OCE Blog

Learning through interactions with artificially intelligent characters

Mon, 21 Nov 2016 17:06:14 Z

This is the first in "Innovating to meet today's classroom challenges", a series of blogs about exciting new projects being developed to benefit Ontario’s education system with support from Ontario Centres of Excellence’s (OCE's) AdvancingEducation program.

Academic professional schools such as law, engineering, medical or business schools must ensure that students develop a broad skill set that covers not only advanced theoretical knowledge, but also professional knowledge – the ability to work in a manner consistent with the competencies, ethics and processes demanded by their respective professions. One of the most powerful methods for helping students develop these skills is to embed them in realistic simulations, dealing with real-world challenges and interacting with colleagues and teams. Until recently, the technologies required to develop and support highly interactive and engaging simulations have been prohibitively expensive and required extensive technical expertise.

Queen’s University Faculty of Law identified this need for ensuring knowledge integration as a major challenge confronting academic professional schools and partnered with Ametros Learning to develop a solution.

Their proposed solution is to build on Ametros Learning’s Digital Simulation Platform (ADSP) to develop an intelligent simulation platform through which non-technical teams can build and share complex, interactive simulations in law, medicine, engineering and business. Utilizing cognitive computing (artificial intelligence) and natural language processing, the platform enables professors, instructional designers (those who develop learning experiences) and professional trainers to create and deliver online simulations and modules that immerse the learner in a professional context and provide artificially intelligent characters to interact with.

How will this technology help students?

Case-based teaching, delivered through authentic simulations that reflect real-world challenges, is a leading way for students to develop the crucial problem solving and decision-making skills needed for succeeding in their careers. The new platform will offer students a way to learn these skills in an online, interactive format.

OCE recently approved funding under its AdvancingEducation program to help the Queen’s University Faculty of Law and Ametros Learning develop a simulation platform for Queen’s Law students. They are also partnering with a consortium of international law schools to bring the platform to Hong Kong, the U.K. and Australia.

Queen's Law is actively seeking to partner internally with medicine and engineering to explore, incorporate and expand intelligent simulation within cross-disciplinary pedagogical strategies. A number of additional faculties at Queen's University have, as a result of the partnership between Queen's Law and Ametros, expressed strong interest in the adoption of intelligent simulation.

Ametros Learning's business plan has been accelerated six months ahead of schedule as a result of the partnership formed through the AdvancingEducation program. Just nine months after its incorporation, the company has commercialized its platform and over 1,200 students at Ryerson University are taking simulation-based courses in business and engineering communication this fall. The shared resources with Queen’s have allowed Ametros Learning to commit to hiring three full-time employees and developing more projects.

OCE is currently accepting applications to Round 2 of the AdvancingEducation program until Jan. 23, 2017.

AdvancingEducation helps connect Ontario’s public education system with companies to test early-market interest and demonstrate innovative products and technologies in an education setting. This includes English and French K-12 schools as well as post-secondary institutions. Designed to bolster innovation in Ontario’s public education system through partnerships between schools and companies, the program invests in collaborative innovation procurement projects to demonstrate new technologies in a public sector setting as a means of building a strong case for adoption and system-wide scaling.

BusinessMakers - Ken Schultz

Tue, 25 Oct 2016 15:19:11 Z

I also enjoy the variety of my job – always multiple projects on the go, stimulating discussions with entrepreneurs, professors, and veteran business people. Yesterday it was pavement research, today it’s educational software or novel spectrometers, tomorrow it’ll be video analytics. There are always new opportunities both to learn and to apply my previous experience.

What is your professional background?
I have three degrees in Electrical Engineering, including a PhD from U of T. I began my career as a chip designer at Bell-Northern Research and Nortel. Then I co-founded a semiconductor company, which I ran for four years as CEO, raising multiple rounds of VC money as revenues scaled to over $5M annually. That enabled me to learn from both my experienced executive team and the “school of hard knocks”. After the unplanned hiatus that followed, I moved from Ottawa to Waterloo to join a growing company then known as RIM, where I worked for six years, building a 40-person department and culminating in a Director role.

Describe your areas of specialization?
On the “soft side”, I can help clients with organizational growth and leadership, strategy, and entrepreneurship. On the “hard” side, I bring expertise in ICT (Information and Communication Technologies), embedded systems (hardware and software), semiconductors, telecom and mobile.

What is your best piece of advice for a start-up or entrepreneur?
It will always take more time and money than you think to accomplish anything. Don’t be too proud to hire people that know more than you do. Build a varied team, take their advice, but in the end, know that the buck stops at the CEO. Keep yourself healthy, because it truly is a marathon, and not a sprint. Be aware of how your start-up fits into the rest of your life – your values, your family; and don’t make compromises blindly or flippantly.

What book or movie would you recommend to a budding entrepreneur and why?
Watch Glengarry Glen Ross to learn about sales, and check your gut for how you react. Run your business so that your values dictate your tactics, and not the other way around. Watch Gladiator to learn about determination and servant leadership.

Connect with Ken on LinkedIn.

BusinessMakers - Gillian Sheldon

Mon, 17 Oct 2016 15:55:24 Z

What is your professional background?
Prior to joining OCE, I spent over 20 years working in municipal economic development both in Canada and in Scotland. Academically, I have an MBA from Glasgow Caledonian University and Certificate in Economic Development from EDAC/University of Waterloo.

Describe your areas of specialization?
I’m a generalist by background, but have a particular interest in advanced manufacturing.

What is your best piece of advice for a start-up or entrepreneur?
Once you’ve confirmed there is a need for your product/service in the market, the best thing you can do is find a mentor or advisory team that can help and support you in taking it to market.

What do you look for in a company when assessing potential for success?
The leadership team – it can make or break a company.

What book or movie would you recommend to a budding entrepreneur and why?
Simon Sinek's Start with Why. It challenges you to think about what an organization does, how it does it, and why.

What are your personal interests and hobbies?
An avid photographer, I co-organize a local photography group that runs workshops and outings. I also like to read, and volunteer at community events.

