Entrepreneurship

I graduated from the University of Waterloo in 2008. I was leaving school and entering one of the worst job markets in history.

In our recent webinar series, Waterloo alumni share their passions and expertise to support others during this strange time.

In a world where just about everyone has a smartphone it also means that almost everyone has become an amateur photographer. In 2019, more than 657 billion smartphone photographs were taken – and many of them blurry. But help is on the way. A promising new student venture, Scope, is hoping their invention of a new type of optical zoom lens system with electronically tunable optical power will help people take better photos while reducing the battery use, costs, and processing power of smartphones.

Sometimes, the most difficult times create the best opportunities for impact. In the midst of a global crisis, we’ve heard from dozens of alumni who shared their efforts to support essential workers.

While it can be difficult to capture all of the amazing work Waterloo’s alumni is doing in the face of COVID-19, here are a few of their stories.

Parents looking for educational resources for their kids have turned to Prodigy, a company created by Waterloo alumni Rohan Mahimker (BASc ’11) and Alexander Peters (BASc ’11).

Their role-playing game by the same name serves over 50 million students in grades 1 through 8, or about 25 per cent of kids in North America. Players create avatars that battle monsters in a magical world, defeating their adversaries by solving math problems.

Innovative solutions to serious medical problems took four of six $10,000 prizes up for grabs when student teams competed via video this month in an annual pitch competition for startup companies.

The new format, which replaced in-person presentations at the Norman Esch Entrepreneurship Awards for Capstone Design due to the coronavirus crisis, gave graduating students five minutes to explain their projects instead of the usual three minutes, followed by questions.

Synaptive Medical’s office is buzzing on a bright afternoon in February. Health Canada just approved the company’s latest product, Evry™, an MRI system for emergency rooms. Co-founder and president Cam Piron (BASc ’98) has just arrived on a redeye flight from Calgary, and he’s on his way to the office to give interviews and begin next steps with his team. 

“We have one system installed in Nova Scotia, and a few sites ready to go in Toronto,” he says. “It’s going to be very exciting for us to see physicians use Evry to treat patients.”

In our rapidly  changing  economy,  corporate leaders  must respond to  the  opportunities  and challenges of  the  shifting  nature of work.  Canada and the world need creative minds who can  expertly  navigate  disruption  and leverage new  technologies  to ensure a prosperous economic future.

Executives from the private and public sector explored how to future-proof the Canadian workforce by attracting and retaining top talent at the Waterloo Innovation Summit in Ottawa.