A new campus hub of innovation

For Mike Campbell, Sc카지노 게임 컬렉션�13, the scenario couldn카지노 게임 컬렉션�t have been sweeter. He and his two business partners, Rico Garcia, Artsci카지노 게임 컬렉션�13, and former Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s student Jason Caldwell were at an upscale eatery in downtown Kingston where they were hoping to test an invention they wanted to bring to market.

The youthful trio had created an electronic device that allows people to charge cellphones and other mobile devices by plugging them into a pair of charging cables snaking out of a stand-alone wooden box 카지노 게임 컬렉션� essentially a battery wrapped in an attractive case 카지노 게임 컬렉션� that카지노 게임 컬렉션�s placed unobtrusively on the tables and countertops of bars and restaurants.

An artist's rendering of the planned Queen's Innovations Commons building.

The budding entrepreneurs were debating how to convince the restaurant manager to let them approach potential customers, when they overheard a conversation three young women were having at the next table. One of the women wanted to make a phone call, but her phone battery was almost dead and her charger was at home. Campbell seized the ­moment. He introduced himself, pulled out the Charge Centre, and let the young woman recharge her phone on the spot. 카지노 게임 컬렉션�She loved it,카지노 게임 컬렉션� he says. 카지노 게임 컬렉션�We knew then that we had a product we could market.카지노 게임 컬렉션�

Since then, the partners have sold more than two dozen Charge Centres, and they카지노 게임 컬렉션�re working hard to ramp-up production.

But the story here is this Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s trio didn카지노 게임 컬렉션�t dream up their ­invention over coffee or build a prototype in somebody카지노 게임 컬렉션�s garage. They came up with the idea, refined it, and obtained $30,000 in seed money through the Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s Summer Innovation Initiative (QSII), the flagship of the new Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s Innovation Connector (QIC). Now a ­카지노게임사이트-wide initiative in innovation and entrepreneurship, and working with regional, national and international partners, QIC challenges students, faculty, and ­communities to work together to develop and take innovative ideas and products to market, and to launch social initiatives for the benefit of our community, Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s, and the world.

Last summer was the second round for the experiential learning program that brought together students from Engineering and Applied Science, the School of Business, and Arts and Science for four months of paid internship. They explored what it takes to start a successful business in five steps: coming up with a marketable idea; prototyping the product; identifying customers; devising sales strategies; and approaching prospective investors.

A NEW HUB OF INNOVATION ON CAMPUS

An artist's rendering of a student lab. 

The students were coached at every stage by faculty members and alumni mentors. The kind of innovative ideas they envisioned promise to play out countless times in a $45-million building that카지노 게임 컬렉션�s being planned for campus. The Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s Innovation Commons, a futuristic-looking 70,000-square-foot complex, will become the campus hub for the kind of expertise and collaborative environment that fledgling innovators and entrepreneurs need.

The building will house specialized classrooms, offices, equipment, and the creative people who will foster and support learning, collaboration, teamwork, prototyping, and other interrelated ­activities. It will also be a venue in which students and their faculty mentors explore complex, open-ended problems in a multitude of creative ways, whether through QIC, or through unique teaching, design, and research spaces.

Two floors of interdisciplinary, innovative laboratory space will support more than 20 faculty ­researchers with their graduate students in bioengineering, environmental, and biomedical research. High-tech, leading-edge teaching and design studios will be modeled after those in Beamish-Munro Hall, home to the Integrated Learning Centre, with its ­internationally recognized teaching and design spaces. In all aspects, the Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s Innovation Commons will provide spaces where innovation and creativity will thrive and grow.

Some 카지노 게임 컬렉션�creative spaces카지노 게임 컬렉션� already exist at Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s, but they카지노 게임 컬렉션�re scattered in buildings all across campus, and during the school year most are filled to capacity.

카지노 게임 컬렉션�Whether or not they plan to start a business, and regardless of their field of study, today카지노 게임 컬렉션�s graduates need to be entrepreneurial,카지노 게임 컬렉션� says Principal Daniel Woolf. 카지노 게임 컬렉션�They need to think critically and creatively and be able to analyze and assess complex problems. That카지노 게임 컬렉션�s what entrepreneurs do. And that카지노 게임 컬렉션�s what every ­student must do to succeed in today카지노 게임 컬렉션�s competitive world.카지노 게임 컬렉션�

That premise was a central theme of the aptly named Initiative Campaign even before the $500-million fundraising drive was launched in the fall of 2012. 카지노 게임 컬렉션�As its slogan says, we카지노 게임 컬렉션�re striving to unleash the potential of our thinkers and doers, and, by focusing on what we do best, we카지노 게임 컬렉션�ll also be bolstering the ­카지노게임사이트카지노 게임 컬렉션�s reputation nationally and internationally,카지노 게임 컬렉션� says Woolf.

Making Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s even stronger as an institution that helps to ­advance Canada카지노 게임 컬렉션�s political, social, and economic well-being will also enhance the roles of graduates in the global marketplace. ­Nowadays, that promises to be increasingly ­important.

