New Venture Design is a course offered jointly by UBC Applied Science and UBC Sauder and is open to students from all faculties. Course participants work in interdisciplinary teams to develop a business plan and prototype of a new product or process. The Life Centre on UBC Campus hosted a Design and Innovation Day on April 11, 2023, with dozens of display booths featuring interactive exhibits and hands-on demonstrations.
UBC Bachelor of Commerce students Samuel Enchelmaier and Sean Kyer are members of team NextMed and developed their business plan as part of the New Venture Design Course. NextMed is the group responsible for developing a prototype for a reusable and sterilizable IV bag. “There is a prevalent mentality throughout health care that once something touches the patient, it needs to be tossed away, and it contributes to a shocking amount of waste,” says Kyer, a fourth-year student pursuing a combined major in Business and Computer Science.
Kyer and Enchelmaier say the beauty of working in an interdisciplinary team is that students can contribute in ways beyond their area of study. “Everyone generated ideas for everything; business students generated engineering ideas, and engineering students generated business ideas,” recalls Kyer.
UBC Bachelor of Commerce student Natalie Tsvetkov and her New Venture Design teammates also showed off their creative product, Kioski at the Design and innovation Day. “It’s essentially a vending machine with a video game on it,” explains Tsvetkov. “Children can play the game and, if they win, use their winning points as a discount of up to 20 per cent to purchase the toy inside.” As a promising vote of confidence, Kioski has secured two Letters of Intent (LOIs) from major shopping malls in the Vancouver area.
Visit the UBC Sauder Website to learn more.
Through Strategy 14: Interdisciplinary Education, UBC is piloting and assessing new ways to integrate problem-focused educational opportunities as an overlay or complement to traditional majors and minors.