May 4, 2015 – It is with great pleasure that the Dawson College Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship announces a win for our students at the Quebec Entrepreneurship Contest! This is the 2nd year in a row Dawson students have been honoured with a prize. Eweek’s Dawson Den finalist Meghan Dove Designs represented the college as the winner of a $2000 grant from Desjardins. Meghan was chosen for her educational social network project ‘Ped Day’, an application for schools that combines the best of Facebook groups, LinkedIn and Omnivox, and is intended to unite and improve the education experience of students across programs, schools, the country and around the world.

“By bringing students together we allow the truly motivated to increase their knowledge and expand their network of connections so that by the time they graduate from their program they have an extended database of resources to return to as they enter the workforce. Continued access to the network after graduation will keep them up to date with new innovations by upcoming students and will allow current students to look forward to the alumni of their institutions for inspiration.” – Meghan Dove

Meghan is a graphic design student at Dawson and stood out to the jurors among the 10 000 participants from across the province. The CIEE would also like to recognize the great work of runner up projects Charity Hoppers and Dream Day Services who helped to represent Dawson as a leader in supporting entrepreneurs.

“In schools, the ultimate aim of entrepreneurship is not to “create” future entrepreneurs and teach young people how to start a business, although some may decide to follow this route, but rather to instill in them entrepreneurial values and characteristics such as autonomy, creativity, a sense of responsibility, leadership, solidarity, tenacity, perseverance and teamwork through projects that they organize themselves, that put them at the centre of their learning and that are important to them because, among other things, they meet real needs.” – Quebec Entrepreneurship Contest

April 13, 2015: Excerpt: “It’s hard to get creatives into business. They don’t like the word ‘business,’ ” says Madeleine Bazerghi, the lead on Dawson College’s entrepreneurship initiative. The term “creatives,” in this context, means everything from architecture to fashion to crafts and nearly everything in between. Dawson is hoping to bridge the gap between such a broad range of specialties by assembling them under one singular goal: starting a business. In September Dawson, in partnership with CEGEP du Vieux-Montréal, will launch its pilot project version of iC — incubator + campus — an eight-month intensive program stocked with mentors and financial and legal helpers designed to get would-be entrepreneurs ready for the startup world. Read the whole article here: http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/montreal-re-imagined/montreal-reimagined-creativity-gets-down-to-business?__lsa=0947-9e93

• Amy Spingle, a Dawson College student in the Interior Design program
• Lina Callisto, a Dawson student in the Industrial Design program
• Adam Cutts, a McGill University student in the Urban Planning program
• Oriane Bonnel, a Université de Montréal student in the Industrial Design program.

The City of Montreal has committed to implementing this design proposal in 2016.

April, 2014: You may recognize her as the third place winner of Dawson’s Den during EWeek 2013. Annouchka Tchiniaev not only pitched her idea during EWeek but also made it happen. In fact, she also entered in the Concours Québecois en entrepreneuriat and won again! Annouchka Tchiniaev (left) and her VP Serena Drescher are seen here at the Concours Québecois en entrepreneuriat finalist ceremony at City Hall. Leucan won a prize of 500$ and will now move on to the provincial finals on Jun 18th, 2013. Leucan thrift shop was created for Dawson College students who cannot afford to pay market prices for clothes. All the thrift shop proceeds go to Leucan, an organization contributes to cancer research and that provides help to children suffering from cancer. Right after the awards ceremony, Annouchka got busy putting the final touches on a talent show, the proceeds of which will also go to the Leucan organization. A true entrepreneurial spirit and a wonderful human being, Annouchka is sure to make the world a better place.

March, 2014: Five Dawson College students from Interior and Industrial Design programs recently participated in the Jazzmen Park design competition in Little Burgundy. The intensive design charette was organized by the Coalition de la Petite Bourgogne under the leadership of the École d’innovation citoyenne spearheaded by the École de technologie supérieure (ETS), a French language Montreal engineering university. Students from ETS and five other schools: Dawson College, McGill University, CEGEP Andre Laurendeau, Université de Montreal, and UQAM, participated. The goal of the Charette was to develop a new identity for the Jazzmen park. Teaching capsules on acoustics, lighting, park design, and community issues were given by the partners on the Friday night, March 14th (5:30 pm to midnight) and on Saturday, March 15th (8:30 am to 7:00 pm). The students then did intensive design studio teamwork on the park and presented their proposals to a large jury of community members and professionals, including Scott Millar, a Dawson College Interior Design teacher, and David Weeks, a Dawson College Industrial Design teacher. Other jury members were teachers from McGill University, CEGEP Andre Laurendeau, a landscape architect from the City of Montreal Parks Department, and an acoustical engineer. All of the work was done on a volunteer basis by the students who gave up their personal time to contribute to this valuable community venture.

