about us

Let's build the future together

Smart Waterloo Region Innovation Lab is a hub for Children & Youth to create and expand their ideas

30k
Goal for engaged youth
50
Goal for youth led pilots yearly
Intro

Everyone is a leader

- Jim Fisher, author of The Thoughtful Leader

Our Vision

The Waterloo Region will be an oasis of wonder and possibility for children of all ages and abilities

Mission

We want to create the best community in Canada for Children & Youth

Model of Change

We actively seek out and engage communities and individuals furthest from the opportunity

Welcome

Welcome to
Smart Waterloo Region Innovation Lab

As you navigate our website, I hope you learn more about the cool things we are doing to make Waterloo Region the best community for children and youth. During the last year we have launched numerous pilots that have directly impacted over 500 hundred children and youth. We are helping to foster innovation and problem solving to transform the Waterloo Region into the best community for Children & Youth.

In all my work, I can say that the only true sustainable competitive advantage is Compassion. Innovation - or complex problem solving - is one of the most efficient mediums I know of to unlock the Compassion-state in all of us. If we want a better world, we need to raise and empower more compassionate Children & Youth and unlock and enhance their natural ability to be innovative and compassionate. 

Grayson Bass | Lab Manager

Do you want to innovate with us?

‍Our definition of Innovation
Innovation is something you are good at, plus something you have never done or thought about that creates value. This makes everyone a leader and an Innovator.

Let’s build a new future together!
Get involved!

Our team

The awesome people who make all this possible

Grayson Bass

Lab Manager / Janitor

I lead the lab and empower the team to do amazing things. I also water plants and clean up 'disruption' messes.

Saba Oji

Knowledge & Data Lead

Interpreting big data.

Jahmeeks Beckford

Play Lead

I'm responsible for youth engagement and youth partnership

Jeff Ni

NLP / AI Developer

Creating a chat bot that can communicate with everyday human language.

Junshi Li

NLP / AI Developer

Creating a software that can communicate with everyday human language.

Cam Carmichael

Web 3.0 Developer

Integrating hyper ledger with decentralized databases.

Abdul Rahin

Web 3.0 Developer

Integrating the hyper ledger suite with react native and graphQL.

Jade Giardino

Youth Engagement Coordinator

Developing meaningful and empowering programming opportunities for youth

Ashleigh-Ann Moyo

Placemaker

Creating and maintaining spaces that contribute to the positive well-being of others.

Mei Dang

Researcher

Exploring ideas and experiments

Sriranjini Raman

Nurture / Food Forest Lead

Coordinating community garden projects

Friendly Faces

Team members who are involved in specific projects

Jumanah Ahmed
Economic Developer

I manage innovation pilots and conduct research for economic development strategies.

Elizabeth D'Cruze
Play Lead Support

Working on all aspects of the design process, from research and ideation, to creative conceptualisation and design.

Sankalp Narula
Blockchain Architect / Black Hat Thinker

I'm part of the effort to create a decentralized replicable modular network of networks. I'm also in charge of finding security loopholes in the system.

Krish Mehta
Lead Blockchain Architect

I build new software architectures, and innovate for systems change.

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Our Projects

Latest Projects

Data Playground
A chat bot that can speak to users like a human and help them find services.
Data Playground
A translation tool that supports voice, file and keyboard input with 27 commonly used language types around the Waterloo Region.