Current graduate students

As Business Development/Operations Lead at Ametros Learning Inc., James is helping drive growth for Yuta, an AI-enabled experiential learning and assessment platform. His journey highlights how the Conrad School’s MBET program connects classroom learning with real-world opportunities through faculty mentorship, peer collaboration and Waterloo’s thriving innovation ecosystem.

From learning alongside classmates with diverse backgrounds to building meaningful relationships with faculty members, James discovered that the value of MBET extends far beyond the classroom.

Read James’s alumni impact story to discover how MBET helped him turn connections into opportunities and build a career at the intersection of business and technology.

The University of Waterloo has been ranked the top Canadian university for producing entrepreneurs in PitchBook’s 2026 University Rankings, placing seventh globally and becoming the first Canadian university to break into the top 10.

Waterloo was also recognized as the fastest riser in PitchBook’s rankings for female founders with undergraduate degrees, climbing to 11th globally.

Inspired by their own dietary needs and shared love of matcha, this mother-daughter duo launched Hearty as a pop-up offering handcrafted, premium matcha drinks made with allergy-friendly, clean ingredients. Since then, they have hosted more than 45 events and served more than 1,500 drinks across the Waterloo Region.

Both founders have brought their Conrad School experiences into the venture. Shatha is completed the MBET program, where she gained mentorship, market insights and an entrepreneurial community that supported Hearty's development. Jana, a Mechatronics Engineering student, took BET 300 during Hearty's early stages and applied the course's business planning, analysis and communication tools directly to the venture.

Their story demonstrates how entrepreneurial education can help turn a personal need into a business opportunity and how combining different perspectives, from engineering to business strategy, can help a venture grow.

From improving access to clean drinking water to advancing space sustainability, student innovators from across the University of Waterloo showcased bold ideas with the potential to solve some of society's most pressing challenges during the Spring 2026 Quantum Valley Investments® Problem Pitch Competition Finals.

Part-time Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET) and Entrepreneurial PhD Fellow student Hasti Shwan has been featured in Waterloo News for his work developing GeoSafe Climate.

Hasti's work reflects the entrepreneurial mindset we foster at the Conrad School: transforming research into practical solutions that create real-world impact.