May 7, 2013
The brightest upcoming engineers from University of Toronto, Ryerson University, University of Waterloo and Centennial College came together to showcase design projects and make industry connections at the 2013 International Conference for Upcoming Engineers (ICUE) on Monday, May 6, 2013.
The conference opened with remarks from Raymond Findlay, a professor at McMaster University and former president of the IEEE. Mike Branch, CEO of Inovex Inc. and alumnus of the Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, delivered a keynote address on how to launch a successful career as an entrepreneur.
Attendees enjoyed a discussion panel on the topic of entrepreneurial incubators available to students featuring Joseph Orozco, acting director of the Engineering Entrepreneurship Hatchery, Valerie Fox, executive director of Ryerson’s Digital Media Zone, Jane Ip, director of Social Spark and co-founder of Nspire, and Venkat Venkataramanan, director of scientific operations at U of T’s Institute for Optical Sciences.
In the afternoon, high-tech and IP lawyer and former software engineer Arshia Tabrizi spoke on how patents can provide entrepreneurs and inventors with both a sword and shield, and act as a fortress for their intellectual property. Three workshops gave attendees the opportunity to explore design identity, discover leadership strengths, and develop better leadership body language.
The event was capped with a cocktail reception in U of T’s beautiful Hart House, at which the award for best design project was presented.
ICUE was initiated by members of Ryerson University in 2001 to encourage students to explore different options after graduation and to network with successful professionals in various engineering fields. To benefit upcoming engineers across Canada, the conference has been hosted by a different university each year. This was the IEEE student branch at University of Toronto’s third year hosting ICUE.
This effort was spearheaded by conference co-chairs Shahed Mirmohammadi and Michael Chai, with support from a large cast of volunteers on the student organizing committee. ICUE 2013 received sponsorship from Gap Wireless, CoursePeer, IEEE, The University of Toronto Alumni Association, the University of Toronto Engineering Society, and the Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering.
Website: http://ieee.toronto.edu/icue2013/index.html
More information:
Marit Mitchell
Senior Communications Officer
The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department
of Electrical & Computer Engineering
416-979-7997; marit.mitchell@utoronto.ca