Building a Prototype
Peter O’Brien exemplifies the measure of a successful early-stage entrepreneur. He went from sleeping on the floor of his mentor’s lab to co-founding VO2 Master, the world’s first Bluetooth oxygen-sensing device for endurance athletes.
Maximal oxygen uptake — VO2 max — is an indicator of an athlete’s cardiovascular fitness and aerobic endurance. Results are typically monitored in a clinical setting, under strict protocols, and miles away from an athlete’s natural training environment on the road, trail or track. Conventional VO2 analyzers are big, bulky and expensive. They weigh at least five pounds, are as big as a breadbox, and cost up to $10,000.
In early 2013, he co-founded VO2 Master with his former coach and mentor, Dr. Andrew Sellars, a physician with more than 15 years of experience actively testing and training athletes. The two teamed up to create a new VO2 monitoring device that would eliminate the barriers of existing commercial devices.
After a year of trial and error, O’Brien returned to UBC Okanagan for research guidance and technical support to design, build and test a prototype of his invention. He connected with the UBC Survive and Thrive Applied Research (STAR) initiative and Associate Professor, Kenneth Chau, an electrical engineer in the School of Engineering.
With grant support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the National Research Council of Canada’s (NRC) Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP), O’Brien began working with a group of undergraduate and master’s level co-op students in the School of Engineering to design a hardware solution for his device.
When O’Brien was ready to move to the prototype phase of development, he didn’t have to go far. UBC’s Survive and Thrive Applied Research (STAR) initiative offered him affordable access to a high-calibre 3D printer, technical expertise and liaison support just steps away from Chau’s lab. Over two years and 18 major mechanical versions later, the team produced a palm-sized prototype that could collect quality oxygen-consumption data and transmit it, in real time, to any smartphone or mobile device.
“Having access to both engineering talent and rapid prototyping, in close proximity, provided us with a foundation for success.”
– Peter O’Brien, Co-Founder of VO2 Master
The VO2 Master is the first analyzer ever designed to use the force of human breathing as a passive gas-sampling pump, making it lightweight, portable and easy-to-use. VO2 Master recently launched its first post-beta, market-tested offering of VO2 Master Pros at the ITU Science and Triathlon Conference in Edmonton, Alberta.