Innovation always starts with a good idea – even if it means diving into a pile of garbage. That’s how it started for the Recycling Pioneers, founded by three McGill students (pictured above) who pored through recycling and trash from the McConnell Engineering Building cafeteria. This led to the development of a smart waste bin with better segregation of materials, built-in sensors, and display screens to guide consumers. The result? More recycling, less landfill and an innovation poised to take off.
The Recycling Pioneers were nurtured by McGill’s innovation ecosystem. Their idea got started with the goLEAD program (a student project incubator, part of the Empower initiative in the Faculty of Engineering), then a $3,000 grant from the Sustainability Projects Fund, and the involvement of a software engineering student through McGill Engine’s Startup Internship Program. At McGill, it takes an innovation village to make positive change and, with donor support, that village is growing.
McGill’s Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurship has already produced more than 400 active startups that have collectively raised over $1.5 billion in seed funding and created more than 8,000 new jobs. Driven by young entrepreneurs from all faculties, imaginative startups tackle everything from using bacteria to break down oil, to leveraging social networks to boost volunteerism.
Meanwhile, the McGill Engine Centre out of the Faculty of Engineering distributed over $161,000 in grants, awards, and fellowships in 2020-21, supporting 47 projects that range from sustainable housing construction to a smart, automated toothbrush. Among the Engine’s many funding and training programs is the TechAccel program which helps students, like the Recycling Pioneers, jump-start and accelerate technologically-based ideas.
At the Bensadoun School of Retail Management, innovation starts on the ground floor – literally. That’s the location of the retail innovation lab, a unique partnership between McGill and Alimentation Couche-Tard. The first of its kind in the world, the lab will enable groundbreaking research in retail management, testing innovative technology in a live retail environment to transform the customer experience and potentially re-invigorate the post-pandemic retail landscape.
No matter how innovation manifests itself, financial support is the oxygen for great ideas and that’s where the new McGill Innovation Fund (MIF) plays a vital role. Dr. David R. Holbrooke, BSc’64, MDCM’69, has stepped up as the first donor to make a major contribution to the MIF with a $500,000 gift that was matched dollar-for-dollar by the University’s Martlet Research Trust. Nine projects – ranging from novel treatments for osteo- and rheumatoid arthritis pain to products that assist people with mobility issues – have already won inaugural MIF awards. With the goal of generating even stronger donor support, the MIF is poised to take McGill’s innovators and entrepreneurs to the next level.
Guiding McGill’s focus on innovation is an accompanying emphasis on ethical and responsible decision-making. A gift from BMO Financial Group launched a fellowship and award program based in the Faculty of Science for students researching the ethics of artificial intelligence, while another gift from David Laidley, BCom’67, will create the Laidley Centre for Business Ethics anchored in the Desautels Faculty of Management.
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Performers and teachers are among those who have been most profoundly affected by the pandemic. By investing in innovative, future-driven projects, the Faculty of Education and the Schulich School of Music are giving students and faculty the tools and spaces they need to reimagine the future of their fields.
A partnership to advance education
It’s the first project of its kind in Canada. The CoLab, a transformative partnership between the Faculty of Education and Trafalgar School for Girls, will address the evolving needs of educators and students by developing research that will help bridge the gap between theory and practice.
While crucial, it can be difficult to gain access to schools to conduct research. To facilitate this, Trafalgar, an independent Montreal high school, will be moving to a new purpose-built space next to the Faculty by 2025.
Building on the Faculty’s long history of partnering with schools to develop knowledge that will improve student success, the CoLab will encourage academics and educators to interact daily, integrating teacher training with cutting-edge research.
“We’re collaborating from inception, so we have a shared vision for the project,” explains Lisa Starr, Chair of the Faculty’s Department of Integrated Studies in Education, and a CoLab project member.
Thanks to joint fundraising efforts, generous gifts from The Molson Foundation and the R. Howard Webster Foundation have laid the groundwork for the project, providing 40 per cent of the $10 million needed to complete it.
Support for the CoLab comes at a pivotal time in education, says Starr, pointing to the movements around climate change, #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter. “These large-scale social movements have captured people’s attention.”
“We need to reconcile what we know about education and the skillsets required with how young people are going to respond to these global challenges. These are big things they’re inheriting. I think we have an obligation to help them through that.”
Starr says educators around the world are already taking an interest in the CoLab. “We’re generating research and evidence directly from our community, and we’re showcasing that as a world leader in education.”
Redefining the study and practice of performance
The Schulich School of Music is re-envisioning both in-person and virtual experiences of performance through the transformation of Pollack Hall, McGill’s premier concert venue.
Pollack Hall has been a staple of the Montreal music scene for almost half a century, and now functional and aesthetic upgrades will elevate the musical experience for both performers and audiences. These upgrades will include a redesigned entrance and seating area, enhanced accessibility, and revamped artists’ facilities. Improvements to the broadcasting capability will allow virtual audiences to experience the magic of a Pollack Hall concert from anywhere in the world.
This project is part of a larger metamorphosis of the Strathcona Music Building, which will see new research and teaching facilities, acoustically enhanced practice rooms, ensemble rehearsal spaces, and teaching studios with tools to examine performance. With these new environments, the School can continue to expand its innovative, multidisciplinary approach to music pedagogy and research.
The transformation of Pollack Hall is made possible by a partnership between McGill and private philanthropy, with more than $20 million already committed to the initiative. A campaign was launched in October 2021 to raise the remaining $5 million needed to realize this exciting project.