Connect with Gillian on LinkedIn.

BusinessMakers - Yuan Lew

Wed, 03 Aug 2016 15:41:03 Z

With our feet-on-the ground approach, OCE provides expert advice and guidance through a 40-person team of Business Development (BD) experts deployed regionally in nine locations across the province.

Meet Yuan Lew who works out of Ontario’s Central region.

What do you enjoy most about your BD role?
OCE BDs are on the ground throughout the province, ready to help drive innovation within this province. We provide feedback, introductions and assist with access to OCE funding programs.

I most enjoy being a facilitator and delivering value to OCE’s stakeholders. OCE is sectoral agnostic and I meet many stakeholders within the innovation ecosystem. I see different technologies in various stages of development. I also see the blurring of lines between sectors and industries, with companies and partners from different sectors coming together to deliver new solutions. It’s exciting being a connector within this space.

Internally, I am constantly amazed by OCE BD teams’ collaborative spirit. We are sub-divided into different teams and we work cohesively together. As a new employee, I have not had a chance to even meet some of the BD Managers in person. However, everyone is accessible and we come together to help each other. My colleagues are just a phone call away and available as mentors, coaches and sounding boards. In fact, OCE feels like one big team. I tell people I have a team of 100 OCE employees behind me.

There are days where I leave work feeling super pumped and stimulated because this is a great place to work and the impact we are delivering is significant. To paraphrase a colleague of mine, it’s nice to get a sense of gratitude and to see how we are useful – not only in helping companies obtain funding, but just in providing feedback and strategically important introductions to other parties.

What is your professional background?
I began my tertiary academic career majoring in biochemistry. I then completed a Masters in immunology. I realized then that I would love to broaden my horizons and therefore, I went to business school and completed my MBA. I was as an investment analyst at a venture capital firm specializing in life sciences investments. Prior to joining OCE in mid-2015, I was a technology transfer professional at University Health Network.

Describe your areas of specialization?
Academic Technology Transfer, commercialization, intellectual property management, and industry-academic partnership creation.

What is your best piece of advice for a start-up or entrepreneur?
Surround yourself with people smarter than you.

What book or movie would you recommend to a budding entrepreneur and why?
I enjoy anything by Malcolm Gladwell, the topics are outside of my training in life sciences. So my recommendation – think and read beyond the boundaries you have set yourself. Your next business opportunity may be where you’ve least expected.

Connect with Yuan on LinkedIn.

BusinessMakers - Dan Ruby

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 15:36:08 Z

What is your professional background?
My most recent role, prior to joining OCE, was as an Economic Development Officer for the City of Vaughan, responsible for the Innovative Research, Development and Design convergence sector. In this capacity, I was responsible for leading the development of the Vaughan International Commercialization Centre initiative. Prior to working for Vaughan, I managed the York Small Business Enterprise Centre (YSBEC) for the Regional Municipality of York and the Ministry of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure. I am also a serial entrepreneur, having founded four companies and have taught several courses on business planning and starting a business for youth.

Describe your areas of specialization?
My university degree is in the life sciences, but my true specialty lies in entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship and building collaborative networks. While leading the YSBEC, I created and led the “Business Innovation in Changing Times” conference series, a collaboration of 34 partner organizations including government, academia and industry. Also in this role, I co-created the Green Connections Network (GCN), a network of 45 organizations dedicated to sharing environmentally friendly business practices. Through GCN I was awarded the inaugural “Green Ruby” award in 2014, given annually to an individual or business who champions the green economy.

What is your best piece of advice for a start-up or entrepreneur?
Leverage the work of others that have come before you and don’t recreate the wheel. No one is successful in business without help, so look for genuine caring mentors and build your network. There are a tremendous number of amazing people out there that just want to give back. Also look for partnering opportunities and champion co-opetition, as a rising tide floats all boats.

What do you look for in a company when assessing potential for success?
I look at the founder. Ideas are everywhere; you just have to reach out and grab one. It’s not strictly the idea that determines success in business, it’s the energy and passion that an entrepreneur puts into developing their business idea that will determine success. The enthusiasm and integrity of the founder is what wins me over.

What book or movie would you recommend to a budding entrepreneur and why?
Dr. Ernesto Sirolli’s Ripples from the Zambezi: Passion, Entrepreneurship, and the Rebirth of Local Economies. Every business is supported by three pillars: operations, finance and sales / marketing. No one person has expertise in all three area’s therefore every entrepreneur needs to consider partnering with experts in these areas. “There's only one thing that all the successful companies in the world have in common: None was started by one person.” - Ernesto Sirolli

What are your personal interests/hobbies?
I coach hockey for all three of my sons’ teams. I also play men’s league hockey and enjoy taking RV trips with my wife and children.

Connect with Dan on LinkedIn.

BusinessMakers - Rebecca Tran

Tue, 31 May 2016 19:17:17 Z

What is your professional background?
I spent the last 10 years in consulting, helping companies with their R&D tax credits strategies and initiatives. By working directly with companies and industry early in my career, I have gained and built my professional narrative over the years and have been able to provide value to companies whom I still keep in touch with today.

Describe your areas of specialization?
Advanced Manufacturing; Alberta-Ontario Opportunities; Business Tax Incentives; Entrepreneur and SME Support.

What is your best piece of advice for a start-up or entrepreneur?
Stay real. Coming up with a solution that is innovative and addresses a real problem is great, but coming up with a solution that has business sense, keeping revenue top of mind, and being able to scale is another thing. My advice is to stay grounded and make sure your business plan is realistic and scalable – after that, make sure you execute and deliver.

What do you look for in a company when assessing potential for success?
The team to start (including mentors/advisors). After that, assess whether the solution is addressing something real with a market opportunity and look at their traction-to-date.

What book or movie would you recommend to a budding entrepreneur and why?
A mentor of mine once said, “you’re always selling” – whether it’s the next big idea, your product/solution, or simply yourself – you’re always selling. With selling, comes negotiating, and for that reason, Getting to Yes: How To Negotiate Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher, William Ury, and Bruce Patton.

