UNB Entrepreneurs Win Big Prizes at NBIF Breakthru Competition
Author: Liz Lemon-Mitchell
Posted on Apr 2, 2009
Category: Student Highlights
UNB's Activator team, "KnowCharge" won the silver prize of $60,000 in investment equity and in kind services at the New Brunswick Innovation Fund (NBIF) Breakthru competition held on March 25, 2009.
The company, made up of team leader, Chris Marshall and MBA teammates Rob Morrow and Edgar Gallibois, was formed through the Activator program, which is coordinated by UNB's International Business and Entrepreneurship Centre (IBEC). KnowCharge produces a special conductive paper that, when used as an alternative to plastic based protective packaging, could save electronics manufacturers millions by eliminating the damage that static can cause during shipping.
In addition to the silver prize, KnowCharge Inc. shared the prize for best university venture with another UNB team, "Smart Skin".
The Smart Skin team is made of up of MBA and Engineering students (Imran Khan, Irenia Roussel, Sabeer Zaman and Dr. Felipe Chibante), led by Kumaran Thillainadarajah. Using nanotechnology to detect and measure pressure, Smart Skin is an artificial touch-sensitive skin for prosthetic limbs. The super-thin film works with existing myoelectric control systems to provide control of touch, much like the skin of a real hand.
The Smart Skin team also won the $60,000 prize for best young entrepreneur as well as the prize for the most outstanding presentation and the viewer's choice award. They won the viewer's choice award after more than seven thousand people voted on the CBC website; the team will travel to Toronto to pitch their business on the set of CBC's Dragon's Den.