Hilliard startup Avianova developing cooling earpiece to reduce vertigo; CityLab cited as early support

Noor Taish Hamim, founder of Avianova and executive director of Jordan Student Space Outreach and Academic Relations (JSOAR), described work on a prototype cooling earpiece she said can blunt spatial disorientation and motion sickness in aircraft and spaceflight during an interview on the Hilliard CityLab Connect podcast.

Hamim said the device uses localized cooling of the inner ear to reduce vestibular reactivity and that Avianova has reached early development milestones, including two provisional patent applications and eight letters of intent from Department of Defense and healthcare partners. "It's kind of like a cold plunge for your ears," Hamim said.

The project gained early support from the Hilliard CityLab tech incubator, which Hamim said provided mentoring, networking and an innovation grant that helped her move from a conceptual pitch deck to partnership discussions with manufacturers and distributors. "City of Hilliard staff...said, 'Let's get a meeting,' and that gave me a lot of confidence," she said.

Why it matters: Hamim framed the device as addressing a persistent operational problem. She told the podcast…