When Colleen Chang (BA’23) stepped onto McGill’s Downtown Campus in 2019, she was determined to carve a path all her own. With her passion for entrepreneurship and positive climate action as her lodestar, the New Yorker ardently pursued experiential and networking opportunities, despite having to navigate COVID restrictions throughout her studies.
Chang’s resolve paid off. Today, she’s Chief Product Officer at Tuuli, a Toronto-based company she co-founded while still working on her undergraduate degree. Its domain-specific AI software can help manage the real estate development process, making building projects more efficient and reducing their carbon footprints. The position allows her to leverage the skills she gained through her studies and internship experiences to advance sustainable living.
“My internship experiences were all in product management, which is similar to the role I have now,” she explained. “I love to talk to people about what we’re doing – I’m excited to share how Tuuli can make a positive impact. I also make sure we’re not building in a silo, but that we’re actually building with the industry, and answering its needs.”
The company offers AI-powered software tools that allow designers and builders to leverage their data to better inform their work. For real-estate developers, Tuuli’s carbon management tool provides insights into the embodied carbon performance of buildings, with a view to facilitating environmentally friendly decisions about materials, processes and designs, Chang said. Another tool, of particular interest to the architecture, engineering and construction industries, automates manual tasks. It also efficiently provides insights based on past projects, allowing these industries to better focus on creating a built environment that’s more sustainable, she said.
Chang said her studies were instrumental in preparing her for her current position.
“Having my degree in Computer Science and my background gives me credibility in the most technical conversations, but I’m also able to explain what we’re doing in everyday language because that’s the experience that I’ve built up to now,” she said.
Pursuing interests, chasing opportunities
Chang began her academic career following others’ advice. Having a natural aptitude for math and science and a general interest in architecture, she was initially encouraged to pursue a degree in Civil Engineering. However, less than a year into her studies, she would change her academic trajectory after a first-year computer science course sparked her interest in that field.
“I took the class during my second semester, and it completely opened my mind to the possibilities of software as a vehicle of change,” Chang explained. “It also allowed for career opportunities that are more varied than engineering, which I really appreciated.”
An elective class taken her final year would also prove pivotal. Chang’s interest in the dynamics between sustainability and economics prompted her to join Prof. Michael Babcock’s Ecological Economics class.
“It was the first time that I felt like I was interacting with a person first and a professor second,” she said. “I would talk to Prof. Babcock about the progress we were making with my company, about how to pragmatically build a sustainable world that was also economically viable, or about the niche topic that I wanted to deep-dive into for my final project. Because most of my degree was completed online (because of the pandemic), I didn’t get to develop a close relationship with many professors, so this felt particularly special.”
Learning beyond the classroom
In addition to her steadfast pursuit of her academic interests, Chang attended summer entrepreneurship programs, including the prestigious Cansbridge Fellowship, which enables participants to pursue internships in Asia, and Next36, where she met her two Tuuli co-founders.
“Having grown up around entrepreneurs, I think I was always subconsciously working toward launching my own company by the time I finished my degree,” she explained. “During my undergrad, I was around people who are very entrepreneurial, and many were running their own companies already. Having those role models so close by really helped me imagine that this could be a path for myself.”
After completing Next36, Chang continued to collaborate with her Tuuli co-founders, working part-time during her final semester.
A few months after Chang graduated, the company would find support from within the McGill community. After winning first place in the Dobson Cup competition’s Environmental Enterprise Track section, Tuuli managed to secure funding that would allow the team to further expand its business network.
As Chang explained, “the Dobson Centre definitely helped us get through doors we didn’t have access to before.”
Reflecting on her time at McGill, Chang encourages students to make the most of their studies.
“Seize your university years as an opportunity to explore. Lean into what feels right. That will guide you to the path that is right for you in the end.”