News Release: TechUnderTwenty TU20 Hired Event

TechUnderTwenty is focused on improving youth participation in the business and technology industries.  Recently they held the TU20 Hired event from November 27-28, 2021, a two-day event with a panel of professional speakers and an interview day to allow student attendees to interview with 5 companies and receive direct feedback on their performance – as well as the chance to get hired for a software or business internship.

“It’s really important to give youth personal opportunities to get feedback on things like interviews and resumes – especially since most people are finding jobs when they’re young.” – Zahrah Ahmed, a lead for TU20 Hired and an events executive at TechUnderTwenty

 

Zahrah added “What TU20 Hired did was give youth feedback relevant to the technology and business industries and a chance to be hired through having them interview with several companies. Not many youth can get experience at a technology company, simply because they don’t have chances to get the experience – so TU20 Hired really was a game changer for a lot of attendees.”

TU20 Hired had speakers and interviewers from Amazon, Geotab, Mitra Biotechnologies, Canadian Gap Year, L3 Wescam, Silicon Halton, and more.

“TU20 Hired definitely helped me improve my job search skills. Being a high school student myself, I would’ve never gotten the chance to interview with big technology companies like Amazon and biotech companies, because I just didn’t have the experience.” one attendee stated, “My interviewers gave me really personal feedback on my performance that I would’ve never thought of otherwise. I’d go to TU20 Hired again.”

 

“Every industry is facing a labour supply shortage, which will only worsen over the next decade. Tech isn’t immune. If you want to attract the next generation to tech and inject a bright youthful exuberance into your company, find a way to engage with TU20.” said Rick Stomphorst, a speaker at TU20 Hired and co-founder of Silicon Halton.

About TechUnderTwenty

TechUnderTwenty, Silicon Halton’s Youth wing, is a student-led organization that dedicates itself to creating events and teaching students more about technology and business through its many initiatives like TU20 Hired, TU20 Ventures, TU20 Cup, and more. TU20 Hired was sponsored by Gatherly, a leading events platform that puts interaction first. Find out more about TechUnderTwenty on their Instagram, and website.

Why Choose Halton Region for Your Business

Halton Region

@RegionofHalton @HaltonBusiness


Burlington

@Burlingtonecdev


Halton Hills

@_HaltonHills


Milton: A Place of Possibility

@TownOfMilton


Invest Oakville: A World of Business Opportunity Awaits

Invest Oakville (In Mandarin):

@investoakville

IIoT Symposium 2019: Interview with Remi Schmaltz, Agtech Entrepreneur

Each year we feature an interview with a key leader involved in the event. I’ve been fortunate enough to interview, Whitney Rockley and Scott McDonald in 2017 and 2018.

This year’s interview, is my first in my new series “The Leading Edge”. It’s with Remi Schmaltz, CEO and President of Decisive Farming. Our conversation covers emerging technologies being adopted by broadacre farms and farmers and why. You’ll learn about his company and the role it is playing in helping farmers be successful.

We also talk about Decisive Farming’s relationship with McRock Capital, their Canadian VC partner, and McRock’s IIoT Symposium taking place Jun 12, in Montreal, Canada.

Timeline

Use the timeline to pick what you want to listen to 

00:00 Market: What is a broad acre farm and how big is the market? Where is Decisive Farming focusing today and in the near term?
02:50 Technology: How is technology solving key challenges for farmers and the agriculture market? What technologies are being used today? What challenges are farmers facing because of technologies?
07:50 Farmers: Are they innovators and early adopters of technology? What’s their mindset and approach to trying technology and eventually implementing it into their farm operations?
10:30 Decisive Farming: What’s the journey been like for you, your family and your company? Tell us more about your web platform My Farm Manager™ and the supportive mobile app Croptivity™ and the role they play in helping farmers be successful. How important is data and system integration.
16:43 Customers: What’s the typical farm client for Decisive Farmer? What are they like and how are you engaging with them to develop the market and acquire new customers? What are the key issues that you’re platform is addressing and delivering value to farmers?
24:00 McRock Capital & IIoT Symposium: How are they unique and what’s the relationship like with them as a funder? How are they different from other venture capital firms? What do you think about McRock’s IIoT Symposium? How is this annual event valuable to you and others that should attend?
30:18 Final Question: What advice would you give a new tech entrepreneur in order to improve her or his chances of success?  

