Elizabeth Cannon hosts first Celebration of Entrepreneurship and Innovation

On Nov. 14, President Elizabeth Cannon hosted the first University of Calgary Celebration of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. The event — held in consultation with the Advisory Committee for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ACEI) and the Hunter Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation — recognized 21 scholars for their achievements in startup ventures, commercialization and technology transfer.

“Our university is committed to providing exemplary leadership, creativity and innovation through research and entrepreneurial excellence,” says Cannon. “The scholars we are recognizing have lived up to this commitment through community engagement, technology transfer, research collaboration and dedication to results. Their work has had a significant positive economic impact for Calgary, for Alberta and beyond.”

The ACEI has been a driving force behind the university’s pursuit in these areas. “The ACEI’s mandate is to develop an entrepreneurship and innovation agenda for the University of Calgary,” says Frank Maurer, associate vice-president (research) and co-chair of the ACEI. “We are enabling our professors, grad students, and postdocs to engage in problem-driven, industry-oriented research to solve real-world problems.” The ACEI links this research directly to innovations that will generate start-up ventures and new jobs.

Kim Neutens, director of the Hunter Centre and co-chair of the ACEI, believes that the university has a responsibility to provide training and support to enable entrepreneurship and innovation. “We want to encourage meaningful engagement and collaboration among our academics, and also between academics and the community. We want to bring the campus community downtown, as well as bring the downtown community to the campus,” she says. The ACEI hopes that the faculty recognized at the event will be an inspiration to their colleagues and academics across campus.

“This event is about highlighting the culture change that is happening on campus,” says Maurer. “We are moving from the ivory tower to an organization that is embedded into our society. Entrepreneurship and innovation is really about emphasizing that move forward. In the future we want to have an even deeper impact than over the last 49 years.”

The scholars recognized at the event were:

• Carolyn Anglin, associate professor, civil engineering and biomedical engineering
• Tanya Beran, professor and graduate program director, Community Health Sciences
• Naser El-Sheimy, professor, geomatics engineering
• Reed Ferber, associate professor, kinesiology
• Cy Frank, professor, McCaig Institute for Bone and Joint Health
• Marvin Fritzler, professor, Cumming School of Medicine
• Ian Gates, professor, chemical and petroleum engineering
• Mayank Goyal, professor, radiology
• Derek Hassay, assistant professor, Haskayne School of Business
• Christian Jacob, professor, computer science
• Simon Park, professor, mechanical and manufacturing engineering
• Faramarz Samavati, professor, computer science
• Pedro Santamaria, professor, microbiology, immunology and infectious diseases
• Chad Saunders, assistant professor, Haskayne School of Business
• Tannin Schmidt, associate professor, kinesiology and engineering
• Nigel Shrive, professor, McCaig Institute for Bone and Joint Health
• Rebecca Sullivan, professor, Department of English
• Garnette Sutherland, professor, clinical neurosciences
• Bryce Tingle, N. Murray Edwards Chair in Business Law, Faculty of Law
• Simon Trudel, assistant professor, chemistry
• Gerald Zamponi, professor, physiology and pharmacology; and senior associate dean (research), Cumming School of Medicine