10th Annual John D. Thompson Entrepreneurial Development Seminar
This year's keynote speaker is followed by a TechIdea Pitch Competition.听
Keynote Speaker & Judge
Shortly after graduating from 捆绑SM社区鈥檚 Faculty of Engineering in 2015,聽听肠辞-蹿辞耻苍诲别诲听聽with two fellow 捆绑SM社区 Engineering students, Gabriel Bernatchez and Paul Archard. Combining their passion for electric vehicles developed during their time as leaders of the 捆绑SM社区 Undergraduate Electric Vehicle Design teams and their love for the great outdoors, Taiga was launched with the mission to electrify powersports with cutting edge technology that delivers performance without compromise. Since then,聽Taiga聽has built a team of more than 300 employees and has begun deliveries of the world鈥檚 first production electric snowmobiles and electric personal watercraft.听
TechIdea Finalists
AR-X
Toufic Jrab (Bioengineering, Undergraduate) and Serena Elzein (Biology & Computer Science, Undergraduate)
Introducing a new type of visualization technology to medical imaging that can transform an X-Ray scan to a 3D model that can be superimposed on its body part source using augmented reality (AR) technology. The AR-X addresses an unmet need for more evolved technology that can help doctors visualize an injury in real-life on the person鈥檚 original injury in 3D, derived from the X-Ray scan while being user-friendly and integrated into a doctor鈥檚 workflow to improve medical condition diagnoses and treatments
Ensemble
Simon Wang (Software Engineering, Undergraduate), Edwin Zhou (Computer Engineering, Undergraduate), and Brandon Wong (Software Engineering, Undergraduate)
Business founders often have great ideas, but many lack the technical expertise to execute them, especially in the early stages of their ideas. While hiring a consultant is a viable solution, the associated cost is often expensive, another possibility is finding a CTO, which will be difficult without traction, and might require a high equity package. Finally, hiring interns, although more affordable, will require technical management to bring value to the idea.
At Ensemble, we bridge the gap between founders and their tech ideas. We translate the business ideas that non-technical founders have into tangible requirements, and connect them to developer teams tailored to their needs through our platform. Instead of the founder going through an entire hiring process, we are their 1-way stop from ideation to realization.
EXPIDER
Longyu Li (Mechanical Engineering, Undergraduate), Oliver Guy (Mechanical Engineering, Undergraduate), Megan Millet (Mathematics, Undergraduate), and William Grant (Mechanical Engineering, Undergraduate)
Expider will be a customizable, multi-terrain, exploration and mapping robot which will use聽spider-like locomotion to navigate obstacles and climb near-vertical surfaces. Cave and mine聽shaft exploration can be dangerous involving deadfalls, narrow passages, and collapsing聽tunnels. Expider鈥檚 objective is to explore these dangerous environments without exposing a聽human operator to dangerous conditions. By mimicking the motion of the spider, Expider will聽provide an excellent stability and flexibility.
Flashify
Athavan Thambimuthu (Software Engineering, Undergraduate) and Akash Sasitharan (Pharmacology, Undergraduate)
Flashify aims to increase student productivity and studying habits by automatically generating flashcards for your course content. This state-of-the-art machine learning application utilizes advanced AI algorithms to convert PDF notes into flashcards with unparalleled efficiency and accuracy, leading to better academic performance. The app boasts three main features that set it apart from the competition: bullet point conversion, image generation, and question-answer generation.
PowerPledge
Warren Amsellem (Materials Engineering, Undergraduate) and Steven Squire (Materials Engineering, Undergraduate)
Coop EV supercharging network where each charger is a crowdfunded asset
1. Ability to invest on a high return asset (superchargers) and vote on location with your money
2. Ability to use well located and reliable superchargers
SOYsustainable
Iris Sun (Bioengineering, Undergraduate), Gillian Helliwell (Mechanical Engineering, Undergraduate), Jessica Coulson (Bioengineering, Undergraduate), and Lachlan Holbrook (Mechanical Engineering, Undergraduate)
SOYsustainable aims to provide 鈥渟oy-silk鈥, a high quality and lightweight thermal fabric made from soy whey, a waste by-product of soy and tofu production. Traditional soy proteins are cross-linked using formaldehyde, a carcinogenic, whereas our process uses polycarboxylic acid, a safe and reusable chemical. This solution aims to prevent waste from over-burdening sewer systems while allowing for a circular economy and providing an environmentally sustainable alternative to traditional fashion materials.
We are proud to announce that our event has been awarded听骋辞濒诲听Sustainable Event certification by the聽捆绑SM社区 Sustainable Events聽program run by the聽捆绑SM社区 Office of Sustainability.听Nous sommes fiers d鈥檃nnoncer que notre 茅v茅nement a 茅t茅 certifi茅 comme 茅v茅nement Or par le programme脡v茅nements durables 捆绑SM社区听诲耻听.听