Having grown up in Kingston I feel I have a different perspective of the community than other Queen’s students. While I was in high school at Holy Cross secondary I never quite understood the university student presence in Kingston. Living in the west end of Kingston I never spent too much time in the university area, other than weekend nights spent at the spot. Being from Kingston I had a negative connotation about coming to Queen’s as I did not view myself staying in Kingston for university.
However, I realized that if I was coming from anywhere else in Canada, Queen’s would be my top choice for school. I really appreciate the community that Queen’s has as well as the opportunities that it gives me.
For example, I’m extremely involved with the Dublin-Desphande Queen’s Innovation Centre. This past summer I participated in their summer initiative known as QICSI where I had the opportunity to start my company. The company I started is aiSight Inc. We turn regular video feeds into smart video feeds using a variety of machine vision applications. Right now we are primarily focused on optimizing traffic flow within cities. We are currently working with the city of Kingston hoping to release our pilot project in spring 2019. I believe being a Kingston local as well as a Queen’s student was extremely beneficial while forming this project.