Vancouver, Canada—February 13, 2012—Kaizen Biomedical, founded UBC Engineering students Annelies Tjebbes (ECE), Neal O’Grady (MECH) and Mayank Kalra (MECH), and Sauder School of Business students Derek Li, Jennifer Vlasiu and Stephanie Wilson placed first at the Enterprize Canada National Business Plan Competition with their product MobiChill. Held February 10-12 in downtown Vancouver, Enterprize awarded the team a $6000 prize. They were also honoured with the People’s Choice Award.
Developed through a partnership formed in APSC 486/New Venture Design, a course that connects senior engineering and business students, Kazen’s main product, MobiChill, is a medical device used to induce therapeutic hypothermia in cardiac arrest patients—a medical treatment that reduces the risk of devastating side effects. The device is portable and provides rapid and controlled cooling in the pre- and in-hospital settings.
Kaizenbiomedical MobiChill
Another UBC team founded through New Venture Design, Conisys Electronics, placed third in the competition with their product PlugPuck, a six-way outlet splitter and surge protector that allows easy access to electric outlets in hard to reach places. PlugPuck features a rotating design for customizable solutions, and according to Conisys’s business plan, it will penetrate the North American accessory electronics market in 2013. Conisys comprises UBC Engineering students Youhann Drapeau-Semov (CHBE), Andrew Reimer (MECH) and Mitchell Tracy (IGEN), and commerce students Ben Kerby, Peder Krogenes and Amanda Wang.
Five teams from UBC’s New Venture Design course made it to the semi-finals of the competition. Of the five, Mobichill and Conisys Electronics progressed to the finals and placed within the top three.
Other 2012 new ventures from the course include:
Reducto Technologies, formed by engineering students Wendy Cheng (CHBE) and Sean Geyer (CIVL) along with commerce students Chris Baird, Tom Dvorak and Adrian Oruclar, intends to save the food industry 50% of its energy budget and minimize carbon footprint. Cold Covers—Reducto’s main product—are easy to install night covers that reduce energy consumption of open-faced refrigerators used in food retailing. They are the only fully customizable product on the market.
Aegis Insolutions is a new company specializing in the design of innovative, energy saving products for home and office use. Their flagship product, the Aegis Insolution, is a unique, double-layered venetian blind that provides significant thermal and acoustic insulation, offering the consumer increased energy savings. Aegis Insolutions was founded by engineering students Behzad Azampour (MECH), Amir Azimi (IGEN), Hamid Azimi (IGEN) along with commerce’s Nic Miller, Kevin Tseng and David Wright.
Releaf Labs was created by engineering students Cole Crocker (MECH), Kevin Su (ENPH) and Damien Quentin (ENPH), and business students Diana Lam and Carolyn Khoo. Their product is a vaporizer that delivers therapeutic, discreet herbal vapours to medical marijuana cardholders suffering from multiple sclerosis or other debilitating diseases. It fills a niche in portable vaporizers that cater specifically to users with impaired dexterity and those who require multiple doses per day, and also achieves a faster vaporization time than the competition.
Enterprize Canada is one of Canada’s largest entrepreneurship conferences and business plan competitions. Established in 2001, the conference attracts delegates from a wide range of faculties and provinces looking to gain a competitive edge in their respective fields. The business plan competition attracts competitors seeking valuable industry feedback and mentorship, in addition to cash prizes.
Contact:
ErinRose Handy
Manager, Marketing & External Communications
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca
