The Commerce Court site of Canadore College is the site this Friday for an Applied Research and Entrepreneurship Forum.
Co-organizer Ryan Drouin says this is the first time the school is hosting this type of event.
There are nine projects in total for the public to see.
Drouin is responsible for the projects on the entrepreneurship side while the other co-organizer, Deidre Bannerman, is overseeing the applied research exhibits.
On the entrepreneurship side of the forum, Drouin says the student projects under him will showcase work that they’ve done over the summer or work they did as they “transition to become a small business”.
Drouin says some students have expressed an interest to start a small business and he says the college is there to help link them with the right group or agency as they start the road to entrepreneurship.
In terms of projects, Drouin says first, second and third year students as well as alumni will have projects on display.
He adds many agencies that Canadore partners with will also be on hand like FedNor, the Ontario Centre of Excellence and the Business Centre.
The second half of the forum involves the applied research projects and Deidre Bannerman is hoping existing businesses take in this segment.
Bannerman says although business people may not see something they can use directly in their shops, she hopes the projects spark an idea about how they can improve something.
Bannerman says a business may be toying with the idea of improving something like its production line and may see something at the forum where Canadore can help with a prototype.
Bannerman says the college will use several yardsticks to measure the success of the first time event including public attendance.
But a more critical assessment is how the students and their projects benefit after the forum is over in the area of support and future leads.
The forum is free and takes place at Canadore’s Commerce Court Campus from 9:00am to 12:30pm on Friday at the ICAMP location.
