Frank Su

To say Frank Su likes to stay busy is a bit of an understatement. While he was immersed in his Westlink internship, he was also finishing his joint MBA/MBT (Master of Biomedical Technology) program at the University of Calgary. But when he admitted a four-month from the Westlink program was necessary to wrap up his university studies, what does he do? He starts his own international business on the side.

"It's my little venture," says Su, laughing. "Being busy is a good thing."

Su's "venture," focuses on bridging international technology commercialization, especially between China and the North American market. This continent is producing a new technology in need of funding while a hot Chinese economy is creating people looking for good investment opportunities. That's where Su fits in. With the help of his mentor, Dr. James Murray, the founder and ex-president of Westlink, who helped get the business started, Su hopes to build up his networks on both sides of the world and fill the gap that currently exists.

Considering his interest in business and technology, the Westlink program was a perfect fit. Su had already logged years of research and business experience with a world-leading life science company in China before immigrating to Canada. Although already established in the joint U of C graduate program, he thought the importance of the work experience and the broad business network built through Westlink could only add to his future success.

His first placement was with Chenomx, a University of Alberta high-tech spin-off company that provides software and solutions to analyze Nuclear Magnetic Resonance data for professionals in the metabolic profiling field. As a business consultant, Su spent much of his time on the phone, sending emails—anything to engage potential customers in the product. "It was a challenging job," says Su. "The difficult part was that I had to learn so much to educate a group of customers who are world-famous scientists active on frontiers of varied fields and are so knowledgeable.

"But I learned a lot and am happy with my experience there. I got to sit in on board meetings and discuss all issues of the business—they involved me as much as they could and really allowed me to feel the pulse of a growing business."

During his next placement with the University of Saskatchewan's Industry Liaison Office, Su became involved with technologies at different stages of commercialization. With a focus in agriculture and biotechnology, Su helped in technology evaluation and trying to land potential licensing deals and secure negotiations. He enjoyed the experience so much, he went back to the office after completing his internship and now works there full time.

To be successful in the field of technology commercialization, Su found it necessary it is to understand how venture capitalists make investment decisions. In his third posting with the Golden Opportunities Fund in Saskatoon , he performed investment analysis, financial planning and structured financing deals with different financing instruments. "I got to see what kinds of things they are looking at, what kind of business opportunities they want to avoid—it was all very helpful for me in the future if I'm running on these same paths," he says. "They could become my potential business partners. You never know."