Learn more about McRock Capital’s IIoT Symposium and take advantage of the early bird special before May 1/19.

Chris Herbert

Chris Herbert

Cofounder

Chris Herbert is the founder of Mi6. Mi6 is a B2B (Business to Business) marketing and business development agency dedicated to helping companies build their brands and develop commercial relationships. He is the founder of ProductCamp Toronto and the Hi-tech community Silicon Halton. He tweets under the handle @B2Bspecialist.

Silicon Halton’s Tech Under Twenty Announces New Partners for Cup

For Immediate Release

Silicon Halton’s Tech Under Twenty Announces New Partners for Cup

Over $22,000 in funding available to winning teams to continue project for Oakville charities helping local youth

Oakville, Ont., Feb. 27, 2019 Silicon Halton’s Tech Under Twenty (TU20) is excited to announce a partnership with the Oakville Community Foundation and RBC for the TU20 Cup.

With the recent release of The Oakville Community Foundation’s 2018 research the ‘Vital Youth Report: A Tale of Two Childhoods’, The Oakville Community Foundation has identified a unique partnership. They will provide a first place and second place prize to the successful TU20 Cup teams, and the award must be used to work with a local charity to resolve a pressing issue as identified in the Youth Report.

“We’re thrilled to partner with the Oakville Community Foundation and the RBC Foundation,” said Denys Linkov, President of Tech Under Twenty. “We’re grateful to both foundations for their support in the type of work we’re trying to accomplish at Tech Under Twenty.”

The TU20 Cup is a multi-month entrepreneurship competition that focuses on motivating youth to get involved with technology and business. In teams of two to six, students develop solutions to issues related to a yearly theme.

This year teams were challenged to come up with solutions to issues relating to youth in Halton which are laid out in the Watchlist in the Oakville Community Foundation’s 2018 report.

The 30 teams, made up of 120 students, work with a mentor to develop a prototype for their solution as well as a business plan and pitch. They then present their solutions to a team of judges on the final day of competition.

“The TU20 competition is making terrific use of our 2018 Vital Youth Report,” said Wendy Rinella, CEO of the Oakville Community Foundation. “These are real issues that are being faced by youth in our community and this group of students has taken it upon themselves to create solutions. We’re very proud to support this project and give the winning teams the chance to implement their solutions.”

As part of their work, the teams were asked to identify local Halton charities that could benefit from their prototype solutions. A monetary prize is being provided to the first and second place winners which will help the teams implement their solutions with a charity partner.

The first place team will be given a contract with a charity partner valued at $15,000, jointly funded by the Oakville Community Foundation and the RBC Foundation with the funds directed to the charity to implement the winning solution.

An additional contract valued at $7,500 will be provided for the second place team, funded solely by The Oakville Community Foundation.

“RBC is excited to support the work being done by Silicon Halton’s Tech Under Twenty,” said Peter Choma, Vice President, Commercial Financial Services, Halton South for RBC.“ These issues affect so many youth in Halton and it’s inspiring to see the great work for youth being led by youth”

The teams are coming together for one day of competition on Saturday, March 2 at Sheridan College’s Oakville-Trafalgar Campus from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

-30-

About Tech Under Twenty Tech Under Twenty (TU20) is a student community focused on technology, entrepreneurship and business. With a project focused approach, we help students understand the future of technology, help them build key skills and connect them with career accelerating opportunities. Since its creation in 2015, TU20 has grown to over 400 members and has an alumni group that has worked at some of the top Canadian and International Companies. TU20 is a key part of the Silicon Halton Community and Halton’s innovation ecosystem.

