Watch Magazine 2010

a p u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e u n i v e r s i t y o f w a t e r l o o r e s e a r c h + t e c h n o l o g y p a r k

today’s technology playground

Top fi ve reasons to hire a Waterloo co-op student:

employ.ability.

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1. Quality » One of the top research universities in Canada, Waterloo also has the largest work-study program in the country. Our reputation for high-quality students and exceptional graduates is recognized by global industry leaders who consistently hire from Waterloo every term, year after year.

2. Versatility » Students from the University of Waterloo have strong aptitudes and entrepreneurial attitudes, adapting, thriving and growing with your organization’s success. You will gain strategic value,as students arrive with high incentive to perform well, working independently while learning and contributing.

3. Freshness » Add a new perspective to your business: youthful minds connected to current technology and relevant skills build yourfirm’s success.

4. Diversity » Waterloo students are multicultural and come from a wide variety of countries and backgrounds. Many are fl uent in several languages and adapt well to new environments. Students currently work in 42 countries worldwide.

5. Year-Round Availability » You can hire a student to begin work in January, May or September and have a talented new student every four monthsor, in some cases, extend the timeframe.

Google has an excellent relationship with UW, and co-ops have consistently been able to come in and hit the ground running in Google’s fast-paced environment. Even in short amounts of time, Waterloo co-op students make important contributions to Google’s products and culture, while gaining incomparable real-world engineering experience.

Steve Woods, Google Waterloo Site Director

COVER: Front cover model Ryan Murphy. Back cover model Selina Schumm. Cover concept Ambrodisia Ink and Bluegirl Design. Cover photography Bryn Gladding. Cover design Bluegirl Design. Content Ambrodisia Ink.

The Research + Technology Park would like to thank its many partners. These include, amongst others, the federal and provincial governments, the Region of Waterloo, the City of Waterloo, the University of Waterloo, and the tenants of the park. These partners have supported Watch magazine since inception. Their involvement has been integral to the success of the park. This magazine acknowledges the achievement of this collective collaboration.

© 2010 Watch Magazine is an annual publication of the UW Research + Technology Park. All rights reserved.

Reproduction without written permission from the UW Research + Technology Park is strictly forbidden.

tABle oF contents

WAT C H 2 0 1 0 I S S U E

Top fi ve reasons to hire a Waterloo co-op student:

employ.ability.

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1. Quality » One of the top research universities in Canada, Waterloo also has the largest work-study program in the country. Our reputation for high-quality students and exceptional graduates is recognized by global industry leaders who consistently hire from Waterloo every term, year after year.

2. Versatility » Students from the University of Waterloo have strong aptitudes and entrepreneurial attitudes, adapting, thriving and growing with your organization’s success. You will gain strategic value,as students arrive with high incentive to perform well, working independently while learning and contributing.

3. Freshness » Add a new perspective to your business: youthful minds connected to current technology and relevant skills build yourfirm’s success.

4. Diversity » Waterloo students are multicultural and come from a wide variety of countries and backgrounds. Many are fl uent in several languages and adapt well to new environments. Students currently work in 42 countries worldwide.

5. Year-Round Availability » You can hire a student to begin work in January, May or September and have a talented new student every four monthsor, in some cases, extend the timeframe.

Google has an excellent relationship with UW, and co-ops have consistently been able to come in and hit the ground running in Google’s fast-paced environment. Even in short amounts of time, Waterloo co-op students make important contributions to Google’s products and culture, while gaining incomparable real-world engineering experience.

Steve Woods, Google Waterloo Site Director

There is a place where ideas happen. It is in surroundings that encourage leading research and have continuous access to a

stream of brilliant minds. That place is here in Waterloo. It’s called the University of Waterloo

Research + Technology Park.

Today’s technology playground.

The companies located in this park have ready access to everything they need to generate ideas for now and for the next generation.

Tomorrow they will welcome the brainpower of our children just as they have already

welcomed the minds here now.

Watch to see what happens next.www.rtpark.uwaterloo.ca

05 R+T PARK EDITOR’S LETTER

07 ACCELERATOR CENTRE

08 TANGAM SYSTEMS

10 PRIMAL FUSION

11 AGFA HEALTHCARE

12 IGNITION

14 GOOGLE

16 GUSTO CATERING COMPANY

17 JIM BALSILLIE AND MIKE LAZARIDIS

18 WATERLOO INSTITUTE OF NANOTECHNOLOGY

20 INSTITUTE FOR QUANTUM COMPUTING

22 GENERATIONS

24 OPEN TEXT

26 COLUMBIA LAKE HEALTH CLUB

27 TECHTOWN CAFÉ

28 EDUCATION CREDIT UNION

29 COMMUNITECH

30 DIGITAL SOUND BITES

32 R+T PARK DIRECTORY

46 UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO PRESIDENT, DAVID JOHNSTON

Carol Stewart UW Research + Technology Park and Vice-President, Association of University Research Parks Canada.

R+t PARKEDITOR’S LETTER

W e l c o M e t o W A t c h M A g A Z I n e 2 0 1 0

5

As we turn our faces to the challenges of the day, it is good to remember what imagination can do for us. As children, we took it for granted. As adults, only the fortunate few retain the wide-eyed wonder of possibility. It is these individuals, still filled with imagination, who will find solutions to our challenges. They paint pictures of the unknown, and they think about ideas differently.

University of Waterloo President, David Johnston, talked to Watch in this issue about such unconventional thinkers. They have a natural affinity to places where they have the freedom to think and imagine. The Research + Technology Park is about creating a playground where free thought around research, technology, business and imagination can dovetail. Tomorrow will be built in this playground.

Our 2010 issue of Watch magazine celebrates thinking ideas differently. We take a closer look at the individuals and organizations at the Research Park who have taken knowledge and powered it up with imagination. Watch looks at: Accelerator Centre graduate, Primal Fusion CTO Peter Sweeney, who has imagined the next iteration of the web; Google work colleagues, Sharvil Nanavati and Casey Ho, who have imagined a new way to search the web; father and daughter Eugene and Krystina Roman, who imagined Waterloo to be the perfect place to nurture and grow their passion for technology; and many other thinkers.

Being able to see beyond boundaries is a good start to getting to the other side. I hope you enjoy reading the stories of many who are already there.

It is in a place of imagination that thoughts

begin anew. Whether by design

or happenstance, imagination created our

history. It helped us learn to fly,

to explore the depths of sea and sky, and to see the

unseeable.

imagination.

W A T C H

smart•green revolutionLeasing inquiries for the 375 Hagey Boulevard Building, please contact: John Whitney at DTZ Barnicke • Tel: 519-746-6300 ext 224 • E-mail: [email protected]

For more information on The Cora Group and this building, please contact: Adrian Conrad • Tel: 519-589-6533 • E-mail: [email protected]

Introducing the latest member of The Cora Group’s industry leading sustainable buildings in the University of Waterloo’s Research and Technology Park. We continue our long tradition of creating unique office environments that provide leading-edge features and unmatched floor plan customization.

375 Hagey Boulevard is another LEED-certification candidate, key features include:

• Raised flooring with convenient access to cabling

• Unsurpassed control of workspace climates with in-floor ventilation systems

• Advanced automated electrical and HVAC systems

• Motion-activated indirect lighting to promote energy conservation

• Exceptional energy efficient building

• Rainwater harvesting systems plus so many other features

The Cora Group is Waterloo Region’s leading, multi- tenant “Smart-Green” building developer providing space for today’s technology and office industry.

Look for our 4th 100,000 sf building also commencing Spring 2010

375 Hagey Boulevard Building • Research and Technology Park, Waterloo

InnoTECH Building • Research and Technology Park, Waterloo

Accelerator Building • Research and Technology Park, Waterloo

www.coragroup.com

Tim ellis, COO of the Accelerator Centre, has very interesting days.

Part of his role includes overseeing the day-to-day operations of the centre from front line to client. In 2007, the centre had 17 clients. In 2010, 28 companies currently call the centre home while 15 companies are waiting on the sidelines for space. Expansion plans are in place for an additional 15,000 sq.ft. at a second R + T Park location. Ellis has no doubts the new space will fi ll to capacity quickly.

Ellis points out “We plan to expand more than our space – but our strategy as well. The intent is that the new facility will have less hands-on and more senior clients, while junior clients will remain at our current location. Next stop from the senior facility - graduation.”

The centre has a path in place to determine clients’ progression toward their milestones. Mentors from the technology fi eld evaluate the milestones in quarterly reviews. Regular check-ins ensure clients are following the right formula for their business. The goal, naturally, is to have everyone successfully graduate. So far, the centre has had fi ve graduations and all graduates are doing well.

Most of the centre’s business has arrived via word-of-mouth. Explains Ellis, “We haven’t done any active marketing. The community has a general sense of what we’re doing and it seems word is getting around. In fact, we’ve attracted start-ups as far afi eld as Florida.”

The Accelerator Centre’s reputation has also begun to reach the ears of other parks and universities looking to set up their own incubators and accelerators. Part of Ellis’ time these days is spent evangelizing the centre’s winning formula to interested listeners.

“It just keeps growing and growing. Soon we will also be managing the incubation centre at the new Digital Media Hub, and we have fi ve more clients ready to go. I’d say we were bursting at the seams – but seems like when that happens we fi nd space to expand again. Something really great is going on here.”

A c c e l e r a t o r C e n t r e

AcceleRAtIng success the accelerator centre (ac) is a world-renowned, award-winning centre for the cultivation of technology entrepreneurship located in waterloo, ontario. firmly focused on accelerating the growth and success of fl edgling start-ups from a variety of technology sectors, the accelerator centre is poised for its own next stage of growth.

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leARnIngs on the flyfour years into his business, prem gururajan, president and founder of tangam systems, has already learned a lot about the life of a technology start-up and especially what it takes to be successful. in 2010 gururajan expects his new products to generate the kind of growth that will launch his company from its current location in the accelerator centre to offices of their own. prem shares some of the biggest learnings he has gathered during the rapid rise of his business.

