{"id":63455,"date":"2020-01-22T14:28:15","date_gmt":"2020-01-22T19:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=63455"},"modified":"2020-01-28T17:14:07","modified_gmt":"2020-01-28T22:14:07","slug":"farzana-crocco-named-first-executive-director-of-brock-linc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2020\/01\/farzana-crocco-named-first-executive-director-of-brock-linc\/","title":{"rendered":"Farzana Crocco named first Executive Director of Brock LINC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Farzana Crocco and Brock LINC<\/a> have two big things in common: each are relatively new to Niagara; and both are brimming with the energy and excitement of possibilities.<\/p>\n

As Brock LINC\u2019s inaugural Executive Director, Crocco is gearing up to lead the University\u2019s new centre for innovation, research and entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n

The Brock LINC \u2014 which stands for Learning, Innovation, Networking, and Collaboration \u2014 is housed in the newly-constructed $19 million Rankin Family Pavilion<\/a> at the base of Schmon Tower.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is going to be a big year with the opening of the Brock LINC,\u201d says Crocco. \u201cAnd the beauty of a new facility is the opportunity to create the experiences, resources and programs we want. There are no written rules yet, and we aren\u2019t confined to any boxes. We have the flexibility to explore what we want the Brock LINC to be for students, researchers and the entrepreneurial community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crocco has been in Brock\u2019s neighbourhood since 2018, where she was Manager of Strategic Marketing in Niagara Region\u2019s Economic Development Department. Before that, she was Director of Marketing and Enrolment Management at York University in Toronto, and held strategic marketing positions at TD Bank Financial Group.<\/p>\n

She has also been a business coach and consultant to small businesses and social enterprises in Toronto. Most recently, Crocco has been involved in the Niagara community as a part-time business instructor at Niagara College, and as a new mentor for the Niagara Workforce Planning Board\u2019s Immigrant Mentorship Program.<\/p>\n

Brock Vice-President, Research Tim Kenyon says Crocco is a perfect fit for Brock\u2019s trailblazing facility.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe combination of working at a large university and getting to know the Niagara entrepreneurial community through her time at Niagara Region gives Farzana insights into both worlds, seamlessly bringing the two together to create exciting new programs and services,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The Rankin Family Pavilion is an impressive 41,000-square-foot facility that contains a range of offices and labs<\/a> in which research, teaching and networking activities are already taking place.<\/p>\n

Examples of state-of-the-art equipment and research currently being done, or about to start, at the Brock LINC include the Brock-Niagara Validating, Prototyping and Manufacturing<\/a> facility and the world\u2019s first AR\/VR consumer lab<\/a> with Brock\u2019s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute.<\/p>\n

Crocco says these and other Brock LINC facilities and programs are \u201cgreat assets and resources,\u201d that will yield impactful results.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the key strengths at Brock is the commitment to cutting-edge, innovative programs and research. I\u2019m only just discovering the incredible things that are happening here, and it means that it\u2019s exactly the right time for a centre like Brock LINC to open on campus,\u201d she says. \u201cThis is a phenomenal opportunity to do something great for the University and for the Niagara community. I\u2019m excited to meet people and get started.”<\/p>\n

Crocco started her new role on Monday, Jan. 20.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Farzana Crocco and Brock LINC have two big things in common: each are relatively new to Niagara; and both are brimming with the energy and excitement of possibilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":63458,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[36,39,7484,40,3319,4052,55,37,41,1,4,5,38],"tags":[5067,8608,8606,1210,2297,8607,6635,5624],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63455"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63455"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63579,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63455\/revisions\/63579"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}