Conrad School Story

We sent off the MBET class of 2023 last week at the annual end-of-year Tradeshow.

25 student ventures set up on the ground floor of the Engineering 7 building (home to the Conrad School), where passing students, faculty, staff and guests stopped by to learn more about the projects that MBETs have been working on for the last 10 months (or more!).

The Tradeshow was followed by a dinner where speeches were made, dessert was delicious and 5 student ventures were presented with prizes. Check out the winners and their ventures, as well as photography from the event!

The work world has been permanently transformed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Zoom meetings are the new norm, even now that pandemic restrictions have been lifted. Employers are increasingly adopting artificial intelligence programs for many work tasks that humans once did.

But against this backdrop there are also labour shortages in many sectors. The unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio is at a historic low across Canada, partly because baby boomers who are close to retirement age have left the workforce, but not enough younger people are coming in behind them.

Last month, the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business celebrated its 20-year anniversary.

In 2002, we opened our doors to welcome the first cohort of the Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET) program, with a mission to expand on Waterloo’s culture of entrepreneurship.

Two decades later, our ­­graduates have launched successful start-ups and innovated in companies globally. They’ve raised millions in series funding, taking top prizes in national and international pitch competitions, and ranked among the best and brightest of the world’s talent.

After 41 years of exemplary service to the University of Waterloo, Howard Armitage, the founding director of the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business (previously known as the Centre for Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology or CBET), retired on July 1^st, 2022.

Howard’s University of Waterloo journey began in 1981 when he was appointed as an Associate Professor in the School of Accounting and Finance. He was later appointed as the Director of Waterloo’s School of Accounting and Finance in 1996.

Rachel Bartholomew (she/her) saw a need in the market for women-centered pelvic floor health tools.

Enabled by Waterloo co-op students, Bartholomew brought her company, HyIvy Health, to life. She hired her first Waterloo co-op student just four weeks after founding the company. With the HyIvy smart pelvic rehab system currently in clinical trials, Bartholomew credits co-op students, who performed roles like mechanical engineer and UX designer with helping her design the portal and app, the user experience, updating the CAD model and writing test procedures for the prototype.