Technology Entrepreneurship @SFU
Collaborate across Disciplines. Build the Future. Join TechE@SFU
Interested in entrepreneurship鈥攐r already set on becoming a founder?
TechE@SFU is a dynamic, hands-on course where you鈥檒l team up with senior students from across faculties to tackle real-world problems, design innovative solutions, and launch your own high-impact startup.
You鈥檒l gain access to expert mentorship, funding, training, and exclusive entrepreneurial networks. TechE@SFU is a launchpad for new ventures鈥攁lumni include the founders of 鈥攁nd counts as an elective toward SFU鈥檚 Certificate in Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Open to all undergraduate students, TechE@SFU runs just once a year, so don鈥檛 miss your chance鈥攔egister for Fall 2025!
Express your interest for Fall 2025 by completing the MS Form (2 min).
Chase Your Entrepreneurial Dreams
Teaching Team
Dr. Ramtin Rakhsha (Instructor)
Dr. Rakhsha is an engaging educator and capable professional engineer with 16+ years of mechanical engineering, research, and design experience. He leverages the ability to tie engineering concepts and project management to real鈥恮orld applications, offering effective solutions to challenging problems. He is skilled in Haptics, Robotics, Distributed Control, and under-water biomimetic robotic systems. He completed his PhD in Mechanical Engineering (UVic) and the Invention to Innovation (i2I) graduate certificate in science and technology commercialization (SFU).
Doug Fast (Instructor)
Doug Fast is an Assistant Professor of Practice for Beedie鈥檚 Innovation & Entrepreneurship area and a Mentor-in-Residence with the Chang Institute. He is the Founder and Alchemist of Dark Water Tek, a consultancy that provides guidance to clients in navigating the fog of new product development. Prior to founding Dark Water Tek, Douglas held the roles of CEO at Nyce Control, President of Spectrum Signal Processing, and Executive Vice President and Vice President of Research and Development at Vecima Networks Inc. Douglas joined Vecima in its early days and played several key roles in helping scale the company to success at 921 staff and top line revenue of C$120M. Doug holds a Master's degree in electrical engineering and is a Citizen of the Met铆s Nation of BC.
Dr. Sarah Lubik (Embedded Mentor)
Dr. Lubik is SFU's first Director of Entrepreneurship. She is the Academic Director of the Charles Chang Institute for Entrepreneurship, the National Academic Director for invention to Innovation (i2), a senior lecturer in Entrepreneurship & Innovation at SFU Beedie and Co-Champion of the Technology Entrepreneurship@SFU Program. Dr. Lubik's responsibilities help catalyze the entrepreneurial mindset at SFU include aligning, supporting and building Canada's most comprehensive and interdisciplinary continuum of entrepreneurial support, from engagement with the K-12 system, across all faculties and levels of university education, through to early stage incubation.
Course Details
As an interdisciplinary experience, TechE@SFU brings together students with diverse perspectives, knowledge, and skills.
Course Code: MSE 490 鈥� Special Topic: Technology Entrepreneurship on
Term Offered: Fall 2025, Tuesdays 11:30-2:20 @SFU-Surrey
Eligibility: Open to all SFU undergraduate students
- Application: so you don鈥檛 miss July registration dates
- If you鈥檙e pursuing the Charles Chang Certificate in Innovation & Entrepreneurship, this counts as one of the two elective courses you need to complete the certificate. If you aren鈥檛 currently registered for this certificate, you can and then enroll in MSE 490.
Questions about how MSE 490 contributes to your program requirements? Contact a .
Pathways after TechE
At the end of the Fall semester, you and/or your team will have the opportunity to advance into funded capstones and/or Entrepreneurship Co-op (eCo-op) to continue to furrther develop your project.
MSE Capstone Integration
For Mechatronics Systems Engineering students:
Integrate your TechE project into your mandatory capstone.
Access prototyping funding from the Chang Institute.
Entrepreneurship Co-op (eCo-op)
For all students:
Apply for a funded co-op term to work full-time on your startup and receive a $10K salary.
Receive mentorship and resources from the Chang Institute.
eCo-op terms are available every semester, with dedicated placements for TechE prospects and alumni.
Additional Resources
Students in TechE@SFU gain access to a wealth of resources to help them commercialize their ideas.
Mentoring
Mentoring and access to networks is critical to new entrepreneurs and anyone trying to excel in their field, and this initiative provides expert leadership and guidance. Teams will have access to experienced business and technology mentors not available in traditional class settings. These mentors will provide deep and diverse support to project teams to help the student entrepreneurs to establish direction with their projects.
Funding
Student teams who wish to continue after the Fall course will have the opportunity to pitch for feedback and additional funded capstone or eCoop, based on their business and technological progress and potential. As part of TechE, students will also participate in the Chang Institute's Opportunity Fest (November), receiving valuable feedback from community and industry mentors, with potential of winning cash prizes!
Community
TechE students are part of the Chang Institute community and have enhanced access to networks and programs such as Mentor Meet, SPARK, Founders Circle, Idea Prize, Catalyst and the incubator program, and are encouraged to attend activities and events to meet like-minded peers and other SFU founders.
Hear from Our Alumni
鈥淭echE@SFU was a fun way where I got to step out of my comfort zone and be an entrepreneur.鈥�
- Vivian Wong, Health Science Student
"Working with peers from disciplines like mechatronics, Beedie, Computer Science, and more was an unexpected
opportunity that pushed me to think beyond my own field. The connections I made here were key
in becoming the Design Director of a startup under the Chang Institute."
- Grace Tan, SIAT Student
Contact Us:
TechE@SFU is supported by a dedicated team of faculty mentors from The School of Mechatronics Systems Engineering and Beedie School of Business that bring together years of industrial and entrepreneurial experience in the technology arena.
Interested students are encouraged to send questions to Ramtin (MSE) (rrakhsha@sfu.ca), or Doug (non-MSE) (douglasf@sfu.ca).
Questions about how MSE 490 contributes to your program requirements? Contact a .
Supported By:
