BY WENDY ELLIOTT
Kings County Advertiser/Register
The Nicol Entrepreneurial Award of $5,000 recently went to third-year Acadia University business student David Paterson and graduating student Stu Grant for their nationally incorporated water equipment company.
Paterson is dedicated to ending the sale and distribution of bottled water on campus, and his efforts helped him collect three awards in student competitions.
Grant, who hails from Kelowna, B.C., called working with Paterson inspirational for a business student generally focused on financials.
The two-man team was named the Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) Green Challenge Regional Champion by the national charitable organization Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship. Paterson and Grant move on to the national level of the competition in Calgary May 11.
The Social Idea Award went to Paterson and two environmental science students: Alison Vervaeke and Bryne Sinclair-Waters, of Water Watch Acadia.
The student group hosted a week of events last month celebrating World Water Day. They presented university administration with a Bottle Water Free pledge signed by 400 signatures.
Four engineering students, along with Paterson, captured second place in the Challenge Innovation Idea Awards with their Back to the Tap design for a water fountain and refill station. The team of second-year engineering students came up with a practical water solution that will be installed in 34 places on the Acadia campus this summer. Mo Jaafar, Myles Cornish, Wade Craswel and Andreas Snarby responded to a request from Paterson for an environmentally friendly alternative.
“When Dave came to us,” said Jaafar, “we had many ideas about how to get the job done, but had to keep reminding ourselves of the most important criteria – easy to install and maintain, environmentally-friendly components and a design that could stand up to the rigor or student use.”
The resulting unit is made with a wooden frame, layers of fibreglass, environmentally-friendly tubing and taps and a filter that only needs replacing every five years.
“We also added a few unique features,” explained Snarby, “one that allows installment of advertising to help pay for the units and the other - a battery operated blue light - that gives the water stream a bit of glitz.”
Two of the student engineers will be hired for the summer to manufacture the units that Acadia’s physical plant has agreed to help install and maintain.
Innovacorp, annual sponsors of the Innovation Challenge, were pleased with the practicality of this project.
“The students came up with a viable solution to a problem that exists within Acadia University. They have a prototype and have plans to enter the market,” said judge Shelley Hessian.
Falls prevention IT picks up prize
A knowledge of wireless sensor networks, machine learning and a bit of ingenuity paid off for Masters in Computer Science student and Wolfville native Scott Schaffner.
Schaffner created a solution that could be ready to go to market - quickly. His idea uses existing computer chips and common radio waves with a custom built software program to detect sudden falls, intended for use by seniors who want to remain in their own homes as their mobility becomes limited.
His inspiration came from the many stories of catastrophic falls an increasing number of people experience as the population ages and becomes more dependent on others for help.
“The realization that this will get worse before it gets better has prompted me to marry the two technologies,” he said. “These units can help maintain our elders be more independent, and provide families and friends with a little peace of mind.”
When asked by one of the judges how this system would detect the difference between a fall and someone simply lying down for a nap, Schaffner showed them how the software program could detect the difference and then contact 911 or a designated family member.
“Scott has a product that is at the prototype stage,” said Innovacorp judge Shelley Hessian. “It has benefits for the growing senior market. Scott’s background in computer science student and wireless systems is an asset.”
Schaffner’s fall detection system won first place and a prize of $2,000 in the Innovation competition, part of the annual Acadia Challenge competitions run by the Acadia Centre for Social & Business Entrepreneurship and sponsored the Nova Scotia Department of Economic Development and Innovacorp.
