Waterloo alumni win entrepreneurship awards

Two Waterloo alumni have received awards recognizing their entrepreneurial successes.

John Baker, founder and chief executive officer of Desire2Learn, and Matt Rendall, co-founder and chief executive officer of Clearpath Robotics received Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards at an awards gala in Toronto on Thursday, October 24.

Baker, whose Desire2Learn is a learning solutions provider serving 10 million customers, won in the “software and technology” category. Baker founded Desire2Learn in 1999, while attending the University of Waterloo as a Systems Design Engineering student.

Rendall, who co-founded Clearpath Robotics, which designs and manufactures unmanned and robotic vehicles, with three Waterloo grads in 2009, was recognized as the Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Rendall is a Mechatronics Engineering graduate and a graduate of the Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET) program.

Ernst & Young has sponsored these entrepreneurship awards for 20 years. The overall winner of the Ontario Entrepreneurship Award Of the Year was given to Geoffrey Smith of EllisDon Corporation.

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CECA and CAFCE - a winning team

by Lenore Ramirez, Co-operative Education & Career Action

It’s incredible to note how co-op has become such a fundamental part of the University of Waterloo’s success. We’re the largest school for co-operative education in the world after being established less than sixty years ago, and co-op has been shown to be a major deciding factor as to why students attend our institution. One of the contributors to our success is the work we do with the Canadian Association for Co-operative Education (CAFCE).

CAFCE is defined as “the voice for post-secondary Co-operative Education in Canada,” enforcing accreditation standards every day at schools that have (or wish to have) their programs certified as being of exceptional quality. The association also gives co-op practitioners a professional network to discuss self-improvement, continuous learning, and new ideas. About 80 universities and colleges belong to CAFCE, with just under 30 being co-op accredited – and Rocco Fondacaro, CECA director of student and faculty relations as well as chair of the CAFCE accreditation council, says, “Waterloo far exceeds the standards.”

This knowledge is unsurprising - Waterloo was part of the association’s founding group thirty-four years ago, joining other schools that felt the pressing need for quality assurance in co-op. We also currently hold a prominent role on committees and functional areas within the organization, in addition to our exceptionally high standards for co-op.

CAFCE provides uWaterloo with a number of benefits. For instance, following the popularity of Work Integrated Learning programs (WIL) that include internships, practicum, field work, as well as co-op, it’s become increasingly difficult to distinguish between programs that claim to be co-op and those that actually are. Some consider Co-op education to be the pinnacle of WIL. In Canada, there is high consistency across co-operative education programs in how programs are structured to facilitate integration between study and work. Nevertheless, other WIL programs that have some work involvement in their academic program like to be called co-op as the name itself holds such significance.

To illustrate this, Rocco uses the ‘Kleenex’ analogy. Even though there is only one ‘Kleenex’ brand, the word ‘Kleenex’ is often used to encompass several types and brands of tissue. CAFCE and its member institutions, both accredited and not accredited, support and/or aspire to attain programs that meet CAFCE’s definition of co-operative education and its underlying standards and rationale.  CAFCE makes it clear what co-op is about, why it’s special, and what elements differentiate it from other WIL programs. Rocco explains that: “As an institution, uWaterloo prides itself on the quality of its programs. We believe an organization like CAFCE provides a forum or a body to help build consistency in programs and, through its program accreditation process, to assure that there is high quality in co-operative education programs.”

Conversely, uWaterloo helps CAFCE. With the prestige of being the largest co-op school in the world, the founder of co-op in Canada, and pioneer of CAFCE itself, we also help CAFCE “validate the fact that we do have a very high level of quality in the [co-op] program.” Rocco recalls that when people have an issue with co-operative education, both uWaterloo and CAFCE are the places to ask for answers, with both institutions in fact referring people back to each other.

Since the beginning, the top-notch performance of our students, as well as CECA staff and supporters, all emphasize the idea that co-op exists for a reason. With every successful work term and connection made, CAFCE and the University of Waterloo’s relationship serves as “both a way for us to influence what co-op education is about and what quality in co-op education programs is like because [the University of Waterloo] and CAFCE share this common vision.” This just goes to show that co-operative education as a core concept in one’s education can function like a well-oiled machine, as proved by the teamwork involved between uWaterloo and CAFCE.

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Wednesday's notes

by Jacqueline Martinz.

The University of Waterloo’s United Way Campaign has raised over 75 percent of the $240,000 goal, according to Jacqueline Martinz, who sends along this note of thanks and a reminder:

"Thank you to everyone who donated. As the end of October approaches, please remember that you’re still able to give. Contributions can be made through one-time pledges, monthly payroll, or pension deductions. All pledges received by October 31 will be entered for a chance to win free parking for one term! More information about the campaign is available online."

The University of Waterloo Staff Association's Annual General Meeting will be held today from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. in DC 1302. After the business portion of the meeting (the agenda for which can be found on the UWSA site), there will be a presentation on the results of the recent Staff Engagement Survey.

Tomorrow is Hallowe'en, and if you're coming to work in costume, or if you've decorated your workspace in the spirit of the season, feel free to send pics my way.

The University Club's annual Hallowe'en feast will feature "howling good halibut," "beastly butternut squash," "wicked devilled eggs" and "Black Death by chocolate cake." The buffet will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Don't forget to call ahead!

The next Philosophy Colloquium is scheduled to take place on Friday, November 1 at 3:30 p.m. in HH 373 and will feature James Beebe, University at Buffalo SUNY, whose talk is entitled "The Folk Conception of Weakness of Will."

November also marks the beginning of Movember, a moustache-growing campaign for charity that raises both funds and awareness for prostate cancer. This year, resources and tools have been provided for university campuses interested in creating their own campaigns.

In years past, campus participants have been brave enough to submit before and after photos along with information about their Movember pledge pages, and I'd like to extend another invitation this year to individuals or groups participating in the month-long campaign.

The UW Recreation Committee presents "Container Gardening" on Friday, November 1 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. in MC 5158. The event features Rachel Dyck, Waterloo English major and owner of Gardens to Grow, who will discuss the benefits of growing plants (specifically vegetables) in alternative spaces, and what is involved in doing so.

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