See the original story at http://www.smu.ca/academics/sobey/bdc-funding-announcement-2017.html
SMU makes the podium at international portfolio competition
Saint Mary’s University is proud to recognize the great work of Stephanie Fitzner, Amaan Popatiya, Jarrett Leach, and Jordan Logan who made the podium in the prestigious 2017 McGill International Portfolio Challenge. This IMPACT team of undergraduate students ranked 3rd among more than 60 competing teams from universities including: Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of California Berkeley and the University of Toronto.
In the presentation, the Saint Mary’s team had ten minutes to provide sound investment advice for a real-world challenge: how to rebalance the defined benefits pension plan of a lumber company in British Columbia. After a great presentation, the team finished in third place and received a $7500 prize.
The McGill International Portfolio Challenge is the first international competition targeting innovative portfolio design and asset management. It is truly unique in its mandate to shift the focus of academic competitions to the buy-side and to provide students with more visibility on opportunities therein. The challenge bridges the gap between students with a demonstrated interest in asset management and industry leaders.
To be considered for the competition, all teams had to evaluate a case study and submit their solution online. The top teams were selected to participate in a final round in person taking place at McGill University.
Every year the Saint Mary’s team greatly benefits from the volunteer coaching of Ross Hallett, from the Bank of Montreal. The team is directed by Dr. Najah Attig and supported by the Sobey School of Business.
Sobey School Business Development Centre offers coaching to help Atlantic companies grow and succeed
See the orginal story at http://www.smu.ca/academics/sobey/growth-coaching-program-announced.html
Retail innovation focus of new Saint Mary’s University partnership
Vince Kennedy and Ryan Jackson, co-founders of BluShll
Innovation and the future of the retail sector were the focus of an event at the Halifax Seaport Farmers’ Market.
“Encouraging innovation is fundamental to the change our province needs,” said Labi Kousoulis, Minister of Labour and Advanced Education. “It is important for our entrepreneurs to have the supports in place to help take their ideas to the next level, and that we celebrate these successes.”
The event, held during National Retail Week, celebrates some of the early results of a Memorandum of Understanding signed between Saint Mary’s University and the Halifax Seaport Farmers’ Market. The agreement established a retail space at the market called The Shelf, representing the first outpost of the David Sobey Centre for Innovation in Retailing and Services’ Retail Imagination Lab.
“We established The Shelf to support our local producers and artisans,” said Julie Chaisson, executive director of the Halifax Seaport Farmers’ Market. “This partnership will allow us to extend our support into new areas of innovation and technology that may not otherwise have been possible.”
Retail innovations range widely, from data-informed store layouts to video shelf talkers and robot sales associates, to virtual reality online and interactive digital environments. The Shelf will provide a setting to carry out pilot projects in a controlled space, with researchers there to observe, record and analyze the results.
“Studying consumer behavior in a real retail setting is a daunting task, but our professors and students embrace this challenge,” said Saint Mary’s University president Robert Summerby-Murray. “Through our partnership with the Halifax Seaport Farmers’ Market, we combine exceptional researchers with experts on local businesses in the retail sector to create an environment where innovation can take shape.”
BluShll, a student-led business from Saint Mary’s that helps shoppers quickly and easily learn more about the products they buy, recently tested their product at The Shelf. BluShll helps to satisfy the desire of the socially-conscious consumer for more information about where products are sourced and to learn more about the company that sells them.
“The Shelf was an amazing venue for us to test our product and hear directly from consumers,” said Ryan Jackson, co-founder of BluShll. “We received some great feedback from people visiting the market that will be instrumental in taking our product to the next level as we prepare to develop it to enter the market.”
Saint Mary’s launches new Innovative, Creative and Entrepreneurial Mindsets Fund, calls for proposals
Saint Mary’s University invites faculty, students and staff to develop activities, events, research and teaching to enhance creative, innovative and entrepreneurial thinking.
Successful proposals will be supported through the new Innovative, Creative and Entrepreneurial Mindsets Fund.
