If you’re curious about becoming an entrepreneur or already know you want to be one, Technology Entrepreneurship @SFU (TechE@SFU) is for you. TechE@SFU is an exciting entrepreneurial opportunity for you to collaborate with senior undergraduate students from other faculties on real-world problems, develop creative solutions, and build your own high-impact start-up. You gain access to expertise, funding, resources, expert training, and exclusive networks. Through participating in this program you can launch your own venture, following in the footsteps of alumni like Moment Energy, and bringing your entrepreneurial dreams to life.
This transformative and highly practical experience is open to all undergraduate students at SFU but is offered just once per year. So don’t miss out and enroll now for Fall 2024!
As an interdisciplinary experience, TechE@SFU brings together students with diverse perspectives, knowledge, and skills. In Fall 2024, it is being run as one integrated cohort, bringing together students from two different backgrounds. Depending on your major, you should enroll on goSFU in one of the following two courses:
On goSFU you’ll see that these courses are listed with the topic “ST-Technology Entrepreneurship”.
For students taking BUS 394, it helps satisfy your program requirements.
• If you’re a Business Major, BUS 394 satisfies your elective requirement in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship concentration.
• If you’re pursuing the Charles Chang Certificate in Innovation & Entrepreneurship, BUS 394 counts as one of the two elective courses you need to complete the certificate. If you aren’t currently registered for this certificate, you can self-declare it on your student record and then enroll in BUS 394.
If you have any questions about how BUS 394 contributes to your program requirements, please contact an SFU Beedie academic advisor.
At the end of the Fall semester, your team will have the opportunity to advance into funded capstones and/or Entrepreneurship Co-op (eCoop) in Spring and Summer 2025 to continue to build your venture.
It’s your call which path you take. You don’t have to commit to the whole program at the beginning but can wait to see how you feel. If after the Fall semester you decide you want to take a pause, that’s your call.
Fall 2024
Enroll in BUS 394 or MSE 490 as described above.
Spring 2025 – Summer 2025
Student teams who want to take their ideas forward can pitch for a funded capstone experience with weekly mentoring, either through MSE 410 or BUS 477. Both courses fulfil the capstone requirements for the Charles Chang Certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. BUS 477 is also a required course for Business Majors pursuing the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Concentration.
Spring 2025 or a later term
One or more team members can pitch to go into eCoop, which comes with mentorship, community access, prototype funding and a $10,000 award so you can focus on your entrepreneurial dreams.
Students in TechE@SFU gain access to a wealth of resources to help them commercialize their ideas.
Mentoring and access to networks is critical to new entrepreneurs and anyone trying to excel in their field, and this initiative provides expert leadership and guidance. Teams will have access to experienced business and technology mentors not available in traditional class settings. These mentors will provide deep and diverse support to project teams to help the student entrepreneurs to establish direction with their projects.
After phase 1, student teams who wish to continue will the opportunity to pitch for feedback and additional funding capstone or eCoop, based on their business and technological progress and potential.
Depending on your major, you should enroll on goSFU in one of the following two courses:
• If you’re a Mechatronic Systems Engineering Major, enroll in MSE 490 – Special Topic in Mechatronic Systems Engineering. Pre-reqs: 60 units.
• If you’re pursuing any other major, enroll in BUS 394 – Selected Topics in Business Administration. Pre-reqs: 45 units.
The TechE@SFU program was the highlight of my academic career. This program has opened so many opportunties for me, and substantially aided my pursuit of entrepreneurship. Ryan Threlfall, Mechatronics Student
The TechE@SFU program was the highlight of my academic career. This program has opened so many opportunties for me, and substantially aided my pursuit of entrepreneurship.
TechE@SFU has inspired a lifestyle change and reshaped the way I think. Joseph Fredrick, Economics Student
TechE@SFU has inspired a lifestyle change and reshaped the way I think.
Dr. Ramtin Rakhsha is an engaging educator and capable professional engineer with 16+ years of mechanical engineering, research, and design experience. He leverages the ability to tie engineering concepts and project management to real‐world applications, offering effective solutions to challenging problems. He is skilled in Haptics, Robotics, Distributed Control, and under-water biomimetic robotic systems. He completed his PhD in Mechanical Engineering (UVic) and the invention 2 Innovation (i2I) graduate certificate in science and technology commercialization (SFU).
Kate Dilworth, BSN R.N. MBA, ICD.D is an Associate Professor of Practice, Director Health Programs, SFUBeedie School of Business. Kate brings 35 years of experience in healthcare practice, learning design andconsulting. Kate has designed and taught in customized programs for clients from diverse sectors,government, Indigenous communities and professional service firms with a focus on specialized healthprograms to support large-scale change (alternative funding models for physicians, new governancestructures for primary care, inter-professional co-leadership models and regionalization/mergers) andinnovative approaches to governance and healthcare delivery in primary care, community, acute and tertiarysettings. She is the Academic Director of the GPSC Leadership and Management Development Programsupporting Divisions of Family Practice and primary care in BC. Kate teaches Innovation and Entrepreneurshipwith interdisciplinary cohorts of undergraduate students in the Charles Chang Institute for Entrepreneurship,SFU.
