Calgary’s next generation of bright minds and innovators are looking for solutions to the world’s most complex problems—from advancing early disease detection to better understanding artificial intelligence.
Through a local youth accelerator, students are gaining the skills, mindsets and experience needed to bring these ideas to life.
The Knowledge Society (TKS) is a 10-month program designed to help students aged 13-17 build future-ready skills through real-world exposure, mentorship from industry partners and hands-on opportunities to tackle industry-relevant challenges.
With two investments from the Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund (OCIF) totalling more than $600,000, TKS is helping strengthen Calgary’s talent pipeline and fostering innovation-driven economic growth.
TKS helps students build real-world skills
TKS is designed to deliver personal, social and professional growth for students to achieve their career ambitions—whether it’s to become an entrepreneur, work for a leading organization or create new technologies.
“Getting our youth exposure to mentorship, tools and opportunities to interact with local businesses and entrepreneurs allows them to see themselves as future global problem-solvers, further positioning Calgary as the innovation capital of Canada,” said Brad Parry, CEO, Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund and President and CEO, Calgary Economic Development.
With OCIF’s support, TKS has expanded its reach in Calgary, making the program more accessible to local students through scholarships and financial support.
By 2028, OCIF’s investments in TKS are expected to have supported more than 200 Calgary youth.
Program driving early success for Calgary youth
The local TKS program is already having an impact.
Calgary students are securing internships, winning hackathons and actively contributing to the innovation ecosystem. Some have even launched their own startups, including TKS alumni and co-founders Isavella Tsoulias and Sophia Dhami.
At just 15 and 16 years old, Tsoulias and Dhami created ClotGuard, a wearable patch that detects bleeding and automatically deploys clotting agents to the injury site.
“It’s funny to think about now, but when Isavella and I first joined TKS, science was probably the last thing either of us imagined becoming passionate about,” said Dhami.
“Through exposure to ideas like CAR-T cell therapy, phage therapy, and biomedical engineering, we discovered that science was about solving real-world problems, rather than memorizing facts like in school. With the support of our mentor, Azar, that curiosity quickly turned into action, and ultimately led to the creation of ClotGuard!”
TKS’ Calgary Showcase event celebrates student projects
At the 2026 Calgary TKS Showcase on June 6, students heard from industry experts, connected with peers and mentors in TKS network and presented the projects they’ve spent the last nine months developing.
Among them, Arav Agnihotri presented his ventures Drayp, an AI-powered shopping agent, and Snifty, a consumer breath analysis device that detects lung cancer early.
Semilogo Oketola, an aspiring computational biologist, built PancrionDX, an AI-supported diagnostic system. The goal is to improve how early-stage pancreatic cancer is identified before it becomes aggressive.
Together with partners Arian Hussaini and Aliza Samir Khoja, Oketola also created a radio-sensor relay monitoring system to track cattle movements in rural areas, aiming to address conflicts related to cattle raids in remote regions. Their project ranked them as Calgary’s top team in the TKS and United Nations challenge.
In addition to team projects, Samir Khoja showcased PRECISE, a platform that uses cognitive tasks, speech analysis and real-time modeling to track subtle changes in brain performance.
These projects reflect how the next generation of Calgarians is building solutions across sectors, including in AI, biotechnology, neuroscience, quantum computing and health technology.
Here, it’s possible
Advancing future-focused learning opportunities and supporting innovators as they start and scale their ideas are priorities outlined in Calgary’s economic action plan, Uplook.
Through programs like The Knowledge Society, Calgary is preparing the city’s youth for what comes next and empowering them to solve global problems with creative solutions.
Learn more about OCIF’s investments at opportunitycalgary.com/news/.