4 Years In - Lessons so far

Get with marketing, early on.“It’s important to have a management team that is strong on marketing. The natural inclination during R & D is for engineers to solve problems. The trick is to solve problems where people will pay for the solutions. It’s not about what is cool or interesting to the individual – but about what sells. Knowing that early on keeps you on track.”

Secure more funding than you think you need.“Really solid funding gives you a big edge. If you have to make changes in your development plans you have room to maneuver and you don’t have to worry about cash flow. So fund to the max – and set it aside for when you need it.”

Pick the right customers from the beginning.“Having customers that value your product and have authority and decision-making power is worth its weight in gold. Don’t be afraid to turn away the customers who aren’t the right fit. It’s easier to say no right away than later.”

Tangam SystemsTangam Systems provides automated table game management solutions for the casino industry. The company’s award winning solution for casinos provides casino management teams with critical capability to track, manage and improve player profiling, game security, human resources performance and table games pricing. Tangam moved into the Accelerator Centre in 2008.

W A T C H 9

W A T C H10 W A T C H10

A c c e l e r a t o r C e n t r e G r a d u a t e – P r i m a l F u s i o n

not long ago, it was diffi cult to believe that something as complex as social identity and relationships could be digitized for an online environment. but today, millions of us don’t think twice about applications that allow us to socialize online.

the next iteration of the web is every bit as foreign to us today as the concept of social networking was less than a decade ago. it is called ‘thought networking’, and when it takes off, be prepared to experience the web as never before.

Peter Sweeney knows from fi rst-hand experience that it is diffi cult to imagine something different until it is there. His last start-up established a new web-based model that helped revolutionize the music industry by giving recording artists control over their own business. As founder and CTO of Primal Fusion, a company devoted to developing services that shorten searching and harvesting time on the web with a machine-generated process, Sweeney is poised to disrupt things once again.

One of the web’s disadvantages is the time required to look, store and effectively manage content. As content continues to increase, the act of web search and store remains as manual as ever and increasingly cumbersome. Improvements focus on incremental approaches that tweak the same processes to work a little better. Primal Fusion is working on a radical shift in the known web experience.

“We’re exploring ways to use aspects of thought networking to take an experience people are familiar with and transform it. The technology we’re working on will create a web experience that is more personalized, automated and meaningful. Consumers will do a bit of brainstorming to indicate what

they want, and then we will fi nd, harvest and organize what is important to them. It’s a just-in-time – just what-you-ask-for experience,” explains Sweeney.

“Instead of visiting a standard web site where information is presented in full, content from the sites of origin will wrap around the needs, wants and desires articulated by the user. It will allow unique sites for everyone because the site won’t be built until the consumer says what they want. It’s a radical transformation from how we currently experience the web.”

Primal Fusion launched its alpha version of the software in 2009 and has plans for 2010 that includes the release of three new products. Right now, innovators and early adopters are taking note of what they are doing and trying it on for size. That is a good sign; the next stop is viral adoption. As Sweeney points out, “The trick in technology is not to be too far ahead of time – it’s to be right on time.”

“The trick in technology is

not to be too far ahead of time – it’s to be right

on time.”

the WeB. Just the way you want it

W A T C H 11

In the mid ‘90s, local start up imaging company Mitra Imaging Inc. saw the future coming; the movement from fi lm to digital was inevitable. Agfa HealthCare Inc. also recognized everything was going digital, including healthcare information and data.

In 2002, Mitra Imaging was acquired by like-minded Agfa HealthCare. It was a good fi t. Today their products help with the effi ciency and effectiveness of health and patient care. In Canada alone, Agfa HealthCare is responsible for 65% of all hospital imaging software.

On the heels of entrepreneurial success, Agfa HealthCare has turned attentions inward to re-encourage the kind of thinking that made them achieve in the fi rst place. Vice President

of Government Relations and Strategic Programs, Jeff Nesbitt, is part of a plan to shift behaviour, culture and practices.

“A couple of years ago the company was in search of a strategy to bring innovation back into our organization. We wanted to fi gure out how we could be agile inside our walls. I fi ne-tuned some ideas around co-development

and partnerships then pitched a concept that would use the outside world to drive innovation back into the business,” explains Nesbitt.

Nesbitt’s fi rst idea leveraged government investment into healthcare R&D. Agfa HealthCare had never before considered

the idea of partnering with government. Given the go-ahead, Nesbitt picked up the phone to his network and got the ball rolling. In 2009, he and his team successfully secured a grant from the Ontario’s Next Generation of Jobs Fund for $29.6 million on a $200 million investment from Agfa HealthCare. The investment will generate 100 new jobs supporting 276 existing jobs around healthcare IT development.

Next up, Nesbitt crafted the idea for a Health Institute. “I was looking at our internal product development roadmap. When things are two or three years out there is uncertainty, but room for innovation. The idea for the institute was to leverage incentives, expertise and new resources to accelerate the process and reduce risk.” The Agfa HealthCare Institute was launched in November 2009 with partners University of Waterloo, the National Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Digital Media Network. The institute will focus on new product innovation, entrepreneurship and commercialization within the healthcare space.

Says Nesbitt, “The Waterloo Agfa HealthCare location is already the premier North Amercian R & D site. Using our huge historical bench strength with intrapreneurial thinking, we’re shifting our sites to not just being on the next wave, but being responsible for making that wave.”

A g f a H e a l t h C a r e

InnoVAtIng from withinin the technology fi eld, capturing creative thinking inside successful organizations is de rigueur. but when your business is in healthcare, new ideas are more than just about developing new technologies. they are actually about saving lives.In 2011, Agfa

HealthCare will move to the UW Research + Technology Park.

“Everything changes when you grow. We need a space that can handle our growth,” says Nesbitt. “Our move to the park is refl ective of who we are and where we’re going next. We’re very excited.”

sometimes you don’t know where you are going until you get there. such was the case for ellyn Winters-Robinson, a self-aware entrepreneur who found herself self-employed and loving it after a solid and successful career in the corporate world.

W A T C H 13W A T C H

I g n i t i o n

IgnItIng the fire withinEllyn never thought of herself as an entrepreneur. Former VP of Marketing at MKS, a company consolidation and reorganization left Ellyn pondering where she wanted to take her PR career next. Familiar with the corporate world, she naturally expected she would take some time to check out other companies and then make her move. While working out her next steps, Ellyn let word out to her network that she was in the market for a new opportunity. She was rewarded with a slew of requests for her consulting help. She decided to accept some of the contracts as she continued to investigate roles with corporate fi rms.

Says Ellyn, “I always thought I would go back to a corporate role. So I kept my eyes open for opportunities while working on contracts. Lucky for me, I was pleasantly surprised to fi nd I enjoyed the diversity and fl exibility of the consulting work immensely. The upside was that I didn’t have to rush myself fi nding a full-time role. Eventually, of course, I found myself interviewing for one of those prized corporate positions. I remember sitting across from the CEO in the fi nal interview and being asked by him whether I felt I was the right person for the job. There I was poised to slam-dunk the interview with a resounding ‘yes’ – when I was shocked to realize that my answer to him was a ‘no.’”

Turns out, Ellyn realized she had fallen in love with her consulting work. And she knew that she wasn’t ready to give it up to head back into a corporate role. She acknowledged to herself that through the consulting work she had inadvertently begun to build a thriving business. Along with that, she had also developed a reputation as a one-stop-shop marketing and PR guru specializing in the tech sector.

“What I didn’t see until that interview was that an opportunity had presented itself to me to build my own business. I realized that what I really wanted to do going forward was roll up my sleeves and capitalize on my own momentum. I didn’t start out with this plan; it was a happy accident. But once I recognized my own luck, I wanted to take it to the next step and build on it.”

Today, Ellyn operates a virtual marketing business aptly named Ignition. Specializing in marketing and PR for the tech industry, she considers her business a lean machine that can expand or contract at will. She has assembled a virtual network of individuals, expertise and resources that she can pull together as a team to suit the job required by her clients.

Bringing 15 years experience with PR and marketing, Ellyn is well-equipped to deal with the rapid fi re changes the World Wide Web has brought to the game. Digital media has moved the playing fi eld from paper to electronic devices. Evolving PR and messaging to fi t requires a whole set of new and different tactics.

“Although the overarching principles remain the same, getting the message out is an entirely different operation from 15 or even 5 years ago. The biggest impact on tactics arose from social media and new channels of communication. The people you need to get the message to can be located anywhere. It’s not about cultivating relationships face-to-face anymore; it’s about developing an online community of relationships.”

Ellyn points out, “Being successful in the digital world means you have to be a lot more focused – you really have to survey the landscape carefully and fi nd the best targets for your time and effort. Then you

have to package the story well; the expectation is the pitch will be turnkey. But the neat part is when you hook into something relevant that really resonates and it gets out there, you’re dealing in a global marketplace capable of exponential attention and exponential rewards.”

Electing for a different take with Ignition, Ellyn’s business philosophy focuses on principles versus plans. Her goal for every client is to provide great customer care, go beyond the expected and produce great work. “The logic behind my approach is that I will be able to look back and say I never had to do business development, my work did it for me. That has proven to be true already. My trail has led me to the Accelerator Centre where I’m now a marketing consultant. I’ve been lucky enough to work with many of their start-up clients – helping them make the leap forward in their commercialization path.”

“It’s about thinking off the page,” explains Ellyn. “Being

adaptive is my business approach. You have to be

able to deliver the goods and turn over something that

works. With my background, combined with the diversity

of my virtual set-up, the end product is deliberately custom-designed to move clients to a better place.”

W A T C H14

the google Dream

*

two young work colleagues, sharvil nanavati and casey ho, headquartered in google’s Waterloo office, are living the google dream - together. they developed an application outside of their regular work during their *20% time that caught the attention of the Mountain View chain of command all the way to sergey Brin and larry Page. Aptly named ‘google goggles’, their idea went from concept to product launch in mere weeks.

