CATALYST - an entrepreneurship challenge

Club Partner: IATSU

Community Partner: Neil Squire Society

First Place Winner: Next Level Impact 

This team won first place for their solution which tackled clinician attraction and retention through a tiered, gamified training system designed to guide clinicians from beginner to advocate.

Second Place: Game Changers 

Third Place: Yousef Missoum 
 

Neil Squire Society's Challenge Prompts
Student teams participating in Catalyst Spring 2026 explored the following real-world challenges, provided in collabortation with the Neil Squire Society:

• How might MMC design digital platforms, learning tools, or support technologies that reduce reliance on in-person delivery and staff travel while still providing high-quality adaptive gaming training and support?
• How might Makers Making Change launch a new, paid training portal to attract clinicians across Canada, and the World! How might they generate awareness and engage this target market over the longer term with on-going marketing activities?
• How might MMC take the concept of paid training to the market?

Club Partner: OS Development

Community Partner: Moment Energy

First Place Winner: Mannish, Gowtam, and Mahidhar

This team took home first place for their innovative solution focusing on what keeps the Moment Energy Team up at night. Choosing to tackle Challenge #2.

Second Place: AeroPod 

Third Place: Croissant Consulting
 

Moment Energy Challenge Prompt
Student teams participating in Catalyst Fall 2025 explored the following real-world challenges, provided in collabortation by Moment Energy:

• What are other uses/solutions/business models for giving batteries a second life?
• How to deal with and/or reimagine supply chains given the current trade tensions and uncertainty?
• The BC energy grid is old, how might we speed up adoption of new energy technologies and systems change in BC? 
  • Blue sky version: What might a country without physical energy infrastructure look like?
• What would it take to have cheaper and customized power solutions in Canada (ex. Every block having backup power)?
• Talent for growing startups can be a challenge in Canada. How might we training, attract and retain talent in Canada? 
• How do you scale hardware startups in Canada? (This could be policy, support, training, you name it)

Club Partner: Enactus SFU

Community Partner: Translink

First Place Winner: SkyConnect

SkyConnect took home first place for their innovative solution reimagining the transit experience for families and young riders. Their concept focused on creating dedicated family-friendly zones within SkyTrain systems — inspired by international best practices and grounded in user research conducted directly with passengers at stations across Metro Vancouver. Read about their incredible journey here!

Translink Challenge Prompt 

Student teams were invited to explore one or more of the following innovation prompts:

• Create more personalized and tailored services to meet customer needs and preferences. 
• Make our services effortless and convenient to use.
• Ensure that our riders can rely on transit to get them where they need to go, on time and without hiccups. 
• Foster a safe and pleasant environment where riders feel they will have an enjoyable and welcoming experience.
• Give residents a better reason to ride and position transit as an opportunity to make a difference.

Catalyst is generously supported by Marion Man and Scott Shaw through the SEED Student Engagement Fund.  We are grateful to donors like these whose generosity helps students build entrepreneurial mindsets and create positive impact across disciplines.