One thousand eight-hundred fifty inches (154 feet) above sea level: what goes through your mind? Driving over Halifax’s MacKay Bridge, the thoughts of an eleven-year-old Layla Owens turned to dire consequences. She asked her mother how they would survive if they were to accidently find themselves in the water below.
“We’d need to get a door or window open,” her mother explained, “in order to get out before we submerge.” Passing over the expanse below, however, Layla did not find her mother’s response reassuring. Her attention was captured by the perils of pressurization and by hers and many others’ potential inability to safely get out and get help. The next day, Layla began researching for a solution that she hoped could save lives.
Enter Submergency!, an automated 911 emergency response and voice-activated window opening system for submerging vehicles that takes into consideration occupant consciousness.
Although Layla’s initial concept for Submergency! first took shape in 2017, Layla’s interest in science began 6 years prior. “I spent grades one through three in Los Angeles,” Layla recounted. “I guess it all started with my family’s membership with the California Science Center… that’s really where my passion for science was born.”
“Submergency! is, I think, something that anyone in any vehicle can benefit from,” Layla explained. “I may not be a driver myself,” she laughed, “but you don’t need to be controlling the car to think about what’s controlling your safety.”
The design process began in earnest with her first prototype that combined sensor technology with window retraction. She was inspired by her older brother, Mitchell, who was already building prototypes and competing innovation projects of his own for local science fairs.
Once Layla presented her early iteration to M. Rene Bouillon, her junior high school science teacher at École Secondaire du Sommet, he provided her with the support, guidance, and materials necessary to continue on her journey as an inventor. Layla’s tenacity paid dividends, her initial Submergency! prototype earned her the first N.S. Minister’s Entrepreneurship Award of Excellence for Technology in 2018.
From there, Layla’s research and second prototype design exposed her to the world of postsecondary scholars and technology accelerators. Mr. Nasirinejad, a computer scientist with Dalhousie University and founder of DEPROLABS Technology (a tech startup that operates out of Halifax’s Volta Labs), assisted Layla in locating a hardware component for her innovative solution. This component, combined with other hardware and software technologies, allowed Layla to assemble the mechanism through which Submergency! could respond to a submersion, provide an escape route from the vehicle, and autonomously contact 911 for assistance. She had created a way for occupants of a submerged vehicle incident to get out and get help, and her achievement did not go unnoticed: at the Canada Wide Science Fair in 2019, Layla received both the Jr. Excellence Award and the Ted Rogers Innovation Award, the latter of which included a one-week STEM Entrepreneurship Bootcamp at York University.
With external support growing and ideas for further improvements to Submergency! continuing to percolate, Layla sought guidance from experts in the fields of automotive research and cold-water submersion. This led her to the University of Waterloo’s Managing Director at the Waterloo Centre for Automotive Research (WatCAR), Mr. Ross McKenzie. Mr. McKenzie began mentoring Layla, advising her on the application of Submergency! in new vehicles, and connected her with Volvo and the Canadian Auto Parts Manufacturing Association.
Mr. McKenzie also introduced Layla to Professor Gordon “Popsicle” Giesbrecht at the University of Manitoba. Widely regarded as an expert in cold water submersion, Professor Giesbrecht has spent years researching the optimal vehicular safety measures for occupants.
Buoyed by the information and enlightenment provided by two experts in their fields, Layla’s third prototype included all previous features with two improvements and now addressed the possibility of an unconscious occupant. Furthermore, this third design iteration implemented Professor Giesbrecht’s SWOC Protocol: Seatbelts Off, Windows Open, Out, Children First. The more collaborators Layla sought out, the more Submergency! took shape, and in 2020, Layla’s work earned her the Youth Science Canada Online STEM Fair’s “Outstanding Project” Award and a nomination for the Weston Youth Innovation Award 2021.
Though vehicle submersion is the cause of over three hundred deaths every year, judges at the Youth Science Canada Virtual Regional Science Fair 2021 expressed that they were not aware of how prevalent an issue it was until Layla and Submergency! brought the staggering statistic to their attention. “It’s always kind of crazy to me,” Layla said. “I’m constantly surprised by how many people don’t realize that it’s something we could prevent.”
Today, 15-year-old Layla attends Charles P. Allen High School and has become the youngest member of the Emera ideaHUB. This organization, run by Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Engineering, focuses on building innovative products and developing cutting-edge solutions. Through her new team at Emera ideaHUB, Layla is working toward developing a fullscale model of Submergency!; ultimately, her end goal is to have Submergency! become a mandatory safety feature present in all new vehicles like seatbelts and airbags.
What’s next for Layla? “Right now,” she explained, “the focus is definitely on the entrepreneurial side of things. I know I want to help people, first and foremost, but the more I learn, the more I realize that I need to really think ahead if I want to keep moving forward on my journey.”
Layla credits CEED, the Centre for Entrepreneurship Education and Development, with kick-starting her journey as an entrepreneur. The aid of the organization has helped guide Layla in the complex processes of customer discovery, market validation, and the overall development of a functional business model. Formal mentorship from the organization’s Maria-Fernanda Navarro, a business advisor and graduate from Cornell University’s Entrepreneurship Program, is helping inform Layla on intellectual patent protection and best practices with regards to bringing Submergency! to the insurance and automotive markets who have the power to implement it.
CEED CEO, Craig MacMullin, who worked with Layla in during her first few months at CEED, recognizes that Layla exhibits the entrepreneurial spirit and drive of a successful startup owner, and that the right environment was all she needed to start focusing her idea and exploring Photo by Ilgar Gracie its potential commercialization. “She is a special person, but her drive and creativity caused us to consider how many other young technology entrepreneurs there might be in Nova Scotia that could benefit from some more focused programming. Helping entrepreneurs is what we do, so there was no question that we would take her as a client. However, it gave us a chance to learn from her as well, and we are using this the lessons learned from this experience to aid in the design of a Young Innovators program that is specifically designed to bring the technological innovations of young people closer to market, and along the way develop their entrepreneurial and technological aptitudes.”
It’s a wonder not every vehicle has a mechanism of this ilk, but should Layla Owens have her way, parents everywhere will have a new answer to the question like the one she asked her mother four years ago: “Submergency!”
Author
Christopher Abbott – Entrepreneurship & Communications Coordinator