News

Industrial waste solutions company founded by SFU Beedie alumni named 2022 Canada’s Sustainability Changemaker

Jul 28, 2022

The planet’s dwindling freshwater supply is a major global 21st century problem—and it’s little surprise, considering it takes 2,700 litres of water just to make one T-shirt. That’s enough water for one person to drink for almost three years. And that’s not considering the environmental impact of processing the wastewater resulting from these industrial productions. In 2015, $9 billion dollars were spent trucking polluted water to holes and pumping it down, a process both costly […]

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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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SFU Chang Institute for Entrepreneurship and Coast Capital Venture Connection alumnus Kaito Cunningham raises $23m to fund crypto start-up

Jun 22, 2022

Decentralized autonomous organizations, otherwise known as DAOs, are a type of blockchain-based organization without leadership or management that allows for decision-making purely by shareholder voting—think of it like a digital co-operative. But just how does a company that decentralizes a majority of their operations handle payroll, accounting and other basic back office tasks? 23-year-old former SFU Beedie student and SFU Charles Chang Institute for Entrepreneurship alumnus Kaito Cunningham has co-founded a cryptocurrency start-up, Utopia Labs, […]

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SFU remains Canada’s top university for innovation, rises to number one worldwide for entrepreneurial spirit in global ranking

Jun 17, 2022

Simon Fraser University has ranked once more as Canada’s number one university for innovation and has moved up to number one in the world for entrepreneurial spirit, according to the World’s Universities with Real Impact (WURI) 2022 rankings. The WURI rankings measure how universities contribute to society and highlight creative and innovative approaches to university research and education by evaluating university programs for innovativeness, implementability and impact. “I am so proud of the creativity and […]

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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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SFU entrepreneurs named Changemakers by The Globe and Mail for innovative startups in tech and sustainability

Feb 25, 2022

Two SFU alumni have been named in The Globe and Mail’s Report on Business Magazine‘s 2022 Changemakers, an annual list of emerging leaders transforming business today. Rene Blanco and Sumreen Rattan, entrepreneurs from The Charles Chang Institute for Entrepreneurship, are two of 50 Canada-wide award recipients comprised of entrepreneurs, academics and executives who are striving to find innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing issues. Both Blanco and Rattan developed their startups through SFU’s Coast […]

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From “energizing” to “yikes!”: Faculty members talk about their return to in-person teaching

Nov 30, 2021

We recently asked five faculty members to describe their return to in-person teaching in one word. Kathleen Burke, a university lecturer in the Beedie School of Business, said the experience was “energizing.” Taco Niet, an assistant professor in the School of Sustainable Energy Engineering, chose “surreal.” Leanne Johnson, a lecturer in the Master of Publishing Program, gave us “yikes!” Ash Parameswaran, a professor in the School of Engineering Science, said it “felt really good” (we […]

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Changing the Face of Sustainable Energy: Alumni Startup Moment Energy Closes $3.5 Million Seed Round

Nov 19, 2021

Moment Energy, a sustainable startup transforming second-life electric vehicle batteries and a client of SFU’s Coast Capital Savings Venture Connection incubator program, recently closed a $3.5 million seed funding round led by Version One Ventures. Co-founded by four graduates from SFU’s Mechatronic Systems Engineering Program, Moment Energy creates sustainable energy storage systems by repurposing retired electric vehicle batteries. The startup’s solution has been installed in off-grid areas to reduce diesel consumption and enables a transition to renewable energy.  To date […]

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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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SFU Beedie Executive MBA alumni win SFU’s largest entrepreneurship competition

Apr 22, 2021

Labora Consulting Services Corp. has won the top prize in SFU’s 10th annual Coast Capital Savings Venture Prize competition, taking home a $35,000-prize package. Labora’s AgTech platform provides a simple and secure digital payroll service to farmers enabling their seasonal agricultural workers to transfer remittances back home. The founders, Rene Blanco, Jaspal Brar and Ryan Klatt developed the idea for Labora while completing the Executive MBA program at SFU Beedie. In 2019, Labora won the Top Idea […]

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