TRSM and CIBC Mellon Launch Business Innovation Hub
TRSM and CIBC Mellon launch the Business Innovation Hub. Pictured left to right with the BIH team: Richard Anton, SVP, COO, CIBC Mellon; Stuart Baltman, AVP, Process Excellence, CIBC Mellon; Jens Hembach, Director, Process Excellence, CIBC Mellon; Arzan Bharucha, Manager, Advisory Councils at TRSM, and Strategic Lead, BIH; and Dean Steven Murphy, Ted Rogers School of Management. (BIH team names listed in news story below). Photo credit: Clifton Li Photography
Ted Rogers School of Management (TRSM) and CIBC Mellon are collaborating to launch the Business Innovation Hub (BIH) – and transforming the business education experience for university students.
Located at CIBC Mellon, the hub will bring together five Ryerson co-op students – from accounting to environmental biology – and five CIBC Mellon employees seconded from their jobs.
Over the next four months, the team will bring their talents, experiences and enthusiasm to identify key challenges that the financial institution is facing and come up with out-of-the-box, innovative solutions – as equal partners.
Along the way, students and employees will hone critical skills needed to achieve career success including problem solving, presentation and relationship-building. Stuart Baltman, Assistant Vice President, Process Excellence, Operations Management at CIBC Mellon, will mentor the team during the innovative pilot program. These paid positions are a part of the students’ work placements.
“The Business Innovation Hub will give me a unique opportunity to work with my peers from different programs and with talented business professionals in a creative, fun and collaborative work environment,” said Brendan Corney, a third-year environmental biology co-op student selected by a hiring committee comprising TRSM and CIBC Mellon senior staff. “I firmly believe multidisciplinary collaboration will become increasingly important in the future – not just in business, but in all sectors.”
Alice Qiu, a Senior Fund Accountant at CIBC Mellon, was looking to join the Business Innovation Hub with the goal of broadening her knowledge of the asset-servicing business. As a hub member, she’s looking forward to closely collaborating on innovative solutions with the cross-functional team.
“What attracted me to this role is the ability to work with colleagues from across and outside the company, people who I don’t regularly get a chance to connect with,” said Qiu. “Having diverse perspectives is definitely an advantage and I think it can help position us to come up with fresh ideas. I hope to contribute to the company’s success by helping create leading-edge solutions. I am excited about this opportunity and I’m so grateful that CIBC Mellon and Ted Rogers School of Management are investing in our growth and new ideas.”
Richard Anton, Senior Vice President, Chief Operations Officer at CIBC Mellon, played an integral role in championing the idea of bringing young minds together to develop new business solutions at the Canadian financial institution.
“We are discovering ways to innovate in a controlled manner as we seek to further enhance accuracy, operational efficiency and leverage fresh ideas for doing business, in order to unlock great potential and advance our client experience,” said Anton, who is a member of TRSM’s School of Accounting and Finance advisory council board. “I am excited for the launch of the Business Innovation Hub, which brings together a talented and diverse group of employees and students. I am excited to think about our business in new ways.”
“Thanks to the leadership and vision of CIBC Mellon and Senior Vice President Richard Anton, the hub will enable our students to bridge the critical skills gap in today’s work force,” said Steven Murphy, Dean of Ted Rogers School of Management. “This is a game-changing approach to co-op, and I’m proud of the guidance and dedication that Richard and all of our advisory council members – more than 160 strong -- demonstrate to our students and alumni.”
The hub will be a part of the university’s zone-learning ecosystem, a unique form of experiential learning at Ryerson. Zone learning enables students to work as part of multi-disciplinary teams to gain first-hand, practical experience to create social change, contribute to a big idea or launch a start-up.
BIH Team Members
Ryerson Students
- Aliyah Dawood, fourth year, Business Technology Management (co-op)
- Brendan Corney, third year, Environmental Biology (co-op)
- Anisan Luxmekanthan, fourth year, Chemical Engineering (co-op)
- Daniel Bansgopaul, third year, Accounting & Finance (co-op)
- Kanan Shah, second year, Business Management (co-op)
CIBC Mellon Employees
- Sarah El-Bahrawi, Senior Fund Accountant, Fund Accounting
- Miguel Co, Technical Support Specialist, Recordkeeping
- Preyesh Karsan, Senior Content Specialist, Business Development Communications
- Paul Leung, Client Relationship Officer II, Account Management
- Alice Qiu, Senior Fund Accountant, Fund Accounting