Celebrating Canadian Women’s Contributions to Innovation! 

The Reverse Cooking Stove – Ruth Adams – 1854, Ontario

First Canadian patent issued to a woman
The stove was designed to have multiple functions. It provided a warming oven, a cook stove and top, and also served as a furnace to warm the kitchen. The British Government issued the patent for Ruth’s invention as Canadian Confederation was still 12 years away.

The Bissell Carpet Sweeper – Anna Sutherland – 1876, Nova Scotia

Canadian ingenuity created a North American household icon
Anna and her husband Melville designed and built a carpet sweeper machine. The idea came when Anna often became frustrated with sweeping tiny, stubborn particles clinging to the carpet. For more than 100 years, people across the continent have used this invention to clean their carpets.

Following Melville Bissell’s death, Anna stepped in and confidently took control of the company, becoming America’s first female corporate CEO.

Aeroplane Builder – Elizabeth (Elsie) MacGill – 1930s, Ontario

The queen of the Hurricanes!
As a chief engineer, Elsie was put in charge of the production of the Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft. She redesigned components of the plane, oversaw the design and the manufacture of the tools needed for production, developed a winterized version equipped with de-icers and skis, and supervised a staff of 4,500 people. This fighter plane was used by the British Royal Air Force during World War II and became instrumental in the Battle of Britain.

Elsie was the first woman in Canada to obtain an applied science degree in electrical engineering and the first woman in North America to graduate with a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering. She was also the first woman to design an aircraft: The Maple Leaf Trainer.

Awards and Recognitions: Elsie MacGill is recognized for her achievements in the Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame of the Innovation Canada exhibition at the Canada Science and Technology Museum.

The Cobalt 60 Therapy Unit – Sylvia Fedoruk – 1950s, Saskatchewan

Giving people a chance at life
Sylvia Fedoruk helped to design and develop the first cobalt machine to use radiation to treat cancer patients effectively. She also developed a scanning device that used radioactive iodine to determine whether or not a patient’s thyroid gland was cancerous.

For more than 50 years, countless lives around the world have been saved because of a Canadian invention that changed the way cancer was treated. The first cancer patient treated with this invention lived another 50 years, well into her 90s.

Awards and Recognitions: Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan (1988-1994), Recipient of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit, Named Officer of the Order of Canada, Recipient of honorary doctorate degrees from four Canadian universities

The Jolly Jumper – Susan Olivia Poole – 1954, British Columbia

Parents around the world have used this invention
The Jolly JumperTM is a baby exerciser consisting of a soft fitting saddle which supports the baby’s back and is suspended from a gentle action spring hung from the ceiling or the door frame. Olivia, raised in North Dakota, remembered observing the Ojibwa Aboriginal mothers keeping their papooses contentedly in motion when suspended from the limb of a tree.

Actar 911 – Dianne Croteau – 1985, Ontario

A new life saving tool!
The industrial designer Dianne Croteau, and her partner Richard Brault, created a lightweight and affordable mannequin designed to teach people cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Its innovative design makes it portable and suitable for wet conditions, such as lifeguard training.

A Design for Better Bed Sheets – Gisèle Jubinville – 1994, Alberta

A good night’s sleep and a financially secure future
Gisèle was convinced there had to be a better way to make fitted bed sheets so they didn’t come untucked in the night. She sewed hundreds of designs, ignoring discouraging comments. One night, she awoke having dreamt of the perfect design. The hard work was not yet over. The following three years of production made it clear to her that she couldn’t compete with the big companies. Instead of giving up, she sold her patent for $1 million U.S. to an American sheet manufacturer. Today, Gisèle has the satisfaction of having fought for what she believed in and encourages others to follow their intuition in finding their own answers.

Thermal Conductivity Instruments – Nancy Mathis – 1995, New Brunswick

To save money and improve product quality
This PhD. chemical engineer is a world-leading scientific authority in thermal conductivity. She is the inventor of the sensor technology behind the first non-destructive thermal conductivity measurement instrument. This information is very important for industries that need to measure the way their products transfer heat out of hot places. It helps companies to save money and improve product quality.

Awards and Recognitions: 2004: Canadian Junior Chamber’s “Outstanding Young Canadians” Award in the category of innovation, 2003: Recipient of the prestigious $100 000 Manning Principal Award recognizing leading Canadian innovators since 1982, 2002: The inaugural award by the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers of Canada for Support of Women in Engineering, 2002: Cited as one of the “Top 15 Women to Watch” by Chatelaine Magazine, 1999: R&D Award issued to the top 100 innovative products worldwide (sponsored by R&D Magazine) joining Polaroid and the ATM, Profit Magazine’s Canada’s 50 Hottest Startups, 1997: The Business Development Bank of Canada named her Young Entrepreneur of the year, IBM (computers), ExxonMobil (petroleum) and Dow Corning (composite materials) are just a few of the companies that use the TC PROBE as part of the manufacturing process

Insulated and Ergonomic Dishes – Sarah and Alexandra Levy – 1998, Quebec

Making a difference for people with special needs
An innovative mother and daughter team created a concept in dishware adapted for autonomous and semi-autonomous people with light dexterity problems. These dishes vastly improve quality of life by enabling people to eat with dignity and far greater autonomy than with conventional dishes.

This is the first line of thermal dishware in the international market, which is also microwave safe, as well as recyclable. The products are used in short and long-term health care institutions across North America.

Source: Canadian Intellectual Property Office http://www.cipo.ic.gc.ca