What would you say if people could receive better rehabilitation therapy following a stroke while at the same time having to make fewer trips to the hospital? This is what Justin Tan aspired to do when, six years ago, he started developing a virtual stroke recovery device. Last spring, the McGill University student finally unveiled the cornerstone of his project: a multisensory glove that patients can wear to perform exercises to recover hand mobility. Hooked up to a computer and used in conjunction with custom-designed software, the glove allows patients to continue their rehabilitation exercises at home, without the supervision of a physician. Each exercise performed is recorded and all progress made is saved so patients can monitor their improvement on the screen and the treating physician can access the results. It wouldn’t be surprising if one day this innovative product were used in hospitals all over the world.

What would you say if people could receive better rehabilitation therapy following a stroke while at the same time having to make fewer trips to the hospital? This is what Justin Tan aspired to do when he started developing a virtual stroke recovery device. Six years later, he has come up with an innovative product that could potentially be used in hospitals all over the world.

It was last spring that the McGill University student finally unveiled the cornerstone of his project: a multisensory glove that patients can wear to perform exercises to recover hand mobility. Hooked up to a computer and used in conjunction with custom-designed software, the glove allows patients to continue their rehabilitation exercises at home, without the supervision of a physician. Each exercise performed is recorded and all progress made is saved so patients can monitor their improvement on the screen. The treating physician can then access the results, even from a distance, and thus adapt the follow-up treatment.

Designed like a video game, the glove, and its accompanying software, provides patients with a stimulating environment. Moreover, it is programmed so that the exercises are presented in an order defined according to the patient’s previous results. In short, everything has been thought out to maximize the patient’s progress!

In addition to having the potential to speed up the recovery of patients who have suffered a stroke, the device could help lower medical costs linked to rehabilitation for the health system. Manufacturing the glove and software is inexpensive, it minimizes the number of visits to a clinic or hospital and reduces the number of medical interventions.

With an engineering degree from MIT and a Master’s in public health from Cambridge under his belt, Justin Tan is currently studying medicine at McGill University. His ambitious goal is to understand all aspects of these three fields of study so as to be able to develop integrated and fully customized solutions that will help optimize healthcare services throughout the world.

To achieve his goals, Justin has succeeded in surrounding himself with other McGill University students who are just as ambitious as he is. “I had the opportunity to witness Justin and his team get steadfastly involved in this project. They managed to constantly put themselves in the patient’s shoes so as to better understand their needs and develop an effective solution. I’m convinced that they will attain their objective of marketing their product for hospitals,” says Philippe Archambault, a professor at McGill University’s School of Physical and Occupational Therapy who has monitored the students since the beginning of the project.

“These students, who hail from diverse disciplines (engineering, health sciences, administration) have pooled their skills so as to successfully develop a unique device that could very well improve physical rehabilitation conditions, notably in developing countries,” adds Mindy Levin, another professor at the School of Physical and Occupational Therapy.

The McGill team has signed agreements with various Canadian institutions and Lam Wah Ee Hospital in Penang, Malaysia, to test its innovative tool, which has a tremendous number of possible applications. According to the World Health Organization, millions of people worldwide suffer from limited mobility following a stroke.

Take a group of ambitious students at the Université de Sherbrooke and a Volkswagen Golf GTI. Add two years and thousands of hours of hard work and you’ll get the Phoebus car, the first fully electric vehicle adapted to the Québec climate. A functional car, tested in the middle of a Québec winter, providing concrete proof that it is indeed possible to design a high-performance electric car. The large-scale project was developed by a multidisciplinary team of 27 students who succeeded in raising over $280,000 in the public and private sectors, as well as establishing research and development partnerships with key actors in the field of transportation and electricity, such as Hydro-Québec, the Centre for Electric Vehicle Experimentation in Québec and Transport Canada. Seeking to speed up the electric transportation revolution, there’s a very good chance that Phoebus will one day be spotted on the roads in Québec.

Take a group of ambitious students at the Université de Sherbrooke and a Volkswagen Golf GTI. Add two years and thousands of hours of hard work and you’ll get the Phoebus car, the first fully electric vehicle adapted to the Québec climate. A functional car, tested in the middle of a Québec winter, providing concrete proof that it is indeed possible to design a high-performance electric car.

“The Phoebus project is without doubt one of the most ambitious initiatives we have been asked to support among the major design projects within the Faculty of Engineering at the Université de Sherbrooke,” states Alain C. Houle, associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

And the project was indeed one of considerable scope. It was developed by a multidisciplinary team of 27 students who succeeded in raising over $280,000 in the public and private sectors, as well as establishing research and development partnerships with key actors in the field of transportation and electricity, such as Hydro-Québec, the Centre for Electric Vehicle Experimentation in Québec and Transport Canada.

