Leak-detection startup books spot in pitch finals

A technology startup company founded by two Waterloo Engineering professors has earned a spot in the finals of an international pitch competition for water innovations.

AquaSensing, which was launched by George Shaker and Norman Zhou in 2019, booked its spot in the global Water Dragons event by finishing second in an Ontario heat featuring eight companies.

Sensors made by Aquasensing are just three centimetres square.

The invention at the core of the company, which now consists of over a dozen technical developers, is a wireless, battery-free sensor that detects leaks to prevent water damage in apartments, offices and other buildings.

Shaker is a cross-appointed professor of electrical and computer engineering, and mechanical and mechatronics engineering. Zhou is a professor of mechanical and mechatronics engineering, and a member of the Waterloo Institute of Nanotechnology.

Competitors in the Water Dragons pitch contest, which is sponsored by an industry organization in the United Kingdom called Future Water, made eight-minute presentations, followed by questions from the judges.