Engineering wellness: Capstone Project develops smart bottle to combat dehydration
From left to right: Wyatt Sullivan, Mathew Maradin, Tina Hanna, and Michael Hanley
Capstone group 4, Vivra sponsored by BDO Canada, won the second place award for the Nanotechnology Engineering (NE) Program.
Their project, supervised by Professor John Saad, was directed at solving the problem of chronic dehydration. For their Capstone Project, the group was eager to showcase diverse skills they had attained through both their coursework and co-op experiences.
Team members Michael Hanley, Tina Hanna, Mathew Maradin and Wyatt Sullivan researched the problem of dehydration in North America and found a study that indicated 75% of people are chronically dehydrated. Dehydration can lead to a myriad of health problems including electrolyte imbalances, migraines, urinary and kidney problems and more.
Hanna came from Toronto and noticed that Waterloo tap water is hard. This discouraged her and some of her peers from drinking enough water, which was the impetus behind their idea.
The team utilized their interdisciplinary skills to design a Vivra, a smart water bottle that holds you accountable to your daily hydration goals.
“We used the skills we learned in NE such as designing sensors, electrical systems, software and incorporated it in the bottle itself to track various statistics around water and create a holistic system for a user to understand where they are relative to where they need to be for healthy hydration goals,” said Maradin.
They spilt the tasks up based on their areas of expertise derived from their co-op experiences; the electrical components, the firmware, sensors, and the nanochip itself. The group also developed a web app so people could read their results which would show their water hydration score out of 100. To achieve a more informed hydration score they created a temperature and conductivity sensor to assess hydration quality. The conductivity of water indicates the concentration of ions, such as minerals.
Group 4 Vivra prototype
The team designed the bottle as a prototype. The conductivity sensor is a circuit where a current is sent through two end points in contact with water. Based on the resistance value and the change in voltage, they derive the conductivity of the water. This can also indicate the purity of the water.
Their win in the Capstone Symposium was the highlight of their undergraduate experience. The team reflected on their experience in the program.
“The NE program has helped with character building, not only learning technical skills, but also learning life skills, understanding how to manage time and stress. It was an excellent opportunity to meet brilliant minds and other inspiring engineers who are very ambitious. I would highlight that the co-op program was one of my favourite experiences because it allowed me to work in different areas and to meet many different people. I believe that has allowed for a lot of growth and exposure. I am very thankful, especially with the current job market, as having relevant experience is critical,” said Hanna.
While the teammates are all going in different directions post-graduation, they are engaged with the UWaterloo Intellectual Property Office to explore the idea of patenting their invention.