What are your personal interests/hobbies?
Travel, yoga/dance, classical music

Connect with Rebecca on LinkedIn.

Government as innovation consumer: Good for business, good for public service

Tue, 17 May 2016 13:54:39 Z

By Matthew Johnson

Over the past decade many industrialized jurisdictions around the world have diverted substantial public resources to innovation, in an effort to diversify and safeguard local economies against tumultuous and unpredictable global market conditions. Economies driven by innovation – defined here for our purposes as the invention and application at scale of new technology products and services – are adaptable, can rapidly create massive wealth, and employ citizens in high-quality jobs; as such it is the express objective of many regions to develop a sustainable innovation-based economy.

This public investment in innovation is an essential stimulus – it de-risks early-stage technology development and commercialization, fosters entrepreneurship and spurs the growth of new companies, and can attract significant foreign investment to a region. The United States annually commits $2.2 billion for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Technology Transfer Research (SSTR) programs, which together provide high-growth small businesses with R&D funds to pursue commercially-viable innovations. In Ontario, OCE has long been a vital partner to the provincial government in the delivery of successful innovation support programs focused on industry-academic R&D collaboration, entrepreneurship, and technology commercialization. Yet except for the occasional unicorn (I’m looking at you, Kik and Shopify), true scale remains largely elusive for our homegrown tech start-ups. The larger investments (Series B and up) required to fuel company growth are few and far between in Ontario, and thus access to global markets remains a challenge.

Governments are beginning to address the “scale-up problem” with targeted funding, but these supply-side efforts are increasingly now also being combined with demand-side initiatives. This is based on a growing recognition of the potential of the public sector to drive adoption and scaling of innovation with its formidable buying power. Public sector procurement of innovation has immense potential to improve the quality and efficiency of public services, while concurrently serving as a “critical mass” of adoption that effectively creates and drives demand for innovative products and services.

In Europe, the Innovation Union initiative has established a broad set of public policies and programs, including the European Innovation Partnerships (EIPs), which bring together public and private sector partners across the research and innovation chain at EU, national, and regional levels to:

step up collaborative research and development efforts;
coordinate investments in demonstration and pilots;
anticipate and fast-track any necessary regulation and standards; and
mobilize ‘demand’ in particular through better coordinated public procurement to ensure that any breakthroughs are quickly brought to market.

The EIP program is intended to be challenge-driven, focusing on projects that have high potential for scaling and whose impact will be substantive within important public sectors including health, agriculture, and civic infrastructure.

In 2012 the Government of Canada committed to sustaining the Build in Canada Innovation Program (BCIP). Through this program innovative solutions targeting priority areas are reviewed and pre-approved for evaluation by federal departments, providing entrepreneurs with important market feedback and offering a path to adoption and procurement by the government. BCIP periodically issues Calls for Proposals from innovative Canadian businesses in the areas of environment, safety and security, health, enabling technologies, and military.

Ontario is similarly deploying new demand-side initiatives in the public sector with intent to expand capacity for innovation procurement. Most notable is the creation of the new office of the Ontario Chief Health Innovation Strategist (OCHIS). Based on the recommendations of an expert council, and through the unprecedented collaboration of three government Ministries, the OCHIS has been given a dual mandate to improve health services for patients and grow the health innovation sector in Ontario, already one of the best in the world. An integral part of the OCHIS strategy is to broker and support public and private-sector collaborations to demonstrate and evaluate innovative technologies developed by Ontario companies, with a focus on the key challenges in healthcare, in order to build a strong case for procurement and diffusion across the system. Complementary to these efforts are those undertaken as part of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s Healthcare Sector Supply Chain Strategy, which has recently assembled an expert panel of its own to guide a transition to strategic value-based procurement in Ontario.

Over the past few years OCE has been at the forefront in the design and deployment of new innovation procurement programs in Ontario’s largest public sectors – health and education. In partnership with the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, OCE launched the AdvancingHealth program in 2014, ultimately funding 10 innovative collaborations between public healthcare and Ontario industry partners. These collaborations demonstrated new Ontario-made technologies in a public healthcare setting, building a primary use case supporting adoption of the innovation, while testing new models for early market engagement and procurement. Each of two rounds of the program was given a theme based on strategic challenges in the healthcare system, namely community-based virtual care, mental health, and patient engagement.

Based on the market uptake and success of the Advancing program model in healthcare, OCE has recently launched the AdvancingEducation program, which aims to enhance capacity for innovation procurement by the public education sector. Also challenge-driven, the theme for the first round of the program was “Student engagement technologies that improve learning outcomes and/or accessibility”. AdvancingEducation further broadens the opportunity for public sector innovation procurement with potential for societal impact and industry sector development, while also supporting the Ministry of Education’s Achieving Excellence strategy calling for the expanded use of technology in the classroom.

Though it represents a huge opportunity for enhanced public services and technology sector development, innovation procurement is not without its barriers. Change management is a significant challenge, as public sector institutions tend to be very large and complex, with long-established workflows and myriad stakeholders which must be actively engaged and encouraged through the change process. In seeing Ontario through the transition to a sustainable innovation-based economy, it will take dedicated and energetic people in both the public and private sectors to confront and overcome the many barriers to change – it will take champions. As we’ve done for nearly 30 years, OCE will continue to identify, connect, and support our innovation champions across all sectors, so that all Ontarians may benefit from the innovation economy.

Other healthcare resources:

Healthcare Supply Chain Network - Innovation Procurement Toolkit

Conference Board of Canada Council for Innovation Procurement in Health care

Other education resources:

Ihub Educational Research & Innovation Hub

Mindshare Learning Technology

Matthew Johnson has recently been appointed to OCE’s new position of Director, Innovation Procurement, and will lead the deployment of OCE’s innovation procurement program portfolio including AdvancingHealth and AdvancingEducation, and any new procurement-focused programs.

BusinessMakers - Brad Brinton

Mon, 16 May 2016 15:11:38 Z

What is your professional background?
I have a PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology complemented by over 15 years of experience in drug discovery, business development and medical affairs.