20% time is an important component of Google’s engineering culture and has a rich history. 20% time was developed to encourage innovation in product development, foster inter-team communication and enhance Googler engineering skills. All employees, regardless of job function or level, spend 20% of their work time thinking about new projects.

the google Dream Well, a picture is truly worth a thousand

words. Accessing information is fast and easy. No more typing in text for a search, a picture initiates the search. Already the largest image recognition system in existence, Google Goggles recognizes tens of millions of objects and continues to grow.

Google Goggles: What is it?

What does this mean for consumers?

Google Goggles is a visual search application that allows users to search for objects using images rather than words. When you take a picture of an object with your camera phone, Google attempts to recognize the item and return relevant search results.

Getting goggled by GoogleLast year, Google Waterloo introduced a unique concept at its location: Innovation Week. The week provides Google employees, or Googlers, the opportunity to kick-start brainstorming activities that might inspire new ideas. In 2009’s Innovation Week, work-mates Sharvil Nanavati and Casey Ho spent a lot of time talking together about something they both found very interesting – mixing the real world with the online world – otherwise known as augmented reality. Initially, their ideas started with blue-sky thinking filled with infinite possibilities. But the more they talked, the more they realized that what might make more sense was grounding their ideas within useful possibilities that leveraged Google’s business strengths.

Eventually, they took their pie in the sky ideas and worked on turning them into something doable. They narrowed their concept to investigating how they could use the real world as seen through pictures and augment it with the virtual world of online information. They soon realized if they could overlay real pictures of outside daily reality with relevant content and resources that already existed, they might be onto something really big.

Sharvil and Casey’s next step was a trip to the mall. They wanted to develop a prototype with one of the most common devices used today, the mobile phone. After they each invested almost a thousand dollars to buy the make and model of the phone they needed, they got busy writing code. Says Sharvil, “It was really exciting. We worked solid, evenings and weekends. After a couple

of weeks, we knew we wanted to make our idea a product and that it was time to share what we had done with others. We showed our Site Director, Steven Woods, and Manager, Alex Nicolaou. They were so impressed with what we had come up with that they told us they wanted to take it to Mountain View, CA, to present to the VP, Mobile, Vic Gundotra.”

By September, Sharvil and Casey were in Mountain View getting ready to present to Gundotra. “Steven arranged a half hour time slot for us

to present,” explains Casey. “About 10 minutes into our demo Vic took the phone from us and said, ‘Wow, this is awesome.’ Then he told us if we were done our presentation he wanted to show it to someone. He then left us to show it to other VPs including Andy Rubin who was in charge of developing the new Android phone. After a quick look at it, Andy said he wanted it for the Android.”

By the end of the week, the two Googlers found themselves in a demo with Sergey Brin. He liked it. The positive feedback and incredible response to their application quickly accelerated their project from demo pitch to product launch pathway. What began as a three-day excursion to Google headquarters turned into a two week extended stay. By the end of their time in Mountain View, they had been connected to all the resources they would need to get their product ready for a December launch.

“We had a team in Santa Monica, New York and London,” says Sharvil. “Vic put together groups who shared like interests and complementary resources like image recognition and vision experts. Before we knew it we were jetting around the globe working together to make things happen by the launch date. The timeline was incredibly tight, but the way was paved for us to do it right. We just went with the flow.”

“It was insane in some ways,” recognizes Casey. “But it was also incredibly exciting. Actually the day of the launch both of us had an exam. We are both doing our Masters at Stanford. Three hours after we launched Google Goggles we were writing the exam, and somehow we both passed.”

Google Goggles was launched to the world at a media conference in New York on December 7th. The feedback for the application was incredible. Today, both Sharvil and Casey continue to work on their product as their full-time focus.

“Speaking for both of us,” Sharvil explains, “the experience was incredible. We were both working at Google for less than a couple of years, and someone thought what we had built was worthy of showing to Sergey Brin. That was incredible. I don’t think either of us can imagine working at a place that would ever give us the opportunities we have already experienced here.”

W A T C H 15

Dominic Ellis has fond memories of his youth in London, England. Every summer his parents packed up the kids for a camping holiday in France. “The motivation to camp wasn’t to see the countryside,” explains Dominic. “It was to keep things on the cheap. By saving on accommodations, we could spend more money eating glorious French food.” Dominic’s early exposure to fine gourmand created an insatiable passion for food that has yet to abate.

“Although I loved food I never considered cooking for a career. Instead, I went to business school in England, and when I finished I came to Canada. Upon arrival, I began a career in the technology industry. I loved and did well at it. But in my spare time I did what I loved even more, cooking. There came a point when I felt I wanted to create something of my own in something I really loved. It was obvious to me what that would be.”

Dominic left his job in 2003 for chef school. Two years later he opened his catering company, appropriately named Gusto. Explains Dominic, “Food is my passion. When founding my business, I wanted the company name to reflect that feeling. Gusto means fun and zest in English, and in Portuguese it means good appetite. I approach every meal and every event with ‘gusto’ in mind.”

Dominic approaches his work with the client as the star of the party. Understanding what they want to achieve and figuring out the

style of service that suits their goals sets the foundation. From there, he works on creative menus. Ethics and responsible sourcing of food are important elements to his business. Whenever possible, he sources from local farmers and establishments in the surrounding area.

Most of Dominic’s business has come via word of mouth, and business has been growing at an incredible pace. After one expansion, Dominic is now turning his attention to establishing business systems and processes. Explains Dominic, “As Gusto continues to grow, I want to ensure it runs like clockwork. Analyzing how we are doing and how we can improve on things means I have to be able to track and measure.”

Dominic’s enthusiasm for food extends into the community. He is actively involved with Conestoga College’s chef program and part of Waterloo Region Food Security Systems Committee. “I like to support and stay connected to the college. I speak to the Food & Beverage classes and we hire Conestoga co-op students.” Last year Dominic also took part in the region’s 100 Mile Diet and the local Taste Local, Taste Fresh initiative.

Next up? “Someday I’d like to open a shop, but that’s a little way down the road.” With Dominic’s obvious zest for the world of food, it’s likely the road to his next adventure will be a short one.

W A T C H16

G u s t o C a t e r i n g C o m p a n y

google’s gusto for food in 2003 former marketing and sales software professional Dominic ellis took a huge leap. with a successful career in the technology field, he decided to toss everything aside to follow a greater passion: food.

How did you start cooking for Google?I got a phone call from Google, California. They wanted to come and have a sample of the food I prepare. They came. They ate. We talked. Shortly after that I was asked if I would like to prepare their café meals

How do you decide what to serve?I work with my team to put a menu plan together each week. It’s truly a collective job and usually takes about a day to get it just right. Once we have the menu ready, we send it to Google for review

Are there any special diet considerations for menus?All our meals are health coded: Green. Red. Amber. As much as possible we work to ensure our menu is seasonal, local and healthy. We often put in some theme days to keep it interesting.

And?It has been amazing. We have a bi-weekly meeting with the food staff in California and are continually challenged to come up with creative, imaginative food. The people at Google are wonderful and truly seem to appreciate our efforts. The experience has been hugely rewarding, not just for me, but for all of my staff.

W A T C H 17

Research In Motion (RIM) may be considered Canada’s success story of the decade, but to put its achievement in its proper context you need to think more expansively.

RIM has outgrown parochialism - it is a global success story. Fortune magazine didn’t recently name RIM the fastest-growing Canadian company - it named it the fastest-growing company anywhere, period. Indeed, of the non-Canadian customers who have used the 75 million or so BlackBerrys RIM has shipped so far, it’s likely many can’t even point out Waterloo, Ont., on a map.

In a country where the business landscape is populated by oil sands oligarchies and failing forestry empires, Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis gave rise to a rarity: a Canadian corporate behemoth that isn’t bound to Canada by geographic necessity. Theirs is a technology firm that would have fit right in with the giants of Silicon Valley; instead, they set up shop in an Ontario city of 115,000 people.

In the process, the two men altered the culture of business and showcased a near-unprecedented audacity in everything they did - be it luring the world’s most famous scientist or taking on the National Hockey League.

Mr. Balsillie and Mr. Lazaridis will be remembered first and foremost for the BlackBerry itself - the device that helped transform a fledgling pager firm into a $42-billion company and, for good or bad, made the workplace mobile. There’s a reason the gadget is nicknamed the Crackberry: Almost anyone who has ever used it - including the president of the United States - can’t seem to live without it.

But at the heart of the two men’s claim to Nation Builders of the Decade is the varied ecosystem they created with the fruits of the BlackBerry’s

success. Take the Perimeter Institute, the theoretical physics hub founded by Mr. Lazaridis. Ten years on, it is the largest post-doctoral studies program in the world in theoretical physics, and has managed to attract Stephen Hawking, the world-renowned researcher in that field.

What Mr. Lazaridis has done for the sciences, Mr. Balsillie has tried to recreate in the field of public policy. In addition to the Toronto-based foreign policy think tank the Canadian International Council, he has spent upward of $100-million on a network of policy research stations anchored by the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo.

Undoubtedly, taxpayer money went into many, if not all of these ventures, and their levels of success have not been equal. But the end result has been the transformation of Waterloo from a place where companies went looking for smart engineering students into the centre of a reverse brain-drain phenomenon. Google has set up shop there, as have many of Canada’s most promising technology startups - more than a few of which are the product of former RIM employees. Smart Canadians who once flocked to Silicon Valley are slowly coming home.

Some of the two men’s ideas really shouldn’t work - planting a public-policy hub in Waterloo, trying to drag an NHL team to Hamilton, re-branding the BlackBerry from a business gadget to a consumer one. And some of their ventures have or likely will fail to meet their creators’ ambitious expectations. But it’s frequently noted by current and former employees that among RIM’s top brass, there’s no such thing as “just business”- everything is personal. And so it seems every day the men behind the BlackBerry undertake some new challenge of mind-boggling audacity.

J i m B a l s i l l i e a n d M i k e L a z a r i d i s

theIR BlAcKBeRRy’s best application was philanthropy

And so it seems every day the men behind the BlackBerry undertake some new challenge of mind-boggling audacity.

