Every now and then, a moment of impact sticks in our minds, and often in our hearts. A world event, the minute a child is born, the moment when we meet someone and just know their friendship will be lifelong: sometimes it is a specific date and in other instances, it’s simply a small slice of time in our lives. If we’re fortunate, we’ll have a handful of these significant moments that stay with us forever.

For me, it is a date: October 22, 2019. That day, the culmination of seven months of focused work came together in just six minutes. That’s all it took to realize the research into nanotechnology and the method Litus was using to improve lithium extraction was going to work. We saw it before our eyes, in the early morning in a laboratory at the University of Calgary’s Innovation Centre.

To say it was overwhelming would be an understatement. Knowing we had created a process with the potential to be scalable and exported to industry—a more economical and environmentally sound one that could ultimately change the way in which hundreds of millions of people around the world are transported, one that has the potential to contribute to climate change mitigation in a significant and transferrable way—was astonishing.

All the hours of research, testing, the search for funds and support, sleepless nights and early mornings--all came together in one “aha” moment for me, the university, and for the creation of Litus.

In my dual roles as entrepreneur and teacher, I have had the opportunity to meet many individuals, and to learn from each of them their ideas of what constitutes good leadership, and I take those lessons to heart.

I invest time in connecting with community—whether governments (at local, federal, and international levels); I develop relationships with industry partners and attend events as an engaged peer to network and connect with other entrepreneurs and established entities; I seek out mentors and mentorship opportunities, with the belief that every experience has the potential to be a positive learning experience.

As a classroom teacher at the university level, my philosophy is simple: never directly give answers to questions. Work with the students to think through what they are trying to learn and understand—help them to come to their own conclusions about the questions they have. Stimulate their capability to think independently; encourage them to explore their entrepreneurial sides; teach them that each failure brings valuable lessons; celebrate their successes. I believe mentorship is a gift everyone has the capacity to give in whatever their chosen field, and that there is an obligation to nurture the next generation of thinkers.

Litus will continue to develop its model for lithium extraction; the company has gone from deep research to the development of a system on a lab scale; the company moved forward to bench scale and is currently in the continuous flow pilot stage. I envision this technology to be accessible to mitigate climate change for everyone.

Progress has been made in securing funding partners and advancing the profile of the start-up, and I see the potential for future growth through opportunities for deeper partnerships with industry and related industrial entities, with government—local, regional, national and even international bodies—as the focus turns more critically towards developing solutions to the challenges of the future today.

As climate change strategies begin to take hold, the future of the energy industry and how those who enter it are taught will change. Universities will always be the incubators of ideas, and the graduates of today have the potential to become the entrepreneurs of tomorrow. The University of Calgary prides itself on being named the #1 university in Canada for entrepreneurial thinking.

As mother to three young adults, I strive to instil in them the same determination and confidence I exudes in my own industry. While I will continue to work with Litus, I will also continue to teach, as teaching (engineering, entrepreneurship and/or a combination of the two) is where I find my passion. And I’ll be the first to encourage others to be fearless as they pursue their ideas and dreams.