GRIT EDITION THREE - Flipbook - Page 35
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M O S T L I K E LY T O S U C C E E D
CLASS OF 2020
MOMENT TECHNOLOGY
Moment is replacing diesel generators for remote communities by
repurposing electric vehicle batteries into sustainable energy storage.
Moment repurposes the battery life of discarded electric car batteries
to create more reliable, renewable energy for different purposes like
powering homes and renewables. They also hope to solve for
the lack of safe and reliable energy in remote communities
Co-founded by Edward Chiang & Sumreen Rattan; Next 36
Edward and Sumreen both have a Bachelor of
Mechatronics Systems Engineering from SFU.
Eddy (right) has worked in a variety of technical roles including hardware manufacturing
logistics optimization and nuclear research.
During her undergraduate degree,
Sumreen (left) landed a highly coveted
8-month internship at Apple in California
and has worked at several technology companies in Vancouver. With their passion for
electric vehicles and pushing boundaries,
they co-founded SFU's first SAE Electric
Race Team, building an electric race car
from scratch.
POWERING REMOTE
COMMUNITIES WITH
SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
HOW ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING WITH REMOTE COMMUNITIES TO CREATE SUSTAINABLE
ENERGY STORAGE?
Right now, within Indigenous communities, our
main focus is developing honest, trusting relationships and understanding what they truly need. We’re
really tired of seeing companies go in and use them
for grants and leave them hanging after they realize
that the return on investment is not 100 percent. As
an entrepreneur, you really need to focus on building
these kinds of relationships and truly understanding
your customer. It’s crucial for real success and impact.
In terms of the opportunity to solve for the lack
of safe and reliable energy for these communities, I
think we’re in a position to help in a way that the
government or large corporations can’t. These communities will often go without power for weeks following a powerful storm. I experienced this first hand
when I was living in a remote community near Ottawa. So, I started digging and it turns out that these
communities are really diesel dependent. Meaning the
reliability of their power is extremely low. They’re begging the government for a solution. They’re begging
for renewables. But when they’re trying to install solar
or wind or hydro they learn that it’s very intermittent,
especially with solar power. They could have three
to six days without solar or enough solar. This
is where our batteries come in and we see a
huge opportunity here.
MOMENT TECHNOLOGY
from China with no money in her pockets. Her days
consisted of working as a waitress in dim sum shops,
working as a driver, putting herself through school
and all the while inspiring us to be the best version
of ourselves (like forcing me to join the Air Cadets,
which you can hear more about in our LaunchPod
episode here). All of this hustle led into her starting
her own business, a restaurant she could call her own.
As entrepreneurs, we’re often faced with the
sentiment that the pursuit of opportunity is possible
regardless of a lack of resources. This really strikes
home with me. My mother embodied this and she is
the main reason I’ve embarked on my entrepreneurial journey.
LOOKING FORWARD, WHAT DOES MOMENT
HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH?
Diesel generators have been so normalized in
our life. If you look to the right of a bouncy castle at
any kids birthday’s party, you’ll see one of these diesel generators. Obviously this is a hazard to parents
but it’s also a pollutant that has toxic fumes. They’re
hot, super noisy and dangerous. And sometimes,
they power whole communities. For about 50 to 100
years, there hasn’t been any innovation in a more
sustainable, clean, and safe solution. We really want
to change that. If a kid touches our generator, nothing happens. It’s totally fine. It’s totally safe. That’s
why our long-term goal at Moment is to normalize
safe, reliable and renewable energy.
HAVE YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO BE AN
ENTREPRENEUR?
EXTRA CREDIT
MOMENT TECHNOLOGY
RBC PEOPLE’S
CHOICE AWARD
34
GRIT
Growing up, I (Edward) watched in awe
as my mom raised me as a single parent.
She moved here when she was twenty five
Learn more about Moment and
Edward Chiang on LaunchPod
GRIT
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