海角社区

This year's keynote speaker is Kevin Han (BEng鈥�14), Co-Founder and CPO at .

Keynote Speaker & Judge

Kevin Han graduated from 海角社区 with a Bachelor鈥檚 degree in Materials Engineering in 2014. Along with Randeep Singh and Andrew Walker, Kevin co-founded AON3D, a Montreal-based additive manufacturing hardware, software, and material company. Since its beginning in 2015, AON3D has been on a mission to put industrial 3D printing capabilities into the hands of those who need it most听AON3D is a graduate of Y-Combinator and venture-backed by top investors from Silicon Valley.

Event Details

Date: January 30, 2025
Time: 5:00 - 8:00 PM ET
Location: 海角社区 Engine Centre (FDA 5)

This year's seminar started with keynote speaker Stephen Hamelin, President and CEO at followed by a TechIdea Pitch Competition.

Keynote Speaker & Judge

Stephen Hamelin graduated from 海角社区 with a Bachelor鈥檚 degree in Civil Engineering. In 1995, Mr. Hamelin founded Vortex International, a manufacturer of recreation equipment and amusement attractions. It started with the invention of the Splashpad庐, an innovative aquatic play solution that redefined city park development and revitalized municipal swimming pools. Today, Vortex鈥檚 product line extends to include sustainable water management solutions and water-based attractions for the amusement and leisure markets. Vortex is headquartered in Montreal and has satellite operations in the United States and Europe. The Vortex鈥檚 products can be found in city parks, resorts, amusement parks and even cruise ships throughout the globe.

TechIdea Judge

Dr. Christina Katsari, Mitacs Representative at 海角社区

Mitacs is a national, not-for-profit organization that has designed and delivered research and training programs in Canada for more than 20 years. Working with over 100 academic institutions, 6,000 companies/ NGOs, hospitals, municipalities and both federal and provincial governments, they build partnerships that support industrial and social innovation in Canada. With her colleagues Noha Gerges (Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Law, Desautels Faculty of Management, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences) and Prisca Bustamante (Faculty of Science, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences,Faculty of Dental Medicine and Oral Health Sciences), Christina (Faculty of Engineering,Schulich School of Music,Dobson Centre,Engine Centre) represents Mitacs at 海角社区. Together, they are the official contacts for 海角社区 students and faculty who are interested in Mitacs funding programs. All completed applications are submitted to them, reviewed and then forwarded to the Office of Innovation + Partnerships for final institutional signature and approval. Once the applications are approved, they are officially submitted to Mitacs where they will undergo an external peer review process.

This year's seminar started with keynote speaker followed by a TechIdea Pitch Competition.

Keynote Speaker & Judge

Shortly after graduating from 海角社区鈥檚 Faculty of Engineering in 2015, co-founded with two fellow 海角社区 Engineering students, Gabriel Bernatchez and Paul Archard. Combining their passion for electric vehicles developed during their time as leaders of the 海角社区 Undergraduate Electric Vehicle Design teams and their love for the great outdoors, Taiga was launched with the mission to electrify powersports with cutting edge technology that delivers performance without compromise. Since then, Taiga has built a team of more than 300 employees and has begun deliveries of the world鈥檚 first production electric snowmobiles and electric personal watercraft.

TechIdea Judges

Felicity Meyer, Analyst, BoxOne Ventures

As a current master鈥檚 student in 海角社区's Department of Bioresource Engineering, Felicity quantifies the environmental impact of construction in Montreal to provide actionable support towards sustainable urban development. In addition to her studies, Felicity is part of the investment teams at both Front Row Ventures - Canada's leading student-focused VC firm - and BoxOne Ventures.
Prior to studying at 海角社区, Felicity was the first scientific hire at two early-stage startups, as well as Lab Operations Manager at a newly constructed biotech accelerator. Felicity holds a B.S. in Chemistry and B.S. in Physics from Simmons University in beautiful Boston, Massachusetts, US.

Gary Berdowski, Principal, Blue Vision Capital

Gary Berdowski is a Principal at , a Montreal-based VC Climate Tech Seed Stage Fund, with over 4 years of Venture Capital experience. He worked at Cycle Capital, a leading Canadian Cleantech VC firm, for 3 years. Gary also has 7 years of experience in Engineering and Strategic Planning at Velan, an industrial manufacturer. He earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from 海角社区 and an MBA from Concordia University's Goodman Institute of Investment Management. He holds a CFA Charter and serves as a member of CFA Montreal's ESG Committee.

