Frequently Asked Questions

First off, find other individuals from your community and school, among your peers and teachers/instructors, who have the interest, motivation and commitment to engage in real-world STEM projects with tangible and potentially marketable outcomes. Then, team up with them and start brainstorming what challenge in your community you’d like to address!.

Student participants have the opportunity to build strong STEM skills and to develop their creative thinking and practical interdisciplinary competencies in project management, collaboration, communication and networking. The immersive project experience supports participant students in being accepted into competitive programs of studies, and to win prestigious scholarships. The program also prepares participants to become young entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs, should they wish so. Several start-ups across Alberta and Canada were built (or co-built) by past student alums. Some examples include FREDsense Technologies, Amino Labs, and Nomadogen Biotechnologies.

Specific outcomes include:

• Work directly with experienced mentors and STEM industry experts to bring your project idea to life
• Learn more about possible career opportunities in STEM industries
• Nurture your entrepreneurial mindset – your ideas could be the start for a new business!
• Learn more about the exciting world of biotechnologies like synthetic biology, bioengineering, genetic engineering and more.
• Develop wet lab skills guided by researchers in professional lab settings.

Over the years, teams have been building innovative STEM-based solutions to a variety of real-world challenges such as detecting and removing contaminants from oilfields, fighting pine beetle infestation, monitoring invasive species in waterways, breaking down fatty buildup or hair and feather residue in water treatment plants, or building a 3D printable affordable exoskeleton for physically disabled people.

Check out some of our inspiring past projects here

Aside from the rich and engaging learning experience it offers to their students, this kind of program gives teachers the opportunity to see first-hand what it feels like to be ‘the guide on the side rather than the sage on the stage’ and to learn side-by-side with students. Teachers often tell us that both the learning process and the gains for students are steep and unique, and it feels very rewarding to see their students engaged in solving real-world problems.

If you are interested in contributing as a mentor, and feel that you have the skills, experience and availability for this role, we would love to hear from you. Mentorship opportunities vary depending on the participating teams and their needs and projects. Please, contact us at challenge@mindfuel.ca to learn more details and how you can sign up.

Mentors and professionals participate in the program in various capacities and with different degrees of time commitment and involvement. Typically, such individuals provide on-going guidance and feedback to individual teams, co-develop and/or deliver hands-on workshops, appraise and evaluate project proposals and teams’ presentations, and co-develop learning resources and materials. While they often require more dedication, involvement and time commitment than more traditional volunteer roles, mentor and SME experiences feel uniquely rewarding.

Teams do not require a teacher to participate in the Tech Futures Challenge. However, a team advisor over the age of 18 is required. Team advisors are often a teacher, instructor or community member with industry or skills knowledge of your project topic.

That’s ok! We are providing support and resources to help you and your team identify a problem space and a particular challenge to tackle that suits your team’s interests, skills, resources, and favorite STEM area.

We recognize that accessing workspace, whether in a lab, computer lab or maker space can be challenging and costly. Keeping that in mind, we at MindFuel have built out our very own makerspace out of Calgary which your team can have access to. If your team is interested in lending out materials, or working space, please have your team advisor reach out at challenge@mindfuel.ca.

While we encourage you and your team to attend the workshops, team check-ins and mentor live events, we know that you have school and other commitments that may at times interfere. That is why we try our best to ensure all events are hybrid accessible. If an event is not available through Zoom, then we will be sure that you receive all the information, resources and feedback from industry and subject matter experts.

Our Connect2Innovate Platform provides the opportunity to reach out and connect with mentors from across STEM & entrepreneurial disciplines.

Teams have several opportunities to earn awards and different types of sponsorship and prizes at various points in the program, provided they meet specific criteria. Examples are: seed funding, project materials kit, travel sponsorship, and top project pitch. Team members can earn student scholarships through MindFuel or internship placements on an individual basis.

The Tech Futures Challenge can take as much or as little time that you feel you and your team need to put into the project that produces a solution to a real-world problem. We encourage you to work on your project weekly and set aside dedicated time for your team to meet and work on your project.

Based on teams’ feedback, teams often meet on a weekly basis, and spend 10+ hours per month on their project. Typically, more work hours are needed in preparation for the Pitch Video submission and the Prototype Showcase. Teams usually meet during lunch or after classes; and some teams will meet on weekends. There are two weekend events during the TFC cycle which are in addition to the regular team meetings: the two-day Skills Building Workshop, and the one-day Prototype Showcase.