Design World

  • Home
  • Technologies
    • 3D CAD
    • Electronics • electrical
    • Fastening & Joining
    • Factory automation
    • Linear Motion
    • Motion Control
    • Test & Measurement
    • Sensors
    • Fluid power
  • Learn
    • Ebooks / Tech Tips
    • Engineering Week
    • Future of Design Engineering
    • MC² Motion Control Classrooms
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
  • LEAP AWARDS
  • Leadership
    • 2022 Voting
    • 2021 Winners
  • Design Guide Library
  • Resources
    • 3D Cad Models
      • PARTsolutions
      • TraceParts
    • Digital Issues
      • Design World
      • EE World
    • Women in Engineering
  • Supplier Listings

A Weather Station You Can Wear

By University of Toronto | December 16, 2015

Share

Living in Canada means living with unpredictable weather. Neda Ghazi and Alireza Monam, co-founders of Comfable, have made it their goal to help people lead healthier and more comfortable lives with QTemp, a wearable weather station.

The compact smart device provides users with the temperature and UV index in their exact location in real time. Based on customizable settings, the device also tracks “safe sun time” and tells users how long they can stay outdoors before getting sunburnt or developing skin damage. 

“We wanted to create a gadget that was easy to use but still had a positive impact on people’s lives,” said Ghazi, the chief operating officer. “Comfable has given us the opportunity to apply our PhD and postdoctoral research along with our passion for urban climate, sustainability and energy efficiency into a product that turns this aim into reality.”

QTemp works with a companion app that displays all the information collected by the battery-free gadget onto an Android or iOS device. The information provided is customizable, allowing users to select their individual skin type, altering the safe period of time you can spend in the sun.

According to Cancer Care Ontario, one in seven Ontarians will develop skin cancer, mostly because of overexposure to the sun. Ghazi and Monam (pictured at right) hope this product will increase awareness of sun overexposure and decrease rates of skin damage. 

QTemp can provide data communities as well as individuals. The app provides a platform to generate a map based on data shared by users. The map includes precise temperatures inside and outside public spaces like stadiums, theaters or a local festivals. The bigger the community, the more detailed and more precise the map.

“Being an entrepreneur means trying your hand at a bit of everything,” Ghazi said when asked about the transition from academic research to consumer production. “It’s a fast-paced learning environment and always calls for a different type of skill from IT, product design to business development and marketing.”

The company has been leveraging the resources of the University of Toronto to help accelerate QTemp’s development. Both Ghazi and Monam participated in the Techno2015 hands-on summer workshop organized by the Impact Centre, one of U of T’s nine campus-linked accelerators. The company has also hired student interns through the Impact Centre’s IMC390 course, which is dedicated to internships in new ventures. 

“QTemp is a wonderful innovation and a great example of a practical use of technology,” said Karen Sievewright, managing director of U of T’s Banting & Best Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (BBCIE). “U of T’s Impact Centre has stayed true to its name, fostering Comfable’s entrepreneurial spirit and helping them create a product with a potentially huge retail impact.”


Filed Under: M2M (machine to machine)

 

Related Articles Read More >

Part 6: IDE and other software for connectivity and IoT design work
Part 4: Edge computing and gateways proliferate for industrial machinery
Part 3: Trends in Ethernet, PoE, IO-Link, HIPERFACE, and single-cable solutions
Machine Learning for Sensors

DESIGN GUIDE LIBRARY

“motion

Enews Sign Up

Motion Control Classroom

Design World Digital Edition

cover

Browse the most current issue of Design World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading design engineering magazine today.

EDABoard the Forum for Electronics

Top global problem solving EE forum covering Microcontrollers, DSP, Networking, Analog and Digital Design, RF, Power Electronics, PCB Routing and much more

EDABoard: Forum for electronics

Sponsored Content

  • Renishaw next-generation FORTiS™ enclosed linear encoders offer enhanced metrology and reliability for machine tools
  • WAGO’s smartDESIGNER Online Provides Seamless Progression for Projects
  • Epoxy Certified for UL 1203 Standard
  • The Importance of Industrial Cable Resistance to Chemicals and Oils
  • Optimize, streamline and increase production capacity with pallet-handling conveyor systems
  • Global supply needs drive increased manufacturing footprint development

Design World Podcasts

June 12, 2022
How to avoid over engineering a part
See More >
Engineering Exchange

The Engineering Exchange is a global educational networking community for engineers.

Connect, share, and learn today »

Design World
  • Advertising
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Manage your Design World Subscription
  • Subscribe
  • Design World Digital Network
  • Engineering White Papers
  • LEAP AWARDS

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search Design World

  • Home
  • Technologies
    • 3D CAD
    • Electronics • electrical
    • Fastening & Joining
    • Factory automation
    • Linear Motion
    • Motion Control
    • Test & Measurement
    • Sensors
    • Fluid power
  • Learn
    • Ebooks / Tech Tips
    • Engineering Week
    • Future of Design Engineering
    • MC² Motion Control Classrooms
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
  • LEAP AWARDS
  • Leadership
    • 2022 Voting
    • 2021 Winners
  • Design Guide Library
  • Resources
    • 3D Cad Models
      • PARTsolutions
      • TraceParts
    • Digital Issues
      • Design World
      • EE World
    • Women in Engineering
  • Supplier Listings