Alumni

Entrepreneurship scholar and global leader joins the Conrad School to advance innovation and interdisciplinary growth.

The Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business is excited to welcome Dr. Felix Arndt as its new director, effective July 1, 2025. A global leader in entrepreneurship, innovation, and sustainability, Dr. Arndt brings deep academic expertise and a proven track record of turning research into real-world impact.

We are thrilled to have Dr. Arndt lead the Conrad School into its next chapter of growth, global engagement, and interdisciplinary innovation.

From a motorcycle crash in August 2022 to founding a peer‑powered mental wellness platform, Jerome Mugambi embodies the resilience and community mindset fostered in Waterloo’s MBET program. 

Within twelve months of the accident, he rode coast‑to‑coast across Canada to confront fear head‑on, built a nationwide motorcycling community, and reignited his passion for basketball through youth coaching. 

Today, his startup OpenUp uses AI‑assisted mentor matching to make mental health support radically accessible, an idea refined through League  of  Innovators, DMZ, YSpace, Innovation  Factory, and Builders Club  Waterloo.

Each term, undergraduate students from the Enterprise Co-op (E Co-op) program compete for financial awards during their opening weeks in the program.

Students compete in a pitch competition for two awards, the E-Launch and the Norman Esch Enterprise Co-op awards each worth $5,000.

Aileen Agada, an MBET alumna and founder of BeBlended, was recently spotlighted on CTV News for her innovative approach to connecting Black women with skilled hairstylists.

Entrepreneurial talent was on full display this winter term as students and alumni from the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business at the University of Waterloo made impressive showings at pitch competitions on and off campus. From healthcare innovations to systems thinking and advanced materials, these student ventures are addressing real-world problems with creativity, drive, and impact. 

Virangi Shah, a first-year PhD student in Entrepreneurship and Organization at the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business, has achieved a remarkable milestone in her academic journey. Her paper, accepted at the prestigious Administrative Sciences Association of Canada (ASAC) 2025 conference, marks an exciting achievement for the rising scholar and exemplifies her drive to make a significant impact in the field of entrepreneurship.

The Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business at the University of Waterloo is thrilled to announce that Dr. Marc Hurwitz has been named a recipient of the prestigious Distinguished Teacher Award (DTA) for 2025. 

The DTA is the highest accolade for teaching awarded by the University of Waterloo. Professor Marc Hurwitz’s selection for this prestigious honor speaks to his deep dedication to fostering student success, his innovative approach to teaching, and his profound influence on students both inside and outside the classroom. 

The Conrad School has a unique history with this award, having had three faculty who were previous winners: Dr. Larry Smith, Dr. Howard Armitage (founder of the Conrad School), and Dr. Wayne Chang.