Describe your areas of specialization?
Life Science Technologies; Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals; Medical Devices; Material Sciences; Entrepreneur Support.

What is your best piece of advice for a start-up or entrepreneur?
Carpe diem!

What do you look for in a company when assessing potential for success?
Enthusiastic, energetic founders who are confident yet willing to acknowledge what they don’t know and accept advice.

What book or movie would you recommend to a budding entrepreneur and why?
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman - A thought-provoking dialogue on how faults and biases influence choices made in business.

Connect with Brad on LinkedIn.

BusinessMakers - Jessie Maggard

Tue, 03 May 2016 13:54:11 Z

What is your professional background?
Before joining OCE seven years ago, I managed the R&D team in a medical implant start-up in London, Ontario. Prior to that, I did my graduate research on sleep/alertness monitoring technology for narcoleptic patients. I also worked in a variety of software and hardware companies, from large corporation to young start-ups through my Co-op education.

Describe your areas of specialization?
I tend to specialize in ICT, digital media and healthcare technologies.

What is your best piece of advice for a start-up or entrepreneur?
Entrepreneurs are flooded with advice, sometimes contradictory advice. I do advocate using every meeting as an opportunity to get feedback from as wide of a variety of people as possible. But then you need to weigh all this feedback by considering their sources, because even really helpful mentors are influenced by their background and by their mandate.

What do you look for in a company when assessing potential for success?
I look for companies with champions, intrapreneurs in senior management or start-ups with committed, cohesive founding teams. These key people are the drivers for potential success. Even if the opportunity still has gaps today, as long as these key people are coachable, they will learn quickly how to narrow-in on the market opportunities, how to gather resources to build the right technology, and how to commercialize and grow.

What book or movie would you recommend to a budding entrepreneur and why?
Where Good Ideas Come From – The Natural History of Innovation by Steven Johnson. This book talks about how good ideas and great inventions are not born in vacuum. A myriad of factors need to be just right and then an idea’s time has come. It also talks about the type of places and environments where more good ideas are born or improved upon. So this book helps new entrepreneurs to better assess whether their idea’s time is right, and whether they are frequenting the right places to come up with the best ideas.

Connect with Jessie on LinkedIn.

OCE Leading the Way in Ontario’s Cleantech Sector

Fri, 22 Apr 2016 14:24:54 Z

Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) has played a key role in the innovation and development of Ontario’s cleantech sector. Through its various programs and strategic initiatives, OCE has funded projects, created jobs, and grown the Ontario economy in an environmentally-responsible way.

In recent years, OCE has...

Funded 243 cleantech-related projects
Created or retained nearly 900 jobs
Achieved $52 million in follow-on investment
Allocated 14.1 per cent of its investments to the energy and environment sector

Success Stories: OCE-Supported Companies

Hydrostor has developed the world’s first underwater compressed air energy storage method. Operated by Toronto Hydro, the system includes underwater air storage 2.5 km offshore in Lake Ontario and a mechanical facility on Toronto Island. The system stores electricity during off-peak hours when electricity is cheapest, and returns the stored electricity during times of high demand or during short-term power outages. The system produces zero emissions and is the lowest cost energy storage solution available.

Clear Blue Technologies provides off-grid power supply for street lighting, security cameras, and other common devices that are often costly to install. The company’s solar and wind charge controllers can be integrated into these devices, eliminating the need to dig trenches and install cable. Powered by solar and wind energy, the devices become much easier and cheaper to install, power, and maintain. The hardware is supported by cloud software capable of 24/7 monitoring and remote control.

Tyromer has developed a method of devulcanization, which allows rubber tires to be recycled. Ontario produces more than 12 million scrap tires per year, most of which are burned. This causes valuable rubber to be wasted while contributing to air pollution. Tyromer’s chemical-free devulcanization process is 99 per cent efficient, and can turn scraps into a useful rubber polymer, called Tyromer. This breakthrough is capable of reducing air pollution and the amount of greenhouse gases produced from tire manufacturing.

OCE’s Strategic Initiatives

Supported with $74 million from the Ontario government's Green Investment Fund, the Greenhouse Gas Innovation Initiative is aimed at helping Ontario meet its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets by encouraging industry to adopt leading-edge technology and supporting Ontario’s entrepreneurs in developing creative solutions.

Three roundtable discussions are being held in person on May 9 and 18. The roundtables will bring together stakeholders from across the province to address the barriers relating to the implementation of technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at large industrial sites.

Cleantech at Discovery

The following cleantech companies will be exhibited at Discovery 2016:

2ND LOT

Advanced Technology Emissions Solutions Inc.

Brightworks Solar Inc.

Building Up

Centre for Alternative Wastewater Treatment, Fleming College

CoPower

ECONSE

Global Emissions Systems Inc.

Toronto and Region Conservation Authority

Toronto Tool Library

U of T Blue Sky Solar Racing

For a complete list of this year’s exhibitors, visit: www.ocediscovery.com/exhibitors.

BusinessMakers - Ivette Vera-Perez

Tue, 19 Apr 2016 20:07:58 Z

What is your professional background?
I am a mechanical Engineer by background, with a specialization in Thermal Energy Systems. I did my graduate studies doing research on a waste treatment technology called “supercritical Water Oxidation.” I later went on to do an MBA. And I’ve worked with start-ups in all possible ways: I was part of one, I later helped raise VC financing for early stage companies, and at OCE, I continue to assist start-ups!

Describe your areas of specialization?
My areas of expertise, and passion, are energy, cleantech, and anything related to emissions reductions.

What is your best piece of advice for a start-up or entrepreneur?
Network network network. I am a terrible “networker” myself, so I prefer to call it “professional socializing.” That way the term loses its contrived connotation, and you can enjoy it!

What do you look for in a company when assessing potential for success?
The perfect marriage of great technology and great people, but I put people first. The technology can always be improved, and it’s the people who build a great company.

