Coming fall 2025: The new McLean Centre for Collaborative Discovery

The DeGroote School of Business is not only transforming the face of business education, but also the footprint of collaborative education at McMaster. In 2025, the new McLean Centre for Collaborative Discovery (MCCD) will open as the premiere academic destination for students to discover, learn and collaborate.

There are two key cornerstones of this new space:

Experiential Learning: Students will learn through authentic engagement with real problems and partners. This focus on experiential learning and collaborative problem-solving will equip students with the skills needed to help address community, industry and societal challenges.

Collaboration: Students will learn by working with fellow students across DeGroote and McMaster, in addition to working with faculty, staff and community and industry partners.

Discovery-Based Learning

Hands-on learning will take place through 10 unique learning hubs which are the driving force behind MCCD’s overall vision for collaborative discovery.

These dynamic learning spaces will provide an active learning environment for students to discover business principles, new ideas and interdisciplinary perspectives – so they can develop skills, integrate knowledge from courses and gain expertise on a range of areas.

• Allen H. Gould Trading Floor: Offers a unique experiential learning environment, where students will acquire insight, experience, skills and broad knowledge about the financial services industry.
• Data Analytics and AI Hub: Develops students who are fluent in artificial intelligence, and who can leverage data for discovery, decision-making and competitive advantage.
• Design and Innovation Hub: Offers access to the skills required for a collaborative and equity-forward approach to design and innovation.
• KPMG Ignition Lab: Enables a new generation of innovators to create products, services and businesses in the midst of rapid change.
• Marinucci Entrepreneurial Studio: Supports students across the full entrepreneurship lifecycle, from ideation to growth and beyond.
• Power Corporation Leadership Hub: Builds leadership capabilities in real-time through its leading-edge neuroscience technology and state-of-the-art evidence-based practices.
• Rapid Prototyping Lab: Provides students with access to the tools required to realize and prototype their solutions.
• Sales and Marketing Analytics Hub: Offers real-world experiences and simulations to leverage strategic selling and marketing for competitive advantage.
• Social Impact Hub: Cultivates cross-sector changemakers who reshape social landscapes to address pressing issues facing our communities.
• Sustainable Futures Hub: Integrates students into global conversations about the most urgent challenges facing our planet.

Construction Progress

Watch from the start of demolition in June 2022 to the most recent addition of glass on the exterior of the building in September 2024.

MCCD Spaces and Places

The MCCD will have 10 floors including a welcoming ground floor with a café and light-filled open space where students can connect, engage in discussions and participate in special events. Located next to the current DeGroote School of Business building, the MCCD will be connected to it upon completion. The building will include a variety of spaces:

• Auditorium: A tiered-style classroom with a capacity of 240 students, it will be a modern, state-of-the-art learning facility with a wall of digital screens.
• BMO Connection Zone: An open space and atrium for students to encourage unstructured connections with other students, faculty and industry and community partners.
• Digital Learning Studio: This space will include a wide range of multi-media tools for students to access.
• Digital Classrooms: The Douglas Classroom and Feather Family Classroom are active learning spaces that will be outfitted with multi-media and collaboration technology.
• Events on 10: An event space on the tenth floor that will offer panoramic views over campus and Cootes Paradise.
• Partner Engagement Hub: A multi-purpose space to host industry/community partner events.
• PhD Cluster and J. Welke PhD Studies Lounge: This space will provide workstations, collaboration rooms, café and a lounge space for PhD students.
• Student Leadership Suite and KPMG Student Lounge: Collaborative working spaces for DeGroote student clubs.

MCCD will also be home to several McMaster partners including:

• Faculty of Health Sciences
• Innis Library
• Media Production Services
• Registrar’s Office

The MCCD has been made possible through the generous support of alumni, faculty and community organizations, including the lead donor, alumnus Paul McLean (B.Sc. ‘80, MBA ’81). Visit McLean Centre for Collaborative Discovery for more information.