Last updated: May 25, 2012 4:32 pm
Prince Charles visits Ryerson University as part of royal tour
Hosts premier Dalton McGuinty and Ryerson President Sheldon Levy welcomed Prince Charles to the DMZ on Tuesday. (Photo Courtesy of Marissa Dederer/The Eyeopener)
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TORONTO (CUP) — Ryerson University was abuzz with nervous energy as students, staff, faculty and members of the media celebrated the arrival of royalty Tuesday morning.
His Royal Highness Charles, Prince of Wales, was hosted by premier Dalton McGuinty and Ryerson president Sheldon Levy as he began his tour of the school’s Digital Media Zone (DMZ) atop Dundas Square in Toronto.
This was part of the second-leg of a three-day Canadian trip that began in New Brunswick and ended Thursday in Regina.
The visit gave Ryerson students a chance to both showcase their work to the likely-future King of Canada, and draw attention to the DMZ’s collaborative, nurturing and resource-rich business environment.
“You know when you come in here that there’s something very special by the energy in the room,” Levy said about the opportunity to call attention to DMZ initiatives. “There’s very few places better to see where the future lies than right where we’re standing today.”
Prince Charles made his way through a maze of computer screens, project models and journalists to observe four student-driven entrepreneurial projects fostered by the DMZ since its April 2010 start-up: Bionik Labs (a medical engineering corporation with a focus on rehabilitation devices), 500px (a photography sharing website for professionals), Greengage (promotes environmental sustainability through interactive business apps) and Flybits (context-aware computing technology).
These groups of young entrepreneurs were showcased in separate presentations to His Royal Highness, who peppered the students with quiet and eager questions about each product.
But Flybits CEO and DMZ research director Hossein Rahnama asserts that the success of the DMZ and its royal, red-carpet recognition weighs on more than just turning a good idea into a marketable product.
“I wanted to highlight that this is all happening because of our students, and if you have the right programs to support the students, I think they can do wonders,” Rahnama said.
The DMZ was the third stop on the Ontario leg of the royal tour. The tour commemorates the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
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Frosh 2012
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