Description
With this information about entrepreneurs in the classroom mbet spells success.
Entrepreneurs in the classroom:
MBET spells success
R
0
0
1
8
0
9
0
1
9
Canada’s pressing need for more innovators is a well-
known fact. Individuals who can gather information,
plan, make tough decisions and execute, are
needed. The solution is straightforward – fnd more
innovators! A new generation of innovators can be
found at the University of Waterloo in the Master of
Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET)
program.
The MBET program is the frst graduate business
program of its kind in Canada. Offered by the
Conrad Centre for Business, Entrepreneurship
and Technology (CBET) at Waterloo, MBET is
specifcally designed to address the need to translate
invention into innovation and commercial success.
Howard Armitage, founder and Executive Director of
CBET and Manfred Conrad stand proudly in front of
the home of CBET – the Accelerator Building located in
Waterloo’s Research & Technology Park.
When David Johnston, the former President of
Waterloo was frst appointed, he reached out to
academia and the business community and asked
what could be done differently to make Waterloo
an even better university; one that is internationally
renowned and offering programs not available
anywhere else in the world.
“The MBET program was born shortly after,” said
Howard Armitage founder and Executive Director
of CBET. The MBET program provides the perfect
platform to launch a new venture and includes all
aspects of business that are critical to entrepreneurs
and intrapreneurs. Here students gain the network
needed to guide innovative ideas along the road to
commercial success – ask any business professional
and they will tell you this is no small feat!
The MBET program attracts a subset of graduate
business school candidates who are truly passionate
about entrepreneurship, and leverages Waterloo’s
distinctive energies in technology and innovation to
provide them with a specialized curriculum.
“We created a completely different program that
allows people to gain a set of business skills,
develop a business and mentorship network and
explore opportunities that allow them to take ideas
from concept to company,” said Armitage, “MBET
graduates enter the market armed with the knowledge
to commercialize an idea.”
What sets the MBET program apart from other
business programs that currently food the education
system is its balance of academics and practical
application. The MBET academic model is
strategically mapped to simulate the entrepreneurial
process of concept to prototype to market.
At the nucleus of the program is the
commercialization practicum where students spend
eight months integrating what they are learning in
class by working in a team environment to bring a
product to a market-ready stage. Ideas often come
from the students themselves but many come from
businesses and university researchers.
Doing things differently is a CBET hallmark and
with one visit to the centre, located in the Accelerator
Building in Waterloo’s Research & Technology Park
you’ll see it’s a brainy-but-beautiful environment;
certainly not a typical university setting.
Tim Jackson, visiting lecturer in the MBET program
engages students in a working session.
The amount of interaction between professors and
students is different than most other programs. “The
centre has been designed to replicate a think-tank,
a place where ideas happen” said Doug Sparkes,
Associate Director at CBET.
The open concept creates an atmosphere of
community and accessibility and the team-focused
environment allows students to draw on a wealth
of resources. Sparkes explains “the fexibility in
class schedules and the overall adaptability of the
program is more refective of a real-world business
environment than often found in traditional business
programs.”
Throughout the year students interact with, and gain
unique insight from the Centre’s active Advisory
Council. Consisting of infuential business leaders,
these individuals commit time and energy to support
the MBET students and the program. Seasoned
professional and Entrepreneur-in-Residence for
CBET, Doug Beynon boasts, “one of the key
success factors of the MBET program is access to
the business community. The role of this group is to
bridge communication with the business landscape
and the directors of the program.”
MBET alumnus, Matt Rendall, who graduated from
the program in 2008, agrees.
“The support structure incorporated into the program
is incredible” said Rendall.
He enrolled in the MBET program after completing
an undergraduate degree in Mechatronics from
Waterloo with a plan to develop a robotic
minesweeping system. During the program he
connected with investors, experts and business
leaders.
Today, his company Clearpath Robotics is a
leading provider of unmanned vehicle systems for
researchers in industrial, government and academic
organizations.
Rod McNaughton, one of the founding faculty members of the
MBET program collaborates with students.
Raymond Reddy, another graduate of the MBET
program, spent four years working with Research in
Motion’s mergers and acquisition team after earning
his MBET degree.
“I’m a big believer in the beneft of industry
experience,” said Reddy. “MBET steered us toward
real-world experiences. Their rubber-to-the-road
approach is something you can’t learn from a
textbook.”
Reddy has since left RIM and started Pushlife, a
music integration program that allows customers
to sync their music libraries with tunes purchased
from mobile music venues without having to install a
software program to replace existing media players.
These success stories represent just a few of the 75
percent of MBET alumni linked to start ups and the
more than 30 companies that have been created by
graduates since 2004.
CBET is named in honour of property developer and
local philanthropist Manfred Conrad and his family
who have donated $5 million to the centre and its
programs.
"CBET is such a critical element of the University
of Waterloo's entrepreneurial climate," said Conrad.
"We support building the culture of entrepreneurship
and expanding the Centre's global reach.
This is really the beginning of this program and I
am sure there will be many more success stories to
come.”
doc_710640410.pdf
With this information about entrepreneurs in the classroom mbet spells success.
