Entrepreneurial thinking at UM

UM is nurturing entrepreneurial thinking because, as a community, we want to pursue big ideas. Big ideas that can make an impact. And that may not necessarily mean the launch of a business. We also need social entrepreneurs who are driven to overcome the challenges we face in society, from mitigating climate change to bolstering human health to advancing Reconciliation.

Thinking differently about entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship can be part of everything we do at UM

In a recent sit-down interview with Janine Carmichael: Faculty Specialist in Entrepreneurship, President Benarroch talked about his non-traditional view of entrepreneurship and why entrepreneurship is more about ideas and impact than dollars and cents.

Reports on activities

These reports showcase the many ways that ideas have come to life through entrepreneurial thought and action. In them, you’ll find more about our efforts in the past years to provide students, faculty and staff with services and supports to move ideas to impact.

Download the Entrepreneurship and Innovative Thinking Reports on Activities

Entrepreneurship and innovative thinking at UM

A selection of how faculties across UM are incorporating entrepreneurship and innovative thinking into their curricula.

Faculties

Faculty of Science

The Faculty of Science is home to the Science Innovation Hub, a gateway for advancing research innovation and nurturing entrepreneurship within the Faculty of Science.

The faculty is also home to a Maker Space which provides a space where students create high-end, research-grade equipment. Maker Space offers 21 3D printers and other state-of-the-art equipment, including an all-metal laser-based 3D printer, CNC machines and injection moulder.

Asper School of Business

The Asper School of Business is the first place we often think of when we think of entrepreneurship at UM as it is home to:

Faculty of Architecture

Centre for Architectural Structures and Technology, Faculty of Architecture
A one-of-a-kind interdisciplinary research laboratory in Canada, the Centre for Architectural Structures and Technology (C.A.S.T.) provides students with access to technologies for the design, construction and performance of a built environment.

FABlab, Faculty of Architecture
FABlab is an interdisciplinary facility that supports design research where students can explore digitally driven design, prototyping and manufacturing.

The Workshop, Faculty of Architecture
A longstanding presence at UM, The Workshop supports the production of refined models and environmental product and furniture prototypes.

College of Rehabilitation Sciences, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences

Smart Suite

Equipped with user-friendly assistive technology and flexible equipment, the suite will help educate and train students to enhance autonomy and well-being for older adults and individuals with disabilities.

More about Smart Suite

College of Nursing, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences

The college opened two VR learning rooms with a total of 11 workstations at the Helen Glass Centre for Nursing in September 2022.

In the platform, students work together in pairs, with one student as an “active player” and another as a “driver.” The active player wears a VR headset and hand controls and acts as a bedside nurse, caring for a patient in one of several pre-programmed scenarios, while the driver lets the nurse know what the patient needs and acts as the patient by selecting the appropriate pre-recorded responses.

More about VR in the College of Nursing

Faculty of Law

L. Kerry Vickar Business Law Clinic

Named for its benefactor, alumnus L. Kerry Vickar [LLB/80], the Clinic has offered numerous Manitoba law students the chance to get hands-on, practical experience in business law since 2014. Information and services are provided by third-year law students free of charge to small businesses, start-ups, entrepreneurs, innovators including family businesses, non-profits, charities, the arts, cultural and community organizations who do not have a lawyer and cannot afford legal assistance in Manitoba.

Visit the L. Kerry Vickar Business Law Clinic website

Close up of person in lab in safety goggles.

Drake Centre atrium with students on the staircase.

Two students working on a table with a model of a building.

A rehabilitation professional helps a smiling patient.

Students observe an instructor hanging an intravenous bag.

Our campus supports

The Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship

The Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship's mission is to ignite the entrepreneurial mindset in all University of Manitoba students and inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs. We provide a range of services and resources to help students, faculty, and alumni turn their ideas into successful businesses.

The Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning

The Centre is working with faculties across UM to embed entrepreneurial thinking into curriculum. The Centre is the academic support unit that provides leadership and expertise in furthering the mission of teaching and learning at the University of Manitoba.

Faculty Specialist: Entrepreneurship

Partnerships and Innovation building's mirrored windows reflecting clouds

Partnerships, Knowledge Mobilization and Innovation

The Partnerships, Knowledge Mobilization and Innovation office works toward increasing the number of partnerships between our researchers and groups outside the University of Manitoba and moving inventions from research labs into practical applications that can be used around the world.

IDEA START

IDEA START is UM’s dedicated hub for entrepreneurship in all its forms. Offering a unified hub to access cutting-edge technology, tailored mentorship, and collaborative spaces, IDEA START provides a foundation to grow innovative ideas into viable successful ventures.

Get entrepreneurial at UM

Contact us

Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship
Room 212 Drake Centre
181 Freedman Cres.
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB R3T 5V4
The Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning
65 Dafoe Road
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB R3T 5V6 Canada
Partnerships, Knowledge Mobilization & Innovation
Room 410-100 Innovation Drive
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB R3T 6G2 Canada
IDEA START
Main Floor UMSU University Centre (adjacent to the food court)
65 Chancellors Cir.
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2