Alumni in running for entrepreneur honours

Monday, July 18, 2016

At least seven Waterloo Engineering alumni are in the running for prestigious Ontario entrepreneur awards sponsored by professional services firm Ernst & Young.

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Dave Kroetsch of Aeryon Labs is one of seven Waterloo Engineering finalists for prestigious entrepreneur award.

Representing companies that produce everything from video games to aerial drones, they are among 50 finalists recently selected from 165 nominees in the regional EY Entrepreneur of the Year program, with winners in 10 categories to be announced at a gala in Toronto on Oct. 27.

An independent panel of judges whittled down the nominees based on criteria including financial performance, vision, leadership, personal integrity and entrepreneurial spirit.

The Waterloo Engineering graduates selected for consideration for the 23rd annual awards include:

  • Ray Cao (SD ’09) of Connections by Exact of Toronto, which uses excess space in e-commerce parcels to distribute targeted product samples and brand offers.
  • Dave Kroetsch (Comp ’02, Mech ’07) of Aeryon Labs Inc. of Waterloo, a leader in the design and production of small unmanned aerial systems. 
  • Kurtis McBride (SD ’04, ’08) of Miovision Technologies Inc. of Kitchener, which helps professionals in 50 countries improve transportation through the use of data and infrastructure.
  • Bob Peacock (Mech ’84) of Almag Aluminum of Brampton, a manufacturer of aluminum extruded products for companies throughout North America.
  • David Ross (Comp ’91) of Ross Video of Ottawa, which designs, manufactures and delivers technology and services to power live video productions.
  • James Schmalz (Mech ’92) and Michael Schmalz (Civil ’91) of Digital Extremes of London, a developer and publisher of video games for Xbox and PlayStation.

The overall Entrepreneur of the Year for Ontario will go on to compete against regional winners from across the country for a national title. The national winner will then represent Canada next summer at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year awards featuring hopefuls from more than 50 countries.

For more information on Aeryon Labs and Miovision Technologies see feature stories uwaterloo.ca/stories/eng-all-weather-drones-are-eyes-sky-during-disasters and engineerthefuture.ca/miovision-entrepreneurship.