This year's seminar started with keynote speaker , CEO and Co Founder at followed by a Cleantech Idea Pitch Competition.

Keynote Speaker & Judge

is the CEO and Co-Founder of , a Montreal-based carbon removal technology company that has created a cement-free, carbon negative process for making pre-cast concrete using industrial waste by-products from the steel-making industry. The patented technology stems from 海角社区 Civil Engineering Professor Yixin Shao and his post-doc researcher at the time Dr. Mehrdad Mahoutian, CTO and co-founder of CarbiCrete. The R&D team received early-stage funding via the William and Rhea Seath Award in Engineering Innovation from the 海角社区 Engine Centre. In addition to CarbiCrete, Chris serves as an Advisor and Director to several Cleantech companies in the US and Canada, including EnergyPal, a North American residential solar provider.

Before founding , Chris was a Co-Founder and Director at Pure Energies Group, a residential solar customer acquisition company which was acquired by NRG Energy in 2014. Chris received his B. Eng. in Mechanical Engineering from 海角社区.

Cleantech Idea Pitch Competition Judge

is the Vice President of Business Development at , a Montreal based company that develops technologies to enable Zero Waste Discharge Habitats. Terragon鈥檚 unique appliances for waste and wastewater treatment enable the habitat, leading to reduced environmental impact and contributing to a revolution in resource management.

Theodora is a Chemical Engineer who has led the development and commercialization of a number of waste treatment technologies for over 25 years. She has worked with Terragon for 16 years, initially leading the development of MAGS, a waste to energy appliance and, more recently leading the commercialization of all of Terragon鈥檚 technologies in various markets. Theodora has multiple degrees from 海角社区 including a B.Eng, M.Eng and PhD in Chemical Engineering.

Dr. Sylvain Coulombe is a registered Engineering Physicist and Professor of Chemical Engineering at 海角社区 since 2001. From 1997 to 2001 he was a Senior Research Scientist with GE Research (USA). From 2018 to 2021 he was Associate Vice-Principal, Innovation and Partnerships with 海角社区. He is an expert in plasma source and process development with applications in nanomaterial and nanostructure synthesis, electrical power-to-X, circular fuels and materials, and powder re-processing. He has co-authored more than 300 peer-reviewed publications and conference contributions. He is Director of the 海角社区 Centre for Innovation in Storage and Conversion of Energy. He teaches courses in plasma engineering, resource recovery and circular use, transport phenomena, and process instrumentation and control.

Winning Teams

1st Place

Ikei

Gabriele Capilli (Mining and Materials Engineering, Postdoctoral Fellow) and Minh Tran (Electrical and Computer Engineering, PhD candidate)

2nd Place

Quantus

Kirk H. Bevan (Department of Mining and Materials Engineering), Yee Wei Foong (Department of Mining and Materials Engineering, PhD candidate) and Prof. Philippe Ouzilleau (Department of Mining and Materials Engineering, Postdoctoral Fellow)

3rd Place & Audience Favourite

GreenTrack

Benjamin P茅rez (Bioengineering, undergrad), Cleo Chuying Cao (Bioengineering, undergrad) and Michael Asseraf (Bioengineering, undergrad)

A conversation with Dr. Noubar Afeyan

Our keynote speaker, , (B.Eng.鈥�83, 海角社区, PhD鈥�87, MIT), Co-founder and Chairman, and Founder and CEO, , shared his insights on the development of the COVID-19 vaccine, innovation and entrepreneurship through a Q&A session that was moderated by . The event also featured remarks from Dr. Suzanne Fortier (Principal & Vice-Chancellor), Dr. Jim Nicell (Dean, Faculty of Engineering), and Dr. Morty Yalovsky (Interim Dean, Desautels Faculty of Management).

About Dr. Noubar Afeyan, Co-Founder and Chairman, Moderna & Chief Executive Officer, Flagship Pioneering
has dedicated his career to improving the human condition by systematically creating science-based innovations that serve as the foundation for start-up companies. At Flagship Pioneering, which he founded in 2000, Noubar has created an enterprise where entrepreneurially minded scientists invent seemingly unreasonable solutions to challenges facing human health and sustainability.