Some hugely innovative businesses have been born in Canada over the years. At their peaks, high-tech companies such as Mitel, Research in Motion, and Northern Telecom (which was run by the great innovator and longtime Board of Trustees member Walter Light, BSc카지노 게임 컬렉션�49, LLD카지노 게임 컬렉션�81) were world leaders. Unfortunately, such successes have become increasingly rare of late. In fact, The Conference Board of Canada noted this year that Canadian innovation ranked 13th among 16 peer countries 카지노 게임 컬렉션� including Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, The Netherlands, Finland and Ireland, all of which topped Canada in the annual ranking.

NEW IDEAS NEEDED TO FUEL CANADA'S ECONOMY

The Conference Board has warned that unless Canada steps up its innovation game, the country카지노 게임 컬렉션�s national per-capita income, ­social programs, and productivity suffer. ­Economically, Canada will fall farther behind. Innovation and ­entrepreneurship are the keys to that better future.

The report affirmed that Canada has excellent universities, ­engineering schools, and training institutes, and that this country카지노 게임 컬렉션�s scientists produce world-class research. However, Canada isn카지노 게임 컬렉션�t ­doing enough of what other countries 카지노 게임 컬렉션� our 카지노 게임 컬렉션�competitors카지노 게임 컬렉션� 카지노 게임 컬렉션� are ­doing to commercialize the fruits of research. As a result, says The Conference Board, Canadian companies are 카지노 게임 컬렉션�rarely at the leading edge of new technology and too often find themselves a generation or more behind the productivity growth achieved by global ­industry leaders.카지노 게임 컬렉션�

This and other less-than-stellar assessments have not gone ­unnoticed at Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s, thanks to both the 카지노게임사이트카지노 게임 컬렉션�s faculty strategists and its network of astute alumni advisors. Some Canadian universities 카지노 게임 컬렉션� Waterloo being a prime example 카지노 게임 컬렉션� have established, or are planning to establish, facilities where innovation and ­entrepreneurship can be nurtured, taught and practised.

However 카지노 게임 컬렉션� and not surprisingly 카지노 게임 컬렉션� Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s iteration of this ­concept differs from others in a number of important respects. The ­construction of the Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s Innovation Commons, a building with a focus on fostering and promoting a culture of innovation and ­entrepreneurship, is just one of the distinguishing characteristics.

Another one that카지노 게임 컬렉션�s equally important is that the Faculty of ­Engineering and Applied Science and Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s School of Business (QSB) are working in tandem to drive the innovation agenda at Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s.

On many, or most, campuses, the tendency is to segregate disciplines into silos. The result is that engineering faculties that want to teach innovation establish a business program or school within the faculty, or else the business school 카지노 게임 컬렉션� if the university has one 카지노 게임 컬렉션� might offer an Engineering 101 course or a stand-alone ­technology-oriented business program. That카지노 게임 컬렉션�s the kind of duplication that can eat up investment dollars. At Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s, bright minds in the ­engineering and business programs have worked in tandem from the get-go.

Dr. Kimberly Woodhouse, Dean of Engineering and Applied Science, began discussions with key alumni and business leaders in 2007, and brought in QSB카지노 게임 컬렉션�s Associate Dean Elspeth Murray, Artsci카지노 게임 컬렉션�85, MBA카지노 게임 컬렉션�87.

It was Woodhouse and Murray who co-conceived the idea for the summer innovation program, assembled a team of faculty ­volunteers and alumni, and launched the pilot in 2012. 카지노 게임 컬렉션�At every juncture, we set out to capitalize on the capabilities and the best of what both faculties had to offer,카지노 게임 컬렉션� says Murray.

QIC Executive Director Greg Bavington (카지노게임사이트 Communications photo)

The initial summer program grew into the broader Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s Innovation Connector (QIC), with leadership from Greg ­Bavington, Sc카지노 게임 컬렉션�85, who accepted the role of QIC카지노 게임 컬렉션�s executive director and is now pulling together a proposal for a new ­Master of Innovation degree program.

카지노 게임 컬렉션�We카지노 게임 컬렉션�ve seed-funded it and proven the concept,카지노 게임 컬렉션� says Murray. 카지노 게임 컬렉션�Now we need to make it larger and something we카지노 게임 컬렉션�re able to do all the time, every year.카지노 게임 컬렉션�

To accomplish this, the program needs a permanent, dedicated space, and the Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s Innovation Commons building will provide that.

Bavington adds that the Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s plan is unique because of the diversity already available in terms of academic programming and physical facilities. Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s ­Innovation Commons will bring many of the diverse areas of innovative teaching, research, and programming under one roof.

"There카지노 게임 컬렉션�s little that카지노 게임 컬렉션�s not being taught at Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s,카지노 게임 컬렉션� says Bavington. 카지노 게임 컬렉션�We don카지노 게임 컬렉션�t do dentistry, veterinary medicine, or architecture, but that카지노 게임 컬렉션�s about it. The fact that we teach and study in so many areas means that QIC stands ready to provide students with opportunities for interdisciplinary research and ventures that just aren카지노 게임 컬렉션�t available at many other universities.카지노 게임 컬렉션�

HIGH-PROFILE INTEREST

An artist's rendering of the exterior of Queen's Innovation Commons.

