Thank you for your kind words, Ms. Sgro. I really appreciate them.
First of all, I love education and I love students. I think I represent thousands of academics who feel the same way. But I have to echo what Patrick just mentioned, that open data is really about sharing things.
What is unique about Waterloo is that it was founded 57 years ago with a very unusual IP policy. Whatever you think of on campus, you own it. The dean has no control over what you want to do, which is very nice.
Most of our students start companies in their second year of engineering. I believe the fact that we have 500 engineering companies in the Waterloo region hiring thousands of people is due to the IP policy and core education. When students go out to work for four months in a company, they see what the needs and the technology gaps are, and then they come back and they start a company.
What is very important for us is to support them. The early innovation is happening. We have to support and to incubate them while in school—it's very important—and teach them a little bit about business, because they are taking risks while they're studying.
The IP policy is important. They must own it. What we're doing in engineering school is we're supporting them all the way past graduation. Next week is convocation. We have 1,200 engineers graduating and we probably are in touch with all of them. If they want to start a company, we offer the campus, labs, equipment, the library; they are open to them. We have started an entrepreneurship alumni program, which allows them to access anything on campus.
That's really important. The role of university does not end after you have received your diploma at convocation. You walk across that stage to get your diploma, but it doesn't end there. We have to help them past their graduation.