JIM BALSILLIe BIRTHPLACE: SEAFORTH, ONT.AGE: 48Mr. Balsillie is best known as one of the two men behind tech giant Research In Motion Ltd. He has donated millions of dollars to charities, think tanks and other institutions. He also generated headlines across the continent for his attempt to move a National Hockey League team from the U.S. to Canada.

MIke LAzARIDIS BIRTHPLACE: ISTANBULAGE: 48Besides helping to design the original BlackBerry that made Research In Motion one of the most successful companies in the world, Mr. Lazaridis has become one of the most important benefactors for the Canadian scientific community. Using hundreds of millions of his own dollars, he has funded some of the leading institutions in the world in theoretical physics and quantum computing.

Canada is home to this fast-growing company today because Mr. Balsillie and Mr. Lazaridis are not afraid to fight for what they believe in.

By Omar El Akkad

understanding nanotechnology:

science & engineering at the atomic scale

Wa t e r l o o I n s t i t u t e o f N a n o t e c h n o l o g y

Meet DR. ARthuR cARtyDr. Arthur Carty returned to Waterloo to become a part of the nano revolution. Charged in 2008 with the task of starting the Waterloo Institute of Nanotechnology (WIN), in two short years he moved what was an idea from paper to people. In 2011, he will be moving those people to a brand new building.

Former National Science Advisor from 2004 until 2008, Dr. Carty has deep roots in nanotechnology. Until his recent arrival in Waterloo, he held several different appointments while simultaneously running his own lab in Ottawa.

Dr. Carty’s lab work focused on organometallic chemistry and the development of new materials. His research group synthesized metal clusters with a discrete metal core of 4-8 atoms bonded together in a regular polyhedral framework, surrounded by a shell of organic or inorganic ligands bound to the metals. This outer shell of attached ligands protected the cluster core from chemical attack by outside agents that might otherwise break down the metal core framework. These new organometallic materials not only have interesting structures – they possess unusual properties. His work involved characterizing and analyzing the structure/property relationships for the new materials. “Simply put,” Dr. Carty explains, “this is molecular design and engineering of new materials structure, properties and applications.”

Work such as Dr.Carty’s provides fertile ground for discovery. The possible uses and applications for nano materials have the potential to change the world - radically. The field has garnered interest from governments, scientists and researchers. In response, countries across the globe are investing dollars and setting out their own national-level strategies for research and development. The race to hold a leadership position is on.

Retaining and attracting talent in the nanotechnology field is imperative to Canada’s future. In the last two years Dr. Carty has been working to ensure the University of Waterloo is a serious contender for both talent and research. Explains Dr. Carty, “Things are happening in Waterloo that give us an enormous advantage. In terms of assets, we have the largest Co-op Undergraduate Nanotechnology Engineering Program in North America and a new Collaborative Nanotechnology Graduate Program. Both have demanding entrance requirements and are growing in popularity. A new 280,000 sq. ft. building to be shared by WIN and the Institute for Quantum Computing will have state-of-the-art equipment and tools for nanotechnology competitive with the best in the world. With 53 faculty members from nine departments, WIN is building a fantastic place. We have the people, the equipment, and the commitment from the university. Our plans are hard-wired to promote and generate creativity and imagination.”

“We do realize we will have to earn our place as a world leader,” he continues, “but we are well positioned to get there. When you have high standards and excellent people, you have the potential to become internationally preeminent. It will take time to develop our capacity, but it will happen through the many young minds we are attracting. Building from the ground up gives us an incredible opportunity to synergize, to learn from each other and work together on this revolution.”

The Phenomenon: Nanotechnology deals with the fabrication and behaviour of materials, devices, and systems at the smaller than normal nano scale. At this scale, the size of materials begins to approach atomic dimensions; the classical laws of physics no longer apply and some rather interesting properties begin to emerge.

The explanation: The smaller a particle, the larger the ratio of surface area (covering on the particle) to bulk (material inside that covering). Because physical and chemical properties are determined by surface area, when the surface ratio of a particle changes, hardness and erosion levels can increase.

The Results: Though the changes in properties are not routinely predictable, they present an incredibly new and uncharted platform for discovery and innovation. Materials that were non-conducting can become semi-conducting or hardness and resistance levels can increase. Other materials, once impervious to membranes, may easily pass through such barriers at the nano scale - early possibilities for such particles include targeting drug delivery to certain organs or diseases. This is only the beginning.

The Potential: The potential uses for nano materials are almost without limit. As more properties are discovered, so too are the commercial uses for the new properties. Materials have already been developed and integrated into manufacturing processes with automobiles, clothing, battery technologies and more. Although still somewhat expensive to produce, as volume goes up and materials become more widely used, costs will go down. The market potential for nano-enabled products is expected to reach in the trillions by 2020.

W A T C H 19

Nanotechnology: In the last five years nanotechnology has progressed from being viewed as hype, potential and talk to solid reality.

Many firmly believe that nanotechnology is indeed the next revolution in science, technology and new innovations.

“In Canada, pockets of excellence in nanotechnology have begun to emerge; one of those pockets

happens to be in Waterloo.”

W A T C H20

I n s t i t u t e f o r Q u a n t u m C o m p u t i n g

PeoPle AnD PlAce

Raymond Lafl amme understands that great thinking requires a combination of many factors. One is putting together a critical mass of people with complementary skills. Another is getting people from different fi elds to step outside of their own areas and combine key strengths. Lafl amme sees that part of the trick to bring the two together is by creating spontaneous opportunities for interaction.

Lafl amme explains, “Part of innovation is chemistry amongst people. Finding ways to force people to mix and mingle creates opportunities for chemistry to happen. Playing off the idea of a spherical approach, whereby people see each other no matter where they are in the sphere, the ultimate goal for the design was to mitigate or avoid altogether the barriers created by different fl oors and offi ces. The basic idea was to create a core at the heart of the building where people naturally run into each other for unexpected interaction.”

The interior design took into consideration: the practical - with stringent requirements around engineering, temperature controls and more; elements of interactivity - through a structure that induces interaction amongst people on different fl oors and from different areas; and a sense of attraction – via a design that creates a pleasant place to work and nurtures a desire within people to work there.

The new building will open its doors in 2011. Until, then IQC is headquartered in the Research Park. Presently, the institute has 17 faculty, 20 post-docs, 60 students, all from

3 different faculties, and 15 staff. While Lafl amme waits on the building’s opening, his focus is on increasing the current team and making sure what they do attracts the attention of others.

“We need two things - infrastructure and a reason to come here. The new building, with its incredible labs and equipment, and our current people resources help us immensely. But ultimately, we’re trying to push things as far as we can. Quantum Computing is opening a window to the world that is completely different from the world we know. We will see some of these technologies in 5 – 10 years. The impact to who we are conceptually will be amazing. IQC is building a framework to keep us at the forefront of discovery in this quantum world.”

What is Quantum ComputingAmazingly, at microscopic levels, something can be in two places

at one time. This is a marvelous phenomenon attributable to the Quantum Laws of Nature. 100 years after this discovery the effect has proven crucial in the development of fi ber optics, computers, and the internet. Today, its promise reveals tremendous implications in the world’s quest for information privacy. Research to further harness and control the behaviour of this effect has the potential to make change we will see and benefi t from in our own lifetime.








Welcome Agfa HealthCare Inc. Soon to be located at 375 Hagey Boulevard in the University of Waterloo’s Research and Technology Park.We are pleased to introduce 375 Hagey Boulevard as the latest “Smart-Green” building development in the Research and Technology community. Adding to the excitement of this announcement, DTZ Barnicke is proud to reveal their primary tenant, Agfa HealthCare Inc. Congratulations! Their lease of 80,000 sf represents their new commitment to the University of Waterloo’s Research and Technology Park.

www.dtzbarnicke.com

22,000sf available for Spring 2011 occupancy

smart•green revolution


Leasing inquiries: John Whitney, Broker of RecordTel: 519-746-6300 ext 224 • E-mail: [email protected]

DTZ Barnicke Waterloo Wellington Ltd., Real Estate Brokerage

Director of the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC), Raymond Lafl amme believes that buildings can encourage innovative thinking. So strong is his belief

that when it came time to architect the IQC interior of the new Mike and Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre (QNC), Lafl amme became deeply involved in creating a space that might just help inspire some magic.








Welcome Agfa HealthCare Inc. Soon to be located at 375 Hagey Boulevard in the University of Waterloo’s Research and Technology Park.We are pleased to introduce 375 Hagey Boulevard as the latest “Smart-Green” building development in the Research and Technology community. Adding to the excitement of this announcement, DTZ Barnicke is proud to reveal their primary tenant, Agfa HealthCare Inc. Congratulations! Their lease of 80,000 sf represents their new commitment to the University of Waterloo’s Research and Technology Park.

www.dtzbarnicke.com

22,000sf available for Spring 2011 occupancy

smart•green revolution


Leasing inquiries: John Whitney, Broker of RecordTel: 519-746-6300 ext 224 • E-mail: [email protected]

DTZ Barnicke Waterloo Wellington Ltd., Real Estate Brokerage

Eugene Roman and daughter Krystina Roman share more than the same DNA. Right now, they are both sharing the Waterloo experience, though each for different reasons.

In 2008, Eugene Roman was lured to Waterloo by local technology company Open Text. Familiar already with the region, Eugene had spent time speaking at the University of Waterloo (UW) and teaching within the MBET program. Through the university and MBET program Eugene also discovered UW’s world renowned co-op program. He was an instant believer, hiring many co-ops into various organizations. Well enmeshed in Waterloo, the move from guest lecturer to full-time working resident was an easy one for him to make.

In 2009, Eugene’s daughter Krystina graduated from McMaster University with her business degree. Unsure of her next step, Eugene encouraged her to explore the MBET program at UW. Krystina had an aptitude for business and a deep interest in the technology field; the program seemed a natural fit. She visited the school and was impressed. Fall of that year Krystina entered the program.