Moreover, five professors, two department heads and the faculty dean also rallied together to help make the project a reality. “The quality of the work accomplished by these students is on a par with that of major car manufacturers. One of Phoebus’ key achievements is its contribution to the training of engineers specializing in electric motorization, a glaring need voiced by the industry’s key actors in Québec,” asserts Jean-Sébastien Plante, professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering

“With the current global energy crisis and economic slowdown, Phoebus is an important environmental and economic stimulus for Québec. In terms of the environment, when the project was presented to the public, notably at the Montréal Auto Show, it showed that electric vehicles were an exciting reality. Most of the visitors at the Auto Show who stopped by the Phoebus kiosk were surprised by the quality, appearance and performance of the car on display. The project shows that, here in Québec, we are capable of playing an active role in the electric transportation revolution,” Mr. Plante adds.

It thus goes without saying that the Phoebus project has attained its goals: to understand and shed light on the problems surrounding transportation electrification, develop expertise and train future engineers in the field of clean transportation technologies, share the solutions developed with Québec businesses, raise awareness among the Québec population of the feasibility of electric cars and prove that it is possible to design such a vehicle in Québec.

Today, Phoebus has become a source of inspiration that has prompted other engineering students at the Université de Sherbrooke to undertake environment-oriented projects, develop green technologies, collaborate, believe in success and go beyond their limits in order to fulfil their dreams. In fact, other similar initiatives have already been launched on campus: two new teams of students are currently working on vehicle electrification projects and two other teams have agreed to take over the Phoebus project so as to improve the car’s performance.

Now all that remains to be seen is how long it will take before we see the Phoebus on the roads in Québec?

Just imagine you’re a deaf-mute sitting in a restaurant. You put on a glove, connect it to your iPod, perform sign language to place your order and a voice coming from the device says what you would like to eat. Well the PolyProject team at the École polytechnique de Montréal have indeed designed and built this functional prototype over the past year. The innovation is significant in that it could eventually change the lives of many people while enabling PolyProject to get off the ground with a bang. The fibre-optic sensory glove is the very first invention developed by the PolyProject group, which was established in August 2010. Their innovative product earned the group a 2^nd place at the Québec Engineering Competition held in January 2011 and a 3^rd place at the prestigious Canadian Engineering Competition that took place in March 2011. Consisting of a multidisciplinary team of around thirty members, PolyProject plans to set up a new project every year.

Just imagine you’re a deaf-mute sitting in a restaurant. You put on a glove, connect it to your iPod, perform sign language to place your order and a voice coming from the device says what you would like to eat. Well the PolyProject team at the École polytechnique de Montréal have indeed designed and built this functional prototype over the past year. The innovation is significant in that it could eventually change the lives of many people while enabling PolyProject to get off the ground with a bang.

The annual objective of the technical society, which was founded in August 2010, is simple: to enable students to share their ideas for inventions, chose the one with the greatest potential and then design and build it in order to enter it in competitions and maybe even commercialize it. Contrary to other technical societies of its kind, which carry out the same project year after year and strive to improve their product, PolyProject will be setting up a new project annually.

The least one can say is that PolyProject’s inaugural project proved to be a tremendous success and went beyond the expectations of its founders. The fibre-optic sensory glove, their very first invention, earned the group a 2^nd place at the Québec Engineering Competition held in January 2011 and a 3^rd place at the prestigious Canadian Engineering Competition that took place in March 2011.

“Innovation and creativity are the true essence of this new committee, which managed to rally students from all engineering departments and prompt them to take up a highly daring challenge: to design and manufacture the most promising invention with the ultimate goal of eventually being able to patent and market it. A student initiative that bears witness to a commitment to taking concerted action for tomorrow’s society by offering concrete solutions,” asserts Christophe Guy, CEO of École polytechnique de Montréal.

PolyProject consists of a multidisciplinary team of around thirty members, some fifteen of which invest several hours a week to ensure that the project runs smoothly and makes headway. The students are responsible for all stages, from coming up with the initial ideas to selecting the most promising, designing and manufacturing the invention, promoting it, preparing for competitions, overseeing the budget, and so forth.

“The student members of PolyProject acquire valuable skills in the areas of teamwork and project management. They are required to call on their creative abilities to resolve concrete problems. All these qualities are vital in the development of the type of engineers our society needs,” points out Patrick Desjardins, director of the institution’s Department of Engineering Physics.

“In addition to their desire to perform in the field of science, these students are also eager to pass on their passion for engineering to the new guard and the general public and participate in events that promote the sciences. It goes without saying that these students give generously of their time to the project so as see it evolve and gain wider recognition and, more importantly, because they believe that it is possible to contribute to the advancement of our society,” Mr. Guy adds.

And the founders of PolyProject definitely have ambition. While making sure that their society continues to live on at the École polytechnique de Montréal, they steadfastly believe in the relevance of establishing similar groups at all engineering and applied science schools across Québec.