Fighting Fire with Innovation: Drew Davidson (NE ’11) Tackles Firefighting Gear’s Cancer Risk with Deep Tech Research

Drew Davidson (Class of 2011) is developing innovative materials for creating firefighting gear. These new materials will not degrade and cause occupational cancer as current materials do. The inspiration behind his research is his mother, who has been serving as a firefighter in the Cambridge Fire Department for over 32 years. She urged him to use his engineering background to address this crucial health issue for firefighters.

Davidson’s innovative research has earned him a Deep Tech Scholarship which is a new scholarship, the first of its kind, recently launched by Dr. Mary Wells, Dean of the University of Waterloo Faculty of Engineering. The scholarship is designed to help students launch deep tech start-ups.

Davidson’s affinity for research was a definite factor in his Deep Tech Scholarship win. He is be doing his PhD in Chemical Engineering under the supervision of Professor Milad Kamkar. Davidson will be conducting research to develop a novel product to replace PFAS, material that is currently used in firefighting gear, which is believed to degrade over time, contributing to the development of occupational cancer.

As a high school student, Davidson had decided to pursue an undergraduate degree in Nanotechnology Engineering (NE) because seemed like a promising and exciting field.

“It was nice to be on the cutting edge of new technology, there was always something exciting happening related to the field,” says Davidson. “I enjoyed the variety of subject matter offered in the program; it kept a lot of doors open in terms of prospective jobs.”

Davidson also benefitted from the cohort structure of the NE program. Being grouped with the same peers for his entire undergraduate journey provided the opportunity to build close relationships with his classmates.

The co-op aspect of the program also proved beneficial for Davidson. He took several co-op jobs that were research-oriented positions. His first co-op job was a collaborative project involving several universities. Davidson was tasked with programming a database.

Davidson’s final co-op term was the highlight of his undergraduate work terms. He worked for Professor Eric Prouzet. He was also able to participate in a research exchange program. He travelled to France and worked at Universite de Montpellier for eight months.

In his fourth-year design project, Davidson’s team created a prototype to reduce ice adhesion build-up on power lines. Entrepreneurship has always been a driving motivation for Davidson. He would have liked to launch a start-up to scale up the technology from that Capstone Design Project.

However, his group couldn’t decide on a clear direction to take the start-up, so Davidson who has a passion for research, decided to pursue a Masters degree in the Department of Chemical Engineering.

After completing a Master’s in 2016 at University of Waterloo, Davidson worked for a Montreal start-up which converted bulk waste from the pulp and paper industry into biopolymers. He then transitioned to a job doing research into creating skin patches for drug delivery.

The Deep Tech Scholarship aims to provide students with the skills to scale up the technology developed during their PhD. The goal for recipients is to create a company after graduation. Davidson hopes to utilize the skills that he developed at the University of Waterloo, through his undergraduate and graduate degrees, to make a positive impact on the lives of Canadian firefighters.

Check out their website to learn more about the program.

Contact Drew Davidson to receive more information or to offer assistance.