During his career as inventor, entrepreneur, and CEO, Noubar has co-founded and helped build over 50 life science and technology start ups. Noubar was born in Beirut to Armenian parents in 1962, did his undergraduate work in chemical engineering at 海角社区, and completed his Ph.D. in biochemical engineering at MIT in 1987.

About the John D. Thompson Entrepreneurial Development Seminar
This series was created to inspire Faculty of Engineering students to think about entrepreneurship and to think like an entrepreneur, whether they go on to start their own company in the future or be part of start-up or small/medium enterprise, or a large firm. In addition, we want to grow the entrepreneurial culture and spirit across the university.

Keynote Speaker & Judge

Samer Saab is the founder and CEO of Explorance, a Montr茅al-based Journey Analytics provider with business units in Chicago, Chennai, Melbourne, Amman, London, and Amsterdam. Since 2003, Explorance has been partnering with organizations in ensuring they can help students and employees tell their full stories of success. Known for its culture of Freewill built on trust, autonomy, and empowerment, Explorance was named a Top 10 Workplace in 2019.

Before founding Explorance, Samer worked in technology-related functions for over ten years with a focus on bridging the gap between technology and the end-user. Samer received both his B. Eng. in Electrical Engineering and his MBA from 海角社区.

TechIdea Judges

A born entrepreneur, D茅borah Cherenfant is the founder of the creative studio Atelier Color茅 and of the feminine business blog, Mots d麓Elles. Her work, her leadership and her creativity have been recognized many times, notably with the Woman of Distinction in Entrepreneurship Award from the YWCA of Montreal and the title Personality of the Week by La Presse. A TED speaker, D茅borah regularly shares her ideas on the representation of women and diversity at her conferences in Quebec as well as internationally, in addition to contributing to the Journal de Montr茅al and to the magazine Premieres en affaires. Committed, D茅borah is president of the board of Compagnie F, administrator of KANPE and co-founder of BiAS. Passionate about entrepreneurship, she uses her strategy skills in several organizations, supporting them in animation, content creation and project management for entrepreneurs.

D茅borah Cherenfant was senior advisor to BCF Imagine, an exclusive program that helps propel tech startups into the business law firm. In 2018, she was appointed to the Quebec Status of Women Council and chosen as laureate of Black History Month as well as speaker of Pluruelles, the first agency for female speaking in 2019.

In 2020, D茅borah Cherenfant became the president of the JCCM, the Junior Chamber of Commerce of Montreal, founded in 1931, with nearly 1,600 members, including nearly 150 volunteers, which makes it the largest youth chamber of commerce in the world. The JCCM's main focus is to form, develop and connect young Montrealers who seek to grow their professional network. To do so, their activities are focused into 4 main categories: networking, conferences, skills development, and competitions.

Mario Venditti is CEO of Innovobot, a Montreal-based venture capital firm that invests in transformational technologies that solve complex, real-world problems.

As COO of Above Security, A Hitachi Group company, Mario was primarily responsible for the organization鈥檚 business development, and service delivery (including development of the technology). During his tenure, Above Security went from a small local start-up to a global company with clients in 40+ countries and multiple operations centres around the world, until it was acquired by Hitachi Systems in October 2015.

While at Above Security, Mario was a key member and leader of the senior executive team that implemented a new global sales strategy and team, a supply chain to service customers in 40+ countries, a continuous improvement program culminating in being ISO 9001:2008 certified, re-engineered the ArkAngel Cyber security platform and built a strong relationship with the National Research Council of Canada and universities in Canada and Europe.

Under Mario鈥檚 guidance, Above Security acquired SecureIT in Switzerland and Seccuris in Winnipeg, and the firm Above Security received international recognition from the Gartner Group as one of the Top 10 MSSP Vendors to Watch.

Mario also spent 12 years working as a management and strategy consultant. He has Master's a Science, a Bachelor of Engineering and an MBA from 海角社区.

