Outbreaker Solutions, an Edmonton-based biotechnology company, is onto something very innovative. The company is developing an antimicrobial touch surface that kills 99.9 percent of harmful pathogens. The surface is made of compressed sodium chloride (CSC), also known as table salt.
So, while most of us were using table salt to season food, entrepreneurs Matt Hodgson and Brayden Whitlock were teaming with inventor Doug Olson to commercialize a technology that uses table salt to kill harmful bacteria. No big deal. It’s a process that starts with compressing salt at extremely high pressures.
Think of turning coal into a diamond. You’ll never look at your saltshaker the same way again.
When the global pandemic hit, interest in Outbreaker Solutions’ proprietary technology spiked. The company had to find a way to scale quickly.
“We were in the fortunate position of developing a surface that kills harmful pathogens well before the global pandemic of COVID-19 began,” says Outbreaker Solutions Co-Founder and Director of Business Development, Matt Hodgson. “The boom in interest made it necessary to increase our team size to expedite development, research, and establishing partnerships.”
The start-up looked to the University of Alberta Health Accelerator for answers. It was through this that Outbreaker Solutions was introduced to BioTalent Canada and its Student Work Placement Program (SWPP) wage subsidy.
“We had several projects on the go and needed to increase our team in order to execute on the projects,” says Hodgson. “As a start-up, wage support programs are extremely valuable in growing your team to explore opportunities without vastly increasing costs.”
Enter Outbreaker Solutions’ SWPP participant and University of Alberta student Paramita Chaudhuri Basu. She was brought on to help with business development. She did that and then some. Paramita played an active role in planning and executing marketing initiatives that have built awareness of Outbreaker Soluti Albert “Al” Lewis
Albert Lewis, 87, of Kuna, passed away the evening of November 30 , 2011 at home with his loving wife Chris “River” (Albert’s special name for her) at his side.
Albert was born April 20, 1924 in Meridian, Idaho to Lester and Clara Lewis. He was raised on an 80 acre farm with his parents and 9 siblings. He was educated in the Meridian School District and was a straight A student. His work on the “Home Ranch” taught him the value of hard work.
Leaving the farm life, Albert worked for M.K. for several months in Hawaii. In 1944 Albert joined the 82 Airborne. He became a paratrooper instructor and was promoted into the Honor Guard, where he “jumped” for honorary personnel. He was stationed in Fort Benning, Georgia and Fort Bragg, North Carolina. After his discharge in 1949, Albert returned home to Boise.
In 1950, Albert married Wanda Green. They had three children; a son, Lynn and two daughters, Cheree and Cheryl. Albert and Wanda later divorced.
Being the unique man Albert was and with the self-taught abilities he possessed, he started building homes throughout the Treasure Valley, to the Meridian, Kuna area and beyond. It developed into many years of hard but rewarding work.
On June 8, 1979, Albert married Deanna Christine “River” Banks. Chris brought two daughters to the marriage, Brenda and Traci- they captured Albert’s heart in no time.
Albert’s years of building slowly came to an end but again, his extraordinary abilities focused in the field of law enforcement. Albert dedicated over 40 years of his life, many of them after his regular working hours, in Law Enforcement. He typically volunteered for no pay just for the love of keeping people on the "straight and narrow". He worked for the Garden City Police Department and the Boise County Sheriff's Department for many years, driving his own Lincoln Continental as a patrol car. He will always be remembered by his radio call number of "2263". Ar
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