IC Newsletter November, 2014

Focus on Canadian Innovators
Innovators
November 2014 Volume 2 Edition11
Are inter-connected innovation
innovations useful?
….those experiments be not only esteemed which have an immediate and present use, but
those principally which are of most universal consequence for invention of other
experiments, and those which give more light to the of the invention of causes; for the
invention of the mariner’s needle, which giveth the direction, is of no less benefit to
navigation than the invention of the sails, which give the motion
– Sir Frances Bacon
Answer is: very much so.
Review of Inventors Circle Seminar, Tuesday October 28,
28 2014
The theme of the evening was Focus.. The following speakers presented their innovative thoughts, ideas
and contributions to industry and society to the membership:
•
Peter Mol, owner of Constraints
nts Consulting, explained by means of project management theory, how
ho
effective communication removes impeding problems.
•
Bob Huybrechts, Founder and Business Development Manager of I.C
I.C; facilitated a session in which
inventors described their needs and se
seminar
minar participants were able to offer help wherever possible.
For the complete slide-show
show of our IC seminar, see www.inventorscircle.org/SlideshowGMNov2014.pdf
Upcoming Invention Events and Opportunities close to Home
o Will
ill you be in the Medite
Mediterranean Area in December, 2014? Does your innovation involve
i
o
o
o
cardiovascular health?? You may wish to attend the International Conference for Innovation in
Cardiovascular Systems in Tel
Tel-Aviv from December
cember 14 to December 16, 2014. See
www.tinyurl.com/cardioil
Does your innovation involve engineering compliance? You may wish to attend the GlobeSPACE
Conference in Tel-Aviv
Aviv from December 1 to December 4, 2014 See www.tinyurl.com/cardioil
Does your innovation
novation involve obstetrical or fertility research? You may wish to attend the 20th
Annual International Conference of the Egyptian Fertility and Sterility Society in Giza, Egypt from
December 18 to December 19, 2014. See www.tinyurl.com/egyptfertster
Does your innovation involve Scientific, Medical and Technical Publications and will you be in
London, UK in early December, 2014?
2014?You
You may wish to attend the following events organized by
International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers: Innovations Seminar – Social
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•
•
media and Scholarly Publishing: Exchanging, engaging and empowering, December 3, 2014. See
www.stm-assoc.org/events/
o E-Production Seminar, December 4, 2014. See www.stm-assoc.org/events/
o Beyond Open Access, December 5, 2014 See www.stm-assoc.org/events/
Closer to home, do you want to network in order to bring your invention to market? You may wish to
consider attending the Small Business Network Meeting in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on December 17, 2014.
See www.tinyurl.com/smallbus1214
Also closer to home: does your innovation involve mental health research? You may wish to attend the
Mental Health Conference: Building capacity and Inspiring Innovation in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on December
4, 2014. See www.tinyurl.com/mentalhealth613
Some Canadian
Inventions
Are Canadians aware of how many beneficial inventions were actually "born" in Canada?
Here are five of them:
(1) The Paint Roller
The history of the paint roller is a messy story. Canadian inventor Norman Breakey created it in 1940.
However, American inventor Richards C. Adams tweaked the design and filed the first patent.
(2) Standard Time
Canadian Engineer Sandford Fleming brought standard time to U.S. and Canadian railways in 1883.
Time zones became U.S. law in 1918 and were accepted worldwide by 1929.
(3) The Wheelchair-Access Bus
Inventor Walter Harris Callow, who was a blind, quadriplegic veteran, invented the first wheelchairaccessible bus in 1947. He took his first and only ride after his death. His body was transported in it at
his funeral.
(4) The Electric Wheelchair
In 1952, an engineer, George Klein, made the world more accessible to many disabled people with his
motorized wheelchair.
(5) Garbage Bags
With stretchy and waterproof polyethylene at their disposal, Harry Wasylyk of Manitoba and Larry
Hansen of Ontario invented the first plastic garbage bag for commercial use in 1950. Union Carbide
Company bought the idea and this brought Glad trash bags into our homes.
An innovative Canadian who reads about these inventions must inevitably be instilled with pride. These
inventions should also challenge you. If they can do it, you can do it.
