Canadian Undergraduate Technology Conference

At the beginning of May, the University of Toronto hosted the twelfth annual Canadian Undergraduate Technology Conference (CUTC). CUTC is the largest and longest running student-organized technology conference. The goal of this conference is to bring together university students from across Canada who show passion toward innovation, entrepreneurship and technology in general, and give them some of the necessary experience required to be successful in their near future. By allowing students to interact with real-life company founders, CEOs and entrepreneurs, CUTC allows students to build knowledge and gain valuable answers that can help with future projects or ideas.

This year, CUTC was organized by multiple students from a variety of universities throughout Canada, a large number of which were from the University of Waterloo. One thing is for sure – they kept the strong reputation of CUTC intact. Bringing in close to 500 students, over half of which came from Waterloo, the group once again showed that CUTC is one of the biggest conferences held in Canada. The team also managed to bring in a variety of amazing and inspiring keynote speakers. Ranging from the co-founder of reddit.com and founder of Breadpig, Alexis Ohanian, to the president of Unreasonable Institute and CEO of SWAE Sports, Daniel Epstein, the very talented speakers offered great insight that one day could propel the success of the future set of entrepreneurs.

The conference was more than just sitting around and listening to people. CUTC encouraged students to think outside the box and perform challenges that today’s top companies face. The challenges were organized into four groups: entrepreneurship, consulting, general technology and green technology. These streams allowed students to brainstorm and develop solutions to unique challenges, giving students experience and confidence in their abilities. Furthermore, it allows students to try things that are new to them. Not everyone outside of CUTC has a chance to present themselves in front of a board of experienced and trained professionals where they can receive direct feedback. Furthermore, the competing students had additional motivation in the form of great prizes to be won. At the end of the conference, prizes like the iPad 2s, Nokia N8s and Xbox 360 Kinects were awarded to the students who had the best ideas and were most involved.

Though the conference has a huge emphasis on education, CUTC also strives to be fun. This was shown through their downtown Toronto scavenger hunt. Here, teams of four ran around downtown Toronto with a sheet of clues looking for codes that would allow them to win brand new Nokia N8s. On top of that, CUTC incorporated a small ‘game’ throughout the event. This was done by hosting LikaLittle’s first ever Flirt-a-thon event. Though the idea of virtual flirting may sound unsafe to some people, the premise  was to help people meet others. The best flirts and pictures were awarded through iPads and cash prizes.

The conference also included a showcase of innovative student teams and the latest technology. This included the University of Waterloo’s Micro Aerial Vehicles Team, Midnight Sun Solar Race Car and Nanorobotics group (UW_NRG). Furthermore, the tech expo also exhibited displays from the Canadian Space Agency and a showcase of a hockey stick built with reinforced nanometal.

In the end, with the presence of people like Evan Reas, co-founder of LikeaLittle, major firms like Deloitte and Accenture, and the opportunity to build skills in consulting, technology, etc., CUTC was the place to be for any technology-loving student.