About us
Designed for you
Centered in the most entrepreneurial city in Canada - Fredericton, New Brunswick - our programs immerse you into the world of product innovation, creative thinking and technology management. Through experiential learning, pitching competitions, national conferences and a host of personal and professional challenges, our programs will advance your professional potential with applied skills and hands-on experience.
In addition to financial and organizational principles, you will learn the methods, processes and best-practices around customer discovery, ideation, problem-solving and scaling, as well as how to work as part of a team and effectively communicate ideas in a real-world setting.
97% of our graduates - after nurturing their ideas at the centre - have gone on to launch their own highly successful ventures, gain employment in technology management and R&D, or advance their careers within their own organizations.
Take the first step and reach out to one of our program advisors to learn more.
The history
Founded in 1988, the J Herbert Smith Centre (JHSC) for Technology Management and Entrepreneurship was created by Herbert “Herb” Smith, a graduate of UNB in 1932. Upon graduation, he began his career at General Electric Co. Ltd (GE) in Ontario. He later returned to UNB to complete the MScEE program, graduating in 1944 after which he moved into management at GE. He went on to become the corporation’s first Canadian CEO, serving from 1957 until his retirement in 1972.
Herb believed that engineers benefited greatly by gaining an understanding of business best practices, so after his retirement from GE, he returned to UNB to help found the J Herbert Smith Centre to offer engineering students the option to obtain a Diploma in Technology Management and Entrepreneurship. To further support the program, he provided the university’s largest-ever endowment of nearly $5-million to fund the program in perpetuity.
Today, the centre offers a variety of undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate opportunities where students and researchers contribute to the global discussion around technological innovation and several accelerator programs to help companies launch and scale.
