The launch of Fusion took place Oct. 1 (SYDNEY THOMPSON/University of Windsor)
For students and researchers with ideas to build businesses or not-for-profits, entrepreneurship can feel like a world apart from academic life. A new hub at the University of Windsor aims to bring the two closer together.
Fusion, the University of Windsor’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Network, integrates training, coaching, programs, services and regional partnerships to help students, researchers and faculty turn ideas into tangible opportunities to explore pathways to market. Its mission is built on a simple premise: by embedding entrepreneurial learning into everyday campus life, it opens doors for community members from every background to build practical skills and test new ideas.
Launched Oct. 1, Fusion, located on the second floor of the Joyce Entrepreneurship Centre, will synthesize entrepreneurial programs, physical spaces and develop supports across faculties and functional areas.
Participants will lead change and develop strategies across disciplines, while learning and collaborating alongside people with different experiences and skills, generating unexpected ideas and working together through complex problems. This approach has already been put into practice through the Innovation Fellowship program, a 14-week incubator program sponsored by IP Ontario and Makerspace, a hands-on prototyping facility.
"As an academic, pitching a business to investors can be daunting,” says physics PhD student Nathan Drouillard, a recent Innovation Fellow.
“Despite having given numerous academic talks throughout my career, I initially struggled to speak the language of entrepreneurship. Through the Innovation Fellowship, I developed the skills required to translate my research from the lab into the market, and I am now working to build meaningful business relationships as I explore the possibilities of this new venture.”
Drouillard’s experience reflects the connection Fusion aims to build across UWindsor, linking research expertise and ideas with building the entrepreneurial mindset and empowering a community of action-driven innovators.
“Fusion is going to be an integrated network for the entire campus,” explains Tom Schnekenburger, director, innovation, partnerships and entrepreneurship.
“It’s for students, graduate students, researchers, faculty members and ultimately part of building the culture and community.”
Building on more than a decade of entrepreneurial work at UWindsor, Fusion is designed as an embedded model, integrating entrepreneurship programs with academic departments across campus.
“Fusion creates more opportunities for our students, researchers and faculty to take what they are learning and discovering and put it into action," says UWindsor president and vice-chancellor Dr. J.J. McMurtry.
"By connecting academic expertise with entrepreneurial thinking and strong community partnerships, we can help ideas move beyond campus and contribute to the economic and social vitality of our region."
“Fusion’s launch signals a new chapter in research and innovation at the University of Windsor. It will empower students and faculty to turn their ideas and research, scholarship, and creative activity into inventions, ventures, and real-world impacts, which is key to our long-term success,” adds vice-president research and innovation, Dr. Shanthi Johnson.
Fusion has both training and economic value-creation roles, Schnekenburger says, adding that entrepreneurial learning across disciplines can help students develop skills in leadership, resiliency and problem-solving and a mindset for the workforce.
At the same time, supporting new ventures can create job opportunities for the region.
"It's a cycle," says Schnekenburger. "Community leads to new ventures, whether it is tech, small businesses, not-for-profits, it doesn't matter. Ventures create jobs and hire our students. Those students help them grow, and the next generation comes back to the University of Windsor. At its heart, Fusion is about building community."
Drouillard says the Innovation Fellowship opened his eyes to opportunities to commercialize his research outside academia.
“I previously saw only two paths after my PhD: a postdoctoral fellowship or working for a company in industry,” he explains. “But now, I see entrepreneurship as a real path too."
Entrepreneurial paths for students and researchers can take many forms and are rarely linear, Schnekenburger says.
Fusion’s mission is to support those individual paths as part of an innovation ecosystem on campus and in the community.
Fusion partners include WEtech Alliance, Invest Windsor-Essex, Windsor Essex Chamber of Commerce, Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network, City of Windsor and IP Ontario. Student groups such as ENACTUS UWindsor and the Hult Prize will share space in the hub.