SHAD (formerly known as Shad Valley) is a Canadian summer enrichment program for high-achieving high school students that runs every year, primarily in July. The program is open to both Canadian and international students, and runs at 13 participating university campuses across Canada, where the students live in residence. It is focused on business, science, mathematics, and engineering.
The SHAD program was founded by Dr. Derek Lane-Smith, a teacher, physicist, and entrepreneur. The first summer program ran at St. Andrew’s College in Aurora, Ontario in July, 1981, and has since expanded to 13 university campuses across Canada.
SHAD is a non-profit organization based in Waterloo, Ontario. SHAD also ran the Pesk’a Aboriginal Shad Valley Program, which ended in the summer of 2009. Tim Jackson is the current president and CEO of SHAD.
There is a rigorous application process, which goes in depth into both the students' academics and extra-curriculars. In 2016, over 1,500 students applied. SHAD 2017 will run from July 2–28.
SHAD Program and SHAD Entrepreneurship Cup
The 2016 theme was "How might we improve food security for Canadians?". Previous themes have included: "Disaster & Emergency Preparedness" (2004), "Health & Wellness" (2005), "The Great Canadian Energy Challenge" (2006), "Zero Waste Technology" (2007), "Design with Conscience" (2008), "Nature and Natural Fibres" (2009), "Designing for Canada's Aging Population" (2010), "Improving the Quality of Life for a Canadian Child with a Disability" (2011), and "Preventing/Reducing Obesity in North American Youth" (2012).
Students in Grades ten, eleven, or twelve (Secondaire IV, V, or CEGEP I in Quebec), or the international equivalent, may apply to SHAD. The application deadline is in late November
There are currently 13 SHAD campuses:
Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario (since 1989)
Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia (since 2001)
Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario (since 1999)
Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador (since 2003)
McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario (since 1998)
Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario (since 2004)
Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario (beginning in 2017)
University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia (since 1986)
University of Calgary in Calgary, Alberta (1984-2008, 2013 - )
University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, New Brunswick (since 1985)
University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (since 2013)
University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario (since 1983)
University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario (since 2016)
Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia (1988–2000)
Bark Lake/Trent University in South Algonquin, Ontario (1997)
Queen's University International Study Centre in Herstmonceux, East Sussex, United Kingdom (2001–02)
St. Andrew’s College in Aurora, Ontario (1981–82)
Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario (2005–08)
Université de Sherbrooke in Sherbrooke, Quebec (1988–2000)
University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba (1986–95)
University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland (2000)
Université Laval in Quebec City, Quebec (2006-2015)
SHAD has more than 15,500 SHAD Fellows in 36 countries, 32 of whom are Rhodes Scholars. Among SHAD alumni, there are also Loran Scholars and Schulich Leaders. Additionally, several Canadian post-secondary schools offer scholarships for SHAD alumni.
SHAD has many prominent SHAD Fellows including:
Michele Romanow, SHAD 2003, youngest member of CBC's Dragons' Den, Co-founder of Buytopia.ca, 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada
Ted Livingston (Kik), SHAD 2004, Founder of Kik Interactive, parent company of the mobile app Kik Messenger
Bruce Gao, SHAD 2012, Co-founder of Simply Solar, a mobile app that aligns solar panels in 130 countries around the world
Darlene Lim, SHAD 1989, top research scientists currently involved in scientific exploration and Mars discovery, working closely with NASA
Rameez Virji, SHAD 2010, is awaiting patent approval on a ground-breaking pill vaccine he first started developing at SHAD
Mike McCauley, SHAD 2006 & Jay Shah, SHAD 2005, Co-founders of BufferBox, a network of automated package delivery kiosks
Jason Farris, SHAD 1984, top executive with the NHL's Dallas Stars
Richard Wiltshire, SHAD 2000, working at LinkedIn previously co-founded the Aboriginal Professional Association of Canada (APAC), a supportive community and platform for Aboriginal professionals.
Marshall Zhang, SHAD 2010, using supercomputers, he made an exciting discovery in cystic fibrosis research at only 17. He is now studying at Harvard.
Gaurav Jain, SHAD 2002, was named one of Forbes' Top 30 Unde 30 in Venture Capital in 2015.
Stephanie Rozek, SHAD 1993, a social entrepreneur and advocate for increased diversity and inclusion in technology. She is Executive Director of Hive Waterloo Region, and founded both Year of Code Waterloo Region and Hackademy.
Fred Bullock SHAD 1985, has been leading ground breaking Information Technology and Entrepreneurial ventures from his home province New Brunswick for more than 25 years. Currently he is the Co-Founder, President and CEO of Cirrus9, a cloud computing and hosted solutions company based out of Saint John.
Neil Pasricha, SHAD 1998, his "The Book of Awesome" series and "The Happiness Equation" have landed him on New York Times Best Sellers and #1 International Best Sellers lists.
Parker Mitchell, SHAD 1993, Co-founder and former CEO of Engineers Without Borders. He also co-founded Significance Labs, a charity that connects the tech world with low-income America.
Todd Reichert, SHAD 1998, Founded AeroVelo, which received a $250,000 AHS Sikorsky Prize for designing, building and flying the AeroVelo Atlas human-powered helicopter, as winner of the Igor I. Sikorsky Human Powered Helicopter Competition. He is also breaking world records in other forms of human-powered transportation. Reichert says SHAD was eye opening. It was the first time he was with a room full of like-minded high achieving students looking to leave their mark.
Devon Galloway, SHAD 2004, Co-founded Vidyard, a world leading video marketing platform which is considered a YouTube for business. In 2011, Silicon Valley’s startup incubator Y-Combinator declared the company one of 5 startups to watch. Devon and Vidyard's other co-founder, Michael Litt, were Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneurs of the Year in 2014.
Joshua Liu, SHAD 2005, an MD and Co-founder/CEO of SeamlessMD, Liu’s company provides a web and mobile platform used by hospitals to educate, engage and monitor patients going through surgery. Named a Forbes 30 Under 30 in Healthcare in 2014, Liu says there are not too many opportunities like SHAD that help unleash a young person’s potential.
Tony Brijpaul, SHAD 1998, co-founded Miovision, a world leader in predictive traffic analysis and management. Based in Waterloo, Miovision has developed technologies that bring outdated urban infrastructure into the 21st Century, preventing traffic gridlock around the globe. Brijpaul says he grew up in a rough neighbourhood in the Toronto area and SHAD gave him the confidence he needed at a critical time.
Skawenniio Barnes, SHAD 2005, Received the National Aboriginal Achievement Award in 2010 for helping establish the first public library in her community. Growing up in Canada’s Kahnawake Mohawk Territory, at the age of 13, she recognized a lack of educational resources available in her small community – specifically a library. In response, she launched a media campaign and received 30,000 books from all over the globe. A graduate of Yale and more recently Harvard, Barnes is now a lawyer in New York.