About the Oakville Community Foundation The Foundation is a registered charity in its 25th year of Building Community Through Philanthropy. The Foundation is a registered charity that has granted $40 million to charities since 1994 and supports investments of over $100 million in charitable assets. We welcome families, businesses and residents into our community and give everyone the opportunity to be a philanthropist. The Foundation is one of the largest members of a national network of more than 190 Canadian community foundations.

About the RBC Foundation Royal Bank of Canada is a global financial institution with a purpose-driven, principles- led approach to delivering leading performance. Our success comes from the 84,000+ employees who bring our vision, values and strategy to life so we can help our clients thrive and communities prosper. As Canada’s biggest bank, and one of the largest in the world based on market capitalization, we have a diversified business model with a focus on innovation and providing exceptional experiences to our 16 million clients in Canada, the U.S. and 33 other countries. Learn more at rbc.com.

We are proud to support a broad range of community initiatives through donations, community investments and employee volunteer activities. See how at rbc.com/community-sustainability.

Silicon Halton Member Creates Ask Oakville Alexa App

Updated:  July 13/18 | By:  Chris Herbert

Brett Gillett, Chief Orbiter, at Curious Orbit attended Silicon Halton and the Town of Oakville’s meetup on Smart Cities last month. Brett has been supporting smart city initiatives over the past years and he continues to do so with the announcement of his “Ask Oakville Alexa App”.  Brett offers a newsletter that you can subscribe to here.

——–

Hi Chris,

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend a Smart Cities meet up co-sponsored by the Town of Oakville and Silicon Halton.  It was interesting to have a chance to hear many different perspectives on what precisely a Smart City is.  Many people spoke at the event including town employees and consultants, as well as from Silicon Halton members.

After the formal part of the meeting had concluded I had the opportunity to chat with a few different folks about Smart Cities in general and in particular Open Data.  We talked about how in some cases there still seems to be a  lack of openness or in certain situations datasets which used to be publicly available are removed when the interests of those who are responsible for publishing and maintaining the data sets shift – or the technology responsible for storing the data makes it more difficult to publish.

I left the meeting energized and with a rediscovered sense that while Smart Cities are inevitable, the real value will come when the data collected is provided to citizens in a form they want, when they want it, and in ways that are easily consumable.

With the idea of making data accessible to consumers, I left the meeting with an idea for an Alexa app.  Over the last week, I’ve built a simple prototype Alexa app, called ‘Ask Oakville.’  Right now, you’re able to get information about your Oakville councilor, when the next town council meeting is scheduled and when should you put out your recycling, green bin or garbage.

Currently, I’ve added data manually from many sources – the town website (councillors and meetings) and the physically printed waste collection calendar, but I’m hoping in the future for some new data sets to be published so the application can be more easily maintained.

Here’s a simple overview of how I built the ‘Ask Oakville’ Alexa application.

(Graphic by Brett Gillett, Curious Orbit)

Until next week – get out there and build cool things,

Brett

— Chief Orbiter

——–

Related links:

 

Chris Herbert

Chris Herbert

Cofounder, Silicon Halton

Chris Herbert is a social entrepreneur. His current ventures are: Silicon Halton, Mi6 Agency and TechIgniters. He's a former squash professional and passionate about helping entrepreneurs, technology companies and professionals achieve success. He's a proud Canadian and plans to make Halton region the greatest place on the planet to live, work and play.

Smart City Meetup with Silicon Halton and Town of Oakville

Updated: Jul 19/18 | By: Chris Herbert

And It Begins!

Tomorrow will be an interesting day as Silicon Halton members and key leaders from the Town of Oakville meet to discuss “Smart Cities” and the Town’s plans to revitalize the downtown core starting in 2019.

How’d This Meeting Surface?

In May, I met with some key town leaders to discuss ways in which Silicon Halton and the Town could connect and collaborate.

My goal was, and continues to be, for local technology companies and professionals to be an integral part in planning and shaping Oakville’s future.

