David Bayda no longer has his invention notepad he owned when he was 12 — like everything he’s gone digital — but he still remembers the product that graced its opening page, his first invention. 

It was a hairbrush that dispensed water when you squeezed the handle to make it easier for him to comb his hair.

It wasn’t that the now 34-year-old had wild and woolly hair, quite the opposite. 

“But it seemed inefficient to constantly put the brush under the faucet and brush it through my hair,” Bayda said.

“I thought there had to be a better way.”

That creative attitude has stuck with Bayda and led him to found Edmonton Inventor’s Group about five years ago.

“I tried to find an inventors club in Edmonton and couldn’t find one,” he said.

“I knew there’d be other inventors out there and I wanted to have a community group that we could all come together, share our ideas, and support each other.”

The collective mind

Now, a collection of up to 20 people meet every two to three months to share their knowledge.

And the number of spaces that are receptive to a group of visionaries is also expanding. Makerspaces and hackerspaces continue to pop up around the city. 

“There’s more to be gained by sharing your idea than what you would lose by sharing it.” — Edmonton Inventor’s Group founder David Bayda

Places like the Edmonton New Technology Society, located at 6740 121 Ave NW, allow inventors access to everything from wood and metal machinery equipment to an electronics lab, pottery studio, and 3D printers.

Access to equipment is just one facet of the inventor’s group, Bayda said.

Members also get help with information on everything from patents to marketing, intellectual property issues and distribution.

Products to market

Bayda said members of the group are working on a variety of items including men’s hygiene product, oil and gas technology, odour control and reduction products and app developments.

“We bring in people who have never invented and others who have brought products to market and they help mentor other inventors,” he said.

“This is about bringing people together to try and get an idea to market and to bring it to life. 

“There’s more to be gained by sharing your idea than what you would lose by sharing it.

“Once people realize how much time, money, resources, energy you have to pour into make an idea and bring it to life, people will quickly shy away from it.”

The secret to inventing, Bayda said, is perseverance.

“The hardest thing is really being committed to your product and knowing what it takes to bring it to life,” he said.

“I think people might give up prematurely or underestimate what it takes to get it going.”