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What's Up in the Field of Inventions
Ant-Sized Radios to Connect the World
The transistor radio, was invented in the late 1940’s and occupied well over 650 square centimeters – fairly large. In
comparison, an ant-sized radio was recently invented and will be in the market in the near future.
Engineers at Stanford University have developed an “ant-sized
radio” that can allow two-way communication between any electronic
device. This radio is capable of operating at 24 billion cycles per second,
and the chip, which is a tenth of the size of a WiFi antenna, costs only
pennies to produce. In addition to these advantages, this radio requires
no external power. The new chip is so energy-efficient that it draws all
required power from the electromagnetic waves that carry signals to its
receiving antenna. No batteries are required.
Stanford assistant professor, Amin Arabian, who started working on
this invention in 2011, is aiming at object connectivity which will enable
remote control through the internet.
This invention has the added advantages of being inexpensive to produce it and occupies very little space.
See www.tinyurl.com/antradio613
Smart Headlights Spare the Eyes of Oncoming Drivers
Driving performance is negatively affected by the glare of headlights of oncoming cars. Undisturbed vision is absolutely
necessary for driving a vehicle. The Smart Headlight can produce that undisturbed vision.
The Smart headlight was developed at the Carnegie Mellon University Robotic Institute and enables drivers to use their
high beams without fear of blinding oncoming drivers
when they are driving through snow or rain at night.
The system was devised by Narasimhan, Tamburo,
and the lead engineer of the project, Robert
Tamburo.
This is how the Smart headlights works. The
programmable headlight senses and tracks virtually
any number of oncoming drivers, blacking out only
the small parts of the headlight beam that would otherwise shine into their eyes. During snow or rain showers, the headlight
improves driver vision by tracking individual flakes and drops in the immediate vicinity of the car and blocks the narrow
slivers of headlight beams that would otherwise illuminate the precipitation and reflect back into the driver's eyes.
A camera senses oncoming cars, falling precipitation and other objects of interest, such as road signs. The light beams
can then be adjusted accordingly, some dimmed to spare the eyes of oncoming drivers, while others might be brightened to
highlight street signs or the traffic lane. The changes in overall illumination are minor, however, and generally not noticeable
by the driver.
In addition to preventing glare, the projector can be used to highlight the traffic lane — a helpful driving aid when roads
have unmarked lanes or edges, or when snow obscures lane markings. When tied to a navigation system, the
programmable headlights can also project arrows or other directional signals to visually guide drivers.
The Smart Headlight contributes greatly to safer driving and driver comfort.
See www.tinyurl.com/SmartHead101
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Inventing Humor
Thermosac: Invented by an Inventors Circle Member
What do you do if you are driving a car on the Dempster Highway, Yukon in January when the average minimum
temperature is -22C, and there is a need to park in a primitive remote area but it has no electricity to plug in a car blockheater?
In most cases, the battery and gas-lines would freeze and the car wouldn't start the next day.
Joel Nussue patented an invention to get around this problem. It is a patented blanket, called the Thermosac. The
engine heat, generated during the drive to that particular location, is conserved by the Thermosac under the hood of the car.
There are multiple layers of insulating material in the Thermosac and they include glass-fibre cloth, aluminium, acid resistant
material, fire-resistant cloth. Air cushions also help retain heat.
There are addition benefits provided by the many sizes of Thermosac blankets:
- protects battery from surrounding elements and the heat from the engine
- fire-proof up to 800C
- contains and blocks fragments in the event of an explosion
- protects the engine from acid spills if the battery leaks, breaks, or explodes
If interested in manufacturing the Thermosac and bringing it to the world market, contact Joel at 416-703-2949 or 416277-4491. Also, see www.tinyurl.com/thermosac101.
______________________________________________________________________________
Publisher: Gershon Pick
Tel: 416-226-2358 Email: gershonpick@rogers.com Website: www.gershonpick.ca
Submissions for articles and letters related to innovation are welcome.
This newsletter is a publication of the Education Department, Innovation Initiative Co-operative Inc.
Toronto, Canada www.inventorscircle.org 1-855-875-5111
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