OSPE - The Voice - December 2017 - 35
careerS
MEMBER PROFIlE
Laura Yu, P.Eng., Ph.D
Toronto, Ontario
lAURA YU, P.ENG., PH.D., IS A NEW OSPE MEMBER AND BUSINESS
DEVElOPMENT & INNOVATION PROCUREMENT MANAGER AT ONTARIO
CENTRES OF EXCEllENCE (OCE).
O
CE is a not-for-profit organization funded by the ontario government. as one
of the economic development engines for ontario, oCE plays a key role in the
province's innovation ecosystem. Their funding programs support Ontario-based
companies to develop new technologies and innovation that help smEs and start-ups
scale and grow.
"OCE has been around for 30 years and started off facilitating connections between
tech-based companies and academia," Yu said. "The goal was to help them tap into
academic expertise and resources to help advance research and development (R&D)
within the company. Fast forward to today - OCE's mandate continues to be driving
the economic growth and development of tech companies in Ontario, through various
strategic initiatives such as fintech, autonomous and connected vehicles, clean tech,
and others."
Yu has been at OCE for six years, starting out as a Business Development Manager,
where her role was to meet with tech companies from a variety of sectors to understand
their business, R&D initiatives they were working on and how those outcomes had a
direct impact on driving company growth. This allowed her to identify program(s) at
OCE that would be suitable to support their R&D initiatives and add value to their
company. "My role is very exciting - I get to speak to high-tech companies and learn
about the innovative technologies they're developing, while also staying on top of
the latest research in academia," said Yu. "I wouldn't be able to do this job without
my engineering background and several years as R&D Engineer at Baylis Medical.
There I saw first-hand the product development lifecycle - from the concept phase to
the actual product being used by physicians to treat patients. My undergraduate and
graduate degrees in chemical, biomedical, and mechanical engineering, as well as the
industry experience allow me to understand technology from different sectors, not
just limited to health or chemical."
"A lot of the start-up companies that we work with are run by engineering
graduates," said Yu. "These young people want to make an impact in the world, so
they've taken their knowledge and created a new tech-based product or service that
can solve business challenges. They see there is an opportunity to improve things in
everyone's life."
Yu also worked closely with the Director of Academic Entrepreneurship at OCE to
lead the Campus-Linked Accelerator/On-Campus Entrepreneurship Activities (CLA/
OCEA) network, which are extra-curricular entrepreneurship programming at all
44 publicly-funded post-secondary institutions across Ontario. The DMZ at Ryerson
University and Velocity at the University of Waterloo are examples of the CLAs that
are part of this Network. They provide a "safe" space for youths to turn their ideas
into viable companies through experiential learning. "We want to foster a culture
of entrepreneurship on campuses and equip them with skills through experiential
learning that can help them be successful in the future," said Yu.
Having been involved in driving support for tech innovation for the past five years,
Yu now leads MEDG's Small Business Innovation Challenge (SBIC) program. SBIC
helps to bridge the gap for the public
sector to adopt innovation developed by
the private sector.
Yu recently joined OSPE's Research
& Innovation Task Force. She believes
OSPE is the convening body between
industry and academia that can help
ensure the voice of engineers is being
heard. She brings with her nine years of
knowledge working in the innovation
and technology ecosystem and will help
drive OSPE's advocacy efforts. "I think
OSPE's R&I Task Force is a building
block to all other areas of policy work
that OSPE is involved in- from driving
advances in the engineering sector to
increasing diversity in the profession. I
hope to add value with my background
in research and commercialization."
Yu believes that, as an engineer, it
is important to grasp the impact of
technologies that are being developed
and implemented today. "I think
there is no better time to be in the
engineering profession. Especially with
the advancement of innovation - it's
disrupting all sectors, like banking,
mining, health, and others. People need
to understand the impact that it will have
on their businesses and everyday lives
in the future. OSPE is in an excellent
position to play a key role in advocating
for the profession and the importance of
technology and innovation. That is why
I became an OSPE member and will
continue to support advocacy for our
profession."
December 2017
The VOICe
35
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of OSPE - The Voice - December 2017
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
OSPE - The Voice - December 2017 - Cover1
OSPE - The Voice - December 2017 - Cover2
OSPE - The Voice - December 2017 - Table of Contents
OSPE - The Voice - December 2017 - 4
OSPE - The Voice - December 2017 - 5
OSPE - The Voice - December 2017 - 6
OSPE - The Voice - December 2017 - 7
OSPE - The Voice - December 2017 - 8
OSPE - The Voice - December 2017 - 9
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OSPE - The Voice - December 2017 - 12
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OSPE - The Voice - December 2017 - 38
OSPE - The Voice - December 2017 - Cover3
OSPE - The Voice - December 2017 - Cover4
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