When Marten was two months old, he was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis and spent a large portion of his life trying different treatments and methods of therapy. However, after years of testing different products on the market, he realized the best treatment he had received was chest percussion therapy, which is simply manual pounding, that he had received from his mother as a child. When he couldn’t find any devices that worked as effectively in moving the mucous upward and outward, he decided to invent his own.

For years Justine watched as her father struggled with chronic back pain. As an industrial design student, she thought that with modern day technology there must be a product on the market that worked as a simple solution. After failing to find products with the holistic approach she was looking for, Justine decided to design and create her own product. The result was Spinovo, a smart garment product to treat back pain through cooling, heating and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation therapies, that also incorporates bend sensors for better posture.

About 20 years ago, Kim began experiencing symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, bone deterioration and loss of muscle. As a world-ranked endurance athlete and triathlete, she decided to take her health into her own hands. On top of prescribing her own whole food diet, Kim managed to research enough to successfully diagnose herself with a rare genetic disorder which produces defective cellular proteins. More recently, deciding she would not let her condition prevent her from being an athlete, she invented the ROVA, a mobile device that aids walking.

A family friend of Syamantak suffers from polio, making him lack leg function. To enable this friend to stand up, doctors proscribed a leg brace to ensure he wouldn’t collapse when standing up. Syamantak noticed that the brace simply locked and unlocked, only enabling limited mobility. After failing to find a better alternative by going online, Syamantak decided to make his own, by taking a standard brace and adding a motor and mini computer, saying he was using an upgraded leg brace to ‘turn him into a robot’.

Like many young people, Aiden would often help his elderly grandmother with small tasks, such as going grocery shopping. However, after seeing his grandmother, Lydia, struggle to carry her groceries, Aiden decided to create a device that could help her even when he couldn’t be there. This inspired the ‘Trolley for the Elderly’, a mechanized shopping cart with height adjustment features which could help many elderly and disabled customers with trips to the supermarket.

As Cardon watched his daughter, Elisabeth, undergo chemotherapy treatment for a rare brain tumour, all he wanted to do was ensure that she was as comfortable and happy as possible. During these efforts, Cardon created what he now calls the chemo ‘Comfort Cart’, an idea that stemmed from a simple wagon with a rolling IV post attached by a belt, but is now a product that will soon be accessible to more pediatric patients going through chemotherapy.

In 2013, Paul’s visually impaired friend, Tiffany, requested him to create a device that enabled blind people in India to distinguish fake and real currency. It was this request that prompted the creation of the TIFFY template, named after Tiffany.

When Eric and Sandy’s son almost died from an allergic reaction, they made sure to always keep an Epipen nearby in case of emergency. However, the Epipen is extremely sensitive and must stay near room temperature. This made the couple constantly worry about the Epipen becoming ruined, on top of worrying about their son suffering an allergic reaction.

"This meant that a lot of our favorite outdoor activities were out of the question. That’s not the kind of life I wanted for him, which is why we created MedShell", Sandy explained.

At just two years old, Anthony was diagnosed with a brain tumour, and after undergoing a surgery that successfully removed the tumour, he lost his vision. In beginning his road to recovery, Anthony and his family discovered that reintroducing basic life skills, such as feeding himself, were more challenging than anticipated.

Anthony’s therapist introduced him to a special spoon that made eating easier. However, after struggling to find the spoon anywhere, his mother reached out for answers on Facebook, and a friend of her father saw the post and felt the need to help.

When Ruth was carrying her fourth child, her pregnancy caused so much pain that she was confined to a wheelchair after just 16 weeks of pregnancy, and spent the majority of her pregnancy reliant on her family as caregivers. Ruth suffered from severe Pelvic Girdle Pain and her experiences, along with her husband Dafydd’s expertise from running a clothing manufacturing business, inspired the creation of the pelvic girdle.