Pitch Competition

5 TechIdea finalists will pitch their ideas during the seminar. Each team will have 5 minutes to present their idea or solution in an "elevator pitch" format to a panel of judges from the business and technical community. This will challenge students to present themselves, and their idea, in a concise and convincing way. Judges will have 2 minutes to ask questions and give feedback. The top 3 pitches will win cash prizes of $500, $250 and $100.

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Winning Teams

1st Place

STAMP 鈥� Soft Tissue Active Mechanical Properties device

Natasha Jacobson (Mech.Eng, PhD candidate), Trevor Cotter (Mech.Eng., PhD Candidate)

2nd Place & Crowd Favorite

Artizanko- Zero waste packaging solutions for artisans & producers

Aissam Souidi (Chem.Eng., undergrad), Maria Sarah (Economics), Ivana Wang (South American Studies)

3rd Place

PrimeAID - SaaS for emergency rooms

Alexander Gruenwald (Software Eng., undergrad), Rahul Atmanathan (Mech.Eng., undergrad), Rahul Behal (Chem.Eng., undegrad), Kaustav Das Sharma (Computer Eng., undergrad)

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Remaining Finalists

AngleSmart 鈥� New electric toothbrush

Shlesha Van (Mech.Eng, undergrad), Dian Basit (Elec. Eng., undergrad), Ben Mwaniki (Chem. Eng., undergrad)

Piriko - Enabling students to better interact with their university campus

Leander Zemke, Dylan Sandfelder (Comp.Sci., undergrad), Yunxi Chen (Comp.Sci., undergrad),Shiqiao Zhu (Comp.Sci., undergrad), Jonatiel Chirwa (Comp.Sci., undergrad), Siqi Wu (Civil Eng., undergrad)

Keynote Speaker

Rory J. Altman, originally from Montreal, is a proud member of 海角社区 Engineering鈥檚 class of 1992.

Rory is currently the Managing Director of Altman Vilandrie & Company, a 150-person business strategy consulting firm that he co-founded with Ed Vilandrie in 2002. AV&Co. serves both leading and emerging telecom, media, and tech (TMT) companies, and network technology companies throughout the Americas. The firm operates out of its offices in Boston, New York City, and San Francisco.

As Managing Director, Rory both leads the firm and continues to personally serve clients. While his work spans all of TMT, he is an expert in telecom companies, working with them on growth strategies, business model transformation, product and go-to-market challenges, and investment planning. Rory also works with private equity clients that invest in the TMT sectors to develop investment hypotheses, forecast industry dynamics, value buyout targets, and improve their portfolio companies鈥� performance.

Rory is a frequent speaker and moderator at management, investor and industry conferences.

Rory holds a M.B.A. from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and a B. Eng. in Civil Engineering from 海角社区. Immediately following his time at 海角社区, he worked as a traffic engineer and transportation planner at Barton-Aschman Associates, Inc. in Chicago, where he designed safe yet efficient intersections.

Rory lives in Newton, MA, outside of Boston, with his wife and two children.

TechIdea Judges

Mark Levine is an entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist who is passionate about developing entrepreneurial talent in Montreal. Having led a successful electronics and software company to acquisition, Mark stayed on as a senior director of Product Management to help drive a much broader product and innovation strategy. Currently, Mark is involved with several 海角社区 entrepreneurial initiatives and is always eager to volunteer his time to help foster 海角社区 talent.

Senior Director of Technology, Videotron

Si芒n Morgan has a Bachelors and Masters in Electrical Engineering from 海角社区. She has spent the last 25 years of her career in the telecommunications industry working in Canada, France and the UK in various technical and leadership roles. Mid career, Si芒n returned to school to obtain her MBA her designation as a Certified Management Accountant. Si芒n her husband and three kids are now based in Montreal, where she is a senior director of technologies at Videotron.

