Northeastern Vancouver embeds 70 tech firms directly into its campus

Northeastern University’s downtown Vancouver campus has restructured its physical space to host active industry partners rather than just students. Over the past three years, the facility has evolved into an interactive workspace for more than 70 local companies, integrating commercial operations directly into the academic environment.

The embedded industry partner program currently manages approximately 150 workers from startups, established enterprises, and research groups. These organizations utilize the campus for co-working, meetings, and conferences. In exchange for access to these facilities, partners commit to providing educational opportunities, including career mentorship, co-op placements, and direct recruitment.

Steve Eccles, dean of Northeastern Vancouver, stated that access to professional networks is critically important for students. He described the program as a way for students to throw themselves into a community that is open to collaboration. This structure allows for informal interactions between students and entrepreneurs who frequent the halls daily.

The program has resulted in a tangible talent pipeline for around 30 Vancouver students. Adrian Marcia, chief executive officer of Aura Assurance, joined the initiative at its launch. He hired Zhixiao Wu, a computer science graduate student, after meeting her on campus. Marcia valued Wu’s ability to offer software solutions without prior domain history, viewing it as evidence of intuitive thinking. Wu now works as a software engineer at Aura while continuing her studies.

Co-founders Liam Ross and Daniel Shalinsky of Withe, a platform for organizing career fairs, also utilized the campus network. They identified Kelly Hsu, a computer science graduate student from Taiwan, through a co-op posting. Hsu, who previously worked in Eastern medicine and acupuncture, impressed the founders with her understanding of financial risks. She completed a paid work test involving an AI tool to score potential clients and generate marketing materials. Shalinsky hired Hsu in September.

Eccles noted that the majority of Vancouver companies have 10 employees or fewer. This size makes them highly dependent on the campus’s approximately 400 graduate students. He argued that the tech community is becoming a key foundation for British Columbia’s digital transformation, sitting alongside established sectors like forestry and mining. The program aims to build a natural network for these smaller tech companies to access talent.

Ashkan Yazdi Zadeh, founder of Intern Insider, has led mentorship sessions and provided company data for student capstone projects. He has hired several students following informal meetings on campus. One student introduced themselves while Zadeh was reading in a cubicle, while another expressed interest in his platform while watching World Cup games in a co-working space on the 14th floor.

Kalhar Pandya, a recent graduate hired by Zadeh as chief technology officer, described the ease of entry into major companies like Oracle. He noted that students can secure co-op positions simply by talking to partners, without the need for formal applications.