Today? So far, so good for the two Romans. Krystina has finished the MBET program and secured a position in the technology field, while Eugene has made great inroads at Open Text. Both by the way, have also fallen in love with the community.

W A T C H22

gen

eRAt

Ion

s

Life online: Tips Growing up surrounded by technology taught Krystina Roman valuable lessons around communication. She sifted out what-to-do-with-what-when long before hitting the job front.

“Each communication form has its own particular best use. We’re human and we make mistakes, but when you have the power to choose the appropriate tool for the job, you should. Pick the right tool for the right job, don’t twitter about your boss. When you use a technology in the wrong way, make sure you understand what went wrong and learn from that knowledge.”

Be organized. Be disciplined.“Technology can be a vast sea that will swallow you up if you let it. Manage your technology. Don’t let it manage you. Technology devices are not replacements for core human functions - they are for augmenting. There are reasons we still have eyes and ears, use them.”

Be open to try new things.“If you don’t understand something, you shouldn’t criticize it. Learn what new technologies are and then determine their value. Set them aside if they don’t work for you, but don’t be afraid to go back and try again to see if it works for you later.”

Codes of conduct.“Make sure you learn and understand the codes of conduct. Change your voice to suit your audience and your intentions. Use the technologies to your best advantage by being mindful and appropriate. Establish relationships in the real world. Once you’ve created a rapport, you’re safe to move communications online.”

W A T C H 23

U n i v e r s i t y o f Wa t e r l o o – M a s t e r s o f B u s i n e s s , E n t r e p r e n e u r s h i p a n d Te c h n o l o g y

gRoWIng uP digitalkrystina roman seemed hard-wired almost from birth for the digital world. with her father, eugene roman, deeply entrenched in the technology sector, her introduction started at the age of six when she was given her first computer. at eleven she was given her first cell phone. she started organizing her schedule via the mobile before most of her friends even had their own computer. krystina grew up living in the digital world, and she loved it.

Having a father with the inside scoop on what was up and coming continued to expose Krystina to new technologies and advancements. By the time she finished high school and had moved on to university, she had her target set on one goal: A career in technology. Says Krystina, “I knew from an early age that I wanted to be in that field. I loved that it was constantly innovative and ever-changing. When I finished my business degree, I wanted to find my place within what had evolved into an extremely large and popular industry. Not having pure technical skills, I knew I needed a differentiator. My father knew of a program at the University of Waterloo called the Masters of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET). The program looked like it wrapped all my interests together and could give me the leg up I needed.”

Krystina entered the program in 2009. Immediately, Krystina notes, she found that “The program was incredibly dynamic and challenging. It was really like a mini business world with marks instead of money. Our projects were designed to mimic the real and social world of entrepreneurship and business. With tense timelines and huge pressures to perform, I learned more about myself in my months there than in all my years of schooling. There was also a lot of group work, and initially I didn’t understand the full value. But the group approach taught me incredible lessons on team dynamics, rapport, and learning from others. I also discovered lessons about management – and just how far to push.”

Before graduation, Krystina landed her dream job as a Technology Consultant with Accenture. Interestingly, it was again her father’s influence that led her down the consulting path. “I had been reading the

McKinsey Quarterly, a business technology magazine, for years,” she explains. “My father always had that magazine and others like it around. Reading about all the knowledge and research around technology influenced my thoughts towards a career that could incorporate all the facets into one role, consulting. I liked the idea of juggling people-oriented and problem-solving work in a technology environment.”

Actually, before Krystina landed her consulting job she was already doing some on the side. Her family happens to own a winery, Rosewood Wines, in the Niagara region. Throughout her schooling, Krystina had been handling the marketing for the vineyard and helping out neighbouring wineries. “The most exciting thing I did was bring social media into the wine business. I recognized Twitter was an application that had the potential to create a greater overall awareness of the region. In the wine industry, helping your neighbour helps yourself. I did a full-scale presentation and taught them all how to use the tool to their advantage.”

Although Krystina whole-heartedly embraced the opportunities her father presented her in the technology world, it is obvious she is not merely following in his footsteps. This woman is setting out on a path of her own making. Her passions have already started her on a journey toward a bright and exciting future.

W A T C H24

About those bees…

About that winery…

O p e n Te x t

eugene RoMAn:a man of passion

“I was born into beekeeping. My dad started beekeeping in 1931 as a high school project. I’ve been doing it since I was six. We have 170 colonies of bees which produced 9,000 pounds of honey last year. Beekeeping actually predates winemaking. I know one thing for sure, being a beekeeper has made me a better wine maker.”

“When I married I promised my bride that one day we would own a vineyard together. Ten years ago I saw a property on the Internet. I was out of the country, so my wife walked the property, took pictures and sent them to me via email. She had a cheque in her pocket. I saw the pictures and told her to write the cheque.”

W A T C H 25

About that winery…

About being in Waterloo…

The leadership team at Waterloo-based Open Text has plans for a grounded, balanced future. As they continue to expand, their growth plans include bringing in new, young thinkers while leveraging more seasoned, senior expertise. Open Text sought out Eugene Roman as one of those senior leaders. With a proven career in technology, Roman had the experience they wanted and the imagination they needed.

Charged with accelerating leadership and energizing the company’s innovation engine, Roman is channeling his passionate quest for knowledge into a new role as Chief Technology Officer at the company. Roman’s focus is to find new ways to get things done at Open Text.

“Technology is half the battle,” explains Roman. “You can have the best technology in the world, but if the people involved aren’t working together it doesn’t matter how good your technology is. The short story is - culture matters. Conversations and agreements move the company forward. Opening communication channels helps everyone share information, problems and issues early, when things are more easily solved.”

Collaboration has become today’s business buzzword. Increasingly, organizations are

placing value in the development and optimization of internal work relationships. Managers understand that ignoring problems makes them grow. In collaborative cultures, problems are considered opportunities to learn and do better - and are dealt with quickly. Getting beyond the problems to the solutions drives the whole company ahead. This is integral for growth and innovation, especially in the technology field.

Continues Roman, “Since arriving at Open Text I’ve put a program together to help us get things done faster. We’ve established a ‘loose-tight’ culture where it’s okay to experiment in a controlled way because communication is happening. Not all ideas are good ones – we want to work on those that yield. We’ve brought in a level of discipline to make sure that there is plan that is checked before proceeding on ideas. This allows everyone to experiment without fear because everyone knows what is going on.”

“Getting to new goals requires different thinking. We’ve inverted the pyramid to a culture of what can ‘I’ do to help you? Since rolling out the program we’ve hit stratospheric levels of employee satisfaction. That means things are working inside this place, and that’s what matters.”

“The decision to come to Waterloo was serendipitous. There were lots of places I could be, but in Waterloo I have a part in the greatest movie ever. This is a community of strivers and doers. I need passion in my life or the lights go out - I’ve got the passion here.”

Open Text, an enterprise software company and leader in enterprise content management, helps organizations manage and gain the true value of their business content. Open Text brings two decades of expertise supporting 50 million users in 114 countries. Working with customers and partners, the company brings together leading Content Experts to help organizations capture and preserve corporate memory, increase brand equity, automate processes, mitigate risk, manage compliance and improve competitiveness.

as a young boy, eugene roman was powerfully curious. he was one of those kids every parent gets a little nervous about - the kind who takes everything apart just to see how things work. interested in everything, he possessed a voracious appetite for an unending stream of knowledge.

Decades later, eugene roman is cto of open text, a vineyard owner and an apiarist. it seems not too much at all has changed with eugene roman and his thirsty mind.

W A T C H26

C o l u m b i a L a k e H e a l t h C l u b

unPlug, DestRess, relax

Three years ago, Toby put all the pieces together and built a community-minded club that has become a focal point in the Research + Technology Park, Columbia Lake Health Club. Toby explains, “My philosophy is if you offer something that doesn’t already exist you don’t split a market, you expand it. I didn’t want a ‘me-too’ facility; I wanted something that stood apart from the rest. knowing my target market was a professional, educated clientele with a thirst for knowledge, I knew I wanted to create something unique.”

“I saw an obvious opportunity to serve the professional market in a different way. From the fitness perspective, I knew that a holistic fitness and nutrition approach mattered, equipment capacity mattered and balanced programs mattered. From the experience side, I knew that the atmosphere was integral to making people feel very comfortable, welcomed and well-serviced. That meant a beautiful facility with a quieter environment and extra touches - plus smart well-trained and experienced staff and fantastic equipment. The extra feature I wanted to add was the ability for members to create connections and relationships to each other and beyond.”

Walking into the club, the polished concrete floors, high ceilings and abundance of natural light immediately signify that something different is going on. “When people walk in here for the first time they are pleasantly surprised. They have in their mind old images of gyms – and we are just not that. I’m catering to the professional market. They work really hard and get really stressed; they need to be able to reduce their stress at a gym. I realized the trick was to offer something people enjoy at every level. I’ve made this a place where it is easy to clear your head and de-stress.”

Toby spent a lot of time upfront understanding her market and has built-in mechanisms to ensure members get the most from the club. Recognizing that the average club members have jam-packed lives, all her trainers are on BlackBerries to make communication fast and easy. Programs are individually tailored to suit lifestyle, fitness level, nutrition needs and schedules - definitely not a one-size-fits-all

Toby Jenkins spent a

lot of time thinking

about the ideal

health club. She had

a vision for a new

kind of club unlike

anything she had yet

seen or experienced.

She envisioned a

place that fulfilled an

entirely different set of

expectations. The club

she dreamed about

was a hub of activity

focused on connecting

people not just to

health, fitness and

nutrition, but to each

other.

approach. She has a communication program in place via newsletters and email to keep members connected even when not at the club and a value-add education program to offer lifestyle learning on popular and up and coming topics.

Keeping club members and staff connected to the community is also something Toby feels is important. Recognizing a lot of the members are new to the area, she fosters a variety of initiatives to help club members plug into the region. The club supports activities within the park itself and in the surrounding community. Last year’s efforts included helping to organize and sponsor the Lance Armstrong Ride for Cancer for Grand River Hospital. “The goal is to work on fundraising activities that raise funds within the community that are dispersed back into it. We like to focus on things that will make a difference in the lives of our members – so members and staff actually have input into what initiatives we decide to support or invest in. All of us not only have fun, but gain great satisfaction with these efforts.”

With a smile Toby adds, “Three years into this, things are great. Working with the fantastic staff, I’m doing what I set out to do – I’m living the vision.”

W A T C H 27

There are diverse expectations for a café located beside a gym and simultaneously servicing a community of technology professionals. The balancing act between the varied needs of these different customers could prove a stumbling block for many. TechTown Café Manager, Norm Susanna, has found an easy way to please everyone: By listening.

Says Susanna, “We’re almost two businesses in one – providing nutritious, protein packed meals for our gym customers, and then creative, interesting and quick lunches and snacks for the park tenants. At face value the café customers may appear to have different needs – but in reality each group shares the same fundamental expectations. They want fresh, healthy and ethical food choices.”

“So, that’s what we give them,” he continues. “All our food arrives for just-in-time production. I augment that with a lot of running around gathering both local and Ontario-grown ingredients as much as possible. Clients are aware of the extra effort we put in and are very appreciative.”

One of the other notable attractions to the café, aside from the menu choices, is the coffee. The café owns its own roaster and brings beans in green. Susanna sources his bean selection looking for ethical and fair trade suppliers. “Our coffee makes us different. First of all, we make sure our purchasing is responsible and the product high quality. Then we deliver great taste. We also custom roast beans in small batches for our customers to purchase for home. A quick stop-by or phone call to let us know what kind of bean, what kind of roast and an hour and a half later the product is in their hands to go.”

Te c h To w n C a f é

FocuseD on fresh

“ At face value the café customers may appear to have different needs

– but in reality each group shares the same fundamental expectations; they want fresh, healthy and ethical food choices.”

Some of the best innovations are often those that happen within a proven market. Although principles are not generally considered innovation, Tony Verbeek, Manager of TechTown’s education Credit Union (eCU), has invested energy overlaying a unique set of business philosophies onto the fi nancial decision-making behind the services his branch offers its clients. The results? Business is booming.

Verbeek explains the nuances of this approach, “Banking is generally thought of as a ‘black and white’, ‘right or wrong’ business that treats people and not their story. But life isn’t always lived in easily measureable boxes. Our philosophy looks at fi nancial decisions through a different lens. We listen to our clients and assess their personal needs by hearing about things beyond the columns of debits and credits. It’s really a relationship-based approach that leaves room for a different kind of thinking.”

ECU’s business model makes it possible for decision-making to happen outside the usual banking box. Financial programs are designed around people to give more fl exibility and control over decisions and plans. “What that translates to is that we don’t paint everyone with the same brush. We get to know them,” says Verbeek. “That approach allows us room for a different level of risk – the type of risk most others avoid in today’s economic climate. We know our members and their stories personally. Being aware of the whole picture is an important element in determining safety around risk.”

ECU is a member-based full service fi nancial institution governed by a member-based Board of Directors. Advantages for members include access to a full-range of fi nancial services comparable to any of the traditional type institutions, plus a little bit more. Verbeek points out, “Because we are an organization of members serving

members, we are designed to recoup operating costs. At the end of the year, we expect to end at a breakeven point. We put great value in controlling our expenditures. Everyone rolls up their sleeves to do what it takes to get the job done. That converts to amazing rates and an incredible level of client service, including extras like regular newsletters and personalized contact.”

Verbeek moved the business to the Research + Technology Park three years ago. They were ready for growth, and the location offered the opportunity to service the members they already had and extend their reach into the growing technology community. Since the move, they have easily meshed themselves into the tech environment creating new partnerships and information interchanges with park tenants. “We are as high tech as they get,” emphasizes Verbeek. “Almost all our transactional business happens online. Coming into the branch is for talking about the big picture. At the end of the day, we believe that is how banking should be. We must be doing something right because since our move – business has tripled.”

our philosophy looks at fi nancial decisions through a different lens. We listen to our clients and assess their personal needs by hearing about things beyond the columns of debits and credits.

W A T C H28

BAnKIng out of the box

C o m m u n i t e c h

W A T C H 29

As technology has evolved, communication forms – including print, audio, and video - have migrated from pen, paper and fi lm to the world of digitization. Ways to organize, visualize, access and move this digital data is one of today’s challenges. Areas of specialization to better manage content are quickly developing in pockets across the country.

Simultaneously, vibrant clusters of complementary technologies – including gaming centres, healthcare experts, content management specialists and more – are locating near to each other. Close proximity helps them gain in strength and creates new pockets of expertise.

In his latest role, VP Digital Media for Communitech and Managing Director, Canadian Digital Media Network, Kevin Tuer is bringing digital data and those with technologies built around it together. The vision is to create a digital hub solution that will create opportunities and break new ground in the on-going revolution of Waterloo Region’s tech eco-system.

“The time for this is now. The climate for this is ready. Recent economic conditions created a perfect storm of opportunity to move forward. The global recession helped people acknowledge that the ‘same old same old’ wasn’t going to fl y anymore. It was time to look elsewhere and take risks; it was time to look at the next horizon and take the lead. That horizon is Digital Media.”

Kevin and others saw that regions were developing individual digital media signatures. Early observations morphed beyond the idea of mapping regional capabilities, to actually fi nding ways to break down silos so clusters could actively and easily collaborate. Tapping into disparate hubs of expertise to learn and share from each other gives everyone an advantage. The ultimate goal was to go beyond video, TV, gaming, and digital information for a broader defi nition that included mobile, infrastructure, content mining and data analysis.

Kevin is currently rolling out a national mandate to create this collaborative model. The new network will be Canada’s largest concentration of digital media research, technology development, and digital commercialization expertise. It’s designed to create momentum in Canada’s digital economy through focused commercialization, access to critical resources and strong partnerships between the business and research communities. The Network will be anchored by two hubs with complementary expertise: the Digital Media Convergence Centre (DMCC) and the University of Waterloo’s Stratford Institute (SI). With funding and support coming from both government and private-industry, the network is well positioned for success.

“Connectivity represents true power. We’re thinking nationally so we can compete globally. We’re creating a Canadian capability to manage Canadian content to service Canadian needs. Combining skill sets will give us an incredibly competitive position with the potential to radically accelerate innovation not just for the region but for the country. The fi rst two hubs, one in Waterloo Region and one in Stratford, will be the beginning of the next story of Digital Media.”

kevin tuer is homegrown. a university of waterloo grad, he earned his ba, ma and phD at the school. after graduation, he headed to ottawa to enter the corporate world. eventually, he returned to waterloo to add ‘entrepreneur’ to his list of accomplishments. with two start ups behind him, one thing is sure, this is a man who accomplishes whatever he chooses to do.

and that is good news for waterloo.

...it was time to look at the next horizon and take the lead.

that horiZon is Digital meDia

W A T C H30

U n i v e r s i t y o f Wa t e r l o o

DIgItAl MeDIA: sounD BItes FRoM professor aimee morrison

professor aimee morrison teaches literature, humanities computing, history and theory of media, and multimedia practice at the university of waterloo. an avid blogger, early technology adopter and mac devotee, professor morrison studies, observes and comments on new media in everyday life.

the greatest expression of human intent is the desire to be heard. the internet allows for the ability to talk to anyone anywhere and to share without limit.

World Wide Web: Publishing and DistributionPrinciple: At its barest, all digital media shares a fundamental sameness; the computer treats all forms in the same fashion. The economics of distribution are much lower online than off and consequently more available to all. Anyone can publish or upload anything onto the World Wide Web – at virtually no cost.

Fact: With the old media system of publishing and distribution, there was a world of gatekeepers circumventing the sharing of materials: there were cultural as well as economic reasons for this. Because information got bottlenecked, it was hard just to get noticed, let alone published. Manuscripts languished in ‘slush piles’ before being summarily rejected by interns. Communication to the masses was enabled through acceptance by the few. Self-publishing was difficult and more often, prohibitively expensive.

Result: The web provided a new, easy and cost-effective vehicle for communication and sharing. The ensuing exodus away from traditional modes of publishing to the new self-publishing frontier blew the constraints of traditional publishing world apart and has helped push digital communication to explosive levels. The greatest expression of human intent is the desire to be heard. The internet allows for the ability to talk to anyone anywhere and to share without limit. The response is full-scale adoption.

Morphology of the New Human behavior is complicated. Why should online interactions be less complicated? There is a utopian impulse to escape the messiness of life and a common belief that the ultimate human ‘fix’ will happen via machine. Then everything will be perfect.

First iterations of new social media vehicles seem to forget the complexities inherent to the human condition. The fact that interactions occur via machine does not mean they become less complicated, or any less human.

Facebook is a good example. The initial implementation was broadcast only and was not sophisticated enough to identify

or allow for the variety of social roles we all take on, every day. The application did not distinguish the common registers that reflect real life: No one really wants to tell everyone the same things in the same ways, or at all. As complications ensued with users using the wrong voice for the wrong group of people, the conceptual model changed in response to repeated failures.

Plugging in or outPlugging In: There are advantages and disadvantages to everything, but a wholesale rejection of the digital media wave is probably not wise. As we integrate it into our lives, we are learning that selective and strategic involvement makes a lot of sense; there is much to gain. The web gives us unprecedented access to information, deeper and faster than any other means. It lets us create communities of interest and find other like-minded individuals. It connects us to each other.

Plugging Out: There is danger in not recognizing the value of plugging out - being constantly attuned for flow means losing opportunities for sustained focus. There will always be a need to get bored enough to be alone with your thoughts. When you are constantly surrounded by everything, you lose the moment when there is quiet and the positive value to the dark night of the soul.

W A T C H 31

Digital media: what it is.Digital media is the numerical representation of media - print, audio and video - for the purpose of delivery, access, sharing and/or communication via digital devices.

passive: agglomeration of articles and information or viewing of video. i.e. newspapers, journals, info sites.

active: that which requires additional participation via activity. i.e blogs, gaming, online dating, social networking.

R+t PARKDIRECTORY

2G Robotics2G Robotics is a designer, builder and service provider for underwater robotic systems. Our clients are industry leaders in the fi elds of: underwater inspection and construction, military applications and scientifi c research.www.2grobotics.com

Accelerator CentreThe Accelerator Centre provides emerging technology businesses with the tools they need to grow and succeed. In addition to space access, start-up businesses are plugged into resources, networking opportunities, and mentorship programs. Clients are also assisted in obtaining fi nancing, including introductions to potential investors and government fi nancing sources.www.acceleratorcentre.com

Bayalink Solutions CorporationBayalink is the manufacturer of the Liberty product. Liberty virtualizes the display of your BlackBerry to enable you to use a large screen and regular keyboard to interact with your BlackBerry.www.bayalink.com

Business & Education Partnership of Waterloo RegionThe Business & Education Partnership of Waterloo Region leads the way in career exploration for youth, connecting students, educators and employers to promote student success and community prosperity. Our organization facilitates and builds alliances among business, education, labour, government and community partners.www.bus-edpartnership.org

Canadian Digital Media NetworkThe Canadian Digital Media Network (CDMN) is dedicated to establishing Canada as a world leader in Digital Media by enabling connection and collaboration of people across the country – entrepreneurs, companies, research institutes and government – and bringing more great digital solutions to market. The CDMN comprises Canada’s largest concentration of business-driven digital media research, technology development, and digital commercialization expertise. Digital Media covers a broad spectrum of technology and services, and includes any information created and shared virtually. As innovation evolves, the defi nition expands to encompass new and exciting technologies, roles and concepts.www.cdmn.ca

Canadian Innovation CentreThe Canadian Innovation Centre (CIC) is a national, not-for-profi t fee-for- service organization. CIC helps early stage innovators take the fi rst important steps in the commercialization process by aiding them in identifying the optimum way forward and validating the market opportunities available to them.www.innovationcentre.ca

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Canadian Water NetworkThe Canadian Water Network (CWN) was created as one of Canada’s Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE), to develop opportunities related to the provision of safe, clean water. In collaboration with universities, government and industry, the CWN has developed a variety of scientifi c projects and initiatives that address key water-related issues facing Canadians.www.cwn-rce.ca

Capacity Waterloo Region (CWR)Capacity Waterloo Region (CWR), a fi ve-year pilot project to fuel social innovation, has opened a new offi ce in the Accelerator Centre. CWR is helping to build an enabling environment that brings together resources from all sectors to support non-profi t leaders and social entrepreneurs and the ideas that will build lasting social change in our region.www.capacitywaterlooregion.ca

CBET- The Centre for Business, Entrepreneurship and TechnologyCBET was created to support, build on, and expand the entrepreneurial initiatives at the University of Waterloo. The university’s reputation for encouraging and spinning off successful entrepreneurial ventures is unmatched in Canada.www.cbet.uwaterloo.ca

CellScale Biomaterials TestingCellScale develops research instruments for the analysis of natural tissue and replacement biomaterials. Customers are researchers involved in the investigation of soft-tissue disease, drug therapies or innovative new medical treatments. CellScale’s initial product release provides biaxial analysis of small geometry samples.www.cell-scale.com

CertiChip Inc.CertiChip Inc. is a Canadian fabless semiconductor IP company. It specializes in circuit techniques and architectures to improve the robustness of integrated circuits manufactured in advanced CMOS processes at or below 90nm.www.certichip.com

CGICGI is one of the largest independent fi rms of its kind in the world. CGI provides systems integration and consulting, application and technology management, and business process services to clients from offi ces in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia Pacifi c.www.cgi.com

Clearpath RoboticsClearpath Robotics is a leading provider of unmanned vehicle systems for researchers in industrial, government and academic organizations. Our inspired mobile solutions increase system reliability, cut costs and improve data accuracy while speeding time to market.www.clearpathrobotics.com

Columbia Lake Health ClubColumbia Lake Health Club is a state-of-the-art full-service fi tness facility focused on improving members’ overall health and well-being. We provide exceptional staff who keep members motivated, challenged and informed to help them live a longer and healthier life.www.columbialakehealthclub.com

W A T C H 33

Communitech: Waterloo Region Technology AssociationCommunitech is an industry-led organization driving the growth and success of Waterloo Region´s technology sector through leadership, connections, and promotion. Members include large publicly traded companies, growing fi rms, start-up enterprises, and organizations that support the growth of these companies.www.communitech.ca

CoreCulture Inc.CoreCulture’s Just In Time Training™ (JITT) offers a new approach to eLearning, using the internet to measure and close costly knowledge gaps in real-time, one employee at a time, in 30 seconds per day or less. JITT software delivers training that achieves high engagement combined with knowledge retention growth in operational areas that matter most to corporations.www.coreculture.ca

Crez Basketball Systems Inc.CREZ Basketball Systems Inc. (CBSI) is a leading provider of sports information technologies and services for collecting, managing and distributing sports content for athletic and media organizations. Currently, the company has positioned itself to serve the global sport of basketball.www.crezbasketball.com

CrossChasm Technologies Inc.CrossChasm Technologies is a young company which utilizes advanced modeling and simulation to intelligently drive innovation and commercialization of advanced hybrid powertrains. CrossChasm is also pursuing the development of products related to grid-to-vehicle (G2V) applications of plug-in hybrid vehicles.www.crosschasm.com

DossierViewDossierView provides desktop business intelligence software that enhances and organizes information access within the intelligent enterprise from the desktop. The technology organizes work environments into project specifi c dossiers that users can instantly switch between thus enhancing their ability to complete projects.www.dossierview.com

Education Credit UnionWith three locations, one in each of Kitchener, Waterloo, and Cambridge, the Education Credit Union (ECU) is a full-service fi nancial institution including a comprehensive Wealth Management program. The primary difference between ECU and other banks is the personal approach that focuses on putting members fi rst and the provision of cost-effective products and services.www.ecusolutions.com

ECU Wealth ManagementThe ECU Wealth Management team, operating in partnership with the Education Credit Union, strives to provide personalized fi nancial planning, insurance services and investment strategies to both its existing membership and the growing population of the Tri-city area.www.ecusolutions.com

Enfl ick, Inc.Enfl ick, Inc. develops inventive mobile applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Enfl ick creates mobile solutions that expand the potential of today’s leading mobile platforms. Recent products include TextNow and Mail Notifi er. TextNow provides a fast and reliable texting method that provides a cost-effective alternative to other currently available products. Mail Notifi er delivers the highly demanded push e-mail experience to iPhone and iPod Touch users. Innovative and dedicated, the Enfl ick team keeps consumers in mind to design user-friendly products that make people’s lives easier.www.enfl ick.com

W A T C H34

GoogleGoogle’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it accessible and useful. Google’s presence in Waterloo is set up to support this mission with a general engineering team focused on research and development for Google’s mobile products and online advertising infrastructure. As the office expands, general engineering projects for many other Google products will be carried out here. www.google.com

Institute for Quantum ComputingThe Institute for Quantum Computing applies quantum mechanical systems to a vast array of relevant information processing techniques. It has a truly unique environment that fosters cutting-edge research and collaboration between researchers in the areas of computer, engineering, mathematical and physical sciences. www.iqc.ca

Karos HealthKaros develops software solutions that improve patient care. Its products enable the exchange of health information across healthcare enterprises and communities. Karos’ innovative use of industry standards makes clinical information exchange simple, fostering collaboration between healthcare vendors, providers, and patients. www.karoshealth.com

Kids & CompanyWith 20 locations across Canada, Kids & Company offers a variety of child care options including full-time and part-time care, back-up care in case of an emergency, enriched Montessori Kindergarten programming at select locations, and no late fees when employees are held up at work. www.kidsandcompany.ca

KikKik is all about discovering, sharing, and enjoying content, from conversations to pictures, music and video. With Kik, smart phone users can play media on any screen – mobile handsets, PCs, and TVs – helping deliver on the promise of a smart phone that does it all. www.kik.com

LoyaltyMatchLoyaltyMatch.com is the only online global marketplace that facilitates the conversion of frequent flier miles and other loyalty program member points into cash or merchandise. Shoppers do not need to belong to any loyalty program to trade or buy reward goods and services. Visit LoyaltyMatch.com for more information. www.loyaltymatch.com

Mespere Lifesciences Inc.Mespere Lifesciences Inc. is a start-up focused on developing the next generation of medical devices. Mespere’s proprietary technology provides breakthrough real time non-invasive cardiac visualization. Mespere is developing a non-invasive product pipeline based upon near infrared spectroscopy to non-invasively measure the central venous pressure within central venous blood vessels. The CVP monitor provides comprehensive information to help assess and monitor patients, reducing costs while maintaining patient care. www.mespere.com

W A T C H 35

Miller Thomson LLPMiller Thomson LLP is one of Canada’s largest national law fi rms, with more than 500 professionals working across Canada. The fi rm provides a complete range of business law, advocacy and personal legal services to Canadian and international corporations, entrepreneurs, institutions, governments and not-for-profi t organizations.www.millerthomson.com

Nanotechnology EngineeringUW’s Nanotechnology Engineering program is collaboratively offered by the Departments of Chemical Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering, and the Chemistry Department in the Faculty of Science. It prepares students to be technological innovators and the next generation of leaders in the new frontier of nanotechnology.www.nanotech.uwaterloo.ca

Navtech Inc.Navtech is a leading international provider of aviation software. The company’s software includes integrated fl ight operations solutions, dispatch solutions, and crew planning software. The products provide aeronautical charts and navigational data while working to maximize airline effi ciency, reduce costs, and meet both safety and government regulations.www.navtechinc.com

National Research Council Industrial Research Assistance ProgramThe NRC Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) provides a range of technical and business oriented advisory services, along with potential fi nancial support, to Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises with a focus on science and technology. NRC-IRAP supports innovative research and development and commercialization of new products and services.www.irap-pari.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca

Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) Inc.Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) drives the commercialization of cutting-edge research to strengthen Ontario’s economy and enhance its global competitiveness. OCE also fosters the development of promising innovators and entrepreneurs, working with Ontario’s industry, universities, colleges, research hospitals, investors and governments.www.oce-ontario.org

Open Text CorporationOpen Text is the market leader in providing Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solutions that bring together people, processes and information. Our software combines collaboration with content management, transforming information into knowledge that provides the foundation for innovation, compliance and growth.www.opentext.com

PrimeChiropractic and Registered Massage Therapy in the R+T Park. For daily neck or back stiffness, sports injuries, motor vehicle accident injuries, or relief from workplace strain. Services include joint manipulation, massage therapy, myofascial release techniques, acupuncture, therapeutic modalities, orthotics, and exercises for injury rehabilitation. Within Columbia Lake Health Club. Non club members welcome. Helping You Put Yourself First.

