Venture Connection Blog
Venture Connection appoints new Mentor-in-Residence, Hugh MacNaught
May 07 2013
Hugh MacNaught has become the newest member of Venture Connection’s Mentor-in-Residence (MIR) team, joining Jim Derbyshire, Stewart Marshall and Dave Thomas in providing ongoing mentorship to SFU students and alumni enrolled in Venture Connection’s business incubator program.
Hugh is a senior executive with over 25 years of experience developing, commercializing and financing technologies. He has worked with companies ranging in size from raw start-ups to blue-chip corporations in roles ranging from product development and manufacturing to finance, business development and executive management. His experience with early stage technology companies includes several years as a venture capitalist and founding, leading and financing technology based ventures. Most recently he has provided guidance to university spin-outs (Oxford, Stanford) and corporate venturing initiatives (Philips). He has served as a director for private corporations and not-for-profit agencies, including the Technology Commercialization Committee for the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, and was the Audit Chair of Genome Prairie.
Hugh's deep expertise in developing and commercializing technologies within the medical and life science sectors strengthens Venture Connection's support to SFU students from Science and Health Science.
Improving Wheelchair Safety - VC Client Mobisafe benefits from Mitacs-Accelerate program.
April 25 2013
Through the federal Mitacs-Accelerate program, SFU Venture Connection incubator client Mobisafe has accessed academic research expertise from SFU's Mechatronic System Engineering program to advance their development of an airbag safety system for wheelchairs. Read more about this Mitacs Success Story:
ACCELERATE | SUCCESS STORY
Mitacs-Accelerate connects SFU Masters student with Mobisafe Systems to help develop an airbag safety system for wheelchairs.
Thousands of Canadians with mobility challenges rely on wheelchairs every day. While they offer an independent mode of transport, accidents involving wheelchairs can have significant repercussions, with users often being seniors, people with disabilities or those vulnerable to more serious injury.
Airbags have been widely used to prevent injuries in automobile accidents for many years and Vancouver-based Mobisafe Systems Inc. has been examining ways to make wheelchairs safer using similar technology.
They approached the School of Engineering Science at Simon Fraser University, seeking academic research expertise on how to develop an “airbag” safety system for wheelchairs using a foam cushion.
Through a Mitacs-Accelerate internship, Masters of Applied Science student Hossein Dehghani took on the challenge of developing a foam-based cushioning airbag for wheelchair use. The system uses an accelerometer and gyroscope sensors which are integrated with a programmable micro controller to detect when the wheelchair is tipping over, and then deploys a cushioning foam mat around the wheelchair to prevent the user from hitting the ground.
“The big problem with a traditional system in a car is that the mechanism uses compressed air to rapidly inflate the airbag, and it is only for one-time use. After it has been deployed, it has to be replaced by a mechanic, and that becomes very expensive,” Hossein explained.
“My research focused on developing the optimum size and shape for a foam airbag cushion that can be used many times over. The foam airbag is packed underneath the wheelchair and when it deploys, it absorbs air from the atmosphere and expands rapidly. It takes less than one second to deploy, providing a soft cushion for protection during a fall. The foam can be folded up again in as little as one minute for reuse.”
A custom-made head form and slow motion cameras were used to help determine the best size, pattern and deployment of the foam airbag to maximize its effectiveness. Mobisafe Systems Inc. is now planning to commercialize the airbag system, in the hope it will make wheelchairs safer, prevent injuries and reduce health care costs.
Hossein praises his Mitacs-Accelerate internship for providing invaluable industry experience as he now embarks on a PhD in mechatronics: “With an industry connection, your approach to research is completely different compared to if it was being done in an academic setting. It helped me see the project from an industry point of view, with a focus on the end user and commercialization.”
Director of Business Development at MobiSafe Systems, Ali AbdulHussein, said the Mitacs-Accelerate program helped make the wheelchair airbag system a reality.
“Mitacs-Accelerate helped us find a skilled university graduate who had the expertise we needed, while the co-funding eased the financial burden of the research.”
Mitacs gratefully acknowledges the Government of Canada, the Networks of Centres of Excellence's Industrial Research and Development Internship program, Western Economic Diversification, and the Government of British Columbia for their support of Mitacs-Accelerate in the province.
Original blog posted at
http://www.mitacs.ca/n/2013/04/improving-wheelchair-safety
Five finalists advance to Feb 13th Coast Capital Savings Venture Prize competition
February 05 2013
Five teams from SFU Venture Connection's early-stage business incubator will compete on February 13th for $5000 in cash prizes at the 2nd annual Coast Capital Savings Venture Prize Competition:
CKM Sports Management
Five Hole for Food
MLT Media
Perkuna Engineering
WittyCookie
The jury panel for the February 13th competition includes Robert Dean (VP Commercial Banking, Coast Capital Savings), Mark Longo (LaBarge Weinstein LLP), Brad Palmer (CEO & Founder, Jostle), Peter Payne (CEO-in-Residence, BCTIA), and Albert Seah (Consultant and Business Advisor).
The final competition is open to the public:
February 13, 2013
2:00-4:30pm
Room 4600 Segal Graduate School
500 Granville, Vancouver, BC
The results of the competition will be announced at an evening reception; the event's keynote speaker is Howie Wu (SFU EMBA), a Venture Connection alumnus and co-founder of LayerBoom, recently acquired by Joyent.
ABOUT VENTURE CONNECTION
In partnership with Coast Capital Savings, SFU Venture Connection provides support for student ventures from initial idea to business validation through provision of an early-stage business incubator, mentorship, co-op terms, competitions, networking, speaker events, workshops & seminars, and other business resources. Over 3000 students have participated since 2009 in its range of programs, with development services provided to over 250 student venture teams. For more information visit http://www.sfu.ca/vc.
For more information on the Coast Capital Savings Venture Prize visit http://tinyurl.com/7sr8bwr
ABOUT THE FINALISTS
CKM Sports is a consulting company providing high level development and recruiting services for student-athlete and professional hockey players. The agency's focus is on increasing Client's competitive advantage and improving skills relating to education, scholarship opportunities, psychological strength, nutrition, athletic ability and life planning.
MLT Media Inc. is a mobile ad agency that delivers innovative performance-based advertising, specializing in mobile media buying to achieve its clients' marketing goals.
Five Hole for Food is a non-profit re-defining the social enterprise and social giving experience, which organizes an annual coast to coast tour playing hockey to support food banks across Canada.
Perkuna is an engineering services firm specializing on electric vehicle technologies, helping companies to quickly bring to market a new or improved, on- or off-road vehicle, complete with charging infrastructure to meet the vehicles' needs.
WittyCookie is an all-inclusive digital agency that specializes in building high quality websites at affordable monthly rates. Web design plans start at $19/month, and additional services include graphic design, video production, search engine optimization, dedicated hosting, and more.
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