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Major foundation digs deeper for SFU engineers
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March 7, 2002
Infectious enthusiasm - that’s what prompted representatives from the Kaiser Foundation to dig deeper into their pockets recently when they were asked to renew their annual donation to a Simon Fraser University endowment fund. The Kaiser Foundations’ contribution this year to the SFU engineering science student endowment fund (ESSEF) was $30,000 - that’s $10,000 more than last year. It was the passion in SFU engineering undergrads annual presentation of their inventions to the Kaiser Foundation that prompted the philanthropic group to give more.
Created in1997 by two SFU engineering students, with the help of faculty members and university advancement, the ESSEF funds promising projects by undergraduate engineers www.ensc.sfu.ca/undergrad/euss/essef/project.html.
An annual competition, organized by an engineering student committee, invites undergraduate engineers to apply for seed grants, funded by interest accrued on the ESSEF’s principal investment. The student funding committee also coordinates annual presentations of winning students’ work in an effort to solicit corporate, private and philanthropic donations to the ESSEF. "The principal in our endowment fund currently stands at over $146,600," says engineering undergrad and SFU EUSS VP university affairs Rob Tyson. "That’s quite low compared to a similar fund at Waterloo University which is about $4.2 million. But then again it’s been around for 10 years."
Since 1998, the Kaiser foundation has been the ESSEF’s biggest booster. It has poured $70,000 into the ESSEF. The philanthropic group was created by the founder of Burnaby-based Alpha Power Technologies, a worldwide supplier of uninterruptible power supplies. The foundation is dedicated to fostering the career and education of BC’s fledgling electrical engineers. "We were so impressed with how organized and enthusiastic the presentation was by SFU engineering students this year that we left saying ‘we have to give more money to this wonderful program’," says Lynda Hogarth.
Formerly the general manager at Alpha Power Technologies, Hogarth is a trustee at the Kaiser Foundation. She helps the organization select university projects and programs for funding. "We’ve always been struck by SFU students’ passion for their projects. This time they had a group of graduates, whose project has become a profitable venture and spawned a company, show us how our funding helped," says Hogarth.
Hiten Mistry, an engineering undergrad and EUSS VP external affairs, first suggested using successful alumni to demonstrate how donations to the ESSEF benefit students with little money. "The presentation by the students who formed Air Games Wireless showed how important seed money is in enabling students to experiment with cutting-edge technology and development tools," says Mistry. "They need the seed money so that they can concentrate on starting their project instead of chasing after funding."
Air Games Wireless invents and markets games played over cell phones, worldwide.
Engineering undergrad and EUSS president Maria Trinh, who along with Tyson and Mistry organized this year’s presentation of student projects to the Kaiser Foundation, attributes their success to another key ingredient. "We took representatives from the Kaiser Foundation on a tour of our lab so they could see projects in progress and hear students presenting their own work. The students’ passion and professionalism paralleled what you’d see in a real world corporate presentation."
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CONTACT:
Maria Trinh, 604.291.3484, ttrinha@sfu.ca
Carol Thorbes, Media & PR, 604.291.3035
Created in1997 by two SFU engineering students, with the help of faculty members and university advancement, the ESSEF funds promising projects by undergraduate engineers www.ensc.sfu.ca/undergrad/euss/essef/project.html.
An annual competition, organized by an engineering student committee, invites undergraduate engineers to apply for seed grants, funded by interest accrued on the ESSEF’s principal investment. The student funding committee also coordinates annual presentations of winning students’ work in an effort to solicit corporate, private and philanthropic donations to the ESSEF. "The principal in our endowment fund currently stands at over $146,600," says engineering undergrad and SFU EUSS VP university affairs Rob Tyson. "That’s quite low compared to a similar fund at Waterloo University which is about $4.2 million. But then again it’s been around for 10 years."
Since 1998, the Kaiser foundation has been the ESSEF’s biggest booster. It has poured $70,000 into the ESSEF. The philanthropic group was created by the founder of Burnaby-based Alpha Power Technologies, a worldwide supplier of uninterruptible power supplies. The foundation is dedicated to fostering the career and education of BC’s fledgling electrical engineers. "We were so impressed with how organized and enthusiastic the presentation was by SFU engineering students this year that we left saying ‘we have to give more money to this wonderful program’," says Lynda Hogarth.
Formerly the general manager at Alpha Power Technologies, Hogarth is a trustee at the Kaiser Foundation. She helps the organization select university projects and programs for funding. "We’ve always been struck by SFU students’ passion for their projects. This time they had a group of graduates, whose project has become a profitable venture and spawned a company, show us how our funding helped," says Hogarth.
Hiten Mistry, an engineering undergrad and EUSS VP external affairs, first suggested using successful alumni to demonstrate how donations to the ESSEF benefit students with little money. "The presentation by the students who formed Air Games Wireless showed how important seed money is in enabling students to experiment with cutting-edge technology and development tools," says Mistry. "They need the seed money so that they can concentrate on starting their project instead of chasing after funding."
Air Games Wireless invents and markets games played over cell phones, worldwide.
Engineering undergrad and EUSS president Maria Trinh, who along with Tyson and Mistry organized this year’s presentation of student projects to the Kaiser Foundation, attributes their success to another key ingredient. "We took representatives from the Kaiser Foundation on a tour of our lab so they could see projects in progress and hear students presenting their own work. The students’ passion and professionalism paralleled what you’d see in a real world corporate presentation."
-30 -
CONTACT:
Maria Trinh, 604.291.3484, ttrinha@sfu.ca
Carol Thorbes, Media & PR, 604.291.3035