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Winning Teams

1st Place

Dyslexia Reader app

Emily Chen (Computer Science), Monami Waki (Geography), Matthias Arabian (ECSE), Diana Nigmatullina (Architecture), all undergrads

2nd Place

Brain age prediction system

Alba Xifra-Porxas (Bioengineering, PhD), Arna Ghosh (Neuroscience, Master's)

3rd Place (Tied)

Personalized travel itinerary builder

Afreen Aliya (Electrical, Computer and Software Eng.-ECSE undergrad)

HaloGuard: medical headband device designed for athletes

David Peinturier (Management), Nathan Lafrance-Berger (ECSE), Raphaella Moock (Management), Joseph Kinning (Management), all undergrads

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The Panel

SAMUEL BRUNEAU

CO-FOUNDER, TAIGA MOTORS

Shortly after graduating from engineering in 2015, Sam co-founded Taiga Motors with two fellow 海角社区 students. Combining their passion for electric vehicles developed during their time as leaders of the 海角社区 Undergraduate Electric Vehicle Design teams and their love of winter sports, Taiga was launched with the mission to electrify powersports and accelerate sustainable access to the great outdoors. Taiga embarked on a journey to bring to market an electric snowmobile that wouldn鈥檛 compromise between performance, cost and sustainability. Two years later, Taiga has grown to a team of 14 people pushing the limits of electric vehicle engineering and is just weeks away from officially unveiling the world鈥檚 first production electric snowmobile.

ARI RAMDIAL

CO-FOUNDER, RHODIUM LABS

Ari is the CEO of Rhodium Labs, a Montreal based R&D firm focused on distributed systems and computational finance. At Rhodium, Ari works with large clients in the insurance, finance and military sectors. He is also the founder of venture backed stealth mode startup working to solve fundamental issues in blockchain security, privacy and scalability. Ari completed both his undergraduate and masters degrees in electrical engineering at 海角社区. His area of expertise is mathematical modelling and embedded multi-agent systems, which basically means he spends his time thinking about how to make computers deal with quasi-rational humans. He鈥檚 also obsessed with reading and dogs.

MICHAEL GRADEK

CO-FOUNDER, BUSBUD

Michael Gradek co-founded Busbud in 2011, and serves as CTO. His team and he are focused on delivering the software and systems that power the world鈥檚 largest supply of bookable bus inventory and the products and APIs that allow customers and partners to consume it. He completed a Computer Engineering degree from 海角社区, and is a Microsoft veteran and patent holder who has worked on MSN.com, Start.com, Internet Explorer, the Bing search engine and Windows 10. He鈥檚 happily married and a proud father of two.

Keynote Speakers and Judges

ROBERT HEFT

Robert is currently CEO of Zingenix Ltd. (Israel), a development stage gene therapy company and is a Member of the Board of Directors of several preclinical and clinical stage, public and private biopharmaceutical and medical device companies. Dr. Heft founded IBEX Pharmaceuticals in 1986, and served as its President, Chief Scientist and member of its Board of Directors until 2001. He sold the pharmaceutical assets of IBEX to BioMarin in 2001. He went on to serve as President and CEO and member of the Board of Directors of Enobia Pharma Inc. In February 2012 he sold Enobia to Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. for USD 1.1 Billion, which was at the time, the largest-ever sale of a private, pre-commercial biopharmaceutical company. Dr. Heft obtained his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Genetic Engineering/ Radiological Sciences in 1986 at which time he was also a Neurology Fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Prior to that he received a Master鈥檚 degree in Nuclear Engineering from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from 海角社区.

DIDIER TOUSSAINT

Didier is the Group President of Discovery Air Government Services, and is responsible for Discovery Air Defence Services (Top Aces), Discovery Air Technical Services and Discovery Air Fire Services. Previously, he served in the Royal Canadian Air Force as a CF-18 pilot where he was awarded the prestigious 鈥淭op Gun鈥� award. Later he was a Senior Consultant to the Directorate of Research and Development Canada and companies such as Northrop Grumman and CAE

BRUNO MORENCY

Bruno is currently Head of Operations at Poka Inc., a social platform that focuses on efficient training, knowledge retention and real-time troubleshooting in the manufacturing world. He was the founder of Context.IO, an API for developers to integrate email data in their applications. Bruno has been involved in startups since graduating from 海角社区 Engineering in 2001 with his first web startup acquired in 2003.

