INNOVATION Centennial Collectors Edition January-February 2020

F E A T U R E

A UVic biomedical engineering student works on the design of a mechanical hand. UV ic P hoto S ervices

BIOMEDICAL AND NANOTECHNOLOGY A vibrant, active, fertile ecosystem for biomedical and nanotechnology engineering is emerging in British Columbia, building the province’s reputation as a burgeoning, world-class biotechnology hub. “It’s a really exciting time to be working in this field in BC,” says Dr. Stephanie Willerth, P.Eng., engineering professor and Acting Director of the Biomedical Engineering school at the University of Victoria. “The way healthcare is going, we’re going to need better solutions to bring down the cost of healthcare as

people live longer. From my experience in stem cell research and working with diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, I think we’re going to find that a lot of these diseases have a bunch of different causes and it’s going to take some personalized-medicine approaches to treat them.” And, she says, biomedical engineering and nanotech will help get us there. The industry’s growth involves a feedback loop between the province’s universities and private enterprise. Research from the province’s two biomedical engineering schools, located at UVic and UBC, is leading to new patent applications, new business startups, and

3 8 J A N U A R Y / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 0

I N N O V A T I O N