Ten Canadians were awarded with the 2015 Innovation Awards and Young Canadian Innovator awards Oct. 1 at a news conference in Saskatoon.
The Ernest C. Manning Foundation hands out the awards annually to outstanding Canadian innovators who have successfully developed and commercialized their inventions. An independent committee selects the winners with youth winners being selected at the 2015 Canada-Wide Science Fair.
This year’s recipients were from across Canada and have innovations in the health and business industries.
Mark Torchia and Richard Tyc from Winnipeg developed the NeuroBlate winning the $100,000 Principal Award. Their medical laser device helps surgeons to treat patients with brain lesions previously considered inoperable.
Mathew Sheridan from Hamilton, Ont., won the $25,000 David E. Mitchell Award of Distinction for developing the Nix Color Sensor. This handheld device can accurately measure the colour of any object instantly helping to make colour management easier and more cost-effective.
Vito Forte from Toronto received the $10,000 Manning Innovation Award for developing the OtoSim. Which is a simulated silicone ear teaching tool that helps medical students to more accurately be able to diagnose ear conditions before they practice on patients.
Fabrizio Chiacchia and Iwain Lam from Calgary developed the CleanPatch winning the $10,000 Manning Innovation Award. The CleanPatch is an adhesive material that repairs the tears in hospital beds therefore preventing the spread of infection and saving health-care facilities money.
Dan Alferov, 18, from London, Ont., received $7,500 for developing an image-based test that determines how the brain reads facial expressions. This can help health-care professionals diagnose mood disorders and other mental illness, especially in young people.
Sandrine Bayard, 17, from Quebec City, won $7,500 for developing a bandage bacteria monitor that can detect infection in chronic wounds without being removed.
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Gayashan Tennakoon, 18, from Ottawa developed a cost-effective way to test drinking water by “drying” it on-site to detect trace elements that cause kidney disease and other health problems, especially in remote populations and received $7,500 for it.
Samna Aziz, 17, from Hamilton received $7,500 for developing a non-toxic, biodegradable bone cement that has potential to replace the current generation of cements used for bone fractures.
This year marked the first time that the awards were held in Saskatoon. Award winners will be honoured at the Ernest C. Manning Awards Foundation’s 34th Innovation Gala on Oct. 2, in Saskatoon.
Contact ashley.robinson@producer.com
