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Out of a total of 72 applications received at the Fall 2022 Velocity $5K competition, 23 student ventures were selected as semifinalists, then eight teams pitched during this week's finals.

The finals included five team members who are or were Conrad School students from both the Enterprise Co-op (E Co-op) or Bridging Entrepreneurs to Students (BETS) programs. Four of these student teams brought home $5,000 each at the end of the afternoon.

She's a star performer, known for her vocal skills and stage presence. Now this Ghanaian celebrity has walked a different kind of stage in ��ݮ��Ƶ, after graduating with a master’s degree.

The artist known as “Yaa Yaa” won the reality singing show, “Stars of the Future,” in Ghana in 2009 under her legal name Bertha. The show is similar to American or Canadian Idol and is very popular in West Africa.

A recent ��ݮ��Ƶ Engineering graduate is now a local politician after winning a council seat for the City of Kitchener.

Ayo Owodunni, who graduated from the Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology program in 2021, topped a field of five candidates Monday to become the councillor for ward five on the 11-member council.

A senior manager at Black Professionals in Tech, Owodunni has been involved with numerous community organizations since coming to Canada several years ago.

Growing the material for a construction project might soon become a reality thanks to a student team at the University of ��ݮ��Ƶ that has been working to create bricks out of bacteria.

Created by two University of ��ݮ��Ƶ students, Microbuild Masonry is looking to change the construction industry using its eco-friendly bricks.

"The current process of making bricks releases so much harmful particulates and chemicals like carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide, which not only harms the workers but other people as it's exposed in the air."

From a young age, Yvonne Osagie knew she wanted to pursue a masters because of her passion and love for learning.

Alongside her full-time position, Yvonne is a part-time grad student in ��ݮ��Ƶ’s Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET) program. She originally planned on completing her MBA, but realized that the program wasn’t providing her with what she needed, which was something that could help her start her own business.

The Conrad School is excited to share our students’ successes over the Spring 2022 term.

TAKO was one of four winners of the  this term, founded by three Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET) students: Tony Le, Sabrina Pehilj and Osama Siddiqui. TAKO is a B2B solution for the global seafood supply chain, taking care of the information processes which allow exporters and importers to focus on their expertise in delivering fish.

Rachel Bartholomew (she/her) saw a need in the market for women-centered pelvic floor health tools.

Enabled by ��ݮ��Ƶ co-op students, Bartholomew brought her company,  Health, to life. She hired her first ��ݮ��Ƶ co-op student just four weeks after founding the company. With the HyIvy smart pelvic rehab system currently in clinical trials, Bartholomew credits co-op students, who performed roles like mechanical engineer and UX designer with helping her design the portal and app, the user experience, updating the CAD model and writing test procedures for the prototype.

In keeping with its position as Canada’s top Innovation University, today, the University of ��ݮ��Ƶ launches its Entrepreneurial PhD Fellowship pilot. These new fellowships will support outstanding, business-minded doctoral students who are interested in commercializing their research.

Up to ten successful fellowship applicants will be enrolled in the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business’ Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET) part-time program. Fellowship recipients can complete the three-year part-time program alongside their regular doctoral studies, tuition-free.

About 13 years ago, Matt Rendall and three friends from Mechatronics Engineering at the University of ��ݮ��Ƶ started building robots. It was an interest that grew from their involvement in UW Robotics Team and then carried on into their final-year engineering project, which became an idea for a company.

In 2009, Matt completed his Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology degree where he gained critical skills to develop his business model while leveraging the support of programs that make up ��ݮ��Ƶ’s vibrant startup ecosystem.