Pat Whalen (BScChE’03) would probably say that spending time in the research lab was one of the keys to success for LuminUltra, the molecular diagnostic testing company he leads in Fredericton that now operates in six countries. The lab has been a place he’s felt comfortable in since he was just 15 years old.
The company was founded by his father, Phil Whalen (BScChE’70, MScChE’72), and in the early days, he recruited his teenage son, Pat, as a lab technician. Pat says that his father had a fervent belief that research could make a difference.
“Dad was a big believer in continuous improvement and always wanted to continue researching to do better and better in all facets of his life, from his profession as a consulting engineer to his passion for the game of golf.”
Today, Pat carries on that tradition with the company, albeit not directly from the lab himself any longer. As chairman and CEO, he’s constantly working to create market opportunities, find efficiencies and roll out new and better solutions for testing microbiological activity in water and wastewater. “Sometimes we can get a bit carried away with doing things better and faster, but I can’t imagine how we would have gotten to where we are without that core philosophy of continuous improvement that was infused into the company from day one.”
Day one was back in the mid-’90s when Phil Whalen and business partner Jim Cairns were just starting to explore new concepts in biological wastewater treatment optimization. Having worked for many years at NB Power after graduating from UNB, Phil used his knowledge of the power and environmental sectors to begin consulting with coal mines, oil companies and power plants across North America to help them clean up their wastewater. He and Jim came up with the idea to apply a new testing technology that was just beginning to be used in industrial water applications that could identify many micro-organisms in a sample of water in real time, facilitating decision making in minutes instead of days.
“Dad realized he needed some more hands in the lab, so he tasked my brother, Tony (BScChE’94), to train me on the ins and outs of being a laboratory technician. That pretty much set me on the path towards chemical engineering, and I continued to work in the lab throughout my studies at UNB. It was at UNB where I learned how to learn. I was taught to think critically, how to critique and how to take critique. My time at UNB really taught me how to get beyond roadblocks and find solutions.”
During the course of his studies, Pat took a summer co-op term in the Alberta oil patch. It was there he realized that the core philosophy of continuous improvement is better executed in smaller, more nimble organizations. He rejoined his father and took LuminUltra’s main product to market in 2003. “As with most entrepreneurial endeavours, it took twice as long and cost twice as much as we thought.”
Unfortunately, Phil passed away in 2009. Pat, just 28 years old but already with more than a dozen years of experience in the field, took over as LuminUltra’s CEO. Shortly after that, LuminUltra became profitable as a result of the extensive market development and continued product research in those early days.
In the years since, the company has continued to evolve, enhancing its line of products to include solutions that monitor and control microbes in drinking water, manufacturing industries, energy applications and wastewater treatment. In 2018, they acquired another molecular diagnostics company focused on building next-generation DNA analysis tools, as well as opening offices in the United States and Europe. In 2019 they began working on automated monitoring and decision-support tools that would effectively lead to the world’s first intervention-free applied molecular diagnostic solutions.
Then came 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Canada’s prime minister put out a call to action in March for businesses to help in the fight against COVID-19, and LuminUltra quickly responded, applying its expertise in molecular diagnostic testing solutions to produce 500,000 COVID-19 clinical test kits per week for the national testing program. In 2020 alone, they manufactured and shipped components for more than 18 million test kits across Canada.
The company also collaborated with Dalhousie University to create and test a new product, resulting in patent filing for the world’s first complete, rapid, and on-site COVID-19 wastewater testing solution — making non-invasive community health assessment far more accessible to communities and businesses around the world. This opened up a market opportunity to partner with the CDC for the National Wastewater Surveillance System, testing for the virus that causes COVID-19 in wastewater from hundreds of sites across the U.S.
To meet new demand, LuminUltra scaled up its operations by opening a new, multimillion-dollar, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Fredericton and doubling its employees. “We did in four months what would normally take four years. It really felt like we went to battle in 2020-21. It was one of the most stressful and also most rewarding times in my life.”
"I can’t imagine how we would have gotten to where we are without that core philosophy of continuous improvement that was infused into the company from day one.”
Pat says that today, the company is now stabilizing and has made the strategic decision to exit the clinical diagnostic market and go back to its original focus – water. “We are incredibly proud to have been able to step up to the plate for Canada during a difficult time for our country. Every single thing that was asked of us – from the provision of mobile testing labs to chemical reagents for clinical tests – we delivered in full. It was a two-year tornado, and we’re now in a far better position going forward. When the pandemic first arrived in Canada at the start of 2020, our initial reaction was to batten down the hatches and prepare for a slower year. But we heeded the call to action and we did the right thing. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to step up and I’m proud of what our team accomplished.”
As it moves forward, LuminUltra does so with 118 employees globally, 37 of those being UNB graduates (two long-time employees are Pat’s university roommates, Derek Dunn (BScChE’03) and Dave Tracey (BScChE’02)). “We love to hire UNB grads, and it goes to show you can be world-class from right here in New Brunswick. Our research and production capacity rivals the biggest and best in the world.”
“We’ve grown bigger than Dad ever thought we would. He had the idea and I’ve been lucky enough to be able to employ fantastic people and partner with wonderful organizations around the world to help us succeed. It’s been a great ride and I am excited for what the future holds.”
Photos courtesy of Bang On Photography
