Come on out and join us for a dynamic session that will get you thinking outside-of-the-box and show you to create impact right now! On Friday, March 15, 2024, from 1:00pm to 4:00pm, students will have the opportunity to take part in an interactive activity that lets their innovation wild. After a brief talk from Dr. Cynthia Goh, participants will break off into teams and collaborate during an experiential exercise. All teams will ultimately offer 3-minute presentations, and prizes will be awarded at the end of the session. All students are welcome – just bring your creativity with you!
As this will be a team-focused event, we encourage you to sign-up with friends so that you already have a group to participate with – otherwise, we’ll simply match you upon arrival. The event will be held in the basement of the Kaneff Centre/Innovation Complex – Rm: L1220.
Last but not least, refreshments will be provided in the ICUBE co-working space (L1240) just after the event wraps up, so all students are welcome to stay later and connect further.
About the Facilitator:
M. Cynthia Goh is a University of Toronto professor in the Departments of Chemistry, cross-appointed to the Departments of Materials Science & Engineering, Chemical Engineering, the Institute for Medical Sciences, and the Institute for Management and Innovation. She is the current interim director for the MBiotech program at UTM. She wss the founder and director of the Impact Centre, an institute that aims to bring science to society. Her research interest centers on the interactions and properties of large molecules – polymers, biopolymers – including the development of instruments for these studies, where she has 100+ publications and 70+ patents. She has expertise in the translation of scientific discovery to technology/products that benefit society and the training of scientist-entrepreneurs. Her research has led to 8 science-based companies co-founded with her students, including Axela (medical diagnostics), Vive Crop Protection (nanotechnology for agriculture), Pueblo Science (not-for-profit for science literacy in low resource settings worldwide). She has created successful training programs for scientist-entrepreneurs, including Entrepreneurship101@MaRS (which expanded to thousands registered annually) and Techno (which nucleated and nurtured 140+ student-led, science-based startups), and has conducted inspirational workshops worldwide. She also currently works on building community-based innovation systems in Canada and in the Philippines, which includes leading a project on lighting up remote villages and developing a virtual library system for remote communities. She works with industries to create science-based products for a better life; her partnership with Vive Crop Protection on eco-friendly and efficient delivery of agricultural actives was recognized with the 2022 NSERC Synergy Award for Innovation.