We decided that the first step would be to have a meetup on the topic of “Smart Cities”. Key members of the Town’s leadership team, and WSP,  will be updating a group of Silicon Halton members on plans to revitalize the downtown core starting in 2019.

Major infrastructure upgrades like those planned for downtown Oakville are critical moments in time and an opportunity to reflect on the needs of the community and the role technology, in part, can play. It’s also an opportunity to bring interested parties and stakeholders together to collaborate and work together … especially local citizens and entrepreneurs.

Why Is This So Important?

There are many reasons why this meetup is important and why local groups, people, organizations and companies need to connect and collaborate together in new and better ways.

  • First, perhaps you’ve noticed that storm clouds are starting to form. The thunder you hear is the rhetoric and threats coming from south of our border. Lightning has hit the steel and aluminum industry already and there is the threat of a 25% tariff on auto imports.
  • Second, another clap of thunder is disruption. While an overused buzzword, disruption is ushering in new business models and companies that are changing how we travel (Uber), where we stay (AirBnB) and what we watch (Netflix). All are leveraging data, the cloud, software and the internet to create, deliver and capture value… and create jobs.
  • Third, the competition for talent and the race to lead in key emerging technology fields such as artificial intelligence, security, internet of things, additive manufacturing, robotics and autonomous vehicles is now happening between countries and not just companies. What country isn’t trying to be the leader in AI or Fintech? How do we compete against mega economies, such as China, where two AI companies recently raised over $1B in venture capital alone? We have less people, less resources and maybe we’re a bit complacent to boot.

What is a Smart City Anyways?

Is it technology that makes a city smart? Nope, in fact it can create the opposite effect. A smart city is one that establishes a community culture where connectivity, collaboration, cooperation, co-creation, innovation and shared success is baked into the way we think, feel and work… together for people with varying needs including people like Ron whom put this video together for us.

The reality is no one person or organization will make a city smart. Collectively we can and should work together so we can weather the storm and show the world how its done! Why not?

Updates

 

Related links:

(Image Source: TechTarget)

Chris Herbert

Chris Herbert

Chris Herbert is a social entrepreneur. His current ventures are: Silicon Halton, Mi6 Agency and TechIgniters. He's a former squash professional and passionate about helping entrepreneurs, technology companies and professionals achieve success. He's a proud Canadian and plans to make Halton region the greatest place on the planet to live, work and play.

My scores for this year’s TU20 Cup contestants

Updated: July 22/18 | By: Chris Herbert

On Saturday March 3rd, 2018 the second annual Tech Under Twenty Cup (TU20 Cup) took place. There were 13 teams and over 50 students from local high schools in Halton and Universities. I was a judge and I pledged to the teams that I would post my scores and comments publicly.

About the TU20 Cup

For those of you not familiar with the TU20 Cup, it is a multi-month event focused on motivating youth to get involved with technology and business. Teams of 2-6 students work with the help of a mentor to innovate a solution using technology relating to the yearly theme, in advance to the day of the event. This years’ theme was: how to make your town or city smarter.

How the Judging Worked

Each team had twelve minutes in front of the judging panels broken down as follows:

  • Two minute video about their business idea, product or project
  • Five minute presentation and demo
  • Five minute Q&A with judges panel

There were thirteen teams, six judges and two judging rounds:

  • Round One: teams and judges were split into two groups and presented concurrently in separate rooms to the judges. Participants, attendees and parents were welcome to sit in on the presentations. The top two teams for each group advanced to round two: the finals.
  • Round Two: The four finalists presented to all seven judges. Participants, attendees and parents were welcome to sit in on the presentations.

By the way, you can refer to the judging criteria document [link date: Mar 12/18]  for more details on how teams and judges were prepared by the TU20 executive.

