Mike Lazaridis, one half of the two biggest names in Canadian technology. If you own a smartphone and are born in the early 80′s, chances are you recognize the name: he (alongside Jim Balsillie) single-handedly changed the way we communicate with each other, with the introduction of the famed BlackBerry handheld device, and of course BBM. Well, since stepping down from BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM), Mike has been busy giving back to the the industry that made him who he is, and is drawing inspiration from the early days of computing for his next act.

Backed by $100 million dollars of his own money, the Mike & Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre opens its doors tomorrow in Waterloo, Ontario, with the goal of recreating the conditions that made AT&T Inc.’s Bell Labs a hive of technological innovation in the early 1960s and laid the foundation for what we know now as Silicon Valley.

During an interview with Bloomberg yesterday, Mike had this to say:

“The new research center is designed to produce breakthroughs in the science and technology of things approaching the size of an atom. It’s “absolutely” going to be the Bell Labs of the 21st century, . “That reality got clearer and clearer to me as we got closer to the ribbon-cutting.”

He (Mike) also went onto say that he wants to lure the brightest minds to Canada.

“We can’t offer them ocean, beaches or mountains, but we can try and offer them the best environment, the best collaborators, the best equipment that would be conducive to them making the breakthroughs of their lifetime.”

This announcement is huge for the booming technology scene in Canada, but more specifically, Waterloo. I can’t wait to see it flourish with minds that will bring us amazing ideas.

Read more from the interview via Bloomberg here

Tweet