unit. With the existing technology, doctors are unable to monitor in real-time if the treatment administered is effective. He discussed this idea with mathematician and entrepreneur Kebert Joseph when the two met at a wedding.

Kebert brought James Lowman into the team. As a graduate student of chemical engineering at the University of Waterloo, a department whose research culture and curriculum are highly interdisciplinary, James was open to collaboration with teammates. He was able to leverage his degrees in chemical engineering in the fast-growing biomedical field. James reflected on being constantly motivated by the ideas of others during his time in the program,

My favourite thing about grad school has been walking down the halls of E6, asking what people are working on. Anytime I felt bored, unmotivated, or that "imposter syndrome" was creeping out of my subconscious, I could find someone in the halls that was working on something truly inspirational. And more often than not, talking to others about their research triggered new ideas and motivation for my own. 

Future of Cauchy Analytics

 The team will use their $5,000 award money to develop both the software and the hardware to develop a point of care ultrasound device. Cauchy Analytics is moving toward patenting its device. According to team members, the biggest victory for them is that this win validated their idea of the device. Congratulations to Cauchy Analytics on this big win!