Innovating at the annual Esch awards
Six teams of graduating students win $10,000 each to commercialize Capstone Design projects on everything from picking tomatoes to treating foot ulcers
Innovative solutions to serious medical problems took four of six $10,000 prizes up for grabs when student teams competed via video this month in an annual pitch competition for startup companies.
The new format, which replaced in-person presentations at the Norman Esch Entrepreneurship Awards for Capstone Design due to the coronavirus crisis, gave graduating students five minutes to explain their projects instead of the usual three minutes, followed by questions.
The winning ideas, picked from 15 finalists by a panel of judges who reviewed the videos, included wearable technology inspired by a team member who suffered a heat stroke while playing golf on a hot summer day and ended up in hospital.
KnowStroke members (l-r) Ahmad Lakhani, Eniko Zsoldos, Methely Sharma and Matthew Pley are developing wearable technology to prevent heat-related illness.
Members of KnowStroke - nanotechnology engineering students Ahmad Lakhani, Eniko Zsoldos, Methely Sharma and Matthew Pley - responded by developing an armband to monitor workers in construction, agriculture and other fields.
Sensors in the band, including a novel sweat sensor, track biometrics and alert supervisors via a mobile app when workers are at risk of heat-related problems, including exertional heat stroke (EHS).
600 deaths a year
Zsoldos told judges in her recorded pitch that EHS annually causes over 6,000 hospitalizations and 600 deaths in the United States alone.
“That is far too many for something that is entirely preventable,” she said.
Launched in 2014 and funded by The Esch Foundation, the competition supports creative, entrepreneurial students in the pursuit of research and development, and its commercialization for the benefit of Canada.