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Nanotechnology engineering (NE) alumnus Holden Beggs was named to the 2024 Forbes 30 under 30 list for his start-up Zero Experience.

This start-up was born out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Beggs and business partner Jackson Mills saw a troubling trend,many students were losing their co-op jobs and having difficulty getting post-graduation employment during the pandemic.

Without access to jobs, students found themselves stuck in a cycle—unable to gain experience, but unable to get a job without it. Yet at the University of À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ there is a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem.

During his Capstone experience, Beggs realized entrepreneurship would be a good substitute for getting industry experience.

The infrastructure to create a new start-up was there for the students, however many of them did not know how to start an entrepreneurial journey.

Drew Davidson (Class of 2011) is developing innovative materials for creating firefighting gear. These new materials will not degrade and cause occupational cancer as current materials do. The inspiration behind his research is his mother, who has been serving as a firefighter in the Cambridge Fire Department for over 32 years. She urged him to use his engineering background to address this crucial health issue for firefighters.

Davidson’s innovative research has earned him a Deep Tech Scholarship which is a new scholarship, the first of its kind, recently launched by Mary Wells, Dean of the University of À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ Faculty of Engineering. The scholarship is designed to help students launch deep tech start-ups.

As a high school student, Davidson had decided to pursue an undergraduate degree in Nanotechnology Engineering (NE) because seemed like a promising and exciting field.

Cervical cancer is diagnosed in over 1,000 Canadian women each year, and approximately 410 women die from the disease annually. Women need to undergo regular cervical cancer screening, as early detection can significantly increase the chances of successful treatment.

However, in Ontario, women are only eligible for the Pap Test (or Pap smear) every three years. CT Murphy a Nanotechnology Engineering (NE) graduate (BASc ’23) aims to create a new testing method that allows women to screen for the human papillomavirus (HPV) that usually causes cervical cancer.