Pre-Startup Skills: Workshop #1 - Technological Innovation and Entrepreneurship 101

This workshop will provide an overview of what technological innovation is and what entrepreneurship is, as well an overview of the Entrepreneurial Mindset, the Lean Launchpad methodology, the Business Model Canvas and the Lean Canvas.

Date: Feb. 24th, 2026 Time: 1:00 - 2:00 pm Location: in-person @ Engine Seminar Room - FDA 3 (Accessibility Map)

Future of Materials Roundtable: Turning Waste Into Wealth: How Materials Engineering and Green Chemistry Transform Unwanted Substances Into Valuable Resources

Includes Samples and Demos! Please register with this form: forms.office.com/r/yvfHarZj4q

Pre-Startup Skills: Workshop #2 - Design Thinking Methodology

The learning objective of this workshop is to understand the fundamentals of the Design Thinking Methodology and how it promotes innovation.

Date: Mar. 10th, 2026 Time: 1:00 - 2:00 pm Location: in-person @ Engine Seminar Room - FDA 3 (Accessibility Map)

Pre-Startup Skills: Workshop #3 - Introduction to Industry Analysis

This workshop will introduce the fundamental tool of Industry Analysis which companies use for strategy development. For startups, understanding the industry is a critical step in determining market entry and market positioning. The Five Forces Framework will be presented and applied to during an exercise.

Pre-Startup Skills: Workshop #4 - Foundations of IP and Patent Searching

This workshop will demystify and explain the various form of intellectual property (IP), namely, patents, industrial designs, copyright, trademarks, and trade secrets. We will then do some actual patent searching using the DERWENT worldwide patent database. 

Pre-Startup Skills: Workshop #5 - Market Research and Analysis of Competition

This workshop will provide an overview of the different types of market research, how to analyze the competition, and the resources available at McGill to perform market research. Our market research librarian will walk us through some of those resources using a new market research canvas tool.

Pre-Startup Skills: Workshop #6 - Customer Discovery

This workshop will provide an overview on the customer discovery process and then delve deeper into how to conduct customer interviews and how to iterate on your business model canvas.

Date: Apr. 7th, 2026 Time: 1:00 - 2:00 pm Location: in-person @ Engine Seminar Room - FDA 3 (Accessibility Map)