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The entrepreneurship ecosystem at Waterloo Engineering nurtures promising ideas into thriving enterprises. In our weekly Founder Fuel series, we look at new ventures and how they have benefited from that crucial early support.

Andrew Martinko (BASc ’15, nanotechnology engineering, MBET ’16) and his Capstone team developed UV-activated ink that one applies with a marker before slathering on sunscreen. When the ink turns purple, it’s time to reapply. The idea attracted all kinds of attention, especially after they were named runners-up for the prestigious international James Dyson innovation award.

Canadian health care is facing a perfect storm of challenges. Reduced health services and the struggle to train and retain health professionals will become a chronic problem if not urgently addressed.

Dr. Catherine Burns is the Chair in Human Factors in Health Care Systems and leads the University of Waterloo’s health initiatives. She discusses how we can redesign our health systems using advanced health-care technologies to create better patient outcomes and more equitable access to care.

The chance to broaden his horizons through a fellowship at Waterloo Engineering has boosted an ambitious researcher as he pursues his goal to develop intelligent therapy robots.

Dr. Milad Nazarahari, who came to Waterloo in 2021 as the recipient of a AMTD Waterloo Global Talent Postdoctoral Fellowship, packed up late last month to take on a new position as an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Alberta.

A master’s student in chemical engineering took first place and the $750 top prize in a contest featuring 60-second videos of graduate students explaining their research.

Andrew Stella, whose research involves wearable sensors to protect firefighters, topped a field of 25 competitors at the annual GRADFlix Showcase sponsored by Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs at the University of Waterloo.

Researchers at Waterloo Engineering have developed artificial intelligence (AI) technology to predict if women with breast cancer would benefit from chemotherapy prior to surgery.

The new AI algorithm, part of the open-source Cancer-Net initiative led by Dr. Alexander Wong, could help unsuitable candidates avoid the serious side effects of chemotherapy and pave the way for better surgical outcomes for those who are suitable.

Bertha Bridget Kankam (MBET ’22) recently completed her master’s degree in business, entrepreneurship and technology (MBET) at Waterloo Engineering’s Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business. 

That is a worthy success in and of itself, but Kankam is not your typical MBET student. Better known to many as Yaa Yaa, she is an award-winning singer-songwriter from Ghana. 

Two Waterloo Engineering research teams have received the first two $5,000 Jain Family Award for Entrepreneurship instalments, a defined term award designated to University of Waterloo students working with Velocity.  

The 2022 recipients are Mechano-metamaterial spinal implants for its innovative work to improve the lives of spinal patients and Blackbird for its important advancements in flood risk mapping.  

For their Capstone Design project, Michael Phillips and his roommate Phillip Cooper (both BASc ’17, mechanical engineering, entrepreneurship option), created a camera that could help surgeons remove blood clots from the brains of stroke patients. That meant making the world’s smallest camera — and making it flexible enough to travel through a maze of veins and arteries. 

The result is Vena Medical. A startup fuelled by hard work, funding support and a team of advisors. 

New research by a Waterloo Engineering professor shows small, isolated wetlands, often the first to be removed for development and agriculture, play an outsized role in the protection of downstream lake and river ecosystems.

Researchers used a new method involving satellite imagery and computer modelling – the first of its kind – to show how small wetlands trap pollutants such as nitrogen and phosphorous because they are disconnected.

Four projects led by Waterloo Engineering researchers have been selected as inaugural funding recipients in an initiative to develop creative and collaborative health-care solutions. 

The projects will receive up to $25,000 for one year from the Graham Seed Fund (GSF). Developed by the University of Waterloo’s Health Initiatives team, the GSF aims to strengthen health system partnerships by providing resources to collaborate directly with health providers, clinicians, industry partners and universities.