Backgrounder: UVic researchers at BC Tech Summit

Mohsen Akbari, bio-engineer

Wound management is a major health challenge around the world, with the US alone racking up more than 400,000 additional patient-days a year due to infections at surgical incision sites. Bio-engineer Mohsin Akbari’s GelDerm “smart” bandage uses embedded sensors that monitors pH levels of a wound and sends information via a phone app at the first sign that infection is setting in. If antibiotics are required, they can be administered directly through the bandage. GelDerm is the first electronics-based bandage that functions without a power source, and whose readings aren’t compromised by the multitude of substances that leak from a wound.

Brad Buckham, mechanical engineer

The power of the sea takes on new meaning at West Coast Wave Initiative. UVic mechanical engineer Brad Buckham heads up the initiative to harness waves for energy. For more than a decade, WCWI has been a hub for Canadian wave energy research. The average energy delivered by Vancouver Island waves matches the energy demands of Island residents. WCWI’s fleet of wave-measuring buoys was built by a Sidney company, AXYS Technologies, and is the only such fleet on the West Coast

Yvonne Coady and Derek Jacoby, computer scientists

An earthquake strikes Port Alberni, with a deadly tsunami to follow. How do you prepare? UVic computer scientists Yvonne Coady and Derek Jacoby have created a virtual-reality simulation in conjunction with Ocean Networks Canada to immerse people in that scenario. During the simulation, players feel the earthquake and then have eight minutes to make a plan before the tsunami rolls in—which they’ll also experience in virtual reality. The simulation will run every half-hour at the BC Tech Summit in the Marketplace area.

A second display simulates a large computer data centre, where augmented reality and a smart-phone app lets visitors pass take “a peek under the hood” by passing their phones over the network to identify trouble brewing—overheating, power shortage, system failures.

Xiaodai Dong, electrical and computer engineer

ECGs are vital for screening and diagnosing heart disease, but abnormal electrical activity can be intermittent, making it difficult to capture the moment. UVic electrical and computer engineer Xiaodai Dong has come up with a mobile ECG, the Heart Carer, that can be self-administered in a person’s home. The reading is instantly visible on a smart-phone app and simultaneously transmitted to the cloud, where a medical professional can view it in real time. Dong’s application not only lets health professionals capture abnormal ECGs in the moment they occur, but is an important telemedicine tool for people in rural areas.

Rishi Gupta, civil engineer

Aging bridges, buildings and railways are concerns to governments around the world. UVic civil engineer Rishi Gupta leads UVic’s Facility for Innovative Materials and Infrastructure Monitoring. He puts forensics to work to assess and monitor infrastructure non-invasively. Ultrasound and infrared see below surfaces to find corrosion, cracks and other flaws. Gupta can assess tall

buildings using a drone equipped with an infrared camera. His work is vital for detecting internal weaknesses before infrastructure fails.

Olav Krigolson, neuroscientist

How are astronauts’ brain health affected during space travel? UVic neuroscientist Olav Krigolson and UBC colleagues went to “Mars”—a NASA-funded simulated habitat in Hawaii—to find out. Volunteers wear a headset that reads brain waves as they play a game. The technology assesses cognitive brain health­–fatigue, depression and stress. Krigolson will work with NASA this summer to test the technology in the run-up to a three-year mission to Mars. His technology may one day be part of that mission.

Phalguni Mukhopadhyaya, civil engineer

Better building insulation is critical to reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. UVic civil engineer Phalguni Mukhopadhyaya is developing vacuum technology-based vacuum insulation panels (VIPs) with an insulating value five to 10 times higher than fibreglass or foam board. He uses zeolite, a naturally occurring mineral found in volcanic ash and available in BC, where it’s mined for various uses in agriculture, water treatment, aquaculture and more. Mukhopadhyaya’s goal is to find ways to decrease the cost of zeolite-based VIPs so that they can be introduced to the mass market.

Stephanie Willerth, biomedical engineer

Printing human tissue on a 3D printer may sound like a sci-fi plot. For UVic biomedical engineer Stephanie Willerth, it’s a crucial step in tackling tough medical challenges. Willerth has partnered with BC tech firm Aspect Biosystems to print living, functioning human neural tissue. These tissues will allow new understanding of how spinal cord injuries and degenerative conditions like Parkinson’s progress, and facilitate the testing of new drugs. That work may one day lead to cures for incurable conditions.

Other UVic participants

Devesh Bharadwaj

UVic mechanical engineering grad Devesh Bharadwaj founded Pani Energy in 2017 to market his energy-efficient water desalination method. His latest initiative involves an offshoot of that technology and powers a turbine by separating and remixing salt and water as a way to store and extract energy. It’s a lower-cost green alternative for storing energy from intermittent sources like sun, wind and waves.

Unlike hydro-electricity, Bharadwaj’s method doesn’t require mountainous terrain. He’s aiming to have a pilot plant operating by 2020.

Paige Whitehead

UVic science graduate Paige Whitehead loved waving glow wands around at music festivals as much as anyone, but she couldn’t stand to see all the discarded plastic casings littering the ground the day after. So she came up with a glow wand that uses bioluminescence for the glow and a seaweed casing for the housing that not only doesn’t linger like plastic, but actually improves the soil where it’s discarded. Her new company Nyoka now has a prototype ready.