Two University of Toronto (U of T) graduates have found success with their invention of a self-heating base layer shirt.
The FuelWear shirt, invented by Alex Huang and Jason Yakimovich, is a long sleeve shirt made of bamboo that has self-regulated heating. These shirts can monitor the body temperature, determining whether to warm up or turn off.
Huang said his inspiration came from the fierce Canadian winters.
“I’m originally from China, where it never snows, so when I first got here it was really cold, especially last year. It was even colder than normal, so we decided we should do something about it,” Huang said.
Huang and Yakimovich “skipped the business” and went right into manufacturing the prototype for the shirt, according to Huang.
FuelWear was housed through the University of Toronto Entrepreneurship Hatchery, who reimbursed them for the money spent in manufacturing the product.
Mentors Vaughn Betz and Candice Luck aided Huang and Yakimovich through U of T’s incubator program, where they won $20,000.
The product hit the production cap of the manufacturer in Canada within the first two weeks. After last year’s polar vortex in Southern Ontario and the early snowfall in Western Canada, there can be no surprise Canadians are preparing early for winter, Huang said.
The shirt is battery-operated with three heating elements, and yet is machine washable.
“There is small battery pack that comes with the base layer. Once you plug it in you can control the heating,” Huang said.
FuelWear’s target market is towards winter athletes such as skiers and snowboarders. Huang said FuelWear shouldn’t have a problem getting into this “niche market.”
Though a third of their consumers have been from Canada, Huang said the rest have been from around the world.
He said he hopes in the future they can make other heated attire for battling the winter. They also hope to be able to add technological features to the future shirts.
“We are working on being able to charge phones,” Huang said.
