Bring on the BIG IDEAS!

Paul Stickney

Last week Canada’s Technology Triangle Inc. played host to the BIG IDEAS Charrette at the University of Waterloo’s School of Architecture in Cambridge.  Business people, municipal officials and students from Conestoga College, University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University fastened the straps on their thinking caps and came up with some great ideas for development in Waterloo Region.

Six potential development sites across the Region were pre-selected by an organizing committee and participants eagerly signed on.  The six sites included in the Charrette were:

1. The Regional Airport Employment Lands
2. Grand River Downtown Galt
3. Hespeler Road Commercial Strip
4. Kitchener Frame
5. Kitchener Civic Centre
6. King Street Uptown Waterloo (Erb-Bridgeport)

Now, for those of you wondering ‘What the heck is a Charrette?’ let me elaborate!  A Charrette according to Wikipedia is summed up as consisting of an intense period of design activity. Often broken into smaller teams, groups much come up with a solution to a problem or in last week’s case, a BIG IDEA for a potential development target put before them.

After the informal lunch got underway a bit late (due to the big crash on Highway 8 delaying our generous caterer Bingemans!), the participants were greeted to the School of Architecture by Director Rick Haldenby followed by an overview of the BIG IDEAS Charrette from CTT CEO John Jung.  The Municipality Economic Development representatives, along with Amanda Kutler from the Region of Waterloo gave all participants insight into each site, and then it was time to get down to business!

The teams broke out throughout the school.  Some groups quickly came to agreement about what will benefit the community at their site while others, let me just say it was a battle of BIG IDEAS!

Charrette November 19-20, 2009

As the day progressed it was fantastic to watch the interaction between students from a variety of backgrounds in planning, architecture and business studies paired with a generous group of experts in our Region.  Students continued to express throughout the Charrette that this was a wonderful opportunity for them to gain mentorship from professionals they eventually aspire to be themselves!

After a busy Thursday afternoon homework was divvied up for the presentations on Friday afternoon.  Each group was responsible to present a 4-slide presentation detailing a site analysis, proposal, prototypes and a reality check for the BIG IDEA they would present.

Friday afternoon arrived and students eagerly awaited the chance to showcase what they had in mind for their respective sites.  The crowd was treated to bold visions for development in Waterloo Region! Reoccurring themes with an emphasis on sustainability and pedestrian friendly areas were present across the board.

When all was said and done, an honorarium of $1000 generously provided by the Region of Waterloo was awarded to the top three teams.

*Drum roll please…*

1. Grand River Downtown Galt – The Grand Walk
2. King Street Uptown Waterloo (Erb-Bridgeport) – King Street “Cultural Gateway” To Waterloo
3. Kitchener Frame – Arena and Conference Centre

Congratulations to all those who participated and helped energize development ideas in Waterloo Region while preparing the first steps in broader urban planning, investment, and tourism promotional opportunities.  We believe that was accomplished. We would like to extend a thank you to the Invest Canada – Community Initiatives (ICCI) – as this project was made possible in part thanks to their support of the ICCI program and the Department of Foreign Affairs & International Trade Canada.

We all know Waterloo Region is innovative, full of diversity and there are plenty of exciting adventures to see and do.  With this in mind, may you to always be thinking of that BIG IDEA that will continue set us apart as an envy of the world!

GUEST BLOG: Kwartzlab and CTT Inc – A Perfect Match

Darin White - Kwartzlab Maker and Director

Hello, I’m Darin White, a maker and a director of kwartzlab, KW’s local hacker space.

Kwartzlab is a group of creative makers from a variety of disciplines who have come together to create a shared working space, and, more importantly, a local collaborative community of people who make everything from robots to elaborate costumes to experimental musical instruments.  Our common thread is the love of making and we thrive at the intersection of art and technology.

Back in September of this year, I presented to Waterloo City Council, just to let them know who we were and what were up to.  Serendipitously, our soon-to-be-good-friend, John Jung of CTT, presented at the same council meeting, giving both of us an opportunity to discover that we had a lot in common with respect to our missions.  We ended up having a half-hour stand-up meeting in the hallway along with Anne Lukin of CTT and Eric Gerlach and James Bastow of kwartzlab.  John was very interested in helping us, and, as a newly-formed group, we sure needed the help.  A lot of the attributes of this region that make kwartzlab possible and quickly successful are the same attributes that John and CTT promote both within our community and outside of it.  We have a lot of creative, smart, motivated people under one roof coming together to make things that wouldn’t be possible elsewhere.  John and Anne were keen to connect us to community resources and like-minded groups and suggested the best start would be to have a CTT Ambassador Event for kwartzlab.

