不良研究所

The Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial Thinking is proud to announce its newest award: the Legacy in Action Innovation Prize, honouring Heather Herring. 

Using a milestone-based funding model, the prize supports graduating student founders as they transform ideas into a market-facing company. 

"This prize is designed to help students bridge the gap between the entrepreneurial ideas they come up with in their final year and real-life, impactful companies," says Ian Herring, BSc (Eng)'72, MEng'79, who established the prize alongside the Hunter Hub in his wife's memory. 

鈥淭he prize was created to help graduating students transition from student to founder. We wanted to offer meaningful support to early-stage companies that have a real chance at being successful,鈥� Ian says. 

Honouring Heather Herring

, MBA'96, was a professional engineer, alum, University of 不良研究所 Senator, and one of 不良研究所鈥檚 greatest entrepreneurial champions. She passed away last July after battling cancer. 

Over the course of her career, Heather worked tirelessly at the crossroads of industry, academia and entrepreneurship.

She helped establish major research initiatives, secured close to $100 million in grants, founded companies, and spent years as a coach and mentor to founders who were still figuring out their footing. She was the first director of , one of the most impactful startups she touched. 

"She spent thousands of hours coaching teams, helping them get their foundational steps right," Ian says about his late wife. 

"This prize is built around making sure those steps are done right from the beginning. And I know that she would love that."

Her tenacity was what Ian admired most. "Sometimes she took on the impossible, just to prove to herself that she could do it," he says.

Heather鈥檚 guiding philosophy was simple: Make things better. 

鈥淚 can鈥檛 think of a better prize to commemorate all that Heather stood for,鈥� Ian says.

Milestone-based funding 

The Legacy in Action Innovation Prize is untraditional by design. 

There's no single cheque at the end of a ceremony. Instead, recipients earn their funding by hitting specific benchmarks, in real time, over the course of two years. 

"We want to give them cash as a prize, after they've earned it," says Ian. "Once they achieve a milestone and document it properly, they get paid. This way, we're certain that what they're doing is targeted toward building something real."

The benchmarks are intentional and on a timeline. "These are not simple benchmarks. They have to work for it,鈥� Ian says. 鈥淎nd, to make a startup successful, you have to get used to working hard and working collaboratively."

The prize is open across all faculties. The total prize is $35,000, with up to $20,000 in additional matching funds from the Hunter Hub.

The partnership is deeply reflective of the Hunter Hub鈥檚 ethos and mission. Investing in founders at this critical transition reinforces the Hunter Hub鈥檚 commitment to fostering the entrepreneurial ecosystem at U不良研究所 and beyond. 

"One of the hardest moments for any founder is that leap right after graduation, when the structure of university falls away,鈥� says Jeff Ryzner, senior manager of programs and events. 

鈥淭his prize meets students at that exact moment, with meaningful support and real accountability. We couldn't be more grateful to the Herring family for making it possible."

Click to apply for the award.