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University of Waterloo Opens "Dorm-cubator" Residence to Student Entrepreneurs
Cluster strategies show proximity is seen as an important requirement for tacit knowledge flows and the resulting economic development benefits of innovation and entrepreneurship. Research by Barak Aharonson, Joel Baum, and Maryann Feldman showed spillover benefits of agglomeration for businesses are strongest within 500 meters of a site.
The benefits faded rapidly over distance - so is the reverse true? What happens when you put aspiring young entrepreneurs in the same dorm?
Last week, the first group of 70 upper-year and graduate students began living in VeloCity, a combination residence hall and business incubator at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, designed for student entrepreneurs interested in mobile communications and digital media. The university has spent about $400,000 to convert a 40-year-old building into the residence, which will include a wireless device lab, wi-fi, videoconferencing space, increased bandwidth, student presentation space, a LCD wall screen, and common areas to encourage collaboration.
Students interested in living within VeloCity must pass an interview process, where they are asked questions about their technical and entrepreneurial abilities. Selected students are then formed into project teams, each one partnered with an industry mentor to provide technical and business assistance.
Towards the end of each term, the student groups will present their projects at a symposium populated by industry and investment capital representatives. According to the policies of the university, students would own the rights to any intellectual property they create. Additionally, students will have access to programs offered by the Accelerator Centre at the University of Waterloo's research and technology park.
Corporate partners to VeloCity include Apple Canada, Communitech, Google, Microsoft, Research in Motion, and Rodgers Wireless.
The website of the VeloCity residence is http://velocity.uwaterloo.ca/
The University of Waterloo's press release on the opening can be found at: http://newsrelease.uwaterloo.ca/news.php?id=4995