Just a few weeks back, on November 3, we packed up our projects in the lab and headed over to the beautiful Seagram Room in the CIGI building for the big “Meet kwartzlab” event.  Waterloo City Councillor, Karen Scian graciously agreed to co-host the meeting.  We had a great turnout of both CTT members and kwartzlab makers.  After I gave a kwartzlab overview talk, we had our makers give 5-minute lightening talks on their various projects.  I could tell from the great questions from the audience that we had a very engaged group and were putting on a pretty compelling show.

Kwartzlab Event

Following the Ambassador Event, we have had several meetings with attendees and others who are interested in helping kwartzlab.  I credit John and Anne and CTT for making those connections possible.  We are very much looking forward to future collaborations with this terrific group.  A big kwartzlab thank you from all of us.

Check out our web site (http://kwartzlab.ca) to learn more about kwartzlab and take special note of our blogs (http://kwartzlab.ca/blog) where all the latest action is documented.  We are actively seeking members, so feel free to drop by our open lab night on Tuesday evenings.  As a self-funded, not-for-profit corporation, we are happy to have donations of tools and materials to accelerate the build out of our capabilities.  End cuts of plastic, aluminum, and fabric are all useful to us as is second-hand gear such as electronic test equipment, power tools, and sewing machines.  If you would like to help, please drop me a line (dw@kwartzlab.ca).

Happy making,

DW

International Night in Waterloo

John Jung

Want to meet representatives from every corner of the world in one night? A truly international event is planned for December 3 at the Waterloo Inn Conference Hotel. Rub shoulders with the new Consul General of the UK, Jonathan Dart; share a drink with the Consul General from China, Madame Zhu Taoying; meet the Consul General from Japan, Tetsuo Yamashita; share a tall tale with the Consul General of Australia, Stefan Trofimovs; as well as Consul Generals from Switzerland,  Sweden and the Netherlands, and many more to come…a virtual United Nations under one roof. The Consul Generals are in town to visit with several companies in what we call a FAM (familiarization) tour, thanks to our FAM tour sponsor, Brentwood Livery. They will be visiting companies in Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo, and ending at the Waterloo Inn Conference Hotel for an evening reception and dinner.

Join us for a truly fantastic evening on December 3! To top it off, world-renown author Thomas Homer-Dixon will be our keynote speaker.  Your participation on this evening will not only be fun, but you should also know that your attendance and contribution will be helping to support University research and CTT’s new Ambassador programs.

CTT’s Ambassador program invites leading citizens to join as volunteers to help market our region to their peers worldwide, especially as they travel the world-over. Our local ambassadors participate out of a sense of responsibility for the health and vitality of our community. Accordingly, the program will develop the tools and the support to help them to make a difference by promoting the region during their travels.

Tickets to this one of a kind evening of international proportions are available by opening the International Reception and Dinner RSVP at www.techtriangle.com

Ambassador Blackberry

John Jung

Recently, I was speaking in Romania at the Global Forum. As I do in many of my travels, I take notes on my Blackberry. This often creates situations where someone will make a comment. Not so much about what game I am playing or why I am working on my emails while people are speaking, but simply the fact that I have a Blackberry. In fact, I have a Blackberry Bold, which people often want to look at or talk with me about its various features. Some days I think I work for RIM.

I have also noticed that there are many people of all walks of life who have a Blackberry. Everywhere except in Seoul Korea, where Samsung seems to have a strangle-hold…and in the Nordic countries. But Wait! There are actually “Closet Blackberry” users who pull out their Blackberries to do business, even though they have Nokia phones. While at a gathering in Bucharest, I met a senior business person who worked for Nokia, and guess what he was using? A Blackberry. Quizzing him on why he was using it, he simply responded that it was a better business PDA. But, shhhh. Don’t tell anyone! Wink-wink, nudge-nudge.

