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Three Western students reflected their best work in developing a winning commercialization strategy for a mirror box used in lower-extremity therapy, earning them one of the top spots in the annual Proteus Innovation Competition.

The competition – a partnership between WORLDiscoveries, TechAlliance of Southwestern Ontario, Propel Entrepreneurship at Western, LEAP Junction at Fanshawe College and Western Research Park – brings together students to compete in finding a viable path to market for close-to-commercialization technologies assigned to WORLDiscoveries. All the technologies were developed by Western researchers.

Esther Lau, along with Ashley Hannon and Solmaz Karamdoust, teamed up to take on the intense four-month commercialization challenge.

Congratulations to Haider Hassan, a Biochemistry PhD student in the lab of Joe Torchia, PhD, Departments of Biochemistry and Oncology, for receiving the 2017 WORLDiscoveries Scholarship for Commercialization/Entrepreneurship. Haider has been recognized for his ingenious project on rapid detection of Ebola virus in blood.

A group of Western researchers engaged with WORLDiscoveries last year to discuss their work on independent component graph analysis of resting-state fMRI, or functional magnetic resonance imaging. fMRI is a procedure that uses MRI technology to measure brain activity through the detection of changes associated with blood flow.

Taking an innovative technology from bench top to bedside takes more than just a good idea – ask any entrepreneur. It takes the right team, mentors, funding and a whole lot of hustle!

On Thursday, March 2nd, the six finalists for the second annual Proteus Innovation Competition took the stage to prove that they had just that.

The journey for these six teams started four months ago where they, along with 33 other teams, entered for their chance to win $7,500. The ask was simple – find a viable commercialization path for one of three technologies. After two stages, the teams were narrowed down from 39 to 6 and all that stood between them and the prize money was the Live Pitch Finale.

Western University takes pride in the various clubs, programs and conferences that are designed to help students succeed in their professional careers upon graduation. The wide array of organizations and events at the University help students foster their innovative ideas, develop skills and gain connections to industry leaders.

The Western Founders Network is one that is also part of the broader entrepreneurship ecosystem in London. It can be considered Western University’s premier student-led business and technology organization that aims to cultivate a community of entrepreneurial-minded individuals. Launched in 2013 and with over 350 members, the club is for anyone interested in business, technology and entrepreneurship.

On a day the world pauses to unite in the fight against HIV, it was a major development in London.

Western University scientists, using an approach others haven’t tried because of possible safety concerns, are moving closer to extensive human trials of a vaccine to fight HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

“If we can show that this vaccine is effective in preventing people from contracting HIV, we can stop the AIDS epidemic and that would be tremendous. It would be a tremendous contribution to humankind, and it would make all of our efforts worthwhile,” Western’s Chil-Yong Kang, who developed the vaccine with a team of London researchers, said in a statement Thursday, which was World Aids Day.

For researchers at Surface Science Western, a surface profilometer, a dynamic secondary ion mass spectrometer and a scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive X-ray capabilities have been all in a day’s work for the last 35 years.

The consulting and research laboratory specializes in the analysis and characterization of surfaces and materials. This year, the lab marks 35 years of helping high-profile clients across a range of industry sectors, including energy, mineral resources, health services, automotive, aerospace, environmental and electronics, to name a few.

The Western Medical Innovation Fellowship was the best thing that could have happened to John Matheson.

“Medical residency was always the goal, but this program is going to be invaluable for my future as a clinician,” he said. “You don’t get the opportunity to stop your clinical training and basically be offered this chance to just innovate for a year.”

As a recent medical school graduate, Matheson is one of the program’s three inaugural fellows. Created in partnership with the Western Bone and Joint’s Collaborative Training Program in Musculoskeletal Health, the 10-and-a-half-month fellowship focuses on developing new medical technologies.