THE OAKVILLE BEAVERi B2 Wednesday, September 22, 1999 Page turner enters students in Shad Valley competition* By W ilm a Blokhuis BEAVER FOCUS EDITOR A Hands Free page turner for musicians, the physically disabled and leisure readers, will be among nine products entered in the Royal Bank Shad Entrepreneurship Cup. This award will be pre sented on Oct. 14th at the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto. The Royal Bank became Shad Valley's first national partner and has, since 1997, contributed $400,000 to the program run by Shad International of Waterloo, Ont. The page turner is among four products selected for this competition that were developed by students who participated in the Shad Valley science, technology and entrepreneurship pro gram in Ontario. They spent the month of July develop ing their products and busi ness plans, and groups selected for this award con tinued to work on their pro jects after work. Many of the participating students required work-term place ments with sponsoring com panies, or had part-time summer jobs. Hands Free was devel oped by a team of about 20 students at Carleton University, Ottawa, headed by Daphne Pala, a Grade 12 student at Iroquois Ridge High School. Hands Free automatically turns pages at the press of a button or pedal. The product is light-weight, portable, easily assembled, and adjustable for height. The page turner has rotat ing copper pins with rubber tips that are used to turn the pages, one page at the time, forwards and backwards, at the press of a button on the hand control or foot pedal. The buttons of both the hand control and foot pedal are raised, ensuring that only one can be pressed at a time. Two clips on the front of the unit secure a book, similar to a book stand. The page turn er would be powered by a nine-volt battery, and a clip attaches it to a height adjustable stand with a trian gular base. The product meets the requirements for the Patent Act of Canada. More than 20 patents have been issued for similar devices since 1971, accord to the group's research. "Shad Valley was a turn ing point in my life," says Pala. "Shad, and the Royal ase& Oft/aae*/ • KITCHENS« BEDROOMS * BATHROOMS * WAIL UNITS Custom Designs, Custom Finishes, Top Quality Cabinetry, Competitively Priced, Free In-Home Service, Lifetime Warranty 41SO South Sorvke RtL Burlington 632-0029 w | 2 Q. South Service Rd Ml QEW $ 1 t o rabinet oncepts Local students in the Royal Bank Shad Entrepreneurship Cup for their Hands Free page turner, devel oped at the Shad Valley program at Carleton University, are from left: Avninder Buttar, WOSS; Trisha Murthy, Nelson (Burlington); Daphne Pala, Iroquois Ridge; Laura Matsos, Assumption (Burlington); Sayali Tadwalker, Lom e Park (Mississauga), and Rene-B Ramkhelawan, SL Ignatius of Loyola. Bank Shad Entrepreneurship Cup taught me that sometimes the point of the exercise is the exercise itself." Pala's team included Avninder Buttar, Grade 12, White Oaks Secondary School; Rene-B Ramkhelawan, OAC, St. Ignatius of Loyola; from Burlington, Trisha Murthy, OAC, Nelson; Laura Matsos, OAC, Assumption; and from Mississauga, Sayali Tadwalker, Grade 12, Lome Park. With their product entered in the competition for the Entrepreneurial Cup, the students met at Pala's home to complete the video, which is to be included in this submission for the award. Along with the developing of a product and creating a prototype, market research was required to determine its salability. "Very few sectors of the popula tion are larger, more lucrative or more diverse than musicians, who represent 18% of Canada's popula tion," states the 60-page Hands Free business report. "Further, this market segment has been all but ignored by the industry at this point. This approach separates Hands Free from the com petition. Along with the primary tar gets of musicians, Hands Free has designated disabled people as the secondary target market." The business plan also proposed sales offices in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton, a national advertising campaign, web site and a 1-800 toll free number. (See 'Experience ...' page B3) Exotic Tropicals Choose from a great selection o f exotic tropicals. Orange Jasmine, Banana Plant, Coffee Plant and Rex Begonia. See in-store for individual pricing. Banana Plant Fall Decorative Collection A v a r ie ty o f fe s t iv e o rn a m e n ts su ch as c o rn s ta lks , s tra w b a ils , p u m p k in s , g o u rd s a n d m a n y m o re . C orn Stalks Easy t o g r o w a n d n e a r ly m a in te n a n c e fre e . P ro v id e s g re a t c o lo u r fo r a ll seasons. Save n o w j o n o u r c o m p le te A s e le c t io n . H u rry in w h i le s to c k lasts. Our Regular Prices Proven Winners Fall Magic Collection! 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C hoo se fro m a g re a t s e le c t io n o f a u tu m n c o lo u rs . 6 " Pot. irowgreen BURLINGTON 2 2 4 3 F a irv ie w St. - 6 3 9 - 7 7 4 0 M o n . to Fri. 9 a m -9 p m Sat. 9 a m -6 p m Sun. 10 a m -5 p m DUNDAS 294 Y o rk Rd. - 628-8562 M o n . to W ed. 9 a m -6 p m Thurs . & Fri. 9 a m -9 p m Sat. 9a m -6 p m Sun. 10 a m -5 p m Earn a $20.00 cash bonus certificate when you accumulate $400.00 in purchases. See in-store fo r com plete details. Prices in effect September 22 to 28, 1999^ Visit us on w w w .h o lla n d p a rk .c o m 7 DAY FLORAL DELIVERY Send flowers to that special person 7 days a week from both our locations. W E D ELIVER Make your next landscape project easier with our prompt professional DELIVERY SERVICE Call or ask in-store for details. D istress Centre needs telephone volunteers Callers to the Oakville Distress Centre have been hearing a busy signal too often lately due to a shortage of tele phone volunteers. "It's difficult to find volunteers at this time of year," explains Sandy Beveridge, executive direc tor of the centre. "Students are returning to school and most people are trying to get back on track after sum mer vacations." Currently, the centre handles over 10,000 calls a year and relies entirely on volun teers from the community to staff the phone lines. A new volun teer training ses sion is slated to begin this fall and Beveridge is hop ing for a large turnout to meet the increasing number of callers to the line. After extensive training in listening skills and crisis man agement, volun teers are asked to commit to 12 hours per month on the phone line. "Our volun teers provide callers with a confidential and empathetic envi ronment, where they can vent their emotions," says Beveridge. V o lu n te e r s deal with issues such as loneli ness, mental ill ness, family problems, and suicide. "The goal is not to give p r o f e s s i o n a l advice but rather to provide sup port and referrals in a caring and c o m p a ss io n a te manner," says Beveridge. The Distress Centre is a United Way Member Agency that has been serving South Halton for 25 years. If you can volunteer, or if you would like to make a donation, call 849-4541. http://www.hollandpark.com Banana Plant Holland Park