Entrepreneurship

One thing about working at a startup — the orientation tour is pretty short.

Not that Kaley Bibic has any complaints about that. A University of Waterloo student in systems design engineering, Bibic zeroed in on Waterloo Region’s startup community when she set out to find her first co-op placement.

She wanted “real, hands-on opportunities.

Laura Barkin notices a marked improvement in her mood and learning when she reads for classes on a stationary bike. But a typical stationary bike doesn’t allow her to write or use a computer – a big limitation for the average student.

That’s why Barkin is on a mission to bring FitDesks– kinetic desks that allow students to keep active while they study – to the University of Waterloo.

Jeffrey Azzolin has been hitting the ice almost as long as he’s been hitting the books.

The mechanical engineering grad (BASc ’13) first laced up as a minor hockey player in grade school. He spent his elementary and high school years playing rep hockey in Ajax, Ontario. At Waterloo, he was part of an intramural team.

The maker movement — a global do-it-yourself culture of people who make things — has inspired a group of Waterloo Engineering students to create a soldering iron that’s safe and easy to use.

“We specifically designed the Solder Otter for the Maker Market,” said Vanessa Guido, a systems design engineering student and chief executive officer of Solder Otter. “We’ve had a lot of great feedback on our product.”

Media are invited to attend a showcase of some of the top startups emerging from the University of Waterloo’s entrepreneurship programs.

The zebra mussel has a bad reputation as being an invasive species but a Waterloo researcher is using the maligned mussel as inspiration for developing sticky synthetic adhesives that he hopes will be used in the human body some day.

“We do not copy nature. We’re just inspired by it,” says Boxin Zhao, a professor in Waterloo’s Department of Chemical Engineering. “We ask, ‘What’s the chemistry and how do we use it?' ”

Three sustainability leaders from the University of Waterloo have been named to the annual Corporate Knights Top 30 under 30 list. The list honours young entrepreneurs, activists, corporate professionals and students making social and environmental change worldwide.

The Waterloo Aboriginal Education Centre at St. Paul's University College at the University of Waterloo is hosting its Aboriginal Entrepreneurship workshop Saturday and media are invited to attend.  Students will work in teams and receive guidance from university and business instructors.

A first aid kit for mental health and custom-fit compression sleeves for breast cancer survivors are just two of the startup ideas teams will pitch at the inaugural Big Ideas Challenge for Health and Wellbeing at the University of Waterloo on Monday.