How I Ranked the Teams

In round one, there were three judges including myself in our group. The teams that presented were: RouteE2M (E2M), SensorFlow (SF), Halton Flow (HF), EventHost (EH), Reach (REA) & A2B. Below are my scores:

Criteria Value E2M SF HF EH REA A2B Avg.
Presentation of project /10 5/10 8/10 10/10 8/10 9/10 5/10 7.5/10
Implementation of theme (making smarter cities) /15 13/15 11/15 14/15 11/15 12/15 10/15 11.8/15
Impact /15 12/15 12/15 14/15 13/15 14/15 8/15 12.2/15
Technical Product/Demo /20 18/20 7/20 18/20 14/20 14/20 14/20 14.2/20
Creativity & Innovation /20 15/20 14/20 18/20 16/20 18/20 15/20 16/20
Business plan /15 4/15 8/15 9/15 8/15 10/15 8/15 7.8/15
Project Video /5 3/5 5/5 5/5 5/5 0/5 3/5 3.5/5
Total /100 70/100 65/100 88/100 75/100 77/100 63/100 73/100
Place   4 5 1 3 2 6  

My top three, in this order, were Halton Flow, Reach and EventHost. But, I was one of three judges that were presented to and after factoring in their scores the top two in our group that were put forward for round two were: EventHost and Reach.

In round two, there were seven judges, and the top two teams from each group in round one presented. The teams that presented were: Road Alerts, Halton Info, Reach and EventHost. Below are my scores:

Criteria Value RA HI REA EH Avg.
Presentation of project /10 7/10 8/10 8/10 8/10 7.8/10
Implementation of theme (making smarter cities) /15 14/15 11/15 12/15 11/15 12/15
Impact /15 12/15 12/15 12/15 13/15 12.3/15
Technical Product/Demo /20 15/20 16/20 16/20 14/20 15.3/20
Creativity & Innovation /20 14/20 15/20 15/20 16/20 15/20
Business plan /15
Project Video /5 4/5 5/5 5/5 5/5 4.5/5
Total* /100 66/85 67/85 68/85 67/85 67/85
Place   4 2 1 2  

* Note: Judges were not provided with business plans to review from other group so it did not factor into my ranking. During the Q&A sessions I was silent when my groups two finalists were up to allow those judges who were seeing them for the first time to ask questions of the teams.

[NEW] A Word (or two) to All TU20 Cup Participants

After the 2017 TU20 Cup I put this video together that I hope entrepreneurs, of all ages, can use to help them stay motivated, not feel alone and remember to bake “value” into their business models. BTW, I’m a slow talker so bump up the video play speed to 1.25 or 1.5!

 

Chris Herbert

Chris Herbert

McRock Capital IIoT Symposium 2018

Here’s my next installment in Silicon Halton’s conversation series. I’m interviewing people within the SH community and beyond. The topics and reasons for each interview will vary but the common goal is to help our members and the community to grow.

For us growth is a core part of what keeps the heart of the Silicon Halton community beating. We want you to grow through learning, grow your networks, grow professionally, grow your company and do everything possible to help the hi-tech industry grow in Halton region.

Our Partnership with McRock Capital

Silicon Halton and Mi6 Agency are the exclusive media partners for the 2018 McRock IIoT Symposium

This annual event is very unique and a must attend event for entrepreneurs in the IoT space. The network and relationships that Whitney Rockley and Scott MacDonald and the McRock Capital team have and make in the IoT space are wide and deep.

I can’t stress enough how important the role they are playing in helping put Canada on the map is so many ways.

  • First, they attract corporate firms who are developing and looking to bring to market IoT solutions. These firms will invest in IoT startups and provide them access to their customers to validate and commercialize their IoT products.
  • Second, they get IoT and that they understand the challenges that IoT can solve for municipalities, manufacturers and other industrial segments.
  • Third, they don’t shy away from hardware. Something many software centric VCs do. The reality is hardware matters when it comes to IoT.
  • Fourth, they’re Canadian … eh! The entire team are what I like to call “McRock Stars” in startups and IoT. Too cheesy? 

Also, McRock Capital is different in many ways and as they say “they’re not your fathers VC“. 