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Finalists

Portable timing system and analysis interface for competitive swimming

Akaraseth Puranasamriddhi (Electrical and Computer Engineering undergrad) Carlos Gonzalez Oliver (Computer Science, PhD candidate)

All-in-one systems for cannabinoid extraction and measurement for commercial production of cannabis infused products

Ian Kelly (Materials Engineering undergrad) Vilhelm Jensen (Finance undergrad) Adeola Odusanya (Chemical Engineering masters) 鈥淟anguage-learning App鈥� Karem Elkayar (Chemical Engineering masters) Samy Zarour (Computer Science undergrad)

Connecting people to small local businesses

Nasif Alam (Electrical and Computer Engineering undergrad) Nayem Alam (Electrical and Computer Engineering undergrad)

Shohm: an app to connect students with affordable short-term housing

Andrea Cabral (Electrical and Computer Engineering undergrad) Justin Dalrymple (B.Eng. 鈥�15, Electrical)

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Keynote Speaker

LUC SIROIS

CO-FOUNDER AND LEADER OF HACKING HEALTH

A 海角社区 Engineering alumnus with an MBA from Harvard, Luc is an experienced executive and entrepreneur in health technology. After completing his MBA in 1997, he joined the consulting firm McKinsey & Company, specializing in innovation management, business growth and the launch of digital products across Canada and Europe. In 2002, he co-founded Resonant Medical, a manufacturer of radiation oncology equipment will was eventually acquired by the Swedish multinational Elekta, world leader in radiotherapy and treatment of cancer guided by medical imagerie. Luc then held senior management positions in digital health at Telesystem, TELUS Health and Nightingale. In 2012, Luc co-founded the Health Hacking movement, with the purpose of breaking down barriers to health care innovation. Working in collaboration with several local leaders, he led global initiatives, developing partnerships with key stakeholders in the digital health, and has facilitated the creation of dozens of teams and chapters in Canada and around the world. Together these leaders aim to innovate faster and revolutionize the health sector by allowing the involvement of all stakeholders: patients, clinicians, technologists, administrators, entrepreneurs, institutions and companies.

Panelists

ST脡PHANE MARCEAU

CO-FOUNDER AND CEO OF OMSIGNAL

St茅phane is co-founder and CEO of OMsignal, a VC backed, bio-sensing apparel company. He has been building technology and communication businesses for more than 15 years. He was co-founder and CEO of Theralive, a small firm specialized in mobile health applications and services, and was co-founder and CEO of Mobivox, a global mobile VoIP platform. In addition to being a repeat entrepreneur, he served as Bell Canada鈥檚 Vice President where he built and grew new lines of business including the company鈥檚 e-commerce group. He was also Chief Marketing Officer of Yellow Media, where he led the development and marketing of digital and mobile products for platforms such as RedFlagDeals.com, LesPAC, YellowAPI, AutoTRADER and Mediative. St茅phane holds a master鈥檚 degree in Management of Technology from the University of Waterloo and a bachelor鈥檚 degree in Finance from the Universit茅 du Qu茅bec 脿 Montr茅al.

MEHRSAN JAVAN

CO-FOUNDER AND CTO OF SPORTLOGIQ

Mehrsan is a 海角社区 Engineering alumnus with a passion about new technologies and a particular interest in intelligent systems. In 2014, he co-founded SportLogIQ, a computer vision based sport analytics startup in Montreal to provide comprehensive statistics to all professional and amateur athletes using only a single handheld camera. Mehrsan believes that SportLogIQ鈥檚 disruptive technologies will eventually make it possible to recognize all talented junior sport players all around the world and no one gets ignored. As the CTO and co-founder, his current role includes strategic planning and development of new technologies. He is still involved with academia and has strategic partnership with four research labs in top Canadian universities and is affiliated with 海角社区 as an adjunct professor. Mehrsan has published numerous research articles and holds a couple of patents and patents pending applications.

MARK LEVINE

SENIOR DIRECTOR, PRODUCT AND STRATEGY,PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS FOR NUANCE DOCUMENT IMAGING

As Senior Director, Product and Strategy, Professional Products for Nuance Document Imaging, Mark is responsible for consolidating the strategy and products for the professional market. In this role he drives all phases of product development and execution in this space, with a focus on strengthening and extending the global footprint of this business. Mark joined Nuance in January 2013 through the acquisition of Copitrak. Married with three boys, Mark lives and works in Montreal, Canada where he was born and raised. A hockey enthusiast, Mark spends most of his time outside of work coaching his boys鈥� hockey teams and cheering for the Montreal Canadians.

