Engineering Startup Solutions with Midia Shikh Hassan – June 18th 2020

Sometimes the things that set you apart can be your biggest advantage, and Midia Shikh Hassan would agree.

Midia studied health sciences, biochemistry, and chemical engineering from the University of Ottawa.  She is a co-founder and CEO of Dextra Innovation, which uses 3D printing technology to provide affordable prosthetics to amputees living in refugee and poverty zones as well as Makerspace technology training to communities globally to scale up the production of affordable assistive technologies.  

She is also the Manager of MakerLaunch program at the University of Ottawa that provides engineering students and recent alumni with support to fast-track the commercialization of new technology and launch new technology startups. Midia was awarded the 2018 Queen’s Young Leaders Award by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. She was also awarded the 2019 CBC Trailblazer award and the 2019 Facebook Social Entrepreneurship Award for her work in Dextra. Midia was also one of 145 youth accepted into the prestigious graduate fellowship Schwarzman Scholars program class 2021.

“Culture plays a huge role in what defines you and the values you have, as well as the change you want to leave behind in life.”

On this week’s THRIVE Podcast, sponsored by the Business Development Bank of Canada and Scotiabank, Midia discusses using what sets you apart to your advantage.