AquaSensing startup takes top prize in nanomaterials pitch event

A startup company with deep roots at Waterloo Engineering won the top prize in a pitch contest focused on the use of nanomaterials to create or improve commercial products.

AquaSensing, which designs battery-free water leak detection systems for healthcare and industrial applications, took home $10,000, plus a spot in a virtual incubator, in the Nanomaterials Virtual Pitch Contest staged by not-for-profit NanoOntario and CMC Microsystems, a not-for-profit managing Canada’s National Design Network®.

One of the first commercial products by AquaSensing is an extremely low-cost, battery-free water leak sensor for use in homes and condominium buildings.

The technology was developed by engineering professors George Shaker and Water Institute member Norman Zhou, and is being commercialized by a number of Waterloo mechanical and mechatronics engineering alumni and graduate students – Nathan Johnston, Nimesh Kotak, Ming Xiao, Connor Al-Joundi, Kushant Patel, Mohammad Rouhi, Kamalpreet Kaur and Simran Chathanat – as well as fourth-year engineering student Erin Roulston.

Photo: AquaSensing's product Leak Sensor 1.0

This article was originally published on the Faculty of Engineering website.