A group of business people and academics has started counting Canadian “acts of innovation” in the hopes that it will motivate creativity and change among businesses across the country.

So far about 40 companies and government departments are involved in the partnership with the University of Toronto that is intended to bring engineering expertise to businesses such as Canadian Tire, Loblaws, Tridel or institutions such as hospitals.

The partnership involves a mandatory two-semester course for fourth-year Engineering students, where they solve problems for industrial clients such as how to optimize their supply chain or the placement of nurses and doctors in an emergency room for maximum efficiency, says Professor Jean Zu, Chair of the University of Toronto’s Mechanical and Industrial Engineering department.

The students are not paid and take four other courses at the same time. They are co-supervised by a business mentor and an academic mentor from the university.

Professor Zu says the program would help the younger generation become “business-innovation oriented.”

When asked if any concerns had been expressed about the level of corporate involvement in the course, Professor Zu says the program had received nothing but encouragement to date.

The group is currently in discussions about intellectual property issues that could arise when innovation is generated through research that both the businesses and universities want to claim.

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