Doug Fast is dedicated to sharing his experience with young entrepreneurs and helping them build successful companies. He has experience bending metal, writing code, building boards, and optimizing manufacturing. He also knows first-hand what happens when you let the magic smoke out of a component on the lab bench. Doug is a Mentor-in-Residence at SFU, the Founder and CEO of Dark Water Tek, a consultancy that provides guidance to clients in product commercialization – particularly products that incorporate hardware as a key element, and has held senior leadership roles at a number of companies, including one that scaled to hundreds of employees and $100+ million in revenue.
Dr. Sarah Lubik is Simon Fraser University (SFU)’s first Director of Entrepreneurship, promoting the power of, and need for, interdisciplinary teams to solve wicked problems. She is a lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Beedie School of Business and a researcher in university entrepreneurships. She is the co-founder and marketing director of a high-tech startup: Lungfish Dive System and has experience coordinating pan-European startup support programs. Sarah has been named one of Business in Vancouver’s Top 40 under 40 and an Innovation Leader by the Government of Canada. Sarah has a PhD from the University of Cambridge in Technology Commercialization.
Dr. Amr Marzouk is a certified professional engineer in BC, and an experienced lecturer at Mechatronics Systems Engineering (MSE). Driven by the desire to make things that help people, he is skilled in embedded systems, instrumentation, industrial automation, control system design and digital signal processing. He completed his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at Simon Fraser University in Nonlinear Dynamics of Inertial Sensors.
Cthulights designs and manufactures digital lighting displays that enable commercial and pro-am DJs to create custom light shows that respond to musical changes in real-time and enhance their shows.
Acceleration Innovations is commercializing Birth Alert: An app-enabled device that accurately tracks the contractions of pregnant woman, bringing peace of mind to new parents.
Triton Systems develops a novel, app-enabled tank monitoring system for aquarists that provides real-time water monitoring and analysis with systems alerts.
Artemis Technologies is an image and data analytics company using drones to provide more timely and cost-effective crop monitoring services to Canadian vineyards.
Epione Technologies creates app-enabled medication management devices that combat medication non-adherence for people with complex medication regimes.
VAMO Tech‘s Game7™ is hockey’s smartest training device. Using a wristband and a net sensor, it provides valuable, ongoing information on your accuracy, power, and release time.
Orello Hearing Technologies Inc. offers the only custom fit hearing aid with built in tuning technology, giving people with mild to moderately severe hearing loss an easier and better user experience.
Brewstr offers a premium, app-enabled automatic brewing system for craft-beer enthusiasts who want to get into home brewing. The product consists of an automatic brewing system, online platform, and recipe kits.
AVA Technologies is a cost-efficient, drone-enabled by-law enforcement service, providing municipalities the tools they need to keep illegally parked trucks from damaging valuable agricultural land.
Bluehive Technologies is developing an installation-free battery system for residential use that allows users to reduce their electricity bills in areas with fluctuating electricity costs by smartly managing battery usage, and provides automatic backup power for ease-of-mind during outages and emergencies.
Zennea is a socially driven medical technology company making improved Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) devices to make treating obstructive sleep apnea more comfortable and discrete than traditional solutions. Initially driven to find a better sleep apnea solution for our family and friends, we now aim to create and deliver this solution to millions of people suffering from interrupted sleep.
Locus is a retail analytics hardware and software solution that provides managers with consumer behaviour information that augments their current data so that they can optimize product placement, pricing, and store layout.
In the face of a growing world population and the need for more efficient and cost effective methods of food production, Seren Technologies is developing an add-on system for soilless farms to automate the sprout transplanting and crop harvesting process. This allows hydroponic farmers to save money and time by reducing their reliance on manual labour while increasing the efficiency of their farms.
Moment Energy strives to provide greater access to renewable and reliable energy storage. As creators of battery units that can be used in a variety of applications, they are currently focused on storing energy for offgrid, end of grid customers and plans on powering remote communities in the future.
Pine created an online shopping platform to promote environmental sustainability, social responsibility, and awareness
Eyeth Technologies is developing an unobtrusive wearable that can recognize sign language gestures and convert it to spoken text to allow for more natural, nearly real-time conversation between those who speak with sign language and those who do not.
Excelerate Robotics aims to provide educational tools and resources for educators to teach computing, programming and robotics in a fun and interactive way
Gomi Technologie exists to offer convenient and innovative solutions to reduce food waste through a convenient app and hardware solution that keeps track of the food in your fridge to prevent over-buying and offers solutions to use up food already in the fridge.
