McMaster University’s W Booth School of Engineering Practice has been recognized with a prestigious international award for its graduate entrepreneurship program.

The school earned the coveted International Council of Small Business & Entrepreneurship (ICSB) Award for Entrepreneurship Education Excellence for best Master’s program in the world. The Booth School was honoured during an awards ceremony at the ICSB’s World Conference on June 15 to 18 in New York City and New Jersey.

The Entrepreneurship Education Excellence recognizes innovation in the classroom. Part of McMaster’s Faculty of Engineering, the W Booth School offers professional graduate degree programs in such areas as design, entrepreneurship and innovation and public policy. The school has fostered a start-up culture with several graduates going on to launch their own companies, several of which sponsored the institution’s ICSB nomination.

 “Our program stood above all other programs around the world by its impressive mix of curricular programming with real world, high stakes technology ventures that our students developed while in the program,” said Lotfi Belkhir, Associate Professor & Chair of Eco-Entrepreneurship at the W Booth School. “The impact of our unique model was most obvious in the success stories and testimonials of our students and alumni.”

The recognition of W Booth’s Master of Engineering Entrepreneurship and Innovation degree program celebrates the work of the school’s faculty members and staff, said Art Heidebrecht, Director, W Booth School of Engineering Practice.

“It validates the work of our Booth School colleagues in designing and delivering a top calibre world class program with major impact, enabling our graduates to be justifiably proud of the education which they’ve received at McMaster,” said Heidebrecht.  “Receiving this award will highlight the opportunities provided by this program to potential students and industrial and business partners.  This program is very much a flagship for all of the programs being offered by the new Walter G. Booth School of Engineering Practice and Technology.”

The International Council of Small Business is the oldest non-profit organization in the world that supports small businesses and entrepreneurs.