Entrepreneurship

We caught up with Iris Redinger (BAS ’21), a recent Waterloo grad from the Waterloo School of Architecture. This summer, she was competitively selected as one of five winners of the Mitacs Entrepreneur Award for her startup Material Futures that uses biotechnology to reduce the environmental impact of the fashion industry.

A medical technology company launched by two Waterloo Engineering graduates is making news this week with the announcement that a device it developed has been successfully used to treat stroke victims.

Vena Medical, which grew out of a Capstone Design project by Michael Phillips and Phillip Cooper when they were classmates in the mechanical engineering program, earned Health Canada approval earlier this year for hardware it calls the Vena Balloon Distal Access Catheter (BDAC).

Global advancements in sciences, together with digital transformation, continue to accelerate innovation, significantly impacting all sectors of the economy. Velocity Science companies lead the way, helping thousands of patients, combating production shortages, and solving accessibility issues and sustainability for long-term solutions.

Nine startups with links to the University of Waterloo were named in a recent report tracking Canadian companies on their way to $1 billion annual revenues, including four companies that grew out of Waterloo’s renowned entrepreneurship program and startup incubator Velocity.

University of Waterloo students may soon be able to order pizza or a burger from a nearby plaza and have it brought to campus by Canada’s first all-weather autonomous delivery robot.

LoopX, a Waterloo Engineering startup company that is developing the technology to do just that, received a $30,000 funding boost recently when it took top prize in the 5G Transportation Challenge sponsored by Rogers and the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network.

It’s all about reputation, which is all about quality. 

It was the reputation of the University of Waterloo’s computer science school that attracted Raouf Boutaba to a faculty position 23 years ago. Today, he is the director of the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, a school that punches far above its weight in international rankings and draws top students and faculty researchers from around the world. 

The University of Waterloo offers many on-campus resources for students to work on their startup ideas in a supportive environment, and the unique Enterprise Co-op program allows students to start their own business while also earning a co-op credit.

The challenges facing humanity are increasingly global in scale and require a more interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to uncovering solutions. It is why we work hard to build and foster international collaborations with institutions around the world. Recently, I travelled to Europe with Professor Ian Rowlands, Associate Vice-President, International, to deepen and expand connections with key partners.

Beyond Velocity’s well-known incubator in Kitchener’s innovation district, Velocity supports more than 5,000 students per year through on-campus programs, such as Zero, Problem Lab and Cornerstone, designed to give University of Waterloo students an early start in entrepreneurship and create experiences to build key skills for any career path.

A graduate of the Waterloo School of Architecture has been recognized by a national organization for young entrepreneurs for her work to make fashion greener.

Iris Redinger (BAS ’21) was one of five winners of Mitacs Entrepreneur Awards honoured at a recent event in Montreal for her Waterloo-based startup company, Material Futures.