Young technology start-up companies in Canada are getting a major boost. Don Pether, a leading figure in Canada's steel history and Chair of McMaster's Board of Governors, is donating $1-million to McMaster University's Faculty of Engineering to help students transform their inventions into businesses.

The donation will establish the Don Pether Chair in Engineering and Management along with the creation of a pre-incubator innovation laboratory at the McMaster Innovation Park (MIP). The latter, to be named the Don Pether Innovation Centre, will be associated with the master's degree program in Engineering Entrepreneurship and Innovation (MEEI). The goal is to provide students emerging from this program with space at MIP where they can get help and training in launching their new businesses, and develop the partnerships that will greatly increase their chances for success.

“We have students who develop ingenious, award-winning inventions every year that generate a great deal of interest from industry and consumers,” said Peter George, President of McMaster. “Don's donation is telling these students that their inventions are valued, that they are supported, and that resources are available to help them commercialize their inventions. We are truly grateful for Don's generosity.”

“I believe that there is a tremendous entrepreneurial spirit in Canada,” said Pether. “And there would be even more entrepreneurs and more new Canadian businesses if we, as a country and a culture, recognized that entrepreneurial spirit, and provided young people with the encouragement, know-how and resources to turn their inventions into viable businesses.”

David Potter, director of the popular five-year undergraduate Engineering and Management Program at McMaster, will be the inaugural chair holder. His mandate is to develop an entrepreneurship stream for the undergraduate program focusing on innovation and leadership skill development. Potter is chair of the Conference Board of Canada's Innovation Council, an associate professor of engineering entrepreneurship and innovation, and has been managing industrial innovation efforts for the past sixteen years.

“We are now the place to go in Canada for entrepreneurial engineers to get a great head start,” said David Wilkinson, dean of engineering. “Mr. Pether's investment will enable us to incorporate innovation-focused educational programs at both the undergraduate and graduate level. It will give our students the knowledge to start-up a business and learn about the resources that will commercialize their inventions.”

Pether is former chair of the board, president and chief executive officer of Dofasco Inc. He is currently Chair of the Board of McMaster University and sits on the Board of Directors of Samuel Manu-Tech, Emera Inc. and Primary Energy Recycling Corporation. He is a trustee of the Ernest C. Manning Innovation Awards Foundation and a member of the Council of Governors for the Art Gallery of Hamilton. Pether is past chair of the Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation and the McMaster Innovation Park. He holds an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from McMaster University.

The Engineering and Management Program, established in 1971, is offered in conjunction with the DeGroote School of Business. The program's 1,900 alumni include: Stephen Elop, president, Microsoft Business Division; Tom Jenkins, executive chairman and chief strategy officer of Open Text Corporation; and David Dobson, executive vice president of Pitney Bowes and president, Pitney Bowes Management Services.

The Don Pether Innovation Centre will have access to technical and commercialization expertise at McMaster, offered through the Xerox Centre for Engineering Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the McMaster Industrial Liaison Office and the growing community of commercialization companies and services locating at McMaster Innovation Park.

“It's support such as Mr. Pether's that will allow more young entrepreneurs to build successful technology-based enterprises,” said Rafik Loutfy, director, Xerox Centre for Engineering Entrepreneurship and Innovation. “There's no shortage of great ideas out there and now more of them have a chance to succeed.”

“Teaching undergraduates how to take their solutions to the world's problems to market is a key step in the advancement of engineering education,” said Potter. “Mr. Pether's gift will enable the implementation of this pioneering approach to leadership development.”

Stay connected