Last year I chatted with Whitney about the 2017 event and this year it was Scott’s turn to chat about this year’s  IIoT Symposium. Check it out below.  

Interview with Scott MacDonald, General Partner at McRock Capital

 

Timeline

Use the timeline to pick what you want to listen to | Full conversation transcript.

01:21 This is the 7th year for the IIoT Symposium. Why McRock Capital created this event and why it continues
04:56 What is it about this year that makes the event different than previous years?
08:23 How is corporate venture capital different from venture capital? Why is it important for IIoT startups to know the difference?
14:31 How startups are using the IIoT Symposium to network in order to get customers, develop partnerships and this year, a new opportunity,  pitch to raise capital. 
16:39 We talk about this year’s IIoT Awards: 1) IIoT Entrepreneur of the Year; 2) IIoT Corporate Leader of the Year and, 3) IIoT Diversity Leader of the Year
19:26 McRock’s tracking of diversity within their portfolio of companies.
20:27 The fun side of the IIoT Symposium. Jazz, inspiration, arts and laughs! 

 

Chris Herbert

Chris Herbert

Cofounder

Chris Herbert is the founder of Mi6. Mi6 is a B2B (Business to Business) marketing and business development agency dedicated to helping companies build their brands and develop commercial relationships. He is the founder of ProductCamp Toronto and the Hi-tech community Silicon Halton. He tweets under the handle @B2Bspecialist.

Silicon Halton In The News

May 1, 2013

Silicon Halton: Building Hi-Tech Halton [Oakville News]

March 14, 2013

A glimpse into high-tech Halton. [Burlington Post

February 1, 2013

Silicon Halton: Enabling the Creative Campus [Snap Milton]

January 3, 2013

TobogganHills: Tobogganing Tips From the King of the Hill.  [The Globe and Mail]

October 2, 2012

Tabillo: Ontario Startup Tabillo Takes a Bite out of the Big Apple with Government-sponsored Accelerator Program.  [Yahoo Finance]

March 10, 2012

yapAgame: yapAgame Kicks Off New Mobile App for Sports Fans World Wide at SXSW [DailyDealMedia]

March 9, 2012

yapAgame: YapAgame Releases New Mobile Social App for SXSW [Business 2 Community]

March 7, 2012

Javelin Technologies: Open House during Engineering Month [City TV]

Javelin Technologies: Giving the boot to traditional performance reviews [Globe and Mail]

Feb 27, 2012

Silicon Halton: How to run a successful online community [Backbone Magazine]

Dec, 2011

Silicon Halton: Fostering Innovation Through Professional Networking [Milton Economic Development]

Silicon Halton: Economic Development, Annual Report 2011 (see page 18) [Oaville Economic Development]

May 9, 2011

Silicon Halton: Making Halton the Next Silicon Valley [Toronto Star]

April 8, 2011

Silicon Halton: Facing venture capitalists without nasty dragon burns [InsideHalton.com]

April 29, 2010

Silicon Halton: Silicon Halton to be Hi Tech leader [Oakville.com]

News Releases

Official News Releases for our community members and Silicon Halton.

Nov 11, 2013

Virtual Logistics & Maps BIVirtual Logistics Inc. and Maps BI Launch eCommerce Metrics Dashboard Packs for the eCommerce Retailer [PR Newswire]

January 31, 2013

Tabillo: Tabillo Presenting at the OLA – Super Conference, January 31st [Release]

December 3, 2012

Inovex: CAMH selects Inovex Healthcare Survey Management Platform [Release]

April 30, 2012

Silicon Halton and Golden Horseshoe Venture Forum to offer Mentorship Clinics for Halton Based Companies [Release | Registration]

March 9, 2012

Vana Workforce:Vana Workforce Announces Explosive Customer GrowthMomentum [Release]

October 5, 2011

Silicon Halton and Golden Horseshoe Venture Forum Form Community Alliance [Release]

Pin It on Pinterest