Ontario Centre of Innovation

Inaugural Educator Innovation & Entrepreneurship Award

The Ontario Centre of Innovation’s (OCI) Inaugural Educator Innovation & Entrepreneurship Award, established by OCI’s Board of Directors, honours exceptional individuals within Ontario’s publicly funded post-secondary institutions who go above and beyond in their roles and serve as models for others to emulate.

These awards highlight the critical role that faculty and educators in Ontario’s colleges and universities play in advancing commercialization, fostering entrepreneurship, and supporting the next generation of entrepreneurial talent emerging from the province’s campuses.

The awards recognize excellence in teaching, mentorship, and the translation of research into real-world impact:  the ability to move innovations from the lab to the marketplace and to empower students to become entrepreneurs.

At a time of continued transformation across the post-secondary and innovation landscape, these awards aim to shine a light on educators who are driving meaningful change, strengthening campus innovation ecosystems, and making a lasting impact on students and the broader entrepreneurial community.

Award Details

Two awards, valued at $20,000 each, will be presented annually:

• One award recognizing an outstanding individual from the college system
• One award recognizing an outstanding individual from the university system

Each award includes two components:

• $10,000 awarded directly to the recipient
• $10,000 to be paid forward to a campus entrepreneurship initiative or student entrepreneur of your choosing.

Eligibility

• Nominees must be faculty members at an Ontario publicly funded college or university
• Nominations must come from the academic community

Eligible nominators include:

• Industry liaison offices
• Offices of research and innovation
• Campus accelerators and incubators
• Faculty members
• Students
• Other members of Ontario’s publicly funded post-secondary community

Selection Criteria

Nominees will be evaluated based on demonstrated excellence in the following areas:

• Teaching – Inspiring and engaging students in innovation and entrepreneurship
• Mentorship – Supporting and guiding students and emerging entrepreneurs
• Commercialization & Entrepreneurship – Advancing research toward market impact and fostering entrepreneurial activity.

For more information, contact: Alicia Pereira, apereira@oc-innovation.ca

Please note that nominations close April 10, 2026.

Celebrating the best OCI-supported research collaborations

OCI celebrates excellence in entrepreneurship and collaborative innovation, announcing the Mind 2Market Award annually each fall at our Annual General Meeting.

Mind2Market Award

OCI’s Mind2Market Award celebrates the best OCI-supported research collaboration, between the business and research communities, resulting in effective commercialization of leading-edge ideas and solutions. 

Award recipients will exemplify the success that is possible when the brightest minds in industry and research collaborate to address today’s most critical issues. The award will build awareness for their achievement and should inspire others to adopt a collaborative approach to research, commercialization, and ultimately the building of a more vibrant society and competitive economy for Ontario. 

Nominations for this award are advanced by the OCI Business Development Manager community.  Winners are announced at our Annual General Meeting.

The 2025 nominees were:

• Cohesys
• Hyperlume
  

Recent winners include:

• Pulsenics
• Troes
• Genecis Bioindustries
• RockMass Technologies
• Mavennet Systems Inc.
• Flosonics Medical
• Moyers Apple Products
• OTTO Motors 
• Accelerated Systems Inc. 
• Clear Blue Technologies 
• InteraXon
• Fluidware
• VitaSound
• Aeryon Labs
• Miovision Technologies

The Baylis Ontario Life Sciences Innovator Award

The Baylis Ontario Life Sciences Innovator award recognizes a top innovator in the field of life sciences who is leading an Ontario based company that has demonstrated significant impact in the sector.

Nominations for this award are advanced by the life sciences community.  Winners are announced at our Annual General Meeting.

Our Partners

Partnering enables us to leverage expertise and resources that complement our mandate and achieve a higher level of impact in strategic areas of economic priority for Ontario.

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