Panel Moderator

CHRIS ARSENAULT

MANAGING PARTNER INOVIA CAPITAL

Chris Arsenault is Managing Partner at iNovia Capital and has been an early stage investor and entrepreneur for the last two decades. Chris currently serves as a director or observer on the boards of AppDirect, Beyond the Rack, LightSpeed Retail, Luxury Retreats, Poka and Well.ca. Chris is a board member of R茅seau Capital, Co-Chair of the Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX) and is an active Charter Member of the C100. Before joining iNovia in 2002, Chris founded, co-founded or funded a number of Software, Mobile and Consumer Internet technology start-ups, including 2 spin-offs of telecom giants Microcell and Teleglobe. Chris was also instrumental in the creation of the ENABLIS Entrepreneurial Network (a $30+ million G8-sponsored venture capital seed fund). Chris鈥� entrepreneurial and investment experience includes a number of notable exits. As founder and CEO of SIT in the mid-90鈥檚, he played an important part in the initial growth of the Internet.

Panelists

JAMES McGOFF

CO-FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, LIFEPACK

In 2009, James McGoff moved to Montreal to study materials engineering in the co-op program at 海角社区 (graduation pending). Throughout 2011 and 2012, he worked for the advanced material analysis group at Boeing Defense, Space & Security where he developed an interest for heat transfer and insulation. With a strong passion for entrepreneurship, James leveraged the resources available through 海角社区 (and relied on some very kind professors) to research the potential commercial applications of several novel materials 鈥� particularly in the world of packaging. Lifepack was started in April 2013 for the purpose of developing products that help blood banks and pharmaceutical companies move temperature sensitive material around the world more efficiently. The company has since sold tens of thousands of its insulated packaging products to health care and food customers both in the US and Canada. James is an avid supporter of anything that promotes and supports business creation within the 海角社区 engineering community.

DAVID R. ROLSTON

CO-FOUNDER, VICE PRESIDENT AND CTO, REFLEX PHOTONICS

Dr. Rolston received B.Eng., M.Eng. and Ph.D. degrees all in electrical and computer engineering from 海角社区, Canada. Prior to co-founding Reflex Photonics, he worked at FCI-Areva as senior photonics scientist where he helped commission one of three global R&D research centers in the field of optics and photonics. While at FCI-Areva鈥檚 Corporate Research Center he was responsible for the planning and design of several projects into multi-gigabit parallel optical fiber transceivers and fused biconic fiber couplers. His current role as CTO at Reflex Photonics includes the design and testing of optical and optomechanical design assemblies for optical transceivers and Hybrid Optical IC Packaging concepts for chip-to-chip optical interconnections. Other fields of interest involve the design, testing, and packaging of VLSI ASICs for high-speed optoelectronic systems. Dr. Rolston has published numerous journal articles and holds several US and International Patents and Patents Pending.

DIDIER TOUSSAINT

CO-FOUNDER, TOP ACES GROUP PRESIDENT, GOVERNMENT SERVICES, DISCOVERY AIR

Didier is an honours graduate in mechanical engineering from the Royal Military College of Canada. He served in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) as a CF-18 pilot where he was awarded the prestigious 鈥淭op Gun鈥� award for best overall performance on the CF-18 Fighter Weapons Instructor Course. Didier鈥檚 final assignment in the RCAF was in the Directorate of Aerospace Requirements (DAR), as Deputy Project Director for the CF-18 modernization program. Didier then gained significant experience in the global aerospace and air transportation industry, working as a Senior Consultant for the DRDC (Directorate of Research and Development Canada) and with companies such as Northrop Grumman and CAE. Didier is one of the original founders of Top Aces, which he lead in the role of President and Accountable Executive as it became a world leader in Military Air Training. Top Aces, now part of Discovery Air, is the exclusive provider of Contracted Airborne Training Services to Canada since 2005, has recently continued its expansion in Germany and the United States. Didier is the Group President of Discovery Air Government Services, and is responsible for Discovery Air Defence Services (Top Aces), Discovery Air Technic

The Panel

Michael M. Avedesian

Senior Associate and Advisor, Faculty Lecturer, 海角社区, Montreal

Michael Avedesian obtained a bachelor鈥檚 degree with honors in Chemical Engineering from 海角社区, and Ph.D. in engineering from Cambridge University. He worked 21 years at Noranda Inc. in several roles including technical, operations, business management and executive management, followed by 6 years with Domtar Corp. as Director, Corporate Development. He had three entrepreneurial start-ups, two of which were successful. He then served 5 years as the Director of the Office of Technology Transfer at 海角社区 and currently teaches courses in strategic management, technological entrepreneurship and launching new enterprises at the MBA and graduate level. Michael is on the Board of Directors of TM4 and has an active consulting business. Michael is a member of Ordre des ingenieurs du Quebec, Professional Engineers of Ontario, the CSChE, Fellow of the CIC and in 1998 he was inducted as a Fellow in the Canadian Academy of Engineering.

