Teachers have an innate knack for seeing our potential, especially when we don’t see it ourselves. That was the case for Jack Zhou, the co-founder and CEO of Wiz Robotics, a STEM and robotics education centre in Markham. While he’s a teacher today, Zhou hadn’t thought of that as a career path while studying computer science at the University of Toronto. Thankfully, Zhou’s professors saw something in him that set him on an unexpected path.
“My professors sent me out to teach the life sciences department how to run experiments with Python and work with their data structures. I didn’t know anything about biology, but I could teach them how to set up the code and go from there,” Zhou said.
After graduation, Zhou worked at companies including SAP and LinkedIn. Across various roles, he often found himself in situations where colleagues suggested he become a mentor or a teacher.
“It’s almost like you never meant to do it, but a bunch of experiences connected. It reminds me of Slumdog Millionaire, how all these small snippets of the past lead to the decisions you make today,” he said.
A self-described entrepreneur at heart, Zhou said he wasn’t thinking about STEM and robotics education as a business, even though he was running robotics classes on the weekends at a local community centre.
“Parents were telling me this was a very important thing, and a lot of them were working at AMD and other companies doing engineering themselves. They kept asking for more classes and started referring more families,” Zhou said. “One thing led to another, and I realized I didn’t have enough time during the day for my job, so I decided to take the leap and launch Wiz Robotics.” Zhou’s first step was applying to the City of Markham’s Starter Company Plus program. In addition to funding, the program connects new entrepreneurs with training and mentors to help launch new businesses.
“That took me from knowing nothing to seeing that there’s a system to this. My computer science background was largely system design and architecture, so seeing a system gave me some reassurance,” he said.
Wiz Robotics treats each student as an individual and creates a roadmap to help them meet their goals. When a parent enrolls their child, the team starts by finding out the child’s interests, from sports and entertainment to their favourite subjects in school. The result is a tailored approach to learning, from a focus on math and logic to hands-on robotics or game development.
Wiz Robotics isn’t the only place where Zhou is continuing to teach the next generation. He also lectures in computer science at U of T.
“It’s funny, because we’ve had students who took our robotics classes go to U of T and see me and say, ‘Oh! It’s you lecturing again!’” Zhou said.
For Zhou, Markham is the perfect location to build and expand Wiz Robotics. The company licenses its course modules to STEM programs across Canada and the U.S., which lets it reach more students while continuing to grow its in-person programs in Markham.
“The community is so technology-driven. STEM programs exist in many places, but in Markham, a lot of parents and students are just more open to technology and innovation. When kids are surrounded by parents who encourage them to try engineering, it’s easier for us to get them to have fun doing it,” Zhou said.
Looking ahead, Wiz Robotics wants to expand its STEM partnership programs by collaborating with schools, community organizations, and other education providers. Instead of a franchise model, Zhou described its platform as being like how multiple computer manufacturers use Microsoft Windows.
“They run their own education companies, whether tutoring, math, or something else, we just give them the platform to run it. Their hardware is the branch and the physical location, and we provide the operating system,” he said.
With a strong focus on building partnerships locally in Markham and beyond, Wiz Robotics hopes to make high-quality STEM education more accessible and inspire the next generation of innovators.
