Gary Kurek
Fort Kent, Alberta
Age at time of award: 18

With cancer debilitating several members of his family, Gary wanted to make their lives a little easier. He came up with the Rollator Wheelchair Hybrid (RWH), a motorizing kit that can be retrofitted to any four-wheeled rolling walker to create a combination walker and electric wheelchair. RWH is the first powered mobility product that lets users transform their single-ability walking aids into multifunctional devices. Costing ¼ of a conventional electric wheelchair, RWH navigates well in standard homes. Gary’s invention garnered 17 Canada Wide Science Fair awards, including the Best in Fair National Champion. Over $70,000 and thousands of hours have gone into developing RWH, which is now in the final prototype stage. Gary’s company, GET Mobility Solutions Inc., holds the patent on the product and plans to launch it in 2010.

David Castelino
Mississauga, Ontario
Age at time of award: 19

A 2008 Manning Innovation Achievement Award winner, David has shown a passion for science, innovation and community involvement since childhood. Leadership roles with the SMART Network and the Mississauga Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council are mature extensions of his early interests, which included creating holographic images and improving food labeling systems. In 2006, David designed an efficient, affordable alternative to silicon solar cells—a dye-sensitized organic solar cell that uses photosynthesis to create electrical energy at a higher rate of return. Sol-Tile is David’s latest invention, a thin-film solar tile using solar paint made from organic dyes, which can easily fit existing roofing. This tile offers an inexpensive, sustainable source of renewable energy for use around the world. The Patent and Trademark Office Society has awarded David with a patent citation for his breakthrough invention.

Yan Yu
Calgary, AB
Age at time of award: 19

Yan Yu has put environmental innovation on the map at Queen’s University. As an intern with the Main Campus Resident’s Council (MCRC) Sustainability Office, Yan brought vision and energy to an indifferent Council. Successfully advocating the creation of a “Sustainability Coordinator” position, Yan promptly assumed the role and transformed MCRC into one of the greenest student governing bodies in Canada. He formed one of the largest environmental groups on campus, the MCRC Green Team, to tackle environmental issues like running a successful weekly campus clean-up crew, reducing cafeteria food wastage, installing indoor vegetable gardens, and establishing a worm-composting system in residence—the first of its kind in Canada. Here’s one measure of their success: in the first four months of the cleanup crew’s existence, recyclable waste collection increased by 57% over the whole of the previous year.

Claudia Covalciuc
Halifax, NS
Age at time of award: 19

Now a role model for Cape Breton youth, Claudia has lived a life of unimaginable hardship. Growing up in Ontario, Claudia had to leave Canada at the age of eleven when her mother was forced to return to her native Romania. For the next five years, Claudia worked, unable to attend school. Yet she never lost her love of learning nor her belief that education would free her from poverty and exploitation. At 16, she made the difficult decision to leave her mother and return to Canada. With one bag of clothing, Claudia arrived alone at the Halifax, NS airport. Despite immense challenges, she graduated high school with honors and the Harrison McCain Scholarship. Today, Claudia offers youth motivational talks, and interpretative hikes and expeditions while actively reinforcing healthy lifestyle choices and personal well-being.