UFV partnered innovation training program secures nearly $23 million in funding

Esposito Family Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (EFCIE) Director Dr. Jon Thomas.

The University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) is receiving federal funding to help expand the National Invention to Innovation (i2I) Network, a program that aids Canadian STEM and healthcare researchers in their quest to solve global challenges.

UFV will share in $23 million provided through a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada Lab to Market grant . The funding is being used to expand the Invention to Innovation program that was founded at Simon Fraser University (SFU) in 2015, providing innovation, commercialization and entrepreneurship training for students, researchers, and personnel in the STEM and healthcare fields.

UFV is a collaborating institution on the project. There are 13 Canadian research universities and health research institutes involved, along with 57 partner organizations.

At UFV, the funding will primarily be used to develop and provide targeted innovation training to undergrad students and Indigenous entrepreneurs working on innovative ideas that impact society. Esposito Family Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (EFCIE) Director and BC Regional Innovation Chair Dr. Jon Thomas will support students, researchers, and potential entrepreneurs as they take impactful ideas to market through incubator activities.

“Students, researchers, and entrepreneurs need specialized innovation training to transform early-stage ideas into breakthrough innovations with societal impact,” Jon says. “EFCIE is delighted to design and offer such innovation training in partnership with the National Invention to Innovation Network.”

EFCIE is leading i2I’s national EDII (equity, diversity, inclusion, and Indigenization) and Indigenous initiatives with the support of Stó:lō Community Futures and other national partners and will co-develop innovation-intensive programming for undergrad students across Canada. Funding will support additional targeted innovation training opportunities for UFV’s students and local Indigenous communities across the Fraser Valley.

Jon has been involved with the National i2I Network and the research underpinning its curriculum for over a decade. He is one of four members of the National i2I Network’s national leadership team and its EDI Chair.

“Through this partnership with the National i2I network, the UFV and Fraser Valley communities will be able to access a pan-Canadian network of innovation support organizations with experienced industry mentors from a wide range of sectors, while benefitting from specialized innovation training which has been developed and delivered for over a decade,” he says.

Dr. Garry Fehr, UFV Associate Vice-President, Research and Graduate Studies agrees, saying it’s always great to see the university playing a role in a project with national impact.

“This initiative is key to our national economic development, spurring innovation and training students on how to take their ideas into the market – creating valuable livelihoods for the students and ensuring that homegrown intellectual property stays here in Canada.”