Entrepreneurs in the classroom:
MBET spells success
R
0
0
1
8
0
9
0
1
9
Canada’s pressing need for more innovators is a well-
known fact. Individuals who can gather information,
plan, make tough decisions and execute, are
needed. The solution is straightforward – fnd more
innovators! A new generation of innovators can be
found at the University of Waterloo in the Master of
Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET)
program.
The MBET program is the frst graduate business
program of its kind in Canada. Offered by the
Conrad Centre for Business, Entrepreneurship
and Technology (CBET) at Waterloo, MBET is
specifcally designed to address the need to translate
invention into innovation and commercial success.
Howard Armitage, founder and Executive Director of
CBET and Manfred Conrad stand proudly in front of
the home of CBET – the Accelerator Building located in
Waterloo’s Research & Technology Park.
When David Johnston, the former President of
Waterloo was frst appointed, he reached out to
academia and the business community and asked
what could be done differently to make Waterloo
an even better university; one that is internationally
renowned and offering programs not available
anywhere else in the world.
“The MBET program was born shortly after,” said
Howard Armitage founder and Executive Director
of CBET. The MBET program provides the perfect
platform to launch a new venture and includes all
aspects of business that are critical to entrepreneurs
and intrapreneurs. Here students gain the network
needed to guide innovative ideas along the road to
commercial success – ask any business professional
and they will tell you this is no small feat!
The MBET program attracts a subset of graduate
business school candidates who are truly passionate
about entrepreneurship, and leverages Waterloo’s
distinctive energies in technology and innovation to
provide them with a specialized curriculum.
“We created a completely different program that
allows people to gain a set of business skills,
develop a business and mentorship network and
explore opportunities that allow them to take ideas
from concept to company,” said Armitage, “MBET
graduates enter the market armed with the knowledge
to commercialize an idea.”
What sets the MBET program apart from other
business programs that currently food the education
system is its balance of academics and practical
application. The MBET academic model is
strategically mapped to simulate the entrepreneurial
process of concept to prototype to market.
At the nucleus of the program is the
commercialization practicum where students spend
eight months integrating what they are learning in
class by working in a team environment to bring a
product to a market-ready stage. Ideas often come
from the students themselves but many come from
businesses and university researchers.
Doing things differently is a CBET hallmark and
with one visit to the centre, located in the Accelerator
Building in Waterloo’s Research & Technology Park
you’ll see it’s a brainy-but-beautiful environment;
certainly not a typical university setting.
Tim Jackson, visiting lecturer in the MBET program
engages students in a working session.
The amount of interaction between professors and
students is different than most other programs. “The
centre has been designed to replicate a think-tank,
a place where ideas happen” said Doug Sparkes,
Associate Director at CBET.
The open concept creates an atmosphere of
community and accessibility and the team-focused
environment allows students to draw on a wealth
of resources. Sparkes explains “the fexibility in
class schedules and the overall adaptability of the
program is more refective of a real-world business
environment than often found in traditional business
programs.”
Throughout the year students interact with, and gain
unique insight from the Centre’s active Advisory
Council. Consisting of infuential business leaders,
these individuals commit time and energy to support
the MBET students and the program. Seasoned
professional and Entrepreneur-in-Residence for
CBET, Doug Beynon boasts, “one of the key
success factors of the MBET program is access to
the business community. The role of this group is to
bridge communication with the business landscape
and the directors of the program.”
MBET alumnus, Matt Rendall, who graduated from
the program in 2008, agrees.
“The support structure incorporated into the program
is incredible” said Rendall.
He enrolled in the MBET program after completing
an undergraduate degree in Mechatronics from
Waterloo with a plan to develop a robotic
minesweeping system. During the program he
connected with investors, experts and business
leaders.
Today, his company Clearpath Robotics is a
leading provider of unmanned vehicle systems for
researchers in industrial, government and academic
organizations.
Rod McNaughton, one of the founding faculty members of the
MBET program collaborates with students.
Raymond Reddy, another graduate of the MBET
program, spent four years working with Research in
Motion’s mergers and acquisition team after earning
his MBET degree.
“I’m a big believer in the beneft of industry
experience,” said Reddy. “MBET steered us toward
real-world experiences. Their rubber-to-the-road
approach is something you can’t learn from a
textbook.”
Reddy has since left RIM and started Pushlife, a
music integration program that allows customers
to sync their music libraries with tunes purchased
from mobile music venues without having to install a
software program to replace existing media players.
These success stories represent just a few of the 75
percent of MBET alumni linked to start ups and the
more than 30 companies that have been created by
graduates since 2004.
CBET is named in honour of property developer and
local philanthropist Manfred Conrad and his family
who have donated $5 million to the centre and its
programs.
"CBET is such a critical element of the University
of Waterloo's entrepreneurial climate," said Conrad.
"We support building the culture of entrepreneurship
and expanding the Centre's global reach.
This is really the beginning of this program and I
am sure there will be many more success stories to
come.”
doc_710640410.pdf