While a student at uWaterloo, Mike enjoyed a well-rounded experience; from academics to sports to research to flying, he did it all!
Making the choice of which university to attend is often a difficult choice for students, but not for Mike - throughout his high school career at Waterloo Collegiate Institute, he saw the connections to uWaterloo across the community. His love of physics made the choice clear. He soon found a new community in one of his favourite places on campus: the infamous study room on the first floor of the Physics building.
"The room always had students working in it, and there was always someone to ask for help," he says. "It was a great place to work."
In fourth year, Mike jumped at the opportunity to work in the Nanoscale Biophysics Group, led by Dr. Zoya Leonenko. "It was incredible to be working with an Atomic Force Microscope in a research lab while still in undergrad."
Looking back on his days in Physics, Mike recalls another community highlight, this time on an intramural soccer team. "It was a once-in-a-lifetime season with a bunch of great players and a really great coach. We went undefeated the whole season... I don't even think we got scored on once!" Summers were spent in the air as a flying instructor, a refreshing break from the rigors of his academic program.
So, how exactly does a background in physics and software engineering, with research in biophysics and flying on the side, lead to an impressive career in eCommerce? The path to CEO of Smile.io started before graduation with web consulting - working on complete builds, platform migrations, and even design & marketing work. Mike and a group of friends saw a need in the marketplace and created Sweet Tooth Rewards to help merchants grow and retain a customer base through rewards programs. Starting off in the Accelerator Centre, Sweet Tooth evolved into Smile.io. It has now over 100 million participants around the world, and offices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Europe, Asia and South America. For Mike, it is exhilarating to be at the forefront of a global trend. What Mike likes best about his company is that each day is different, with a new puzzle to solve.
While the specific skills taught by an education in physics are not often in play, Mike relies on the soft skills he learned through his academic career on a daily basis: programming, data analysis, graph interpretation, and problem solving. When asked what advice he would give to new students starting today, "Get into as much programming as possible," he offers.
"These skills are super transferrable, and are a toolkit you can use for wherever you go after. When you’re in the thick of things, it’s easy to lose sight. Build skills outside of academia!"
