The Innovation Ambassadors Showcase: COVID-19’s Impact on the Innovation Ecosystem was a great success with hundreds of members of the Western community tuning in to hear from the distinguished lineup of panelists.

This virtual event, hosted by the Innovation Ambassadors, was designed to promote engagement with our community by showcasing Western’s research innovation and its impact on our society in a world transformed by COVID-19.

The showcase included a keynote presentation by neuroscientist and best-selling author Adrian Owen. Following the keynote there was three panel discussions with researchers, industry professionals and entrepreneurs on how they adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic and how things have changes in research, the economy and society as a whole. The audience was able to take part in a Q&A following each presentation and discussion.

The Innovation Ambassadors Showcase was also the kickoff event for a new monthly speaker series that will highlight a Western faculty member and individual from industry.

The Innovation Ambassadors: Monthly Speaker Series starts on June 23 with a panel discussing the commercialization of computer software and applications. Guest speakers Mike Katchabaw, Associate Professor in Computer Science at Western and Tyler Bryden entrepreneur and founder of Speak Ai will participate in a discussion and answer questions from the audience. The panel discussion will be hosted by Souzan Armstrong, Acting Executive Director for WORLDiscoveries.

If you could not make it to the May 20, Innovation Ambassadors Showcase, you can watch the keynote presentation and panel discussions below.