Fibre conductor technology developer is big winner in Lion’s Lair contest
A startup company that develops “wearable, stretchable, conductible technology” that can be embedded in garments outfitted with sensing equipment was the grand-prize winner at the eighth annual Lion’s Lair Competition this week.
Advanced materials firm MesoMat, co-founded by Paul Fowler, Sukhbir Kalirai and Kari Dalnoki-Veress, took home a prize of $76,000 in cash and inkind resources.
“We’ve developed a wire much like a headphone cord except we make it much thinner so it is closer in diameter to a human hair,” said Fowler, 28.
“The big thing is we can pass electricity through it and we can continue flowing electricity through it even as we stretch it like a rubber band,” he said.
Fowler hopes the fibre will someday replace copper wire currently used in garments that have sensing equipment for things such as heart and breathing rates.
“The idea is you can embed it into a garment like a shirt and you wouldn’t even know it was there. It’s just there and powering and connecting the sensor,” he said.
“The goal is to replace cumbersome copper wires with our fibres that can seamlessly integrate into a garment.”
Second place in the Lion’s Lair competition was awarded to Benjamin Lee, founder of Altius Analytics, a hardware and software company that has developed technology to seamlessly record and analyze 3D human motion. He received $56,000 in cash and in-kind prizes.
Third place went to Chad Ingles and Ryan O’Grady of Fotaflo, a “profit-generating referral marketing solution” that captures and shares photos and videos for the adventure tourism and camp industries. The pair took home $45,000 in cash and in-kind prizes.
The winner of this year’s “Hamilton Award” was Anita Grant, founder of Fleeky, a social web platform “that facilitates the connection between beauty professionals and beauty seekers.”
The winners were selected by Julie Ellis, Stuart Wheldon, Ruth Todd and Daniel Kube.
The winners were chosen from 10 finalists that were named in July.
For further information go to www.innovationfactory.ca