Dalhousie University student David Hodgson will be representing Canada at the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA) with his new innovation, the Breezy Chamber, which is aimed at easing respiratory illness.
Hodgson is a trained mechanical engineer who started medical school about three years ago. A year ago, he came across a problem relating to inhalers and worked on a method to make it easier for people to obtain medication from their inhalers.
GSEA supports student entrepreneurs who require much-needed mentorship, recognition and connections to take their businesses to the next level.
"I was reached out to by the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards to participate in the national competition this year, and didn't really think I had a huge chance of winning. And it turns out that I won the whole thing, which was, I think, probably the biggest external validation we've had for the problem that we're trying to solve here."
From left to right: Brandon Beach, David Hodgson, Sara Fedullo. Photo contributed.
Hodgson started up Hollo Medical in 2021 with Dalhousie engineering graduate Sara Fedullo, a close-knit team of about five or six people, and an extensive group of advisers ranging across North America.
The creation put him in the spotlight by the GSEA judges who awarded him $50,000 for his innovation, which he currently named the "Breezy Chamber," but could be subject to change. He explained that while conventional pressurized inhalers come in an L-shaped device, in order for the medication to better reach the lungs, a large holding chamber is required.
"It's basically kind of a water bottle-shaped device that captures the expelled dose from the inhaler, and just gives you more control and ability to actually get the dose where it's needed."
However, due to stigma associations, low compliance and practicality, he said people don't use them as much. His goal was to make a practical everyday life device to reduce the burden of respiratory illnesses on people who depend on them.
The Breezy Chamber is predominantly used for the two most common chronic respiratory illnesses: asthma, typically affecting young people, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which affects older folks.
"We're trying to identify how these devices are used, and the impacts they have to try to make it more in alignment with the everyday life of people, so it has less of an impact."
Some of the challenges Hodgson faced as an entrepreneur were figuring out how to start his business and how to raise funds for prototyping.
Hodgson's innovation will be predominantly used for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Photo contributed.
But he said that Dalhousie University played a huge role in the success of his product, after directing him towards the Emera ideaHUB.
"It opened me up to Dal Innovates and all kinds of other resources that I'd recommend anyone with, with any idea to reach out to because they've got programs for almost every single level."
In terms of affordability, the new device, the Breezy Chamber, is set to be out in the market late next year and will be keeping up with the currently priced devices on the market.
Listen to the full interview below: