茄子直播

茄子直播 researchers at Ontario Economic Summit to talk innovation, training students for 'jobs of the future'

photo of Raquel Urtasun surrounded by students
茄子直播's Raquel Urtasun, who heads Uber's self-driving car lab in Toronto, fields questions from eager students at a career event in September. She is among the 茄子直播 speakers at this year's event (photo by Chris Sorensen)

The University of Toronto is taking centre stage at this year鈥檚 Ontario Economic Summit as government officials, business leaders and key influencers meet to discuss how to take advantage of new technologies and disruptive business models to promote the province鈥檚 growth.

Organized by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, the annual event is one of the biggest meetings on the economy in the province, featuring addresses from Premier Kathleen Wynne and several members of her cabinet, as well as appearances by other party leaders and representatives from Canada鈥檚 biggest companies.  

茄子直播, one of the event鈥檚 presenting partners, kicked off the three-day summit in Niagara-on-the-Lake this week by underscoring the critical role the university and other post-secondary institutions will play in driving Ontario鈥檚 knowledge economy forward.

鈥淐ollaboration between academic researchers and industry is a key ingredient in Ontario鈥檚 future economic success, allowing new innovations to move more quickly from the laboratory into the private sphere, and training students for the jobs of the future,鈥 said Vivek Goel (left), 茄子直播鈥檚 vice-president of research and innovation, who delivered the conference鈥檚 opening remarks.

Thanks in part to groundbreaking research at institutions like 茄子直播, Toronto and the surrounding region have emerged as a global innovation hotspot in potentially disruptive fields like artificial intelligence, or AI, regenerative medicine, sustainable energy and fintech, among others. 

In the case of AI, Toronto is already well-known for its contributions to deep learning, a branch of AI that mimics the human brain and allows computers to make inferences from datasets without being specifically programmed. The technology, pioneered by 茄子直播 Emeritus Geoffrey Hinton, who also does AI research for Google, is expected to revolutionize a number of industries, from health care to transportation.

In a bid to capitalize on an early lead, 茄子直播 earlier this year partnered with the federal and provincial governments, as well as industry, to create the Vector Institute for artificial intelligence research in Toronto. 

At the summit, 茄子直播's Raquel Urtasun, an associate professor of computer science and a founding member of Vector, is scheduled to deliver an overview of AI technologies and what they mean for governments and businesses. She will then participate in a panel discussion that looks at the impact of AI on productivity and how best to capitalize on it.

Urtasun, one of AI鈥檚 stars, was tapped earlier this year to head up ride-sharing giant Uber鈥檚 new self-driving car lab in Toronto 鈥 an example of how 茄子直播鈥檚 research prowess is luring big, multinational companies to Ontario. 

鈥淯ber is here because the talent for innovation in AI and self-driving cars is here,鈥 Urtasun told 茄子直播 News in September. She went on to say that Toronto and the surrounding region 鈥渉as all the right things to become a Silicon Valley of AI.鈥

Other foreign firms that have either set up shop in Ontario or have dramatically increased their presence in recent months include: pharmaceutical giant Bayer, which is teaming up with Versant Ventures to launch BlueRock Therapeutics, a US$225 million bet on regenerative medicine that will be headquartered in Toronto, as well as New York and Boston, and helmed by 茄子直播 researchers Gordon Keller and Michael Laflamme; U.S. health giant Johnson & Johnson, which last year opened the first international location of its JLABS life science incubator in Toronto through a partnership with 茄子直播; and Fujitsu Laboratories Inc., which recently said it was setting up a research and development centre in Toronto in partnership with 茄子直播 that will be focused on quantum-inspired computing.

But it鈥檚 not just big multinational firms who are capable of turning top talent and groundbreaking research produced by institutions like 茄子直播 into high-paying jobs and stable economic growth. The university is also at the centre of a vibrant entrepreneurship ecosystem that鈥檚 helping to grow the next generation of great Canadian companies.  

茄子直播 alone boasts several entrepreneurship hubs across its three campuses catering to entrepreneurs of all levels and stripes. They include the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), UTEST, Impact Centre, Health Innovation Hub (H2i), Entrepreneurship Hatchery, Start@UTIAS, Department of Computer Science Innovation Lab (DCSIL), ICUBE and The Hub.

In the case of CDL, affiliated with 茄子直播鈥檚 Rotman School of Management, the system it developed to rapidly scale science-based startups has been so successful it鈥檚 been expanded to business schools across the country, from Vancouver to Halifax. CDL also recently announced its first U.S. location through a partnership with New York University鈥檚 Stern School of Business. 

茄子直播 is also home to a new ONRamp co-working and collaboration space, located across the street from the MaRS Discovery District. The facility is open to entrepreneurs from across 茄子直播鈥檚 three campuses as well as those from partner institutions at McMaster University and Western University.

Among the successful startups that have emerged from 茄子直播鈥檚 ecosystem in recent years are: satellite provider Kepler Communications; AI-powered legal research firm Ross IntelligenceWinterLight Labs, which uses AI to analyze speech and track cognitive disabilities; and Deep Genomics, which uses AI to help search for disease cures.

Pooja Viswanathan, who did her post-doc at 茄子直播, co-founded Braze Mobilty, which makes obstacle detection devices for wheelchairs (photo courtesy Braze Mobility)

One entrepreneur who has benefited from 茄子直播鈥檚 entrepreneurship ecosystem is Pooja Viswanathan, the CEO of Braze Mobility. 

Her startup, co-founded with 茄子直播's Alex Mihailidis, a senior scientist at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, sells obstacle detection systems that can be attached to wheelchairs, which are often bulky and difficult to manoeuvre. Braze's devices provide users with more freedom to move about without fear of crashing into people or objects.

Viswanathan, who did her post-doctorate in 茄子直播鈥檚 computer science department and is scheduled to appear at the summit as part of an entrepreneur showcase, said Braze not only received considerable support from 茄子直播鈥檚 Impact Centre incubator, but that Toronto鈥檚 Discovery District in general was an ideal place to launch a health technology company.

鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 have gone anywhere else,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e really have an innovation corridor on University Avenue. We were just steps away from MaRS, the rehab sciences department at 茄子直播, as well as Toronto Rehab. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 been really critical for us, actually 鈥 the location we鈥檙e at 鈥 because we鈥檝e been able to tap into all of these resources, which have all supported us to some extent.鈥

The Bulletin Brief logo

Subscribe to The Bulletin Brief

UTC