Created as a lean startup in 2012, the Dunin-Deshpande Queen’s Innovation Centre is now a driver of innovation and entrepreneurship activity across Queen’s, Kingston and the southeastern Ontario region. The mission of the Centre is to encourage, enable and support the innovation activities of students, professors, entrepreneurs, regional and Canadian companies through incubators, accelerators, joint courses, workshops, internship opportunities, seminar series, conferences and business plan competitions.
Innovation is happening right now and you could be a part of it! Watch as start-ups from the Queen's and Kingston communities compete to win funding for their venture from a pool of up to $100,000. Learn more about the Dunin-Deshpande Summer Pitch Competition and join us on Thursday, August 22nd in the Mitchell Hall Atrium or tune into our livestream. Doors will open at 2:15 pm. Join us and become a part of innovation, become a part of change, become a part of the future!
Application deadline extended! Apply to attend the Cansbridge Fellowship Conference May 3-5, 2019.
First and second year students will have all their expenses paid to head to San Francisco for a weekend and grow their global mindset.
i2TRM: A Semester for Entrepreneurs at the Castle
Retreat to the UK to bulid a venture this Fall. Receive mentorship and training from Queen's most entrepreneurial alumni in London, England. At the International Innovation Term, it's possible to earn the Certificate in Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Creativity. Learn more about the program.
Foundry startup Spectra Plasmonics was awarded the Startup Award at the International Nanotechnology Exhibition & Conference in Japan! One of the world's biggest nanotechnology exhibitions, every year, around 50,000 people attend.
Individual applications for QICSI 2019 are closed however, QICSI now accepts preformed teams. As of last year, the QICSI cohort consists of half individual applicants interested in starting a new venture and half pre-formed teams that are committed to accelerating their venture over the summer months. Apply as a pre-formed team by February 25th at noon (12PM EST) - this is your last chance to get into QICSI 2019!
- Shelby Yee joins Gururaj and Jaishree Deshpande on stage during the gift announcement. Ms. Yee, Sc'16, a former participant in the Queen's Innovation Centre Summer Initiative, spoke about the ways the support will benefit students. (Photo by Garrett Elliott)
Inspiring investment for innovation
Innovation and entrepreneurship programming at Queen’s University has received support from distinguished alumni.
The Dunin Foundation – established by Andrew Dunin, Sc’83, MBA’87, and his wife Anne Dunin, Artsci’83 – and Gururaj “Desh” Deshpande, PhD’79, and his wife Jaishree Deshpande jointly have provided a significant gift to Queen’s Innovation Connector. In recognition of this support, the university-wide initiative to support student innovation and entrepreneurship will now be known as the Dunin-Deshpande Queen’s Innovation Centre.
“Since our founding several years ago, we have encouraged, enabled, and supported the innovation activities of student, professors, entrepreneurs, and Canadian companies,” says Greg Bavington, Executive Director, Dunin-Deshpande Queen’s Innovation Centre. “With the generous support of the Dunins and the Deshpandes, we will move beyond the lean start-up phase of this initiative and rapidly increase Queen’s capacity to drive innovation and entrepreneurship across the region.”