W A T C H36

ProductWiki Inc.ProductWiki is a resource for free, unbiased product reviews and information written and maintained by the community. Using a wiki model, the community creates reports containing essential information necessary to make intelligent purchasing decisions.www.productwiki.com

Research In MotionResearch In Motion (RIM) is the designer and manufacturer of the award-winning BlackBerry® smartphone, used by millions of people around the world. The company also creates solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market, including the software that allows the BlackBerry smartphone to provide mobile access to email, applications, media and the Internet.www.rim.com

Semacode CorporationSemacode is the leading provider of online marketing solutions that utilize the camera phone’s ability to interpret 2D barcodes. Semacode is revolutionizing print advertising by allowing consumers to interact with print media and perform electronic transactions on their mobile devicewww.semacode.com

Skybound SoftwareSkybound Software is a user interface company focused on simplifying and automating the process of designing web sites. Through research and clever use of interface, Skybound has developed the industry’s fi rst and only visual CSS design tool that increases productivity by a factor of 10—without any loss of control.www.skybound.ca

Sober Steering SensorsSober Steering is developing a steering-wheel based interlock system to prevent drunk driving. Through the interaction between a driver’s hands and the steering wheel, Sober Steering’s transdermal technology analyzes the gases exuded from the skin to determine driver impairment. Sober Steering’s invisible technology will eliminate the social stigma associated with existing interlock technologies.www.sobersteering.com

Sybase iAnywhere SolutionsSybase and its iAnywhere subsidiary provides open, cross-platform enterprise software solutions that manage and mobilize information from the data centre to where business needs to occur – anywhere, anytime. The world’s most critical data in commerce, communications, fi nance, government and healthcare runs on Sybase.www.sybase.com

Tangam Systems Inc.Tangam Systems provides monitoring and data analysis technology based on computer vision and machine learning. The award winning solution for casinos provides casino management with functionality to track, manage and improve player profi ling, game security and human resources performance.www.tangamsystems.com

W A T C H 3737

TechTown CaféTechTown Café provides premium on-site roasted, fair trade, organic coffee and healthy food choices in a comfortable environment. The café provides catering for events within TechTown and the R+T Park for the convenience of guests and neighbours. Specialty soups, salads, wraps and sandwiches are made fresh each day.www.techtowncafe.com

TechTown DentistryTechTown Dentistry is a dental practice with a difference - The Dental Health Advantage – it’s an innovative process that helps clients discover their opportunities to grow and protect their dental health confi dence. TechTown Dentistry’s core values are kindness, extra mile service, integrity and quality.www.techtowndentistry.com

Top Hat MonocleTop Hat Monocle is a software company working on developing a platform for interactive in-class learning. The founders are all University of Waterloo engineering graduates.www.tophatmonocle.com

TriPhi Power TechnologiesWant a smarter grid? TriPhi Power Technologies has developed a faster, cheaper, and better way to perform the calculations that keep the lights on in Ontario and elsewhere. Our patent-pending solution solves power fl ows faster than real-time, increasing power system security and reliability - critical for smart grid development.www.TriPhiPower.com

Tyromer Inc.Tyromer Inc. devulcanizes scrap tire rubber to produce tyromer, a tire-derived polymer for making rubber goods like tires. Today more than 50% of the scrap tires generated in North America are burnt for their fuel value. Tyromer provides sustainability to this massive “renewable” resourcewww.tyromer.com

UW Research + Technology ParkAt 120-arces, the University of Waterloo Research and Technology Park is one of the largest research parks in Canada and one ideally located on the campus of Canada’s most innovative university. A vital addition to Canada’s Technology Triangle of Waterloo, Kitchener, and Cambridge, it refl ects the enterprising spirit of Waterloo Region.www.rtpark.uwaterloo.ca

VisdatecFor over 15,000,000 food allergy sufferers in North America, Visdatec has designed and developed MyFoodFactsTM, a new Smartphone application designed to help you fi nd allergen free products while you shop. MyFoodFactsTM is a lifestyle changing shopping application that improves the quality of life by minimizing food allergy risks and helps prevent an anaphylactic reaction and serious health consequences.

WaterlooSecurity Ltd.WaterlooSecurity provides small to mid-sized companies with the tools they need to prevent cybercrime. WaterlooSecurity delivers a core set of products and services: Recovery Simulation, Vulnerability Risk Audit & Remediation, Security Policy Development and Staff Training, that provide business owners and operators with the security peace-of-mind needed to keep critical business data and customers safe. WaterlooSecurity is the SMB market’s partner in preventing organized crime from damaging a business’s operations and customer reputation.www.WaterlooSecurity.com

W A T C H38

SITUATED FOR SUCCESSNATIONAL LAW FIRM WITH ROOTS IN WATERLOO

With a 150 year history, Miller Thomson’s Waterloo office has strong ties with the local community including the Research and Technology Business Park. Located in the Accelerator Centre, Miller Thomson offers practical guidance for tech start-ups and businesses of any size. We provide creative and cost-effective advice, combined with an unyielding commitment to service.

This is what gives us an edge in the Canadian legal industry.

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Visit the AC online or stop by to see success in action:

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Waterloo’s HighTech Success Starts HereLocated in the heart of Waterloo, the Accelerator Centre is an award-winning facility for technology start ups,providing education, services and mentorship aimed at one goal:

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Home to 30+ start-ups from a variety of sectors,the Accelerator Centre is a proud member of WaterlooRegion’s Innovation Ecosystem, offering state-of-the-artoffice space, diverse services and programs, and acommitment to make technology success happen every day.

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Waterloo?

Whether you’re passionate about the arts or local history, getting outdoors on trails that stretch for more than 150 kilometers, or enjoying an indoor activity like skating on one of our rinks, the City of Waterloo will satisfy your craving.

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Visit www.waterloo.cato find out what’s happening in Waterloo.

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© 2010 KPMG LLP, a Canadian limited liability partnership and a member firm of the KPMG network of independentmember firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity.

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W A T C H46

University of Waterloo President, David Johnston, talks to Watch magazine about unconventional thinkers.

unconVentIonAl thInKeRs: thinking ideas differentlyUnconventional thinkers…

… are those who see around the corners better than others. they possess the ability to think about ideas differently with a marked originality to their thought processes that has practical implications.

Thinking ideas differently…

… requires a thorough comprehension of what is inside ‘the box’ and what that box is made of before stepping outside of it.

typically, unconventional thinkers are well versed in one discipline, deeply knowledgeable in others and possess a breadth to their thinking that helps them observe their own discipline from unfamiliar angles. their capacity to see what exists in these angles is what moves their ideas into a different space.

Nature and nurture…

… when combined can create unconventional thinkers that are both born and made. intelligence is a simple accident of birth. what you do with the environment around that intelligence is the unknown that can set things afire.

recognizing that intelligence and environment are both necessary, what is really fascinating is that no one can define how the proportions work or what makes for an exact balance. the only thing we can focus on is ensuring we provide the best possible learning environment for intelligence to thrive.

80 per cent of what we know…

...about the human mind we discovered in the last 25 years. right now, we understand a very small portion of the ways people learn. but what we are beginning to understand is that there is much more to learning that we don’t know around different styles and different approaches.

creative thought demands courageous and fearless explorations around intuitive and instructive problem-solving. we find ourselves today in the midst of a deep communication revolution: we are not just reading anymore, we are interacting with data and images, often in motion. taking this revolution and manipulating it around new and different teaching approaches and resources can help us create a more fertile learning environment.

Unconventional thinking…

… needs a good deal of freedom at every level. looking through the academic lens, part of an institution’s role is to look at known truths and to find new truths across disciplines. the nature of universities and their structures of flat accessibility naturally encourage thinking differently. respectful of differences and scholarship, one is not dismissed over the other.

free thinking is given room to breathe and grow in this model. it is exciting that we can take what we have learned from this model to apply it in other places.

University of Waterloo President, David Johnston, talks to Watch magazine about unconventional thinkers.

unconVentIonAl thInKeRs: thinking ideas differently

Freedom in the workplace…

…demands space to journey on the path less traveled. ultimate workplace freedom means being empowered to do a job more effectively by knowing that suggestions put forth will be well received. champions within organizations that support, encourage, and when necessary, clear the road ahead boosts unconventional thinkers forward.

such thinkers are attracted to like-minded people; bolstering the ranks with a blend of the unconventional amongst the more conventional fosters a more fertile thinking space.

The Research + Technology Park on campus…

… has taken the academic free thinking model and built this philosophy around it. the result is a business-based collection of like-minded companies and organizations that focus on fostering, encouraging and nurturing unconventional thinking above all. the park also has a path in place to provide the necessary assistance to move ideas from discovery through to commercialization.

the word is getting out. unconventional thinkers are naturally attracted to places where there is freedom to do what they do best.

the park is such a place – and it is working.

Cert no. SW-COC-002113

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