Entrepreneurship

Ed Sudicky occasionally pushes a sports car beyond 250 km-h on a race track. But he is just as fascinated by the performance of water systems, where speeds below ground might be measured in as little as millimetres per decade.

Ed Sudicky, professor of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Waterloo.

When Henry Shi arrived in New York City for his co-op term at Bloomberg Sports, the pressure was on:  The major league baseball season was set to start in April, and a losing team was looking for statistical tools to change its fate.

University of Waterloo president Feridun Hamdullapur presents Henry Shi with the top co-op student of the year award.

As pioneers in co-operative education, Waterloo was one of the first to recognize the educational value of connecting students and industry.

Peggy Jarvie, executive director of Co-operative Education and Career Action (CECA) at the University of Waterloo

On Valentine’s Day, with so many students separated by a co-op term, a group of Waterloo alumni has launched a promotional video for an app they created for long-distance sweethearts.

Couple, which was previously known as Pair, helps couples share everyday life even if they’re not in the same city. Couple lets two people chat by video or text, share photos, sketch together and even give each other a “Thumbkiss”.

Rohit Ramchandani and a group of children in Zambia, Africa.

The problem is huge, the solution simple, and Rohit Ramchandani and his team are closing the gap.

It has buzzed over battlefields, spotted grow-ops and helped count seals in Alaska.

Aeryon Labs Inc’s flagship product, the Scout, has been turning appreciative heads since the Waterloo company was incorporated in 2007.

University of Waterloo pioneered experiential learning with its co-operative program. The introduction of VeloCity in 2008 took this form of learning to new heights. VeloCity gives students the opportunity to test ideas quickly, and respond even more quickly, based on real-time results – it allows for learning from mistakes in a safe environment. The result: innovation.

Known internationally for its startup culture, Waterloo Region is home to many seasoned entrepreneurs and organizations like Communitech, eager to offer their resources to budding entrepreneurs. Connections are at the heart of entrepreneurship, and key to why many VeloCity entrepreneurs participate in University of Waterloo’s Velocity Residence, Garage and Campus programs.

Connections, credibility and much-needed capital — key components of start-up success — are on the line when entrepreneurial students at the University of Waterloo compete for a piece of the VeloCity Venture Fund.

On a co-op placement in California, Mike McCauley came home one day to find that he had missed a parcel because he couldn’t be around when it was delivered.

“The more we heard about this problem, the more we saw an opportunity to solve it,’' says Aditya Bali, who with University of Waterloo classmates McCauley and Jay Shah founded BufferBox, a more consumer-friendly delivery system.