Hooking up wires to Peter Popplewell and Victor Karam's radio would be difficult — it stretches less than 3 millimetres across.

Fortunately, it's wireless.

Peter Popplewell (left) and Victor Karam (right), both doctoral students at Carleton University, won this year's Student Venture Technology Challenge on Monday night.
(Rosaline Zoghbi)

The tiny silicon chip, which will be used to transmit information from medical sensors during the treatment of cancer and other diseases, won a not-so-tiny $10,000 prize for the third-year doctoral students on Monday night.

Popplewell, 28, and Karam, 29, who are both studying at Carleton University, beat out two other student finalists to win this year's Student Tech Venture Challenge in Ottawa.

All of the finalists gave a 15-minute presentation to a judging panel made up of local entrepreneurs, investors and venture capitalists, after submitting written business cases in two earlier steps.

"It's nice to get some recognition — past the academic recognition that we've been getting — some support and some belief that this is a really interesting technology that we can bring to market," Popplewell said.

Karam and Popplewell's device is smaller than a sequin but it carries both an antenna and a power source.
(Victor Karam)

Karam said the money will go towards patenting the device in different countries.

Consulting services

Along with the cash, the students will receive consulting services from some of the contest's sponsors in Ottawa's high-tech community, who will help them eventually get the device manufactured and sold.

Popplewell and Karam developed the device they as the basis of their graduate theses.

The silicon chip radio will be paired with a sensor such as a radiation dosimeter, which is used to measure the amount of radiation used to treat a tumour. The tiny radio will send the measurements to a receiver up to several metres away that can be attached to a computer.

The chip is only 1.4 mm wide and 2.8 mm long — smaller than a sequin — but it carries an antenna and an innovative power source.

"Instead of a normal battery, we're using these ultracapacitors," Karam said.

An ultracapacitor is an electronic component that can be pre-charged to store power.

Device doesn't deflect radiation

Unlike batteries or wires, the device does not contain heavy metals that could deflect the radiation.

"You don't want that radiation to be deflected on to sensitive or healthy tissue," Karam said.

He added that he and Popplewell are now looking for an industry partner who can help them bring the device to market.

So far, no one has made a formal approach.

However, there is no shortage of people in Ottawa's technology community interested in helping out, said Mia Clement, who represented Research in Motion as one of the contest's judges.

"I think that there is definitely a lot of people and entrepreneurs in this city who are really committed to ensuring that a lot of people and students follow in those footsteps," she said.

The Student Tech Venture Challenge bills itself as "Ottawa's most prestigious competition for encouraging post-secondary students to act on their innovative ideas."

Its sponsors include BDC Venture Capital, KPMG, Research in Motion, Carleton University's Foundry program and the University of Ottawa.