That카지노 게임 컬렉션�s one reason why the QIC and the other programming ­initiatives planned for the Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s Innovation Commons have ­attracted some high-profile interest, such as that from entrepreneur extraordinaire Gururaj 카지노 게임 컬렉션�Desh카지노 게임 컬렉션� Deshpande, PhD카지노 게임 컬렉션�79 (who was ­profiled in Issue #4-2011, p. 38). The co-founder of Sycamore Networks, a manufacturer of network switches, supports entrepreneurship around the world through his Boston-based Deshpande Foundation, and he카지노 게임 컬렉션�s currently considering an investment in QIC.

A key supporter of the Engineering portion of the ­Initiative Campaign is Calgary resident Michael Norris, Sc카지노 게임 컬렉션�75. His work as senior executive at RBC Capital Markets has made him keenly aware of Canada카지노 게임 컬렉션�s need for more innovative leaders, so when Dean Woodhouse approached him to lead the Engineering campaign, he accepted 카지노 게임 컬렉션� and made a significant lead investment in the proposed Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s Innovation Commons.

카지노 게임 컬렉션�With support through the Initiative Campaign, Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s goal is to educate the best-and-brightest minds for a global future,카지노 게임 컬렉션� says Norris. 카지노 게임 컬렉션�Whether it카지노 게임 컬렉션�s in business, engineering, the social sciences or medicine, Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s students need to acquire a sense of what it takes to build a business before they graduate. Not only will it put them in a much better position to be successful personally, it카지노 게임 컬렉션�s where Canada has to go as a country.카지노 게임 컬렉션�

Mike Campbell, Rico Garcia, and Jason Caldwell, those three budding entrepreneurs with the phone charger, likely couldn카지노 게임 컬렉션�t agree more. Says Campbell, 카지노 게임 컬렉션�We wouldn카지노 게임 컬렉션�t have got to where we are without the QSII.카지노 게임 컬렉션�

And that, as they say, is only the beginning.

The QSII, which is just one of the bright ideas springing to life as part of the QIC program, soon to have a splendid new home 카지노 게임 컬렉션� along with the creative new teaching, design and research spaces, in the Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s Innovations Commons, the new hub of innovation on campus.

The Initiative Campaign and QSB

QSB aims to raise $65 million to invest in the future of the School. There카지노 게임 컬렉션�s an urgent need for more Canadian leaders who have what it takes to succeed in all business environments. To ensure ­students achieve their full potential through an exceptional experience inside and outside the classroom, four areas of focus have been identified that will allow us to remain at the forefront of ­business education and leadership.

• DEVELOPING LEADERS 카지노 게임 컬렉션� $23 million to provide students with more scholarships, bursaries, and leadership opportunities;
• ACCELERATING THOUGHT LEADERSHIP 카지노 게임 컬렉션� $15 million to attract and retain outstanding, innovative, and research-driven faculty who will ensure our students receive an exceptional learning ­experience;
• TRANSFORMING STUDENT LEARNING 카지노 게임 컬렉션� $5 million for measures that develop innovative curriculum and leading-edge teaching techniques; and,
• GOODES HALL ENHANCEMENT 카지노 게임 컬렉션� $22 million to ensure our world-class facility continues to be outfitted with the latest in teaching and learning technology to enable us to deliver an ­exceptional learning experience to our students.

The Initiative Campaign and Engineering

The Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science has a goal of $85 million to inspire greatness and deliver exceptional opportunities to innovate, problem-solve, and work in teams across disciplines and cultures. We must invest in our students, our faculty, our ­programs, our research and our spaces so that our grads go out into the world with a rich capacity for innovation, initiative, and leadership. Four key areas have been identified:

• INSPIRING SPACES 카지노 게임 컬렉션� $45 million in support of the Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s ­Innovation Commons. This purpose-built research and teaching space - the heart of the Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s engineering community 카지노 게임 컬렉션� will also be home to the 카지노게임사이트-wide innovation initiative. A top priority for the 카지노게임사이트, the Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s Innovation Commons will accelerate innovative programming and research across disciplines and across Faculties.
• INSPIRING PROGRAMS 카지노 게임 컬렉션� $12 million to fund programs such as the Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s Innovation Connector (QIC), a joint venture with QSB, and Aboriginal Access to Engineering, which inspires young Aboriginal men and women to develop an interest in math and science and helps them succeed in engineering programs at Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s;
• INSPIRING TEACHING AND RESEARCH 카지노 게임 컬렉션� $18 million to launch the new Centres of Excellence and to attract and retain thought leaders in areas of existing strength and promise; and,
• INSPIRING STUDENT EXPERIENCES 카지노 게임 컬렉션� $10 million to fund ­competitive design teams, outreach programs, conferences, clubs, and student-led campus businesses, and to help establish the Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s Engineering Exchange and Internship Fund, which will provide ­financial assistance while students pursue international learning opportunities.카지노 게임 컬렉션� TOM HARRIS, VICE PRINCIPAL (ADVANCEMENT)