Altus Innovation is designing beginner friendly 3D modelling software to inspire and prepare the next generation of secondary school students for STEM careers. Altus Innovation streamlines the process from 3D design to 3D print, making it easy for teachers to teach and students to learn
Ruby designs products for people experiencing essential tremor or cognitive impairments. The team’s first device is an easy-to-program remote control that eliminates complicated buttons and commands to make it easier to watch television
Novion Technologies is developing a smart water monitoring system to allow users insight into their current water use in order to help users reduce water consumption and contribute to global sustainability goals
IUVOX is a health tech company developing specialized air disinfection devices for dental offices. Our devices irradiate filtered far-ultraviolet light during routine aerosol-generating procedures to inactivate airborne pathogens in the air. We offer entirely automated devices so that oral health professionals can focus on providing the best care to their patients while also cutting down on outdated, laborious, obtrusive disinfecting methods.
Elevate provides a smart resistance band handle with an integrated web and mobile application, allowing physiotherapy patients and their practitioners to view accurate and insightful information, and easily track their rehabilitation progress. This system provides increased patient accountability and quantitative feedback, enhancing physiotherapy treatment.
Irini, helping people stay fit and healthy, and less sedentary by infusing fun and exercise into daily life
ANTS Robotics is a dedicated venture committed to developing accessible, innovative robotic solutions which allow small and medium-sized enterprises to automate and scale tasks that are repetitive, dangerous or require a sufficient amount of precision. We do this through our modular mobile robot which is designed to reconfigure itself according to the task at hand which reduces cost while increasing efficiency.
TechE@SFU is a high-tech entrepreneurship initiative in partnership with Innovate BC (formerly the BC Innovation Council) Dr. Ken Spencer, SFU’s Faculty of Applied Sciences and the Beedie School of Business intended to develop BC’s knowledge-based economy.
The TechE@SFU program is a highly impactful, hands-on, entrepreneurial pathway for third- and fourth-year business, applied science and entrepreneurial students from all faculties that provides the funds, skills, mentorship and resources to move from teams and innovative ideas to successful new products, ventures and mindsets. Students enrolled in the program will design and prototype of market-driven products and systems and produce a prototype, a pitch and maybe even obtain a lead customer.Today, TechE@SFU students will also have the opportunity compete for significant prototyping and eCoop funding to turn their ideas into startups through the generous support of the SpencerCreo Foundation and Charles Chang.
Kenneth “Ken” Albert Spencer passed away on April 23, 2021. A pioneering technology entrepreneur and highly successful businessman, he co-founded Creo Products in 1983 and acted as CEO until 1995. He remained active on the board until the company’s acquisition by Kodak for over $1 billion in 2005, and served on the boards of numerous other BC tech companies.
He was also a significant supporter and friend of SFU’s Beedie School of Business. An alumnus of SFU Beedie’s Executive MBA program (‘81)—where he met his wife Judy—Ken remained closely connected with the business school throughout his life. He served on the Dean’s External Advisory Board, and in 2012 made a substantial donation to create TechE@SFU , an innovative, interdisciplinary partnership between SFU’s Faculty of Applied Sciences and SFU Beedie.
Read more about Ken’s Legacy here
The Chang Institute’s Statement
Innovate BC (IBC) develops entrepreneurial talent and commercializes technology. IBC focuses on competitively positioning British Columbia in today’s global knowledge economy in order to provide significant employment opportunities and a high standard of living for British Columbians. In today’s economic climate, it is increasingly important for British Columbia to be competitively positioned in the global knowledge economy. IBC is developing an ecosystem that increases the number and success rate of technology startups in the province to promote economic development and strengthen BC’s contribution to the Canadian high-tech sector. IBC does this by developing programs and providing support for initiatives that develop entrepreneurs and promote the commercialization of technology. IBC is a Crown Agency of the Province of British Columbia.
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TechE@SFU is supported by a dedicated team of faculty mentors from The School of Mechatronics Systems Engineering and Beedie School of Business that bring together years of industrial and entrepreneurial experience in the technology arena.
Interested students are encouraged to send questions to Ramtin (MSE) (rrakhsha@sfu.ca), or Kate (non-MSE) (dilworth@sfu.ca).
Charles Chang Certificate for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Open to students in any faculty at Simon Fraser University, the Charles Chang Certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship develops future entrepreneurs using the power of learning by doing. As students taking the Certificate learn and apply market-based approaches to innovation and venture development, they also cultivate connections between peers, […]
BUS 477 – Startup Experience (4) One of the Capstone courses in the Certificate of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Prerequisites: BUS 338, BUS 360W (or another upper division Writing (W) course); 60 units. Recommended: BUS 314, BUS 361. This experiential course will expose students to the planning and development process of creating a startup. Emphasis is placed on integrating and applying all of […]