Training program in organ-on-a-chip engineering and entrepreneurship (TOeP)

该培训计划的长期目标是为加拿大提供熟练的创业劳动力，这将推动高科技经济的创造，以取代萎缩的传统制造业。统计数据很清楚：我们的大学和研究机构在发现方面处于世界领先地位，但我们未能将这些技术转化为商业产品。我们将为学员提供从他们的研究中建立自己的公司的技能，具体的科学重点是构建用于化合物筛选和发现的器官芯片设备。我们的目标是：1)在微加工，微流体，聚合物化学，器官芯片工程和翻译方面提供世界领先的最高科学标准培训。2)提供创业成功所必需的硬技能（专利法、商业、金融）和软技能（网络、礼仪、公开演讲、批判性思维和分析、团队合作）培训。3)在现有联系的基础上，我们将建立一个合作伙伴和受训者网络，如商业顾问、专利律师、风险投资公司和孵化器，以协助学员。项目的可持续性将通过H2i校园关联加速器（CLA）来实现，该加速器同意在CREATE资助完成后将我们的最佳实践纳入其项目。我们的合作伙伴网络将鼓励学生的流动性，涵盖从加拿大东海岸到西海岸的研究人员；并与其他3个已经在组织工程领域建立的CREATE项目组成了一个联盟。我们将向这些合作研究人员和项目开放我们的课程和筹款机会，同时我们的学生将有机会通过鼓励双向交流的影子项目向合作机构的成功企业家学习。我们将在多伦多大学举办年度研讨会，并在蒂尔和麦卡洛克年会上为加拿大和国际学生举办创业研讨会。我们通过Banting & Best中心获得了相应的奖学金、项目管理资金和课程开发的实物支持。

The long term objective of this training program is to provide a skilled entrepreneurial workforce for Canada, one that will fuel creation of a high-tech economy to replace the shrinking classical manufacturing sector. The statistics are clear: our Universities and research institutions are leading the world in discovery, but we are failing in transferring these technologies into commercial products. We will equip the trainees with skills to build their own companies from their research, with a specific scientific focus on building organ-on-a-chip devices for compound screening and discovery. Our objectives are: 1) Provide world-leading training of the highest scientific standard in microfabrication, microfluidics, polymer chemistry, organ-on-a-chip engineering and translation. 2) Provide training in hard (patent law, business, finance) and soft (networking, etiquette, public speaking, critical thinking & analysis, team work) skills essential to entrepreneurial success. 3) Building on our existing contacts, we will develop a network of partners and receptors, e.g. business advisors, patent lawyers, venture capital firms and incubators, to assist trainees. Sustainability of the program will be achieved through H2i a Campus Linked Accelerator (CLA), that agreed to incorporate our best practices into their program at the completion of the CREATE funding. Student mobility will be encouraged through our collaborator network, spanning investigators from Canada's east to west coast; and a consortium with 3 other already established CREATE programs in the realm of tissue engineering. We will open our curriculum and fundraising opportunities to those collaborating investigators and programs, while our students will have the opportunity to learn from successful entrepreneurs at the collaborating institutions through the shadowing program that will encourage a two way exchange. We will run an Annual Symposium at the University of Toronto and an entrepreneurship workshop at the Till and McCulloch Annual Meeting for students across Canada and internationally. We secured matching scholarship funds, funds for program administration and in-kind support for curriculum development through Banting & Best Center.