The learning outcomes that we aspire to have all students graduate with and that this fund will help develop are:
- Development of critical thinking skills and good judgement/discernment
- Ability to identify problems and seek opportunities through discovery and design thinking
- Capacity to cultivate new ideas and solve problems
- Courage to take a risk and resilience to deal with failure
- Aptitude to move to action and take advantage of opportunities/create social and economic value
- Self-reflection and ability to learn from both mistakes and successes
- Understanding of alternative ways of organizing (e.g. cooperatives, collectives, nonprofits, social enterprises, for-profits, start-ups)
Call for Proposals
Proposals are invited from individual Saint Mary's faculty, students and staff as well as from Departments, Programs, Societies and groups of individuals. The primary applicant must be a member of the Saint Mary’s University community. Applicants will provide a detailed plan including a budget (normally expected to be in the range of $1,000 to $5,000 to a maximum of $10,000/per application) with expected outcomes and agree to share what they learned in a seminar, published article and/or workshop. Applicants are encouraged to be creative in their approach and to wisely use the money they apply for. The budget is not to be used for course releases or for curriculum development activities that are a normal part of faculty teaching responsibilities.
Possible projects include everything from design thinking workshops for staff and students across the university to pitch competitions for IP that can be commercialized or a community of practice using critical thinking to address wicked problems. Note that this not funding for a start-up.
Submission of Applications for Funding and Deadline
Applications for funding are to be submitted electronically to donna.filek@smu.ca and must be received by 4 p.m. on October 31, 2017.
Enactus Saint Mary’s expand Square Roots Token Program before departure to Enactus World Cup
(Left to Right) King of Donair co-owner Nicholas Nahas; Basha Lebanese co-owner Chico Rashaydeh and his father, Khalas Rashaydeh; the Honourable Lena Metlege Diab; Saint Mary's University President Dr. Robert Summerby-Murray; Ray's Lebanese Cuisine owner Hady Bahliss; and Enactus Saint Mary's co-presidents Meredith Drost and Valerie Caswell.
Enactus Saint Mary’s students are proving that business and social good can be one in the same. Enactus Saint Mary’s students created the Square Roots Token Program, which aims to help address food insecurity and reduce food waste in the province.
On Tuesday, September 19th, the newest restaurant to take part in their Square Roots Token Program was announced. King of Donair’s four locations on Quinpool Road, Lacewood Drive, Windmill Road and Sackville Drive, join pioneer restaurants Basha Lebanese on Inglis Street, Rys Mediterranean on Spring Garden Road, and Ray’s Lebanese Cuisine in Bayer’s Lake.
“I hate waste, especially when it comes to food which is why I was more than excited to join the Square Roots Token Program,” says Nicholas Nahas, co-owner of King of Donair. “I would love to see greater accessibility for the tokens and more businesses join so that food waste is not even a concern in the city. I believe in this the program and hope it succeeds not only as a business owner but as a graduate of Saint Mary's University.”
Two students holding the Square Roots tokens.
The program works by offering tokens for $5 which can be purchased and given to someone who is known or seen to be in need. The tokens are then redeemable by the recipient for a meal made from surplus food ingredients from partnering restaurants.
The announcement comes just ahead of the team’s departure for London, England, where they will pitch the Square Roots Token Program at the Enactus World Cup. The Enactus World Cup takes place from September 26-28, and will mark Enactus Saint Mary’s first time on the international stage.
“This is what we mean when we say Saint Mary’s students are citizens of the world,” says Saint Mary’s University President, Dr. Robert Summerby-Murray. “It’s thinking how your day-to-day work and activities, even while you’re a student, can have a beneficial impact on others outside the university, community and indeed around the world.”
Enactus is the largest student leadership organization in the world, striving to solve environmental, social and economic issues through entrepreneurial action. With over 150 students involved on campus, Enactus Saint Mary’s is one of the chapters leading the charge on the national, and soon to be, international scale.
