The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Endowment Fund (EIEF)
Established with a $1 million gift in 2007, the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Endowment Fund (EIEF), was created to address challenges such as increasing international competition in product and service innovation – from research and development to manufacturing, commercialisation and marketing – by better equipping students with technical and non-technical skills. This gift allows the Faculty to support students’ imagination, vision and innovations and contributes to fostering a culture of business and entrepreneurship among students. Our graduates have the opportunity to build ties with the business and technology communities during their studies, to learn from them and they will graduate with a competitive edge that resonates with these communities
Objectives of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Endowment Fund (EIEF):
- Raise the awareness and interest of the Faculty community (students, professors, employees) on entrepreneurship-related matters, thus contributing to ‘widen’ the mouth of the entrepreneurship ‘funnel’;
- Actively support student business projects through two programs: The Prizes in Entrepreneurship and Innovation (PEI) student competitions, Launching entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurship concepts and The Entrepreneurship Bridges Lecture Series produced in collaboration with the Telfer School of Management.
Moving forward
A new course on Technology Entrepreneurship available to undergraduate and graduate students has been developed to further implement our vision for entrepreneurship at the Faculty. This course was the inception of a strong academic base supporting the development of the entrepreneurial spirit of our students.
2012 – 2013:
The course was offered for the first time in the fall 2012 term. Students considering participating in the PEI competitions in 2012 – 2013 were strongly encouraged to enroll in the new course.
2013 – 2014:
Enrolment to the course becomes a requirement for students wishing to participate in the PEI competitions.
2014 – 2015:
The course will be integrated as a mandatory course in all undergraduate programs of studies offered by the Faculty and in as many graduate programs of studies as possible.