Sprint to Innovate: The Innovation Challenge Powered by Canada Life
Sprint to Innovate, powered by Canada Life, brings together post-secondary students from varied disciplines such as technology, business, entrepreneurship, and more. Sprint to Innovate is brought to you by University of Manitoba, Red River College Polytechnic, and Tech Manitoba. All Winnipeg Post Secondary Students are invited to participate. Students will learn about innovation while collaborating in a fun and exciting challenge to build a minimum viable prototype in two days.
We are pleased to announce that our next Sprint to Innovate: The Innovation Challenge is the weekend of Friday, January 31 to Sunday, February 2, 2025! We start the event with a Networking session on Thursday, January 30 with a training session at University of Manitoba.
We invite all companies to review our sponsorship and mentorship opportunities, and to consider submitting a business challenge; and for post-secondary students to consider participating.
How the Event Works
Teams of 4 to 6 students will choose from available business challenges provided by industry. Students will then work together with support from mentors to create a solution, including developing a prototype to be presented to judges on the final day.
A prototype is a simple experimental model of the proposed product used to learn from. Prototypes range from low-fidelity (paper-based) prototypes that are used to explain concepts all the way to high-fidelity prototypes that have functional elements with more detail. Teams may consist of technology and business students.
How To Get Involved
As an Organization
We are looking for a sponsor to provide $3500 for our student participants on Sunday, February 2. Your $3500 sponsorship would earn you:
- Sponsor the event.
- Volunteer your time as a mentor.
- Provide us with a Business Challenge that your organization has by emailing ckubara@rrc.ca.
As a Student
Students from any Manitoba post-secondary school may participate in a team at Sprint to Innovate.
Register your team today! (Make sure you know the names and Email addresses of all team members.)
Challenges
Student teams will have the opportunity to request which challenge they want to work on January 27.
CHALLENGE #1 Popp3r Cybersecurity
REVISED: How can we transform CYB3RGURU into the go-to solution to quickly and affordably detect and address cybersecurity gaps?
CHALLENGE #2 My Student Wellbeing
With billions of dollars lost to scams every year in North America, how can we prevent this from continuing to happen?
CHALLENGE #3 Talnetics
How might we create a solution that bridges the gap between talented individuals and talent recruiters by increasing visibility, fostering collaboration, and providing data-driven insights to ensure successful partnerships?
CHALLENGE #4 Exera Solutions
How might we develop an AI-powered HR platform that identifies and mitigates workplace biases and provides organizations with actionable, predictive recommendations to foster a more inclusive employee experience throughout the entire employee lifecycle?
CHALLENGE #5 City of Winnipeg
How might we transform vacant buildings into opportunities for a safer, more vibrant city?
CHALLENGE #6 Canada Life
As companies evolve their way of working, team members are finding challenges with respect to commuting to work (be it parking, transit, driving, biking). How might we develop a technology-based solution that can help employees reduce the challenges associated with coming into the office – and to make it fun?
CHALLENGE #7 WeMB
How might WeMB reduce barriers for women in Manitoba to access existing capital (loans and investors)?
Judges
Ashley Richard
Ashley Richard is Ojibway and Métis and her family is the Richard Family from Pine Creek First Nation and the McLeod Family from Camperville Manitoba. Ashley currently runs her own consulting firm specializing in strategic planning and project management. She is excited to be leading the Indigenous Entrepreneurship program at United College – University of Waterloo, where she is also a lecturer. Other exciting projects include the Indigenous Workforce Development Strategy with the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters of Manitoba and working with The Forks North Portage on developing their Indigenous Reconciliation Strategy. Ashley is married and has 2 Siamese cats, Taco and Armani. She is following the footsteps of her grandmother, Mary Richard.
Daniel Blair
Daniel Blair is a dynamic and innovative leader in technology and digital media. As the founder and Chief Technology Officer of BSD XR, he has been at the forefront of creating innovative research projects in areas like AI and spatial computing for various industries, including construction, defence, aerospace, mining, and utilities. His passion for innovation and commitment to excellence have earned him recognition as an award-winning entrepreneur and software developer.
Daniel’s influence extends beyond his company. He is the chair of the board for the Interactive Digital Media sector council, New Media Manitoba, where he guides the growth and development of Manitoba’s interactive digital media industry. In 2023 Daniel joined the board of directors for the Virtual World Society to help drive their mission of ethical thought leadership and responsible application of emerging technology.
Corinne Gusnowsky
As a passionate Winnipegger, Corinne Gusnoski is committed to enhancing our community through economic development and volunteering. As New Media Manitoba’s (NMM) Senior Manager of Business Development, Corinne leads strategic initiatives that help grow Manitoba’s interactive digital media, including working with entrepreneurs and business owners in video game development, extended reality, and more. Corinne is an experienced coach and judge for student competitions and volunteers with the Young Associates (including as current Chair), the Stu Clark Centre, JDC West, and the We Believe in Winnipeg Toastmasters Club.
Noah Wilson
Noah is a Senior Business Development Manager for the Indigenous Entrepreneur Start-up Program (IESP) at Futurpreneur Canada, overseeing the Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Nunavut regions. As a member of the IESP team, Noah has supported numerous Indigenous start-ups in developing viable business plans and financial projections to gain access to start-up capital and a mentor for two years with Futurpreneur. A devoted advocate for the implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), Noah is committed to advancing Economic Reconciliation across Turtle Island. Since joining Futurpreneur, Noah has become Co-Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Advisory Council for The Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, been recognized on The Peak’s 2023 Emerging Leader’s List in Entrepreneurship, and received an Indigenous Achievement Award from the Indigenous Professionals Association of Canada (IPAC).
Joseph Brekelmans
Joe works at Canada Life as Vice-President, Investment Technology, a position he has held since 2017. Joe provides technical strategy and consulting to Investment division executive and leads a team of 60 people that deliver and support the technology solutions used within the Investment division. Joe’s current area of focus and interest is in machine learning and artificial intelligence and its application to the investment industry.
In his professional career spanning 40 years, Joe has worked for several companies, including MTS, Centra Gas and Ceridian Canada, where he held several positions within the software development field, including: Software Developer; Manager of Software Development; and Director of Information Systems.
Joe has taught several courses at the University of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg on topics such as Systems Analysis & Design and Database Management Systems.
Joe has a BCSc (Hons) degree, and MSc in Computer Science and an MBA in Finance, all from the University of Manitoba, as well as the CFA designation.
Sponsors
Title Sponsor
Thank you to our Title Sponsor Canada Life!
Thank you to our Event Sponsors!
Thank you to our supporting sponsor Red River College Polytechnic
Thank you to our Refreshment Sponsor Access Credit Union