Bruno Morency

Director of Product Management, Return Path

Bruno Morency is the Founder of Context.IO, now part of Return Path. Context.io is an API that makes it easy and fast for developers to integrate email data in their applications. Bruno likes to think the numerous discussions he had with developers innovating on top of email with Context.IO gave him a unique perspective on what the future holds for this deeply ingrained communication medium, a perspective he enjoys sharing at conferences that are kind enough to accept him as a speaker. Bruno has been involved in startups since graduating from 海角社区 Engineering in 2001 with his first web startup acquired in 2003. In 2009, he had a son and started DokDok, a Gmail extension to manage attachments. The work behind DokDok turned into Context.IO which came out of beta in December 2011, a mere four months after his daughter, and second child, was born.

Paul McRae

Founder and CEO of McRae Construction

Paul McRae has been a business owner in the construction industry for the past 30 years, with humble beginnings as a deck builder in his late teens. Now a high end renovator and project manager, he has gone from building decks to multimillion dollar homes. As a 海角社区 graduate in Civil (structural) Engineering 1993, he has used his education throughout his career in building and project management. Paul also proudly serves on the facilities board at his church where he volunteers his time and knowledge. As a firm believer that it is better to give than to receive, Paul donates generously to several charities which include, but are not limited to, Asia鈥檚 Hope, Crossing Cambodia, LaCorde, West Island Mission, Saving Station, and Power to Change. Paul McRae, currently lives and conducts business out of his West Island home. With two children yet to put through university and a wife who has recently started a Professional Photography business, he has no plans to retire any time soon.

Stephen Hamelin

CEO and Founder of Vortex Aquatic Structures International

Stephen Hamelin graduated from 海角社区 with a Bachelor鈥檚 degree in Civil Engineering. Since 1995 Mr. Hamelin has lead Vortex in becoming a global brand in the recreation and amusement industries. Vortex has developed several products and solutions that have revolutionized public parks, aquatic centers, amusement parks, hotels and resorts. Today, Vortex has completed over 5500 projects in over 25 countries and has established offices in the United States.

Olivier Gagnon-Gordillo

SAJE Business coach

Most of Olivier鈥檚 experience and expertise revolves around entrepreneurship, marketing, HR and sales. He holds a Bachelor鈥檚 degree in International Business and a Master鈥檚 degree in Organizational Development. He speaks fluently in French, English and Spanish and has also worked in the US and Latin America. He is passionate about helping people succeed and achieve their goals and has done so in both the business and fitness worlds. Olivier works at the SAJE accompagnateur d鈥檈ntrepreneurs as a coach and trainer for entrepreneurs. A leader in its domain, SAJE exists to contribute to the business success of new entrepreneurs by providing advisory services, coaching and training. For over 25 years, the SAJE model has contributed to the start-up of 18,542 businesses, which have created almost 40,000 jobs and generated projected investments of more than $800 million.

Pierre Dubreuil

Executive Vice President, Financing and Consulting The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC)

Pierre Dubreuil was appointed Executive Vice President, Financing and Consulting at BDC in October 2012. In this role, he is responsible for financing, consulting and operations support across the bank. Mr. Dubreuil has over 30 years of commercial and general banking experience. Before joining BDC, he was Senior Vice President, International at the National Bank of Canada. During his 18 year tenure, he held executive positions in key functions such as syndication, credit, commercial lending, marketing and business solutions. Beginning his career with the Federal Business Development Bank, he also worked at Export Development Canada and as Vice-President, Business Development at the Industrial Bank of Japan in Toronto. Mr. Dubreuil holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Laval University and has completed various leadership and management programs.