Minister Pillai announces Phylo Technologies winner of the 2019 Yukon Innovation Prize
WHITEHORSE— The Honourable Ranj Pillai, Minister of Economic Development for the Government of Yukon, has announced Cody Reaume and Thomas Jaquin and their company, Phylo Technologies, as the winner of the 2019 Yukon Innovation Prize.
Reaume and Jaquin were on hand to receive the $60,000 grand prize from Minister Pillai and Lauren Beille, Manager, Northern Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Yukon College’s Cold Climate Innovation (CCI), in a ceremony at the Yukon College space at NorthLight Innovation.
The winning submission proposed the development of an intelligent device, called Phylo, to monitor and control Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV) units in homes. Phylo uses real-time indoor air quality measurements to maintain healthy air quality while avoiding over-ventilation. Compared to standard ventilation controllers, Phylo reduces energy consumption, improves home air quality, and engages residents in understanding their ventilation system. It can be installed in a home in 10 minutes with only a screwdriver and is designed to be compatible with existing ventilation systems.
“Whitehorse was recently named the top Canadian city for entrepreneurship, and fostering innovation is a big part of supporting entrepreneurs and diversifying Yukon’s economy. This year’s theme of Clean Tech is all about increasing sustainability through processes, products, and services that improve efficiency and decrease environmental impact. Congratulations to Phylo Technologies on winning the Yukon Innovation Prize. I look forward to seeing the project move forward,” said Minister Pillai.
“All four finalists worked very hard to present their best vision to the jury this morning. It was very competitive,” said Beille. “Yukoners are incredibly creative in crafting inventive solutions to northern challenges and the team at CCI is happy to continue encouraging and supporting our culture of innovation.”
From 30 initial submissions, the shortlist was made up of four ideas from Yukon innovators with high potential of societal impact, sustainability, and economic viability in the area of clean technology. The finalists each received $10,000 to further develop their idea and compete for the grand prize.
The annual Yukon Innovation Prize was created in 2014 by Cold Climate Innovation at Yukon College and the Government of Yukon’s Department of Economic Development to invigorate and support Yukon innovators.
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