News

Nanorobots and hydrogen fuel cell technology among i2I Venture Pitch 2023 winners

Oct 20, 2023

Advancements in mRNA drug delivery with nanorobots and hydrogen fuel cell technology took home the prizes at this year’s invention to Innovation (i2I) Venture Competition at SFU’s Beedie School of Business. The annual event is a platform celebrating a group of entrepreneurial scientists graduating from SFU Beedie’s Invention to Innovation (i2I) Graduate Certificate in Science and Technology Commercialization. It provides an opportunity for six participants to pitch their research-based innovation ideas to a panel of […]

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SFU Beedie founded Invention to Innovation (i2I) program developing scientist innovators for major international collaboration on spinal cord research

Jul 18, 2022

The quest to repair severed spinal cords has brought together the brightest minds from across institutions and disciplines in a spinal cord injury research program, Mend the Gap, that was recently awarded $24 million in government funding from Canada’s New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF). SFU Beedie’s Invention to Innovation (i2I) program played a key part in landing this funding for Mend the Gap because the training advances research as well as broadening researcher career […]

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From spinal cord research to circular plastics: Mitacs i2I Skills Training finale celebrates scientist innovators

May 27, 2022

Janis Kan, neuroscience PhD candidate at Queen’s University, has taken home top honours at the 2022 Mitacs Invention to Innovation (i2I) Skills Training Final Pitch Competition. Kan, co-founder of Dynamiris, which aims to aid clinicians in the early identification of neurological issues, was named the winner and received a $5,000 prize from SFU Innovates and customized mentoring in her regional ecosystem. Dr. Christopher Mueller, professor and founding member of the Queen’s Cancer Research Institute in […]

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Winners named in i2I Venture Pitch competition

Oct 26, 2021

An innovative electrochemical water treatment process and an advanced tool for use in genome sequencing applications were the winning innovation ideas at the 2021 i2I Venture Pitch Competition. The annual event – this year in Hybrid format – saw scientist-entrepreneurs graduating from the Invention to Innovation (i2I) program at SFU’s Beedie School of Business pitching their research-based innovation ideas to a panel of judges with a wealth of experience in mentoring scientist-entrepreneurs and in advising […]

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Award-winning entrepreneur training program celebrates inaugural year and expands

Sep 24, 2020

Mitacs and the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University (SFU Beedie) have renewed a partnership to offer the Invention to Innovation (i2I) program for graduate students. Over seven months, i2I Skills Training equips participants with the frameworks, perspectives, and techniques to develop an innovation mindset and commercialize their inventions while overcoming marketplace challenges. Created by SFU Beedie, the program recently won international recognition after AACSB International — the world’s largest business education network — highlighted […]

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Trail-blazing innovation in clean tech sparks start-up

Jun 10, 2019

Growing up in Metro Vancouver, Ben Britton dreamed of one day starting his own business. But he never imagined he would realize his dream by making a breakthrough in renewable energy while working on his SFU PhD project. This month Britton, the co-founder and chief strategy officer of start-up Ionomr Innovations Inc., graduates with a PhD in chemistry and a wealth of experience in business commercialization garnered during his SFU journey. Ionomr, a clean-tech, advanced […]

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Digital health solution and pioneering medical treatment win SFU Beedie science and tech venture competition

Oct 19, 2018

An advanced fuel cell technology, a treatment for arthritis, and a wearable massage device were among the ventures pitched to a panel of industry judges at the third annual Venture Pitch Competition at Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business. The event, which took place on October 10, 2018, brought together five scientist-entrepreneurship students in the third cohort of the invention to Innovation (i2I) program at SFU Beedie’s Segal Graduate School. This graduate certificate program […]

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SFU’s Ionomr wins prestigious Energy prize in Berlin

Apr 17, 2018

  An SFU start-up company has won a major international energy award today at Berlin’s Tech Festival. Ionomr was among three companies—including others from Sweden and Israel—in its category and among 18 overall vying for top awards. Company co-founder and SFU PhD student Benjamin Britton is in Berlin and was recognized during the festival’s Energy Transition Dialogue. Britton is also an alumnus of the Invention to Innovation program at SFU’s Beedie School of Business. The companies were […]

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First Beedie Graduate Certificate cohort transforming invention to innovation

Oct 7, 2016

The first students to complete the new Graduate Certificate in Science and Technology Commercialization program at SFU’s Beedie School of Business are preparing to transform their game-changing technology inventions into viable, commercialized innovations.

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The Province: B.C. universities grease the skids for marketable innovation

Oct 3, 2016

The following is an extract from an article published by The Province on September 30. By Randy Shore. 

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