What book or movie would you recommend to a budding entrepreneur and why?
The Kon-Tiki Expedition, by Raft Across the South Seas by Thor Heyerdahl. It tells the real-life story of how six young men defied expert advice and crossed the Pacific on a balsa wood raft, in order to prove the possibility of Heyerdahl's theory of Polynesian origins from early America. The Kon-Tiki expedition was one extraordinarily entrepreneurial enterprise. Metaphorically speaking, I’d say every entrepreneur must build their own “Kon-Tiki” and sail off to pursue their dreams. Interestingly, almost 70 years later science has validated Heyerdahl’s theory as very plausible.

Connect with Ivette on LinkedIn.

BusinessMakers - Philippa King

Tue, 12 Apr 2016 13:55:59 Z

What is your professional background?
I have a PhD in Chemistry and 10 years of experience in business development roles.

Describe your areas of specialization?
Chemistry, materials, manufacturing, health technologies, defense and security.

What is your best piece of advice for a start-up or entrepreneur?
Surround yourself with an good team because you're going to need them to overcome all the obstacles that come with starting a company.

What do you look for in a company when assessing potential for success?
I look for a good team, solid technology and a strong market opportunity with customer pull.

What book or movie would you recommend to a budding entrepreneur and why?
The Innovator's Dilemma – a long-standing must read for entrepreneurs.

Connect with Philippa on LinkedIn.

BusinessMakers - Ross Bradsen

Mon, 04 Apr 2016 15:07:36 Z

What is your professional background?
Engineering, Marketing, Consulting, weekend Entrepreneur and small-time Angel Investor. I have worked in the automotive industry (UK and Canada) and the consumer packaged goods industry. I have developed and launched several new products over the years in sectors ranging from medical, automotive, construction, consumer packaged goods to toys. Also, I have managed teams in various functional areas including R&D, Product Development, Manufacturing, Marketing and Business Development.

Describe your areas of specialization?
Manufacturing, Materials Technology, Automotive and Consumer Packaged Goods.

What is your best piece of advice for a start-up or entrepreneur?
Same as Steve Blank – Get out of the building and ask customers if they will buy your product or service and at what price.

What do you look for in a company when assessing potential for success?
An ambitious, focused, resourceful, action-oriented management team (the Jockey). A well-differentiated product that customers want (the Race Horse). A market that is big, growing, new or open to compete in (the Race Course).

What book or movie would you recommend to a budding entrepreneur and why?
Getting To Yes by Fisher, Uri and Patton; Gorilla Marketing by Tony Anderson; Crossing The Chasm and Inside the Tornado by Geoffrey Moore, The Lean Start Up by Eric Ries; The Four Steps to the Epiphany by Steve Blank; The Toyota Way by Jeffrey Liker. The common theme in all these books is focusing everything you do on the end-user / final customer, and to continuously strive to get better, faster, cheaper.

Personal Interests:
Soccer, Watford Football Club, Cottage Life, Motorized Toys, Local Live Music.

Connect with Ross on LinkedIn.

Get to know our CEOs - Sam Molyneux, Meta

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 14:00:04 Z

OCE supports hundreds of award-winning companies across Ontario, from start-ups based in our colleges and universities to scale-ups with global sales.

Hear from some CEOs about their journey to success.

Meet Sam Molyneux, CEO of Meta.

Tell us about your company and its history.

Meta is an artificial intelligence created to serve science. We use AI to monitor and map the universe of scientific information, including its future horizons, so industries throughout science can accelerate their work and understand where science is heading. Our mission is to organize and deliver the world's scientific and technical information.

I founded the company with my sister, Amy Molyneux, five years ago. Originally called Sciencescape, the company focused on helping researchers make sense of the thousands of scholarly articles that are published every day. As we set out to solve this challenge, we immersed ourselves deeply into science-focused organizations around the globe – from publishers, to tools companies, to government agencies and beyond. In doing so, we realized that the problem of information overload affected not just the research community, but the entire scientific ecosystem. We also realized that our data and machine intelligence capabilities could be applied to streamline information delivery within each of these markets to help re-connect the scientific ecosystem.

Meta is the culmination of 5+ years of research, understanding and implementation. Meta Science, our free literature discovery platform allow academics to stream and explore the literature through any of the 62 million people, concepts, and journals that make up the world of science, while our commercial platform services provide cutting edge tools and applications to help industries throughout science to solve their toughest information challenges.

How did you get the idea for your company?

The idea came when I was working on my PhD in the field of cancer genomics at the University of Toronto. My team identified a gene that caused bone cancer in mice, and as we went to publish a major paper on our findings, we realized that we overlapped on certain aspects of the paper by multiple groups who suddenly had articles in press within 12 months of the time that we were producing the manuscript.

This is common occurrence in biomedical research, mainly due to the sheer volume of work being published on a daily basis (up to 4,000 biomedical papers per day, 1.5 million per year), along with a lack of ability to stream and explore the literature effectively. It’s literally impossible to understand at a global scale where research is going, and who is working on what.

So I teamed up with my sister, Amy Molyneux – who happened to be an incredible developer with experience developing large-scale online platforms – and together we took on the challenge of building an online platform that would solve the problem of literature overload and allow people to stream and discover the literature in a more organic way. Sciencescape, and eventually Meta, was born from that challenge.

How do you view your role as CEO of your company?

I break down my role as CEO in three ways:
1) Ensuring that we are well funded and able to continue to deliver on our mission.
2) Setting the strategy for the company.
3) Recruiting the right people to collaborate on our mission. Inspiring that team into action and insuring that the team has what they need to be successful in their roles, while being a champion of the incredible work that they do every day.

What is the most rewarding aspect of being an entrepreneur?

I get to work every day with the most talented group of individuals – experts from across a wide range of markets and industries – to help solve one of the biggest challenges affecting scientific progress today. To be able to work with such an incredible team, who share the same vision and belief in our mission, is easily the most rewarding part of my job.

What is your best piece of advice for others wanting to start a company?

Choose a problem worth solving, in a big market.

