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Vanier Graduate Robert Libman Will Be a Guest Judge for a Competition Aimed at Promoting Entrepreneurship

5 mars 2019

Cet article de nos archives n'a pas été traduit en français.

Vanier College graduate and well-known Montreal-based architect, Robert Libman, who also co-founded the Equality Party, is the former Provincial MNA for the riding of D’Arcy-McGee and the former Mayor of Cote St. Luc, is pleased to participate as a guest judge for the upcoming Launchbox competition, which features innovative student projects aimed at improving local communities.

“I am excited to see these amazing projects and have an opportunity to offer feedback to students who are trying to address different issues and solve problems in our communities. Entrepreneurship is fundamental to 21st Century learning and Vanier is once again leading the way with its Launchbox program,” said Mr. Libman.

Vanier College’s Launchbox initiative supports student teams seeking to develop skills and knowledge in innovation through collaborative project-based learning. Launchbox is currently in its second-year. On April 4th a Demo Day will take place whereby students will have a chance to unveil their projects to their peers. A total of seven teams are currently preparing for the event, which will take place at 6:00 p.m. in F-500 at Vanier College. More than $6,500 in cash prizes are up for grabs for the top three winners.

This year’s Launchbox teams include:

  • Strands of Love, which is seeking hair donations to make wigs for young cancer patients who lost their hair as a result of chemotherapy treatment;

  • ARC Center team which is seeking to design and build an outdoor learning space at Vanier for the 2019-2020 academic year;

  • SpeechyDrive team, which is developing a prototype speech-to-text mobile application for nurses to facilitate note-taking on the job.

“The Vanier community had the chance to see these amazing projects in January during their poster presentation,” said Isabelle Delisle, Dean of General Education, Pedagogical Support & Innovation and Learning Commons at Vanier College. “The excitement and motivation on the students’ faces was incredible. We are proud of their accomplishments and can’t wait to see their progress on April 4th’s Demo Day.”

Launchbox is Vanier’s name for the Sandbox program, an initiative funded with $50,000 from the Ministère de l’éducation et de l’enseignement supérieur (MEES). The MEES has given similar financial support to John Abbott College and Cégep de Gérald-Godin, which has led to a three-way CEGEP Demo Day competition taking place on April 18th at Cégep Gérald-Godin. The winner of the competition has the chance to win a $2,000 prize.

To prepare for the upcoming Demo Days, the teams, which formed back in September, have been participating in multiple workshops on innovation and entrepreneurship with experienced teachers, mentors and business leaders.