THE inventor of an award-winning recycled brick has created a new series of lectures designed to encourage entrepreneurial thinking in university students.
Launched at Heriot-Watt University, the ‘Entrepreneurial Minds’ programme has been devised by professor Gabriela Medero, the university’s associate principal for enterprise and co-founder of Kenoteq, manufacturers of the K-BRIQ, which is made from nearly 100% local recycled waste.
The series will consist of three lectures for first year students and three for final year graduates. It will feature lectures by entrepreneurs and business executives from across industry and academia.
Inspired by her own passion for entrepreneurialism and sustainability, Professor Medero believes everyone is capable of innovative thinking, which is required to tackle some of the greatest challenges facing modern society including climate change, caring for an ageing population, and harnessing the potential of technologies like AI and robotics.
Professor Gabriela Medero, who is also a professor of geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering at Heriot-Watt University, said, “I believe that everyone has an ‘entrepreneurial mindset’ and my mission is to unlock it for our students, whatever their career ambitions for the future may be. Entrepreneurship is all about seeing the world a little differently – spotting gaps in the market, making unexpected connections, and channelling creativity to bring bold ideas to life. As a nation, we need the innovators, the problem-solvers, the visionaries.”
