A bicycle power pack, a sustainable food project and an accessible overdose kit won the Smart South Island Open Innovation Challenge over the weekend at the University of Victoria.
Each of the three innovators received a $15,000 cash prize to take their companies to the next level in a competition from the South Island Prosperity Project, the economic development agency for southern Vancouver Island.
Ten finalists were chosen from 69 submissions for the competition, with winners selected by a live-audience vote and a panel of judges who assessed and questioned the presenters about their strategy, sustainability, practicality and the accessibility of their project to the community.
The competition was designed around the South Island Prosperity Project’s key priority areas of transportation and mobility, housing and affordability, human health, environmental heath and economic resilience and inclusion.
“It’s been a wild ride, and I’ve learned so much,” said UVic engineering student Simon Park, whose innovation is a battery-powered bicycle technology. The Caboost is a small electric bicycle trailer that can adapt a bicycle to provide electric-drive assistance.
Park came up with the idea a year ago after learning how much electric bikes can cost. “I’ve always liked tinkering and working with my hands, so I started experimenting on a more affordable way to provide a semi-autonomous bike. The Innovation Challenge was a wonderful opportunity. I learned a lot more about the business side of my concept and made great connections.”
Park said his $15,000 will go toward intellectual property acquisition and product development. He plans the first beta release of Caboost for testing and design tweaks as soon as possible.
Matthew Kemshaw’s winning project is a technology to support Harvesting Abundance in the Urban Orchard, a program whose goal is to harvest and maintain productive fruit trees in urban areas.
Kemshaw is executive director of LifeCycles Project Society, and said his aim is to “reconnect people to the food they eat, changing relationships with place and food to create a healthier society.”
Kemshaw will use his cash prize to develop a web portal to connect homeowners, volunteers and staff for collaboration on urban orchard harvesting.
Nal-Pal is the nickname of the third winning innovation. It is the idea of Derek Jacoby’s team, who conceived the idea after a training session on the drug naloxone. “It’s a comparably small idea, and a simple app,” he said. “The level of innovation is more social and answering need than it is technical.”
Naloxone Pal connects people who possess overdose kits, with those who need them. The idea is to establish a network of people who can help if there’s an overdose. “The Innovation Challenge galvanized us to go out and look for partners on this project, and we are lucky enough to work with IBM on developing the technology.”
With the $15,000 Jacoby’s team received, “we can accelerate the development of the app. We’re in the design phase and we should have the beta to our testing partner, AIDS Vancouver Island, by early summer. We’re incredibly excited. We’re going to be able to make a big impact, and get there quickly, because of the support we received today.”
