Enjoying IT success in New Brunswick

By Andrew Rankin – Telegraph Journal | link to original article

The notion that being based in New Brunswick might stymie their chances of success never occurred to the inventors of an award-winning nanotechnology product that may change the way people use their iPhones in the future.

In fact former UNB computer engineering student Kumaran Thillainadarah and his professor, Felipe Chibante of Fredericton, thought quite the opposite.

“I think if we tried to do this somewhere else, like a very saturated U.S. market, it would have been very hard for us,” Thillainadarah said. “As soon as I had an idea and a business plan, the business and university community helped a lot. I was sent in the right direction able to get in touch with people at Google and Nokia.”

For the past three years the pair have been developing their company, Smart Skin. Using a pressure-sensitive rubbery material that contains a simple electrical circuit, the technology can detect and react to even the slightest touch. It can be used for a variety of functions but what's got Thillainadarah and Chibante particularly excited is the possibility of incorporating the technology in a smartphone that can interpret touch commands on the back of a device.

Their idea has gotten lots of attention, even a $100,000 partnership offer from Dragons' Den's Kevin O'Leary.

On Thursday evening the company was named New Brunswick's most promising information technology company at the 13th annual KIRA awards gala, which celebrates the contribution the province's IT industry have made here and beyond.

Held at Fredericton's Convention Centre, the five-hour event drew more than 400 players from the province's IT sector. The six company awards ranged from best export product to best technology advancement and innovation in the industry.

The industry has already outgrown the province's traditional sectors. For Chibante, a Fredericton native and UNB chemical engineering professor, that's no surprise. He believes that with the right idea and the right group to push it forward companies can be successful anywhere.

“When we were trying to sell this idea,” he said, “we landed in San Francisco, where we were put in touch right away with a New Brunswick native who's a successful software engineer and is developing companies there. He helped promote us in his network. So that's a little bit of proof.”

Fredericton-based Radian6 captured the employment growth award. The technological stalwart was just bought out by San Francisco based Salesforce for $276 million in cash and $50 million in stock. At the end of 2009 the company had just 95 employees, now it has 360. The company expects to reach 470 by the end of 2011.

Kim Saunders, Radian6 director of human resources, accepted the award for the company.

With many of the company's employees hailing from New Brunswick, she said Radian6 has shown that the IT industry can thrive here.

“We've been very fortunate to have a great talent pool. A high percentage of our employees are from New Brunswick. The talent pool has been phenomenal,” she said.

“We've developed an entrepreneurial culture. They were prepared to take a chance with our company.”

Premier David Alward, who spoke at the event, announced he has struck an IT advisory council, made up of leading players from the industry, in a bid to grow the sector.

One of its primary concerns, he said, will be education and trying to attract more local talent.

Alan Gray, co-chairman of the awards gala, agreed that education and government involvement are key to developing New Brunswick's IT industry.

“We're small, we can't deny that,” Gray said. “What it comes down to is how smart your people are. The more government can invest in young people and invest in schools and training the more entrepreneurs we're going to develop, the more companies we're going to develop. It's all about wealth creation.”