Gamers and fans of any BioWare games might be interested in what BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka can share during his presentation at UBCO’s The Germinator event series this week.
Who: UBC Okanagan students, faculty, general public
What: A Conversation with Dr. Ray Muzyka, part of UBCO’s The Germinator event series
When: Wednesday, December 4, 1 pm
Where: Online via Zoom
It’s not often you can find someone who has been a practising medical doctor, a video game pioneer, and an angel investor who has helped scores of students and up-and-coming entrepreneurs bring their ideas to market.
That’s the background of Dr. Ray Muzyka, who will be guest speaker at a UBC Okanagan event on Wednesday. Dr. Muzyka, an acclaimed BC business leader, will share the entrepreneurship insights amassed over his 30-plus year career during an upcoming virtual conversation on entrepreneurship at UBC Okanagan.
After training and practicing as a medical doctor, Dr. Muzyka co-founded the video game development company BioWare in the early 1990s. He served in various senior leadership roles including as Senior Vice President and Group General Manager of the BioWare division of Electronic Arts when it was purchased for more than $800M.
Dr. Muzyka retired from the video game industry in 2012 and launched his next venture—ThresholdImpact—which focuses on making an impact through mentoring and angel investing in, social enterprises as well as health and medical innovations.
His philanthropy and contributions to Canada’s tech ecosystem have been widely recognized. Among many other awards, he has been inducted into the Order of Canada, the Alberta Business Hall of Fame, the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Game Developers Association.
Dr. Muzyka’s talk is part of UBCO’s The Germinator event series, a series of virtual fireside chat-style conversations on entrepreneurship hosted by Dr. Alon Eisenstein, Assistant Professor of Teaching, Technology Entrepreneurship and Professional Development at the School of Engineering.
“We are so excited for our students and the public to hear from Dr. Ray Muzyka, who has such an impressive depth and breadth of experience and can offer tremendous insights for anyone interested in starting their entrepreneurship journey and don’t know where to start,” says Dr. Eisenstein, who weaves entrepreneurship into numerous engineering courses.
Dr. Eisenstein says it’s vital for students to be able to learn from local business leaders to better understand the lessons they have learned—and the innovative approaches they are taking—in the Okanagan and BC context.
“We have so many incredible local, regional and provincial examples of entrepreneurial leadership and innovation,” he says. “And it’s important for us to connect our UBCO community with people who have overcome challenges by thinking differently and creating something amazing.”
This online event is free and open to the public. For more information and to register visit:
ewil.ok.ubc.ca.
