Entrepreneurship

When we think of the many contributions that young Canadians make to environmental issues, our minds naturally turn to youth activism – to the energy, the anger and the vision that young people articulate and was in sharp focus during COP28, this year’s annual United Nations climate conference. But I have seen a different side of youth leadership in the environmental space, one based on entrepreneurship and innovation which is often overlooked by our global community.  

Practical and scalable quantum computers are still in the early stages of development, and many technical challenges need to be overcome before they can be widely used for various applications. Researchers and companies globally, as well as right here at the University of Waterloo, are diligently pushing the boundaries of quantum computing technology, driving forward innovations in this emerging field.

A shared interest in sports inspired a University of Waterloo professor and undergraduate student to design a new spinal implant that could help improve neck mobility and mitigate surgical complications.

Detecting a deadly tumor as early as possible is vital to stopping its spread. However, creating the solution doesn’t necessarily solve the problem — it needs to be widely adopted by medical professionals. That’s why standards like the new IEC 62220-2-1: 2023 Medical electrical equipment – Characteristics of digital X-ray imaging devices are so important.  

As more high potential startups grow out of university research, it’s critical to understand how government, industry and academia can align to accelerate commercialization. 

The School of Public Health Sciences (SPHS) has partnered with United College’s GreenHouse and the Centre for Career Development (CDD) to offer Health Sciences students an experiential learning opportunity in HLTH 480, a new required course that will address complex health problems like climate anxiety, kidney disease prevention and management, addiction recovery and more.

On November 30th, the University of Waterloo community came together to support eight finalist teams as they pitched their business ideas for their chance at a slice of more than $20,000 in grants.

See the remarkable achievements of individuals with roots at University of Waterloo recognized on Forbes' 30 Under 30 list.

The annual list highlights young entrepreneurs who are making a difference in their fields. Waterloo-linked founders were named in health care, consumer technology, science, social impact and enterprise technology categories.

The emergence of 5G technology is transforming telecommunications, granting people and industry remarkable capabilities. With research advancements, in the future we could see 5G offer speeds of up to 20 gigabits per second — it far surpasses 4G. This speed not only enables lightning-fast downloads, its low latency, as low as 1 millisecond, is ideal for real-time applications like remote surgery and augmented or virtual reality. 5G's ability to connect up to 1 million devices per square kilometer is also accelerating the development of the Internet of Things (IoT).