“Our Square Roots Token Program began in April 2017 and we are so excited about the amazing response and support that we have received from our partnering restaurants in Nova Scotia,” says Meredith Drost, Co-President of Enactus. “It is truly inspiring to see the passion to reduce food waste in our own community from our customers and partners. Our team is also thrilled to have the opportunity share our program with the world when we travel to the Enactus World Exposition next week in London, England. We would not be here today without the amazing support of Saint Mary's University, the Sobey School of Business and the Business Development Centre.”
The Honourable Lena Metlege Diab attended the event today on behalf of Labour and Advanced Education Minister Labi Kousoulis to celebrate the program’s latest achievements.
"We all know that government alone does not have all the answers to the challenges we face. We have to look to the community and the private sector to find solutions. When this happens, we witness a powerful force for change,” says Ms. Metlege Diab. "This new formula for success combines business acumen with social consciousness. It teaches us how human capital can be directed and best used. This will benefit our economy as a whole - and help us build a stronger Nova Scotia.”
As a show of support for the program, President Summerby-Murray said the University purchased 100 tokens to be delivered by the students to those in need.
Three Canadian Retailers Recognized for Innovation and Leadership
New Sobey School program helps entrepreneurs and companies expand to international markets
See the original story at http://www.smu.ca/academics/sobey/sell-beyond-borders-launches.html.
Retail Innovation Centre and Halifax Seaport Farmers’ Market look to the future
Sobey School of Business student Drew Blair at The Shelf in the Halifax Seaport Farmers' Market
What will retail look like in 25 years?
By this fall, a new partnership aims to have a retail space in the Halifax Seaport Farmers’ Market offer a glimpse into that innovative future.
“Saint Mary’s University is committed to lifelong learning, supporting innovation and engaging with community, and this project, I am pleased to say, reflects all these commitments.”
This morning, representatives of the Market and Saint Mary’s University signed an MoU establishing the Seaport Market’s retail space called The Shelf as the first outpost of the David Sobey Centre for Innovation in Retailing and Services’ Retail Imagination Lab.
Overlooking the harbour from the Galley on the second floor of the Halifax Seaport Farmers’ Market, Executive Director Julie Chaisson pointed out that this event was steeped in history: Canada’s oldest continuously operating farmers’ market partnering with one of the country’s oldest universities, along with a research centre and business school named for one of Canada’s outstanding historic retail families, the Sobeys. “But this is not about the past—today, we look to the future.”
Retail innovations range widely, from data-informed store layouts, to video shelf talkers and robot sales associates, to virtual reality online and interactive digital environments. Which technology innovation should a retailer invest in? And how can the ROI be measured?
“This partnership will allow us to extend our support into new areas of innovation and technology that may not otherwise have been possible.”
These are the kind of questions that fires the imagination of researchers and retail analysts alike, and the Retail Imagination Lab will provide a setting to carry out pilot projects in a controlled space, with researchers there to observe, record and analyse results.
The David Sobey Centre will provide the experiments and innovation, and the Halifax Seaport Farmers Market will provide space, data access and other support through The Shelf. Students from Saint Mary’s University’s Sobey School of Business have been hired to establish the first set of innovations later this summer.
Julie Chaisson, Executive Director of the Halifax Seaport Farmers’ Market, Executive Director and Dr. Malcolm Butler, Vice President Academic and Research, Saint Mary’s University
13 Inuit leaders graduate with Sobey School Advanced Management Diploma
Advanced Placement students get a taste of university life at SMU conference
Saint Mary's President Dr. Robert Summerby-Murray addresses AP students
Hundreds of top high school students descended on the Saint Mary's campus to get a taste of life at university.
The one-day Provincial Advanced Placement Conference was for students enrolled in AP courses in Nova Scotia high schools.
Students were introduced to the three faculties at Saint Mary's: Arts, Commerce (Sobey School of Business) and Science. Afterwards, students attended workshops focused on learning, curiosity and student leadership. Other sessions included introductions to university-level courses such as Astronomy, Biology, Criminology, Religious Studies, Sociology, Geology and Computer Programming.
Students reactions
Audio clips