Meaningful problems beget great missions. Every company is hard to start, and your mission is what will attract the great talent and resources you will likely need to succeed. Beyond this, a great mission will sustain you personally through the intense challenges and marathon ahead.

What did OCE’s support mean to your company?

The support we’ve received through OCE, both financially and through mentorship, has been critical to our success as an organization. Through OCE’s support, we’ve been able to grow our company and create jobs throughout North America, including Toronto, Victoria, Tel Aviv and San Francisco. We would not be where we are today were it not for the support of OCE.

Meta is an artificial intelligence created to serve science. Meta continuously maps and monitors the universe of science, as well as its future horizons. Industries throughout the scientific ecosystem–from researchers to funders and publishers–use Meta to surface key insights, accelerate their work, and understand where science is going. Meta’s mission is to organize and deliver the world’s scientific and technical information.

BusinessMakers - Samira Afrand

Mon, 21 Mar 2016 15:51:20 Z

What is your professional background?
I have over eight years of experience in public and non-profit sector in business development. In my role as Business Development Manager I am responsible for building partnerships between industry and academia to foster collaborative projects and start-up opportunities to commercialize innovative technologies and products in Eastern and Northern Ontario.

Describe your areas of specialization?
I specialize in commercial evaluation of technologies in industries such as ICT, energy, automotive, food & beverage, manufacturing, health and Social Innovation. My academic background is in Molecular Biology/Biotechnology with a management degree.

What is your best piece of advice for a start-up or entrepreneur?
Make sure that your solution is filling a real void in the market, a solution or service that people are willing to pay for. Be honest with yourself about whether your solution is offering a true differentiation. Engage with your customers and seek regular feedback.

What do you look for in a company when assessing potential for success?
How coachable is the team? People make technology, technology doesn’t make people. Ideas are subject to change, products will pivot, markets can take sudden turns, but people are what hold everything together. Make sure the people you are bringing on are there for the right reasons. Understanding your strengths and limitations is key.

What book or movie would you recommend to a budding entrepreneur and why?
The Art of Start by Guy Kawasaki. It is relatable, humorous and the ultimate entrepreneurship handbook.

Connect with Samira on LinkedIn.

Get to know our CEOs - Nadia Hamilton, Magnusmode

Mon, 14 Mar 2016 19:34:50 Z

OCE supports hundreds of award-winning companies across Ontario, from start-ups based in our colleges and universities to scale-ups with global sales.

Hear from some CEOs about their journey to success.

Meet Nadia Hamilton, CEO of Magnusmode.

Tell us about your work history.

I’ve lived for over 25 years with my brother, Troy, who has autism. When you live with someone with autism, it has a profound effect on your interests and values as a person. The compassion and strength I learned from him inspired me to volunteer avidly with Autism Ontario, Toronto Police Service, and Habitat for Humanity. In addition to helping my parents to look after my brother for years, while in university I took a course at the Geneva Centre for Autism to become certified in Applied Behaviour Analysis so that I could help other people living cognitive special needs. As an instructional therapist, I worked in the homes of families impacted by a variety of special needs for more than five years.

How did you get the idea for your company?

I’ve always liked to draw, and I’ve always recognized that people like my brother benefit from visual cues. When we were kids, I helped Troy to navigate life at home by creating step-by-step, hand-drawn guides for activities like brushing teeth. For Troy, life after graduation held a frustrating lack of opportunities for continued personal and social development. I heard about a social business competition through the Centre for Social Innovation in Toronto. I entered the competition and won. With the funding received from this competition, I created a set of online digital tools similar to those hand-drawn guides I had created for Troy when we were kids. These tools combine proven methods of instruction with elements of game design, and cater to the unique needs of teens and young adults with autism and other special needs.

How do you view your role as CEO of your company?

Magnusmode is my vision: a company dedicated to building a world where people with cognitive special needs live with greater independence and inclusion in their communities. My role as CEO is to bring together and manage the team and resources I need to achieve that vision. A huge part of my role is the face of the company, and our story (Troy’s and mine) is inextricably linked with where the company has been and where it is going. I meet with corporations, organizations, individuals and their support networks to tell that story and help others to understand and share in this vision.

What is the most rewarding aspect of being an entrepreneur?

Direct link between action and consequence. Seeing the value being made possible by one’s innovative thinking.

What is your best piece of advice for others wanting to start a company?

Do what you love. Businesses built around your talents and passions will have a greater chance of success. It's not only important to create a successful business, it's also important that you're happy growing it day in and day out because if your heart isn't in it, you will not be successful. One of the first things people notice about me is that I extremely passionate. When your passion becomes your purpose, great things happen.

What did OCE’s support mean to your company?

OCE's support has been instrumental in the startup phase of this company. It allowed us to hire some our first employees, who have added tremendous value in their specific areas of expertise. With OCE’s support, we launched our product to the world and became investor and customer ready. We’ve since gone on to refine the product business model, design our operational systems, build the team, grow our user base, raise investment, and achieve significant sales from fortune 500 companies in Canada and the US. The company was also selected as one of the top 5 female-led ventures in the 2016 SheEO Radical Generosity initiative.

Magnusmode is the creator of Magnus Cards, an online and mobile app that uses a gamified approach to help people with cognitive special needs gain greater independence and confidence in a variety of life skills and activities.

BusinessMakers - Tim Gibbins

Mon, 07 Mar 2016 18:28:14 Z

We are very lucky to be able to interact with so many bright, engaged people from industry, from academia, and from the start-up community. I most enjoy getting out to meet these people, and connecting them with partners and programs to help them succeed.

What is your professional background?
I have worked in a variety of Business Development roles in the private sector for the past 25 years, mostly in the advanced manufacturing and energy sectors.

Describe your areas of specialization?
I would say my primary area of specialization is in advanced manufacturing, particularly in the area of automated manufacturing systems. Secondary areas of expertise are in the energy sector (nuclear, thermal, renewables) and software development.