So, as I travel the world, what better ambassador for the Waterloo Region than the ubiquitous Blackberry? In fact, it is truly the all-time best all-around ambassador for the whole country. Problem is, many of these folks that I meet abroad think that Blackberries are not actually Canadian. Many are often quite surprised when I tell them it’s home-grown from Waterloo. I tell them the stories about how it came out of the University of Waterloo; I give them the quotes from Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie; the stats, and all that.

"The Blackberry Helmet"

I even tell them about my neighbor at the cottage in Collingwood who heads up one of the Blackberry teams and how he is an alright fellow – not the kind of guy who has to wear a helmet to walk around while he uses his Blackberry.
(check out this unique tribute to “helmet wearing” Blackberry users)

Even then, they still might not believe that the Blackberry is originally from Waterloo. “But it says right here that it’s Verizon, Reliance, Etisalat, China Mobile, T-Mobile, or an Orange Blackberry?” These are service providers in various places around the world that RIM has agreements with at the local level. However, it is interesting to see people’s faces light up when I tell them where it comes from: “Hey, I didn’t know that! …You sure?”

So, I am able to use my berry as a nice icebreaker. Then I show them my video of the Waterloo Region on my media application. In quick succession, I show them my new Prizi presentation about the Waterloo Region using my browser and then as quickly return to check my most recent emails, thumbs blazing and toggles twirling.

Needless to say, CTT loves it hundreds of community ambassadors. People who are armed with information and stats about the region – individuals who travel around the world and represent and promote the region, and its best points while traveling abroad. The very best ambassador that I have to work with is my handy, always-on Blackberry!

Q2C Festival – A Brilliant Combo of Mind Challenging Conversation and Fun!

Bessie Schenk

As the Quantum to Cosmos Festival has just wrapped up, it seems the optimum time to chat a little bit about why it was so successful…and so unique. I was thrilled when a new run of tickets opened up on October 19th so I was able to sneak in and attend with the masses. The event I was fortunate to participate in was the live showing of The Agenda with Steve Paikin. The topic: Whose DNA is it?

Sitting under hot bright lights wearing my pageboy cap (I forgot it was being filmed live) I was privy to a conversation that spanned everything from the ethics of mapping the human genome to learning about those who are putting a dollar value on the actual act of finding out what exactly we do and do not carry – genetically, that is. No “heated” discussions per say, but a lot of challenges to statements made and a lot of food for thought afterward.

So there I was, sitting right in the middle of the audience, taking notes and listening to this pouring out of information and all right in my backyard. Yet another classic example of why Waterloo Region has truly stepped it up a notch on the national and international level. With the Q2C Festival being the brain child of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, the Region was exposed to a massive collection of world-renown scientists, panel discussions, lectures, exhibits, a film festival and the list goes on. 11 days worth of some of the most mind boggling and challenging ideas, discussions and presentations available. All of this was a result of some of our regions’ greatest minds collaborating to bring to the community and the world, an event unheard of in these parts. All lectures, panel discussions and the Agenda are available online at www.q2cfestival.com where you can watch it on demand.

I never cease to be amazed and proud of what this region offers. An event like this reminds me of the other fantastic “thinkers” we have here: The Quantum Nano Centre at the University of Waterloo, and Centre for International Governance (CIGI), among others. Two examples of groups of people who are demonstrating how being innovative, diverse and collaborate can lead to ideas that change the world.

As I walked back to the car that night I thought as much about what was discussed (and whether or not I actually want to know if my children will be 6’5” tall and the next Michael Jordan) as I did about the reality that all of this was presented right here at home. Thank you for providing this opportunity to our community, and well done.

Passport to Success – Another Huge Hit for the Region. Wunderbar!

Bill Elliot

Well there we have it, the 15^th Annual “Passport to Success” event has wrapped up…and with a giant orange bow on top! October 14^th and 15^th were two days filled with non-stop site visits, presentations, networking opportunities, and Oktoberfest celebrations galore. For our 29 VIP guests visiting from numerous industries from all over the world (including China, UK, Boston, and Chicago, among others), this was a truly unique way to become informed about Waterloo Region and everything it has to offer. Let’s be honest, what better way is there to learn about our thriving business community than while sporting a feathered hat, brandishing a glass of beer and enjoying some of the finest schnitzel around?

