Two start-ups founded by Nanotechnology Engineering (NE) alumni are creating sustainable solutions locally.
Local business H2nanO was founded by co-founders Zac Young (NE class of 2015), Tim Leshuk (NE class of 2013, and Stuart Linley (NE class of 2014). They have created a novel approach to treating wastewater utilizing light to achieve chemical reactions.
The start-up, which was nurtured in the Velocity Program, has developed sunlight-driven technologies to treat contaminants and significantly reduce the pollution emissions footprint. They have recently built a lab locally in Kitchener.
H2nanO is currently engaged in a project that proposes the use of a solar photocatalysis system to treat water stored in Canada’s oil sands. To achieve this goal, the team built a facility in Alberta where they are undertaking this work.
A second deep tech start-up founded by NE alumni is Halion. Co-founders Ryan Marchewka (NE class of 2016) and Matt Lavrisa (NE class of 2015) developed a smart-glass technology that can change glass from light to dark with the push of a button.
Halion evolved from Lavrisa’s NE Capstone Design Project. The team worked closely with Velocity for several years and recently found a suitable local lab space. Using nanomaterials, the pair have engineered colour-changing ink and film, switchable glass, sunlight-visible displays for windshields, and many more applications. The pair envision making every glass surface intelligent.
The University of Waterloo’s entrepreneurial ecosystem has fostered these two start-ups which employ concepts learned in the NE program to create innovative solutions for a more sustainable world.