What is your best piece of advice for a start-up or entrepreneur?
My top piece of advice for any young entrepreneur is to make sure your start-up idea is solving a real world problem, and that the problem is serious enough that people are willing to pay for a solution. This needs to be tested and validated with the market at the earliest possible stage of the company.

What do you look for in a company when assessing potential for success?

I look for a combination of three things: Is the company solving a real world problem and how big is the market? How good is their solution? How good is the management team?

What book or movie would you recommend to a budding entrepreneur and why?

Actually, I would recommend an online course offered by Udacity called “How to Build a Start up: The Lean Launchpad”. It’s free, it only takes a day or so to complete, and it’s an excellent introduction to current best practices is building a lean start-up. The course is presented by lean start-up guru Steve Blank.

Personal interests/hobbies:

I am an avid squash player and amateur poker player. I also enjoy golf and am borderline addicted to the Golf ChannelJ

Connect with Tim on LinkedIn.

Get to know our CEOs - Antoine Paquin, Solantro Semiconductor

Mon, 29 Feb 2016 15:51:18 Z

OCE supports hundreds of award-winning companies across Ontario, from start-ups based in our colleges and universities to scale-ups with global sales.

Hear from some CEOs about their journey to success.

Meet Antoine Paquin, CEO of Solantro Semiconductor.

Tell us about your work history.

I started as an Integrated Circuit (IC) designer and quickly found system problems far more interesting than just IC design problems. I have since built and/or run four separate semiconductor companies that focused on system problems made economic and massively scalable by chipset integration.

How did you get the idea for your company?

While I was a venture capitalist with an interest in renewable energy, I became aware that mass scalability at ever declining costs was a necessary requirement of self-propagation of these new technologies. The glue to power delivery is power electronics, which is central to easing system integration issues and costs. Next-generation power electronics made possible by new digital power processing (dP2) chipsets.

How do you view your role as CEO of your company?

Building a management team that can run the company without my daily involvement, enabling me to focus on trailing new high growth directions/applications for our technology.

What is the most rewarding aspect of being an entrepreneur?

Direct link between action and consequence. Seeing the value being made possible by one’s innovative thinking.

What is your best piece of advice for others wanting to start a company?

Work on your faith… You will need it.

What did OCE’s support mean to your company?

Closer collaboration work with academia in an emerging field.

Solantro™ is a fabless semiconductor company, with core expertise in semiconductor-based, system-on-chip architectures for distributed and scalable renewable power systems.

BusinessMakers - Hindal Mirza

Tue, 23 Feb 2016 17:51:06 Z

With our feet-on-the ground approach, OCE provides expert advice and guidance through a 40-person team of Business Development (BD) experts deployed regionally in nine locations across the province.

Meet Hindal Mirza who works out of Ontario’s Eastern/Northern region.

What do you enjoy most about your BD role?
Building relationships towards a mutual objective.

What is your professional background?
Humanities, Law and Management.

Describe your areas of specialization?
Convergence of ICT with other areas such as health, medical devices, cybersecurity, energy, and agriculture, as examples.

What is your best piece of advice for a start-up or entrepreneur?
Follow your heart, as Dennis Crowley of Foursquare puts it. And, don’t be shy to ask for help and don’t try and do this on your own.

What do you look for in a company when assessing potential for success?
Leadership and the team supporting that leadership.

What book or movie would you recommend to a budding entrepreneur and why?
Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore. It’s timeless and pertains not to just high-tech start-ups but to non-tech companies as well.

Personal interests/hobbies:
Reading classical works, writing, music – partial to Italian and French operas, and classical music. Traveling and enjoying time with family and friends.

Connect with Hindal on LinkedIn.

Get to know our CEOs - Jane Wang, Optimity

Tue, 16 Feb 2016 16:52:56 Z

OCE supports hundreds of award-winning companies across Ontario, from start-ups based in our colleges and universities to scale-ups with global sales.

Hear from some CEOs about their journey to success.

Meet Jane Wang, CEO of Optimity.

Tell us about your work history.

I've always loved science and statistics, so naturally instead of pursuing lab-based research after my Biochemistry degree, I chose to work on data sets for clinical research. Got a taste with HIV research, then early detection of Ovarian Cancer; and eventually I became a project manager for various global pharmaceutical trials in Multiple Sclerosis. The data and evidence-driven world of drug research always fascinated me. After working with larger data sets when consulting for pharma-sales and health cost-related projects, it became increasingly clear to me that the largest set of baseline health data will become available through mobile devices. As smartphones, wearable devices and health apps become ubiquitous, we can use this new aggregated dataset to catch and treat diseases early and drastically improve population health outcomes.

How did you get the idea for your company?

On Christmas Eve five years ago, while I was working as a pharma project manager in Montreal, I got a heart-breaking call from the Ottawa General Hospital. It turned out that my "healthy", active, 49-years-young mother had an aggressive form of cancer and needed to be hospitalized that day. I quickly progressed from shocked to devastated, as I spent the next six months in the hospital with her. Bravely, she went through three rounds of chemo, but it was too little too late. She passed away and my professional career in health lost all its meaning. My despair was rooted in the irony: despite having worked in early detection and symptom flagging for the last seven years, I failed to detect anything wrong with her. No one saw the signs early enough to have make a difference on her prognosis. As I drifted through my MBA and subsequent data-related projects where I worked on drug compliance mobile apps and data models for patient segmentation, the MVP of Optimity slowly took hold of me. I worked on it for two years on my own before convincing my co-founders (a colleague and a friend) to join me full time. We started this company in 2014 with the belief that the key to early detection is in proactive health and big data analytics.

How do you view your role as CEO of your company?

I have a great responsibility to myself and our team to clarify the vision, align the efforts and create a viable product. We have a great core team with a diverse set of technical competencies, so I mainly focus on ensuring that the business gaps are filled by new hires or myself in the interim. I generally do whatever is needed, which includes familiar things like data analytics and risk-mapping, as well as unfamiliar things like fundraising, selling and product managing. As our company matures, I am spending more time doing longer-term technical planning with my CTO and spearheading our thought leadership efforts.