CTT Inc in partnership with K-W Oktoberfest Inc., the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo, and the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, was again delighted to be able to host VIP business people from all different nations for this two-day event. An event that says, hey check out how diverse, innovative, collaborative and entrepreneurial our Region is. (Not to mention spirited!) This event is an opportunity for us to truly showcase why we should be the location of choice for future development and/or investment – and demonstrate that it did.

While highlights of the two-day spectacular were numerous, I will mention just a few. The tour at Christie Digital Systems Inc. blew everyone’s minds. The brilliant facilities are one thing, but looking through the ultimate pair of night vision goggles was another. Then there was the trip to Google where we met with the “Director of First Impressions”. A fantastic entrance set up with the Canadian Muskoka feel, and not to mention the actual employee facilities. Literally, a game room with every game imaginable, hoola hoop chairs, catered lunches, and a top of the line programming division. Now, there are two local companies that have figured out how to embrace ‘outside the box’ thinking.

While visiting the Accelerator Centre, donning my bright orange jacket (enough with the giant pumpkin jokes) we were able to learn about the ultimate launching pad for new tech businesses. Literally located in the heart of the University of Waterloo’s R+T Park, this incubator for talent is providing resources such as Entrepreneurs in Residence, office space and workshops to catapult these start-up companies in the right direction. Speaking of young talent – anyone visited the UW’s School of Architecture in Cambridge lately? If you haven’t it’s a must! One of the highlights of our travels was visiting the school – housed in a reclaimed silk mill – and being able to view the genius work of the students. Within walking distance of the grand, it is an incredible place to foster creativity. As Cambridge residents say, “going back to the river” is really making a difference in the community.

And, of course, how could I not mention the elaborate dinner at the Transylvania Club with the authentic Bavarian meal, food, entertainment…and keg tapping.  Each year our team looks forward to this weekend, and every event is a little more enthralling than the last. An extended thank you to all who made this event successful and here’s to looking forward to year 16. Prost!

Ontario Technology Corridor – Waterloo Region

John Jung, CEO of Canada’s Technology Triangle Inc, talks about Waterloo Region as one of the key communities within the Ontario Technology Corridor (OTC). Waterloo Region is one of the original founding members of the OTC. View the video to learn more.

Canada Wind Energy Association (CanWEA)

Catharine Gerhard

As we blow into the fall season, the Wind Power industry in Canada is kicking it up a notch too!

September 20-23rd Canada Wind Energy Associations (CanWEA) Annual Conference and Exhibition http://www.canwea.ca/events/conference2009/en/index.html in Toronto. I went to walk the exhibition hall and found the atmosphere very friendly and open to doing business with the exhibitors. With over 200 exhibitors, it was nice to see Waterloo Region businesses such as Moventas, Conestoga- Rovers Associates, Stantec Consulting, Free Breeze Energy Systems and Borden Ladner Gervais LLP also represented at the show.

All the OEMs were there and ready to do business. The opportunity for potential Ontario wind power suppliers to meet with the OEMs was also arranged by our partners with DFAIT (Department of Foreign Affairs & International Trade), Industry Canada, CanWEA and supported by CTT and local municipal partners. In fact, 3 of our local companies got the opportunity to meet with one of they major OEMs regarding potential work. It was great to see the “idea” that started at the CanWEA Wind Power Supplier Chain event in early 2009 come into action. To find out about future OEM meeting opportunities, please contact me.  Overall, I definitely recommend attending this event and those hosted by CanWEA http://www.canwea.ca/events/index_e.php in the future, and I am interested in collaborating with others also planning to attend.

New Southwestern Ontario Wind Power Manufacturing Supplier business directory – One of the newest instrumental initiatives has been the development of this directory produced in collaboration with other southwestern Ontario municipalities, including the Cities of Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo and the Townships.  We continue to be interested in including those local contacts to the directory http://www.onwindenergy.ca/index.php/swwe/start and ask that you fill out the form and send it back to me at catharine@techtriangle.com.

Find out more Waterloo Region Wind Power Community Information at:

New Waterloo Region Wind Power Community on Waterloo MIN (Manufacturing Innovation Network) http://www.waterloomin.com/about/windenergy

Presentations from August 25/09 Southwestern Ontario Wind Power Symposium August 25^th http://www.waterloomin.com/about/windenergy2