INNOVATION January-February 2013

(l-r) Developed by Mischa Steiner-Jovic, EIT, and Rick Slamka, P.Eng., the Raptor wirelessly monitors power flow in electrical lines.

and Mischa and chief technology officer Dave Boone actually designed their own network protocol before eventually adopt- ing an established version that came close to their needs. So, Awesense is definitely on the leading edge of the wireless curve, but that edge moves fast.” The introduction of the smart meters by utility companies did initially worry the new start-up. “We thought it might be a threat to the business and they wouldn’t need us,” said Steiner-Jovic. But, the two systems have been shown to be complementary, with the Awesense system able to verify power moving through the utility company’s line, and smart meters able to measure what is going into the house. From Concept to Implementation Slamka had no qualms entering into the Awesense start-up, although such ventures carry risk for consultants as the client may not be technically savvy, have unrealistic expectations, little funding, and less marketing expertise. “Working with a new company like Awesense, I know that Mischa understands all aspects of the technology, and I respect his technical judgement,” said Slamka. Slamka and Steiner-Jovic had history. They had origi- nally worked together for a Fraser Valley fuel company from 2001–2003. Steiner-Jovic, whose background was in higher- level mathematics at university, had gone to the BC Institute of Technology where he had gained a diploma in telecom- munications technology. Slamka was the consulting engineer working with him at that time. It became obvious to Slamka

An International Appeal Today, Awesense’s wireless remote monitoring system is being used by major utilities in BC and the United States. A new partnership was recently formed in South America with ELO Sistemas Eletronicos, a meter-monitoring company that started pilot project trials in late 2012. In the early part of 2013, pilot projects using the Awesense system will be held in Europe and in Asia, although confidentiality agreements prevent Awesense from releasing customer names. Considered one of BC’s hottest start-up companies, the company was listed as one of BC Businesss magazine’s Top 20 Innovators of 2012. In 2011, the company won BC Hydro’s Sustainability Award as a part of the BC Innovation Council’s New Ventures Competition, which brought with it $40,000. “It was really a concept that evolved to solve a problem,” explains Steiner-Jovic, speaking of how Awesense got off the ground. The problem that Steiner-Jovic and Slamka tackled was the growing gap in energy for the world’s burgeoning popu- lation. “There is just not enough energy,” said Steiner-Jovic. Turning to new power brought challenges such as environmental concerns and capital costs. Steiner-Jovic and Slamka focused on utility distribution lines, known to incur huge losses through theft or faulty equipment. “There are $202 billion in technical and commercial losses worldwide per year as reported by the World Bank in 2009,” says Steiner-Jovic. “If you increase the efficiency of the power trans- mission, you increase the efficiency of the power grid. There is a tenfold saving compared to adding new generation of power.”

The challenge then became one of designing a system that was a better mousetrap. The two engineers moved into the realm of remote wireless devices, acknowledging a worldwide “push into the Internet of things,” according to Steiner-Jovic, with smart systems allowing access and control from remote locations. Slamka avers that the “tidal wave of wireless applications” in the industrial and commercial marketplace had been building for some time with aggres- sive manufacturers providing packaged wireless components that were easy to use in simple application. “The science and engineering behind these wireless components has reached a critical point of excellence that enables relatively ‘unskilled’ users to get decent results,” observes Slamka. “In the case of Mischa’s project, the required network capabilities were just at the edge of commercially available systems,

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