What is the most rewarding aspect of being an entrepreneur?

Making a difference in people's lives by solving their problems.

What is your best piece of advice for others wanting to start a company?

Make sure you understand WHY you are doing this and only bring on talented people who are also driven by the same values; so that when the going gets tough, which it always will, you will all rally together as a team to overcome the obstacles.

What did OCE’s support mean to your company?

OCE has been instrumental in supporting us through the SmartStart Seed Fund, which helped us get our first customer! Then through the Market Readiness Program, which helped us reach 63 client organizations and gain momentum in the marketplace.

Optimity offers customizable workplace wellness software solutions that help build powerful habits for professionals. Its flagship app Dooo reminds employees to complete small tasks throughout the day such as drinking water, stretching, meditating, or eating a healthy snack. The platform also awards points for completed tasks that employees can redeem for rewards.

Get to know our CEOs - David D'Angelo, Trivium Industries

Fri, 29 Jan 2016 19:31:02 Z

OCE supports hundreds of award-winning companies across Ontario, from start-ups based in our colleges and universities to scale-ups with global sales.

Hear from some CEOs about their journey to success.

Meet David D'Angelo, CEO of Trivium Industries

How did you get the idea for your company?

The very early plans for Trivium were started while I was studying at Brock University, when I realized the major environmental problem caused by plastic containers and waste. The concept of compostable plastics for the beauty industry was not yet available for small- and medium-sized brand owners. Once I identified this market, I became a tenant at BioLinc's Incubator program and focused on planning the company. Trivium then purchased our Welland, Ontario factory, where we now produce a variety of containers for both small and large global brands. We are currently a growing manufacturer that offers multiple ecofriendly plastic options for the Beauty, Alcohol/Beverage and Nutritional industries, and we will continue creating more environmentally friendly packaging solutions.

What is your best piece of advice for others wanting to start a company?

I would tell any new entrepreneur to simply persevere and believe in yourself. As simple as this sounds, it is truly important. The challenges most innovative entrepreneurs face can seem impossible to overcome and it will get very hard at times. You need to believe in your vision and abilities, and be able to persevere through the bad times. It will all be worth it. No matter how big or crazy your idea is, if you truly believe in yourself, you can do it. But don’t give up when it gets tough!

What did OCE’s support mean to your company?

OCE's support for me and for Trivium's vision of more sustainable packaging solutions truly means a lot. It has made me realize that we are so lucky to live in Canada where innovation and entrepreneurship are encouraged and supported. I am always so proud to tell clients, suppliers and anyone I encounter that Trivium is an OCE partner company. Gillian, Ross and the entire OCE team believed in my vision from day one. OCE has helped me gain the tools and support needed to operate my business, and challenged me to think innovatively to find solutions to plastic waste issues in our world.

Trivium Industries is a manufacturer of Bottles/Jars for the Skincare, Haircare, Beverage and Nutritional Industries. Based in Welland, the company is an industry leader in pioneering new ecofriendly plastic bottle resins including: Compostable Plant Based Resins, Accelerated Biodegradable Additives, 100% already recycled Post-Consumer Regrind PET, Bio-Based Resins and traditional Recyclable PET.

BusinessMakers - Lenny Freilich

Thu, 21 Jan 2016 21:53:35 Z

With our feet-on-the ground approach, OCE provides expert advice and guidance through a 40-person team of Business Development (BD) experts deployed regionally in nine locations across the province.

Meet Lenny Freilich, SOSCIP Business Development Manager, who works out of Ontario’s Central region.

What do you enjoy most about your BD role?
The ability to work with interesting people, fascinating projects and technologies, and help develop the business – academic ecosystem in Ontario

What is your professional background?
Very broad business and technologies background MSc in Computer Science and MBA from U of T– Started in Silicon Valley for one of the first computer start-ups in the 1970s, later held Product Development, Business Development, and Corporate Development / M&A roles with Bell Northern Research, IBM, Research in Motion, and Kodak Digital Graphics. Also managed the Industry Relations office for University of BC.

Describe your areas of specialization?
High Performance Computing; Information and Communications Technologies, Finance, Business Strategy, M&A

What is your best piece of advice for a start-up or entrepreneur?
It’s a tremendous amount of work, but one of the most fulfilling experiences possible!

What do you look for in a company when assessing potential for success?
The quality and commitment of the leadership team.

What book or movie would you recommend to a budding entrepreneur and why
12 Angry Men – all about tirelessly working to convince other people to come around to your point of view.

Personal interests/hobbies
I enjoy long distance bicycle touring and have completed circumnavigations of mainland Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand, as well as the Pacific Coast route from Canada to Mexico. My next planned trip is London to Istanbul.

Connect with Lenny on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyfreilich

Top 10 Entrepreneurship Blogs in Canada

Mon, 16 Nov 2015 15:50:59 Z

Navigating the Canadian entrepreneurship sector can be tough business. Luckily we’ve put together a list of 10 blogs that will keep you up-to-date on the latest news, programs, funding, insights and opinions throughout the country.

Check out our list of the top 10 Canadian entrepreneurship blogs in Canada.

Be sure to also subscribe to the OCE blog and our monthly newsletter.

TOP 10 ENTREPRENEURSHIP BLOGS IN CANADA:

OCE-supported companies and partners recognized at Startup Canada Awards

Fri, 02 Oct 2015 18:12:59 Z

Several OCE companies and partners will be honoured as part of the 2015 Startup Canada Awards in November.

Read more at Startup Canada...

10 truly innovative auto startups

Mon, 14 Sep 2015 16:16:17 Z

The Los Angeles Auto Show’s Connected Car Expo recently assembled executives from Microsoft, Google, AT&T and others to vet dozens of companies. Among the 10 chosen as the hottest startups, was Waterloo-based, OCE-supported Sober Steering.
“[They] impressed us with their unique perspective, the strength of their vision, and their flat-out innovation,” says Michelle Avary, lead advisory board member. “These companies are beyond just cool—we think they will help make the entire automotive industry better.”

Read more at Fortune Magazine...