NE teams impress at the annual Norman Esch Entrepreneurship Awards for Capstone Design

Thursday, June 8, 2017

Nanotechnology Engineering’s Capstone Design teams demonstrated strong research, business and persuasive skills at this year’s Norman Esch Entrepreneurship Awards for Capstone Design. From among 44 entries, 4 NE teams made the list of 15 finalists for the pitch competition and 2 of them won $10,000 prizes for their projects.

The competition, which is open to student teams participating in the Faculty of Engineering’s Capstone Design Project, gave finalists 90 seconds to pitch their business idea to a panel of judges. Winners were chosen based on their project design and accompanying business plan.

Students with large chequeCongratulations to the following Nanotechnology Engineering Capstone Design teams for their success in the Esch competition:

$10,000 prize winner, DropLab – Abdullah Abbas, Kamyar Ghograni, Josh Reid and Lucas Zeer – for their Digital Microfluidics (DMF) lab-on-a-chip-based technology that can be used to automate and optimize experiments.

Vivaspire members and officials with cheque$10,000 prize winner, Vivaspire – Pablo Enrique, John Grousopoulos, Chris Hajduk and Mostafa Saquib – for their plan to create a lightweight, wearable oxygen delivery system that uses a nanomaterial to store and release oxygen, helping people who have respiratory illnesses breathe easier.

Finalist, Enpact – Sushant Bhasin, Keegan Jebb, Pritpal Kanhaiya and Tony Wu – for their battery-free smart insoles that harvest power from human motion using triboelectric nanogenerators and could revolutionize wearables as well as fitness and rehabilitation industries.

Finalist, Tapz – Gurparteek Dhream, Mahtab Zakat Roshandel, Madhavi Sivan and Pujashree Vajha – for their transparent touchscreen cover that converts a user’s touch into electrical energy that is delivered to the device’s battery, permitting continuous charging of the device as it is being used.