Let's Innovate!

Today, we have the 2021 winner of  Youth Innovation Showcase in  the 16-19 age group Taya Lee! Taya talks about her environmentally friendly innovation that helps recycling oil from contaminated water. Using Azolla filiculoides to absorb oil from water, she was able to create a biodiesel blend. Michael and Taya also discuss her inspiration behind the innovation and also the step-by-step process sh...

Our host, Michael Unger speaks with Grade 8 student Sathvik Vinnakota from the Surrey Academy of Innovative Learning (SAIL). Inspired from a real life social distancing mishap, he was inspired to create the Kangaroo Distance Pouch. Sathvik also discusses his experience at SAIL where he is apart of the STEAMX program, his aspirations to become and biomedical engineer and also his love for public sp...

Youth Innovation Showcase finalist Nathan Yeung speaks with host Michael Unger about his project:  Hyperfocus – A New Kind of Timer. Learn what inspired his innovation, how working on it during Covid, a time when many of us are struggling to keep focused, influenced the development. Yeung also shares what's next for him when it comes to innovation!  For more information go to sciencefairs.ca....

Hayden, a student from Prince Charles Secondary School in West Kootenay, said he was inspired to make his innovation, the Pathogen Barrier Device, when he learned that bystanders and rescuers were not doing CPR because they worried they would get COVID-19. “I hope my innovation can ensure no cardiac arrest victim dies from lack of bystander CPR,” he said. Listen to him talk with host Michael Unger...

Youth Innovation Showcase  2021 finalist Dianna Hu talks to host Michael Unger about her self-watering plant pot innovation, what it was like taking part in the Youth Innovation Showcase and what she's up to now!  For more information go to sciencefairs.ca. If you have any questions or comments you can email Michael Unger at munger@sciencefairs.ca Follow us on Instagram, and LinkenIn  @scienc...

Learn about Youth Innovation Showcase finalist Jessica Tang's innovation: an AI controller that helps regulate water and carbon levels for indoor farming. Hear what sparked her interest in AI in the first place and why AI can be so much more efficient and adaptable than hard coding.  For more information go to sciencefairs.ca. If you have any questions or comments you can email Michael Unger...

Youth Innovation Showcase finalist Keanu Chan. The 14-year old from Cranbrook, BC created an innovation called Novel universal Design Internal Spine Concept (NuDISC) intended to create an alternative that would substitute discs in the spine.  "I don't want to just keep on using something that's difficult and not practical," says Chan on what spurs him to innovate.  Hear about C...

Youth Innovation Showcase finalist Kristina Garagan  talks with host Michael Unger about her project The Frilled Explorer Drone - how she got interested in Mars in the first place and the benefits she found from participating in the showcase and science fairs.  For more information go to sciencefairs.ca. If you have any questions or comments you can email Michael Unger at munger@sciencefairs.ca Fo...

Host Michael Unger speaks with Youth Innovation Showcase finalist and Canada Wide Science Fair student Timothy Cai about his reusable & biodegradable mask innovation.   When faced with Covid, Cai thought that there was not anything he could do about the virus itself but he could engineer a better mask, which is what spurred his initial innovation.  Learn how not doing well at an earlier compet...

Leah Coss is on a mission to change the way we value and educate people in society - after being what she calls "being a really confused kid putting up a really good front."  She talks with host Michael Unger about how she dealt with school that sometimes felt like a battleground, how being called a "natural" can sometimes hamper growth, why she's named her alter ego Franc...

Host Michael Unger speaks with young innovator Milo Eirew about his project The Sound Compass - a tool for deaf drivers to alert them to oncoming emergency vehicles.  He explains the physics of sound with regards to his work and how he's incorporating machine learning sound recognition into the innovation.  Also - hear about some of his past projects, including extracting DNA from a strawberr...

Hear all about how "addictive" science fairs can be!  Host Michael Unger talks to Yukon-based scientist Bruce Porter about his science fair project studying how to stop micro plastics from invading the environment as well as the work he's done around pristine waters.  Learn why, "It's hard to educate people about something that they can't see." Porter talks about...

Founder of Emcologique and 2020 Youth Innovation Showcase finalist Emily Averill speaks with host Michael Unger about what prompted her to create an online education resource for youth exploring the outdoors. Learn about her love for "creepy crawlies" and #campvibes as well as what the innovation process was like and how she's changed her prototype over the past year in response to...

On International Women's Day, Michael interviews Science Fair Foundation BC's Executive Director Madeleine Guenette and learns what she was like in high school, how important self-confidence is in life,  why she calls herself a science fair "lifer." She also gives her advice for young women in STEM and business!  For more information go to sciencefairs.ca. If you have any quest...

Michael speaks with biologist and professor Dr. Carin Bondar. Bondar’s work appears on National Geographic, TED, Animal Planet, Netflix and The Science Channel.  She is an adventurer and explorer, having discovered 11 new species of beetles and snails in the remote jungles of Borneo.  Hear about what inspired her to pursue science and how she sees art and science interact!  For more information go...

Learn about block coding and how it crosses language barriers and hear how Cameron Beck, Community Developer at Kids Code Jeunesse, got into coding from video games as well as what you can expect from his upcoming Feb. 24 workshop as part of the Youth Innovation Showcase!  For more information go to sciencefairs.ca. If you have any questions or comments you can email Michael Unger at munger@scienc...

For his project - a biodegradable mechanical pencil, Patrick Cioata took an everyday problem and looked at how one small impact can drastically change the amount of waste produced. It's that kind of thinking that helps young innovators make an impact! Listen to what inspired him and what helps a innovation team find success!  For more information go to sciencefairs.ca. If you have any questio...

When Marco lost his job in 2017, it turned out to be the biggest blessing in disguise. He is an advocate for people with disabilities in the workplace and founder of the CUBE Principle for networking. Hear how he got advice on branding from Gene Simmons and his tips for networking virtually during Covid!  For more information go to sciencefairs.ca. If you have any questions or comments you can ema...

For their YIS submission, Jahan Gill and Patrick Cioata designed a clever solution: a fully biodegradable, 3D-printed pencil. Their pencil takes a mere 2 years to biodegrade, compared to regular one which takes 200 years. With all that waste being saved, you could build 4000 houses and 55 cars. Their solution is also cheaper and easier to produce than ones that involve a spring mechanism. Host Mic...

After watching bronchoscopy procedures, 19-year-old UBC student Norbert Banyi saw that nurses would perform a jaw-thrust maneuver throughout the procedure. He realized there was a greater need for mechanical jaw-thrust devices which could optimize those procedures, freeing up medical hands to redistribute resources. Host Michael Unger finds out about Norbert's innovation process and what he&a...

Manisha is a social innovator with experience in education, youth empowerment and community engagement. As the current Director of Community at League of Innovators, Manisha is working on mobilizing the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators and developing a culture of youth entrepreneurship across Canada. Manisha speaks with Michael about what inspires her and why it's important to...

Braxton Chan developed an innovative treatment osteochondral defects using fibrocartilage transplantation and the 16-year-old from Cranbrook, BC was a finalist in the 2020 Youth Innovation Showcase. We learn how he came up with his idea and what he's been up to since the competition.  For more information go to sciencefairs.ca. If you have any questions or comments you can email Michael Unger...