Taking the leap

With no formal business training, student company Ukalta Engineering is targeting a global market, and hoping to create local opportunities

Few students have the gumption – or the time – to start a company before they’ve graduated.

But last year, Maz Khorasani and the other founders of Ukalta Engineering, did just that – opting to form a company in the midst of graduate studies in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Alberta.

They didn’t know much about business, but they knew they had a good concept: a hardware device that simulates outdoor environments in order to test the quality of wireless systems, like cell phones, before they are manufactured.
So, the six students dedicated a chunk of their time to creating the company, despite the rigors of academe – and despite the risk.

“It’s a trade-off. We’re risking our time and finances to pursue this,” says Khorasani, the company’s marketing manager. But he points out that the pay-off will be huge if the company succeeds and the team can launch their careers at home and not in the U.S., as so often happens in their industry.

“I think that’s one of the reasons we’ve banded together: to make sure we have a place to work in Alberta.”

For the last year, Khorasani and the others have pushed forward aggressively, applying for as much funding and awards as possible, and showcasing the technology at tradeshows. All of this commitment paid off this spring, when the team won the TEC Student Entrepreneurship Award, providing them with a $25,000 stipend and 12 month lease at TEC Centre. The award also pairs them with MBA students to help with business planning and commercialization.

All of this is helping the company in a big way, says Khorasani. TEC Edmonton has connected the young team to mentors (like former TEC Libin Executive-in-Residence Grant Parks) and provided opportunities to meet investors and customers. Only a year into the business, the team has already had their product validated by a third-party and is deciding whether to license the product idea, or manufacture the hardware themselves.

Whatever they choose, the sky’s the limit. “It’s a global market, definitely not a local market at all,” says Khorasani. “Most of our customers would probably be in European or Asian markets.”