Notes

Hi, my name is Akiv Jhirad, and I have worked with a team of highly motivated, hard working individuals to create the near-infrared cerebral scanner, also known as NICS. NICS is a handheld, portable device that is capable of detecting the presence of a hematoma after Traumatic Brain Injury within minutes, right at the place of injury.

NICS is a preventative measure against traumatic brain injury, which is the number one killer and disabler of young Canadians under the age of 40. According to the Hamilton Health Sciences, just within Ontario around 16000 residents sustain traumatic brain injury annually. Up to 35% of these injuries lead to the occurrence of a hematoma, which has a mortality rate of up to 70%.

We created NICS to streamline the process from injury to hospitalization to surgery, making it a way for healthcare professionals to more quickly screen for a hematoma. Our aim is to increase accessibility of quick detection of hematomas, which is crucial since victims have mere hours between injury and surgery to begin experiencing the detrimental effects of the condition.

Personally, I have worked extremely hard on developing NICS over the past 2 years as a research endeavour, since I knew it would be my first real opportunity at creating a startup. Since the beginning of my studies, I have aimed for my career to follow the path of entrepreneurship. As an OBI entrepreneur I will finally get the opportunity to realize my goal, and have the chance to grow under an experienced industry-based mentor. The training and support programs would be essential to the development of my startup.

The number one thing I want to achieve through participating in this program is to become a successful entrepreneur with the skills necessary to not only start a company, but also to maintain and grow one. My vision of seeing my company flourish will be realized being a part of this program as I will gain the resources necessary for proper testing, and commercialization of NICS.