Our entrepreneurial thinking reflects the spirit of Calgary.

Great research universities help great cities. And it’s no secret our hometown could use some good news. It’s also no secret that Calgary is resilient, entrepreneurial, and will soon show the world that no matter what it throws at us, we’re unstoppable.

What’s less well known is how UCalgary is helping us get there — with the same entrepreneurial spirit that makes Calgary what it is. Our entrepreneurialism isn’t only found on campus, where students and faculty face fewer barriers to making change. It’s also found in our community, with real-life ventures creating real-life jobs, and helping Calgary reach better days ahead.

We’ve been at this for a while. As you’d expect for a university serving Canada’s energy capital, much of our work focused on oil and gas. Over time, it grew to cover promising new sources of energy and prosperity like hydrogen. And today, we’re supporting more activity in information technology, medicine, life sciences, biotech, manufacturing, and agribusiness. Others talk about diversifying Calgary’s economy. UCalgary is making it happen — and helping it overcome.

Incubating start-ups and commercializing ideas are exciting, to be sure. We’re also excited about our non-commercial entrepreneurialism. From new certificate programs that help people in the workplace update their skills or gain new ones to a transdisciplinary approach to research with fewer siloes and more collaboration, we’re always asking if there are better ways to teach and learn. We learned that from our hometown, too. In good times and bad, Calgary never stands pat. Its research university won’t, either.

The LSI Hub makes it happen by providing access to infrastructure, equipment, expertise, and start-up support services. It’s literally a one-stop shop that takes ideas, makes them better, and commercializes them. A Petri dish that grows economic diversification.

Almost 50 companies are members of the LSI Hub, including 23 active tenants. They play in many fields: diagnostics, medical devices, therapeutics, digital health, food and beverage. Even cannabis. More companies still take advantage of LSI Hub’s learning opportunities. At last count, 107 participated in its incubator programming.

The ideas generated at the lab are generating jobs, too. Almost 250 have been created including 218 high-quality personnel with the training and expertise a specific area needs.