CHOSEN BECAUSE: 

Three fourth-year computer-science students at Ontario’s University of Waterloo — Jason Williamson, 39; Bingxu Hu, 23; and Rebecca Brown, 23 — teamed up to solve a nagging and costly paperwork problem for companies that maintain fleets of trucks and heavy equipment. Their new CircleChek software, in beta testing, digitizes pen-and-paper daily inspections while also complying with provincial transportation and labour standards. Operators input the data using a smartphone app, enabling managers to have on-the-fly access to inspections, analytics and custom checklists. Bingxu says CircleChek is also suited to dealerships and repair shops, allowing customers to upload data and receive diagnostics and repair estimates online. Manufacturers might also find uses for the software, he said. The nascent company operates from the Velocity Garage in Kitchener, Ont., an incubator for startup companies. 

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

BINGXU HU: “We really wanted to build a tool that users actually want to use — something that’s user-friendly. We want to look into how we can automate the whole process.” 

JASON WILLIAMSON: “Everybody’s carrying smartphones these days. If they can just jump on them and enter the data, then we removed a pain point.” 

REBECCA BROWN: “It would not be difficult to extend [CircleChek’s] capabilities to truck or van fleets.”