Latest news with #OttawaMade
Ottawa Citizen
5 days ago
- Business
- Ottawa Citizen
Laprade and Phillips: Instant Pot was a triumph cooked up in Ottawa
Article content During the summer, we'll carry occasional excerpts from Ottawa Made, a recently published compendium of stories about curious inventions, people and places in the national capital. Today: the origins of the Instant Pot. Article content Many parents find it challenging to prepare a wholesome, hot meal for their families each evening. Robert Wang and his wife, both entrenched in tech careers in Ottawa, were no exception. Balancing work with the needs of their young children, aged four and eight, was a daily struggle. Article content Article content Article content One day Wang set out to resolve this common parental dilemma. The result was the Instant Pot. Article content This innovative appliance could perform a multitude of cooking functions, from pressure cooking and slow cooking to steaming and even making yogurt. Wang's invention was an immediate hit, its popularity buoyed by numerous online communities dedicated to the appliance. Enthusiastic cooks shared recipes, shortcuts, and tips, and a variety of cookbooks soon followed. Article content Instant Pot's marketing emphasized not only the time saved in meal preparation and clean-up, but also the energy efficiency compared to traditional cooking methods. Health-conscious consumers were particularly targeted, with promotions highlighting the retention of more nutrients due to shorter cooking times Article content 'My hero is Steve Jobs… He excelled in design and truly understood his customers' needs,' Wang said in a 2018 interview with CNBC. Article content Article content Emigrating from Harbin, China, in the mid-'90s, Wang drew inspiration from the electric pressure cookers popular in his homeland, which featured microprocessors and multiple sensors. He soon identified a flaw in the design of the Crock Pot, which he saw as his main competition. With the Crock Pot, you needed to plan dinner amidst the hectic morning routines of a young family. Article content Article content After 18 months and an investment of $300,000 from his personal savings, Wang launched the first Instant Pot on Amazon in 2010. Initially partnered with two unnamed associates, Wang continued solo for six months after they abandoned the project before welcoming two new partners, former Blackberry employees Yi Qin and Dongjun Wang. Article content A significant challenge was the limited kitchen space available to homeowners, prompting the team to create a device that offered numerous functions. Some models boasted as many as 10 different uses including cake-making. Article content The first Instant Pot sold for $140 (U.S.) and the product's success reached a high point in 2015, when 215,000 units were sold on Amazon Prime Day, more than any other product. Article content
Ottawa Citizen
10-08-2025
- Business
- Ottawa Citizen
Laprade and Phillips: Before today's smartphone, there was the sleek new, Ottawa-designed Contempra
During the summer, we'll carry occasional excerpts from Ottawa Made, a recently published compendium of stories about curious inventions, people and places in the national capital. Today: the origin of the Contempra phone. Article content The Contempra phone, created by Ottawa industrial designer John Tyson, was the first phone designed and manufactured in Canada. The phone became a source of national pride, as well as Tyson's enduring legacy. Article content Article content Article content Although it might appear large by today's standards, the Contempra was celebrated at the time for its simplicity, symmetry and vibrant design. Tyson, then a recent Ontario College of Art graduate, was Northern Electric's first industrial designer, and the company emphasized products that were well-designed, functional and durable. Article content The Contempra hit the market in 1968 and quickly achieved global success. By 1974, it was featured on a postage stamp, commemorating a century of telephone development in Canada. Article content Replacing the traditional black rotary dial phones, the Contempra was sleek, modern and lightweight. Advertised as being 'shaped to fit your hand like a glove' and 'curved to follow the contours of your face,' it allowed for longer conversations and multitasking, with the handset fitting between one's shoulder and face and the coiled cord stretching across a room. Article content Article content Available in colours such as olive green, earthy brown, burnt orange and pale yellow, the Contempra could be mounted on walls or placed on desks or tables. It was a prized communication device in families, though often shared grudgingly. Article content Article content The Contempra fell out of use by the early '90s as technology advanced with digital, cordless phones and eventually smartphones. In 1971, Northern Electric merged its research and development with Bell Canada to form Bell Northern Research (later Nortel) a company focused on advanced telecommunications technology. Article content Today, the Contempra is cherished by vintage technology enthusiasts as a classic example of mid-20th-century industrial design. It's featured in museums such as New York's Museum of Modern Arts, the Canadian Museum of History, the National Gallery of Canada and the Canada Science and Technology Museum.
Ottawa Citizen
13-07-2025
- Science
- Ottawa Citizen
Laprade and Phillips: What happened to Ottawa's first UFO research station?
Article content During the summer, we'll carry occasional excerpts from Ottawa Made, a recently published compendium of stories about curious inventions, people and places in the national capital. Today: the search for flying saucers. Article content The truth is in Ottawa. Maybe. Article content Article content Fans of the television show X-Files — where the expression 'the truth is out there' first entered popular culture and lexicon — may be surprised to learn that the world's first UFO research facility was not in the United States, nor anywhere near Area 51. Article content Article content It was on Carling Avenue. Article content The facility opened in 1952, a joint research project of the National Research Council (NRC), the Defence Research Board (DRB), and the Department of Transportation (DOT). The scientist leading the project worked for DOT: Wilbert Smith, senior radio engineer for the department's Broadcast and Measurements Section. Article content Smith had begun researching UFOs two years earlier, as the lead scientist on Project Magnet, a DOT research study trying to determine not only if alien spaceships existed, but if so, what powered them? One theory was that UFOs used the Earth's magnetic field as a source of propulsion. Article content Smith's geo-magnetic studies seemed promising and in 1952 Project Magnet moved to Shirleys Bay, approximately 15 km west of Ottawa, on what was then a seldom used stretch of Carling Avenue. Article content Smith unpacked his gamma-ray counter, magnetometer, radio receiver and recording gravimeter and set them up in a small building DOT built by the banks of the Ottawa River. This building became the world's first government sanctioned UFO research facility (that we know about. The truth is … well, you know). Article content Article content After two years of radio silence, at 3:01 p.m. on August 8, 1954, something finally happened. The gravimeter at the Shirley's Bay installation 'went wild,' to use Smith's own words. He rushed outside to see what was causing the anomaly but there was nothing in the sky. The clouds were too thick. Article content Article content Two days later, the federal government abruptly shut down the research facility. People have speculated for years about possible reasons for the sudden closure, the most popular being … you can probably guess: Smith had detected an alien aircraft and other people — senior and secretive people — would finish the research project. (Interestingly, the CIA was a partner in Project Magnet. The agency was told about the unusual gravimeter reading the day it happened.) Article content Smith continued to work at Shirley's Bay (though no longer conducting UFO research) and in 1959 claimed to have developed a breakthrough anti-gravity device. In his research notes, he said:
