Yukon Research Centre looking for the next great idea

January 10, 2012

WHITEHORSE—They say great minds think alike. Later this month, the Cold Climate Innovation Centre (CCIC) at Yukon College is hoping that they’ll think together.

The CCIC is holding an ‘Innovation Think Tank’ on January 23 at 7 p.m. at the Westmark Hotel. They’re hoping where brains meet brains, great things can come about.

“It’s basically an idea lab,” says Rick Steele, one of the organizers. “We want to hear from people who want to bounce their ideas off other people.”

The CCIC is holding a two-day ‘Research Innovation and Commercialization’ workshop January 23-24, and the think tank is a highlight of the program.

It’s a chance for people with good ideas to come and share them with like-minded inventors, dreamers, and innovators. Participants will be asked to talk about their ideas with others- without fear or favour.

And what is brought up in the room stays in the room- you’re not to take someone else’s idea and run with it, says Steele. You’ll be asked to sign a non-disclosure form before you enter the invitation-only event.

“We call it both full disclosure and non-disclosure,” he says. “It’s probably not the greatest thing to come to if you’re paranoid about sharing a great idea.”

The payoff for sharing? Steele notes that refining concepts and bouncing issues off others makes it more likely an idea will progress.
“You can have 100 per cent of nothing, or a share of something that actually becomes a reality,” he says.

Depending on the success of this month’s event, the think tank might become a regular happening, says Steele. Interested members of the public are now being invited to join.

To participate, you can contact Cold Climate Innovation at YRC.

Cold Climate Innovation is one of six key programs that operate under the Yukon Research Centre at Yukon College. The others are Technology Innovation, Northern Climate ExChange, Science Adventures, Resources and Sustainable Development in the Arctic, and Social Economy Research Network of Northern Canada.

Interested media can contact Kawina Robichaud to line up interviews at krobichaud@yukoncollege.yk.ca