By Linda White

Toronto Sun - 03 Nov 2010

“I helped (the business owner) put together a plan for potential investors with information about the product, including how much it costs to produce and how much money he needs, as well as details about the product and the company,” McNeill says.

The product, expanDrums, can quickly morph from a four-inch tall Piccolo snare drum to an eight-inch tall drum so drummers wouldn’t need to carry two drums around for musical sets with different music styles.

With the help of engineering, business, marketing and music students, expanDrums successfully designed and built a fully functional prototype that underwent usability testing with professional musicians to rave reviews. It also conducted competitive and market intelligence research to find potential competitors on the market.

McNeill welcomed the opportunity to serve as a business mentor. “I’m interested in starting my own business so I thought it would be great to work with somebody who’s in the process of doing the same thing,” says the global business management student.

The project came about through Humber’s membership in the Colleges Ontario Network for Industry Innovation (CONII). The consortium of 20 Ontario colleges is dedicated to helping business and industry become more competitive in the ever-changing global economy.

Through the network, businesses team up with college research centres to overcome technical and business challenges. Students gain valuable experience that gives them marketable skills when launching their careers. “Our hope is for them to become highly skilled, highly trained in real-time experiences,” says CONII director Vanessa Williamson.

That’s key, says James Watzke, Humber’s dean of research. “The reason we’re doing this is to benefit our students. Real-world-based learning is what colleges are all about. Engaging in CONII is a great way to get real-world research, development and commercialization experience, which adds a layer of richness to a student’s experience,” he says.

“Students learn a lot about how small companies work, along with their struggles and needs. They also have an opportunity to meet companies where they might become future employees.”

As an added benefit, CONII can help colleges attract leading instructors. “The hypothesis is very simple,” Watzke says. “We have a lot of great faculty with a lot of industry experience who have come to Humber to teach. Now, thanks to CONII, we’re able to expand that role to include some research, development and commercialization, which is really exciting.”

The partnership between colleges and small to medium-sized businesses is a natural one. “Colleges connect really well to those (businesses) because they’re used to hiring our grads,” Watzke says. “These small companies often don’t have research, development and commercialization capabilities of their own. CONII is a lot about taking skills and expertise that we have in our faculty and students and allow companies to access that.”

What is CONII?

When it comes to research and development, more and more Ontario companies are turning to colleges for applied research expertise thanks in large part to the Colleges Ontario Network for Industry Innovation (CONII).

Created by Ontario’s ministry of research and innovation, it brings colleges and industry together by providing clear points of entry to college R&D offices, researchers and sophisticated testing facilities.

CONII-funded projects often involve early prototyping, proof-of-principle investigation, process improvement research, and business and market analyses. Between 2006 and 2009, CONII supported 143 R&D projects involving 250 faculty members and 740 students. Learn more at www.conii.ca.

Humber College connects with businesses

As a member of CONII, Humber Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning has undertaken several projects, including:

• A game creator approached Humber Research about a math board game that had potential but required some tweaking. Media studies and IT students rebranded the game and developed an e-commerce website for the game. Octino is set to launch soon.

• When snowboard and skateboard clothing retailer Figijam approached Humber, consumers could view images of products on its website but had to print off and fax a form to place an order. Web development students designed an e-commerce website using open source technology that has created a new revenue stream for the company.

http://career.jobboom.com/career-planning/education-training/2010/11/02/15922561.html