News

Young entrepreneur and BBA Jessica Fan joins The Next 36

Dec 9, 2011

Simon Fraser University student Jessica Fan is in elite company as a member of “The Next 36.” The prestigious entrepreneurial leadership program seeks out the country’s most promising undergraduate top young entrepreneurs and challenges them to create their own ventures. A fourth-year student majoring jointly in business and interactive arts and technology at SFU Surrey, Fan will spend much of the next year working with cohorts at Queens University, the University of Waterloo and the University of Toronto – more »

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SFU launches Canada’s largest undergrad investment fund

Nov 30, 2011

Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business has launched the Beedie Endowment Asset Management (BEAM) fund. With a value of $5 million, it’s the largest undergraduate-student managed investment fund in Canada. The BEAM fund is second in size overall after SFU’s $10.8 million Student Investment Advisory Service, which is managed by SFU graduate business students. Students participating in BEAM will be allowed to manage $5 million of the Beedie School’s endowment fund, created in 2011 more »

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Project Management Career Speaker event engages high school students

Nov 29, 2011

On November 22, 2011, Wideman Education Foundation (WEF) hosted their third annual Project Management Career Speaker Event to high school students at Simon Fraser University’s Surrey campus. Among the speakers was Rich Brodowski, Project Manager with the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. He described his PM experience that involved providing governance to Bell Canada’s Olympic Program, ONE that involved, voice, data, logistics and business functions for the winter games. Joan Vincent, President of the Wideman Education Foundation, more »

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Beedie students spread United Way cheer at SFU Surrey

Nov 28, 2011

Beedie School of Business BusOne students at Simon Fraser University’s Surrey campus will spread some Christmas cheer for the United Way on Friday, Dec. 2. The students, all in their first year of study, are putting their business creativity to the test to raise money, doing everything from photos with Santa to a “Rent-a-Biz-Kid” opportunity, during the special United Way event on the Mezzanine from 2:30 – 5:30 p.m. Among other ideas, shoppers can purchase prize-popping more »

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Social ventures from Beedie win kudos, investment from top entrepreneurs

Nov 24, 2011

5 projects by SFU students—all social ventures aimed at creating positive change—were chosen from 10 finalists to win Ashoka Canada’s Be a Changemaker Challenge Nov. 23. In October, SFU, UBC and Ashoka also ran a boot camp to train students how to build and fund sustainable ventures. The contestants were eligible for up to $1,000 each in seed funding to launch their social ventures, in addition to incubation support through Ashoka Canada and Ashoka's Youth Venture. Most of the entrants were from SFU Beedie School of Business lecturer Shawn Smith’s BUS 492 class in social entrepreneurship and innovation, which teaches the fundamentals of creating socially impactful ventures while coaching students through the process. “More than just community engagement I think it is entirely critical to instill a sense of responsibility, and possibility, in our emerging leaders,” says Smith.

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Vancouver Canucks give MBA social media project warm reception

Nov 24, 2011

Last week, when Cervenko was invited by a friend to a private “Cocktails with the Canucks” function in downtown Vancouver, she hastily grabbed her playoff towel on her way out the door not knowing what to expect of the event. In the back of her mind, she had big plans for the white space on the towel. A Simon Fraser University MBA student, Cervenko needed some star power for a social media project. The assignment: partner with a local non-profit and create a social media strategy with the objective of raising financial support or awareness for this organization. Cervenko and her group chose The Dugout — a drop-in centre on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside that hosts one of the longest-running Alcoholics Anonymous programs in Vancouver. “The reason I thought about The Dugout was because in the 1970s and ’80s it would stay open late so that their clients could have a warm and safe place to watch the Canucks games,” says Cervenko. “But because of a lack of funding they don’t have the resources to stay open late anymore.”

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Beedie hosts Candid Conversation with Walmart Canada about Sustainability

Nov 24, 2011

SFU’s Beedie School of Business hosted “A Candid Conversation with Walmart Canada about Sustainability” on Monday, November 21 at the Segal Graduate School of Business in downtown Vancouver. The event was co-sponsored by SFU Beedie’s CMA Centre for Strategic Change and Performance Measurement and SFU Beedie’s NetImpact Chapter. A diverse and engaged audience — consisting of SFU MBAs and BBAs, plus students, faculty and industry professionals from across the Lower Mainland — joined the Beedie School to learn more more »

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Beedie undergrad is SFU’s Student Entrepreneur of the Year

Nov 24, 2011

The founder of a burgeoning online instant gift card company is Simon Fraser University’s newest Student Entrepreneur of the Year. Matias Marquez, an undergraduate student in the Beedie School of Business, took the honour at the Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) annual competition held on Nov. 19. His company, Buyatab.com, Canada’s leading digital gift card processor is a “software-as-a-service” digital gift card processing technology that becomes embedded onto its customers’ websites. According to Marquez, thousands of merchant locations across more »

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Vancouver Startup Weekend brings BC entrepreneurship community to SFU

Nov 22, 2011

Vancouver Startup Weekend, sponsored by the Beedie School of Business and hosted at the Segal Graduate School in downtown Vancouver, brought together entrepreneurs from across the region to develop their business ideas from early-stage conceptualization to real-world viability. A panel of local entrepreneurs and investors awarded first place to “My Best Helper” at the Vancouver Startup Weekend. “My Best Helper” is a web-based service that matches caregivers with people who need their services.  Nannies, babysitters, more »

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AACSB BizEd Magazine profiles Beedie Mobile: What’s App-enin’ At B-Schools

Nov 21, 2011

That was the case for the Beedie School. A team of five SFU computer science and business students created Beedie's app as a 13-week project for an interdisciplinary course, "Foundations of Innovation" in 2010. Jan Kietzmann, who teaches the course, planned to make iPhone app design a general focus for the course. But he says it was a "natural progression" to shift the focus to creating a Beedie School app. The team was guided in the project by Kietzmann; Moscato; Dan Shapiro, the dean; and Andrew Gemino, associate dean of undergraduate programs and associate professor of management information systems. After the course ended, Moscato continued to work with the students to perfect the app before its release five months later in spring 2011. "Although the project was introduced to the students from 'up top,' the students really loved the idea and took it upon themselves to identify where and how an app could help improve their lives as students," says Kietzmann. The students decided that the Beedie School app should be an information hub. They wanted it to integrate the school's Twitter and Facebook feeds with links to announcements about current research from school faculty and graduate students, says Justin Lee, a member of the student team.

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