Science Gives Small Companies a Competitive Edge
Start-up: SideStix Ventures Inc., Roberts Creek, British Columbia.
Founded: 2004
# of employees: 4
The Opportunity: Sarah Doherty—entrepreneur, athlete, occupational therapist and amputee—and SideStix co-founder and engineer Kerith Perreur-Lloyd revolutionized the common walking crutch for the disabled, developing an ergonomic, shock-absorbing forearm crutch that significantly reduces joint compression and the secondary injuries that often arise from using crutches. The crutches also come with interchangeable tips to help users navigate all terrain, including snow, sand, ice and mud.
The Challenge: Sarah and Kerith were confident they had designed the world’s best high-performance forearm crutch. But it’s not enough for a company to know it has the best product. Savvy consumers want scientific proof that a product lives up to its claims. Coming up with evidence-based design improvements can also be difficult for small companies that lack the scientific and engineering resources available in universities or larger companies.
How an IRDI intern helped: Mitacs-Accelerate intern Megan MacGillivray, a Ph.D. student from the University of British Columbia, and her supervisor Dr. Bonita Sawatzky, are evaluating the biomechanical differences between SideStix crutches and traditional forearm crutches. SideStix is already using preliminary research results to make product design improvements to aid walking and reduce overuse injuries. As a small company, SideStix was able to afford the internship through cost-sharing with Mitacs-Accelerate and the Industrial Research Assistance Program.
 SideStix founders Sarah Doherty and Kerith Perreur-Lloyd had an opportunity to pitch their forearm crutch to a panel of Canadian business moguls on CBC’s Dragon’s Den television show. The segment is expected to air later in 2011. |
Start-up entrepreneur: Sarah Doherty, Co-Founder, SideStix Ventures “Being able to demonstrate to our consumers—with empirical data from an objective and credible source—that our crutches reduce overuse injuries gives us a real advantage over our competitors. That’s because there has been minimal to no research to date on forearm crutches, which is why too many people are making due with very primitive, non-ergonomic designs. Because of Megan’s work, we are able to show how a joint impact can be measured. Megan also provided some valuable information on ISO designations, which will help to open up new markets for us in Europe and the United Kingdom.” |
How companies benefit from internships: Some firms use Industrial Research and Development Internships as a test project before embarking on a larger research project. Others use it to achieve short-term, proof-of-concept development goals or as an effective technology transfer mechanism as part of a larger collaborative strategy. Some companies use the program to determine whether to create new R&D positions within their companies and try out potential future employees.