Karine Lachance (3rd year Interior Design), Amy Spingle, Rachel Anderson, and Liu, Han Szu (all 2nd year Interior Design students) and Lina Callisto (2nd year Industrial Design student) participated on one of the five multidisciplinary and inter-institutional teams each. Amy Spingle and Lina Castillo were on the two finalist teams who each received prizes of $500 per team. Prizes were provided by Dawson College and CEGEP Andre Laurendeau. The City of Montreal Parks Department will also be offering stages to the winning teams and has committed to implementing the park design(s) in principle.

December, 2013: On behalf of the Startup Canada Board, Canada Business Youth Foundation, and the entire Canadian Mentorship Challenge Volunteer Team, we wish to extend our elated congratulations to Dawson College for becoming the winner of the Canadian Mentorship Challenge! You wowed us with your significant and enthusiastic participation during the course of Global Entrepreneurship Week (November 18 – 24, 2013). The impact which you have made in your community has been felt all across Canada and will serve as an example to others. We thank you so much for your dedication to mentoring entrepreneurs to reach higher heights and congratulate you on your dynamic reach of over 1700 participants, overall impact and inspiration. As a result of your efforts we will be awarding you with the ultimate prize:

1. A featured article on StartupCan.ca and PIVOTmagazine.ca
2. Mentoring workshop delivered to your team by CYBF’s Mentor in Residence, Linda Morana. This in-depth workshop will be specially tailored to the needs of the winning organization.
3. The 2013 Canadian Mentorship Challenge Award

Thank you so much for your efforts to build a more entrepreneurial nation – one enterprising Canadian at a time. With sincere appreciation and congratulations, Canadian Mentorship Challenge Team Matthew Seniuk Canadian Mentorship Challenge Co-Lead www.startupcan.ca Entrepreneurship Empowers Everyone TM/MD

May, 2013:

You deserve a break. Join us for Eweek and maybe win some door prizes.

Where were you last year? Over 1050 students, alumni and the general public participated. Do you know that you can win prizes during EWeek? Just what is Eweek anyways?? Eweek stands for Entrepreneurship Week and no, it’s not just about business, it’s about enterprise! Entrepreneurs are farmers, graphic artists, musicians, nurses, chemists, YOU! People who study in business programs learn how to manage a business; entrepreneurs BUILD a business or social enterprise. Social projects like Doctors without Borders and businesses like FACEBOOK are built by entrepreneurs. Dawson College is planning its second annual Entrepreneurship Week (Eweek) with 30 guest speakers in 21 events supported by 50-plus volunteers, 22 community organizations and 10 sponsors. This intensive entrepreneurship boot-camp will be offered over four days. It includes a college version of Dragon’s Den/Shark Tank called Dawson’s Den, the You Innovate local challenge, The Canadian Mentorship Challenge. You can even speed-date an entrepreneur!! How often in your lifetime did you get an opportunity to meet great entrepreneurs?? We are giving you this opportunity. Don’t be shy, they are very approachable. Come and see Luca “Lazylegz” Patuelli (BBoy with a twist) or Andy Nulman of the Just for Laughs Festival and much much more All events are open to everybody and are FREE but you must register. Check out the calendar www.dawsoncollege.qc.ca/eweek-calendar You can register for more than one event. Actually, every event you attend increases your chances of winning the big prize raffled off on November 21. All info is on the calendar. Click on the individual links for event descriptions. By the way, if you have a Big Idea, the Dawson’s Den contest might interest you. Pitch an idea and win prizes. It can be an idea for a business or to solve a social problem like long lineups or traffic jams. Oh, and Like our page too for the big reveal for the YOU INNOVATE challenge www.facebook.com/DawsonEweek The EWeek Team eweek@dawsoncollege.qc.ca

May 13, 2013: Two Interior Design Dawson College students, Mathilde Chauvin-Amyot and Laura Coss-MacDonald accompanied by their teacher Scott Millar, attended the inauguration of the Quartier de l’innovation today. Dawson College is one of the many partners of an ETS-led project to improve the quality of life in the Quartier de l’innovation (QI). The QI is defined by the boundaries of the south-west of Montreal. The project is called École de l’innovation citoyenne. Our two students will be busy planning a series of activities culminating in a special edition of the 24 heures de l’innovation organized by the ETS. Stay tuned for more details coming this fall.