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Woman in green jacket talking in front of podium
Friday, November 17, 2023 7:30 am - 9:30 am EST (GMT -05:00)

Women's Entrepreneurship Day - Women Entrepreneurs Improving Women's Health

Join the Conrad School for this breakfast session as we celebrate Women in Entrepreneurship Day. Our early-morning fireside chat will include incredible women entrepreneurs working to improve health care for women. Hear what they're doing, learn about some of the challenges they face and what they see in store for the future.

Enjoy some coffee, breakfast and networking to start your day.

Two part-time MBET students in a breakout room
Wednesday, June 14, 2023 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm EDT (GMT -04:00)

Part-Time MBET Information Session

Get an overview of Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET) program with a focus on the part-time program experience. Join us to learn more about the MBET program and the unique Waterloo innovation ecosystem, hear alumni success stories, get tips for the admissions process and ask your questions.

Group of graduate students chatting in the classroom
Thursday, May 25, 2023 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm EDT (GMT -04:00)

Entrepreneurial PhD Fellowship Live Panel Q&A

Join us to meet two current Entrepreneurial PhD Fellowship recipients and the Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET) program director!

Successful fellowship applicants will be enrolled in the MBET part-time program, where they complete the three-year part-time program alongside their regular doctoral studies, tuition-free.

Purpose-driven Waterloo PhD students who complete part-time MBET will be uniquely positioned for ground-breaking successes. Students will develop entrepreneurial mindsets, frameworks and business skills alongside the pursuit of commercializing their research.

Kamal Lutfi headshot
Wednesday, December 10, 2025

Alumni Impact Series: Kamal Lutfi (MBET ’21)

After the closure of his first venture during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kamal Lutfi entered the Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET) program seeking a structured path to relaunch as a founder in Canada’s innovation ecosystem. MBET provided the clarity, community, and disciplined approach he needed to rebuild his entrepreneurial foundation.

Kamal credits the program with reshaping his leadership, strengthening his customer-development discipline, and teaching him to leverage Waterloo’s innovation network. He learned to treat each iteration as a hypothesis and to view failure as valuable data.

Today, Kamal is building a purpose-driven venture grounded in validated opportunity and long-term impact. He continues to stay connected to the Conrad School through mentorship, sharing real-world experience, and creating opportunities for future founders. His journey reflects MBET’s core mission: transforming setbacks into strategy and empowering resilient, evidence-based entrepreneurship.

MBET Students Joshua, Tom, and Charles
Tuesday, December 2, 2025

Building real-world impact in 36 hours

Charles Huxley, Tom Kizito, and Joshua Olonade, three MBET candidates, won the Experience Ventures Hackathon by building a fully functional zero-waste analytics tool in 36 hours. Their “constraint-first” approach, shaped by MBET’s focus on rapid prototyping, customer discovery, and problem-driven design, allowed them to deliver the only live product in the competition: the Zero-Waste Dashboard. The tool provides instant transaction processing, customer segmentation, product insights, and actionable recommendations that small retailers can implement immediately. Their win highlights how MBET equips students to build fast, validate assumptions, and create real-world impact. The team is now exploring opportunities to extend the platform to other retailers seeking simple, data-driven solutions.

Problem Pitch space with students
Friday, December 5, 2025 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm EST (GMT -05:00)

Problem Lab Problem Pitch Fall 2025 Competition Finals

Welcome to the Problem Lab's Problem Pitch Fall 2025 Competition Finals hosted and sponsored by the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business.

The Quantum Valley Investments® Problem Pitch competitions challenge students to research an important problem and pitch their research to a panel of judges. Funding of $7,500 is awarded to support the student team that demonstrates the most thorough understanding of their chosen problem to develop a solution.

The competition will take place Friday, December 5, 2025, from 12:00–2:00 pm in the Pearl Sullivan Engineering (formerly E7) Pitch Space on the second floor. 

The student team finalists are:

  • Cool Flash
  • TaxBuddy
  • Yogipop
  • OBEL
  • Sweet Sorrow
  • HALO

The judges' panel includes:

  • Nabil Fahel, Vice President, Communitech
  • Kyle Faller, Co-founder and CEO, Intelline Inc.
  • Julie Ellis, Founder and CEO


Register to join! 

Problem Pitch space with students
Thursday, November 27, 2025

Problem Pitch Fall 2025 competition finals

The Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business is set to host the Problem Lab’s Problem Pitch Fall 2025 Competition Finals, where student teams will demonstrate the depth of their research into important real-world problems.

Sponsored by Quantum Valley Investments®, the competition awards $7,500 to the team that shows the strongest understanding of the problem they aim to solve.

This year’s finalists represent a wide range of challenges and innovative thinking, supported by a panel of accomplished judges from the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Professor Larry Smith giving a lecture
Wednesday, November 26, 2025

Larry Smith: empowering students to reach their full potential for 45 years

This week, Waterloo News shines a spotlight on professor Larry Smith, who marks a remarkable 45-year milestone of teaching at the University of Waterloo. Over four decades, Smith has become a pillar of the university’s entrepreneurial spirit, helping build its reputation for innovation, risk-taking, and real-world relevance.