British Columbia Innovation Council

Greg Aasen

Chair, BC Innovation Council

Mr. Aasen was the founder and the chief strategy officer at PMC-Sierra up to June 2007. Previously he was vice president and general manager of the Communications Products Division. Prior to that, Mr. Aasen was chief operating officer and chief technology officer of the Company. Bringing over 20 years of experience to the semiconductor industry, Mr. Aasen began his career at Mitel where he held both product and design engineering positions. In 1986, he joined MPR Teltech and later established the Pacific Microelectronic Centre (PMC), MPR Teltech's first business division. In 1992, Mr. Aasen's vision was realized when PMC-Sierra was spun-out from MPR Teltech through an investment from Sierra Semiconductor. In addition to BCIC, Mr. Aasen currently serves on the Board of Directors for Sutus Corporation and Sierra Wireless. In June 2000, Mr. Aasen was named "Person of the Year" by the B.C. Technology Industries Association and was awarded "Entrepreneur of the Year" in BC from Ernst & Young in 1996.

Geoff Catherwood

Director, Venture Capital, BDC

Geoff has 14 years experience in industrial automation and process control and over 8 years of experience in venture capital investing. Prior to joining the BDC in 2001, he worked for Bailey Canada and Asea Brown Boveri in a variety of different roles.

He currently administers BDC Venture Capital's "Energy, Environment, Electronics and Materials" portfolio in Western Canada.

He is a Professional Engineer who holds a BASc in Mechanical Engineering from UBC and an Executive MBA from SFU.

Mark Dance

Former President, Creo Products

Mark Dance graduated from UBC in 1986 with a BApSc (hons) in Mechanical engineering. From 1986 to 1994 Mark worked at a small robotic surgery start up called Andronic Devices. Mark holds a number of US patents and their foreign filing equivalents from his time at Andronic.

In 1994 Mark joined Creo Products and was with them until their sale to Eastman Kodak in 2005. Mark held various roles at Creo including Product Manager, VP of Product Development, COO, President, and CFO/COO. Mark was also a Director on Creo's Board.

Mark sits on several Boards trying to help West Coast technology companies not repeat the mistakes he made.

David Dunnison

VP Business Development, 6N Silicon

As VP of Business Development at 6N Silicon, David Dunnison has developed extensive customer, partner and investor relationships in the solar PV industry.

With extensive Board, CEO, and executive experience, his experience spans the clean-tech, semiconductor and software industries. Past successes include Ballard, Icron, Protexis and Teradyne. From start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, David has created and led a number of successful high tech ventures and spearheaded major business initiatives and numerous product launches.

David has two Bachelor degrees and a Harvard MBA.

Rochelle Grayson

Interim Executive Director, New Media BC; Former President, Work [at] Play

Rochelle Grayson is social media and social gaming executive. Most recently, Rochelle was President of Work at Play, a digital media agency focused on the monetization of digital content for large entertainment companies. With an extensive background in business, technology, new media and film, Rochelle has leveraged 18 years of experience to lead and launch several innovative digital media initiatives.

Rochelle is equally comfortable discussing social media trends, economic development initiatives, digital distribution business models, and web 2.0 technologies. She has spoken at many high-profile events including: the Consumer Electronics Show (Las Vegas), The Korea Games Conference: G-Star (Seoul), and Digital Hollywood (Los Angeles and Silicon Valley). She was also appointed as a juror for the Banff World Television Festival Original Online Programs, NextMedia's NextPITCH Competition, and New Ventures BC Competition.

In 2008, Rochelle was nominated as one of Canada's Top 100^TM Most Powerful Women and named one of Vancouver's Top 10 Technology Women. In 2009, Rochelle received the Canadian Women in Communications' Trailblazer: Excellence in Leadership Award and was named one of Business in Vancouver's Top Forty under 40.

Phil Holland

Entrepreneur; Founder, Sutus; Founder & CEO, Circa Communications

Phil Holland is an accomplished lifelong entrepreneur. As co-founder and CEO of Circa Communications, Inc., a developer of high quality business VoIP telephones, Phil was an early leader in VoIP products and standards. Circa was acquired by Polycom Inc. (PLCM NASX). Prior to Circa, Phil's involvement with telecom startups dates back 25 years. Phil is currently an Entrepreneur-In-Residence at SFU.

Eric Jordan

President, Premier's Technology Council

While working at the University of Victoria, Eric Jordan co-founded PureEdge Solutions, a unique architecture for digital transactions. Jordan served as the President and CEO of PureEdge from 1993 through 2002. In December 2002, he assumed the role of Chief Strategy Officer. In July 2005, IBM acquired PureEdge Solutions. Jordan worked with IBM in a transition role before accepting a position as Executive-In-Residence at the Faculty of Business at UVic.

In Oct 2008, Eric Jordan was appointed as the new President of the Premier's Technology Council (PTC). The PTC advises the B.C. government on issues related to the advancement and application of technology in the province.

Eric Jordan has been a keynote speaker at numerous technology industry events. He was selected by Business in Vancouver for their "Top 40 Business People Under 40" award, by the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce for their Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, by the University of Victoria for their Distinguished Young Alumni award and recognized by John Manley on behalf of the Canadian government as an Internet pioneer. Additionally, Jordan was the recipient of VIATeC's Colin Lennox Award for Technology Champion. This award recognizes an individual whose long-standing support has been instrumental in Vancouver Island's continued success on the world technology stage.

Paulin Laberge

CEO, Con-Space Communications

Paulin Laberge is a seasoned business leader who has held a variety of technical and managerial positions in several public and private technology industry companies. Paulin, currently CEO of Con-Space Communications, is also a mentor to CEOs enrolled in ACETECH's Growth Strategy Program where he works with them to improve their leadership skills and organizational results.

Roy Leahy

Principal, The Osborne Group

Roy has a proven track record in the executive management of high tech companies from the start-up stage through to a high revenue ($100M+), high growth, multi-national. He has run a mid-sized, publicly traded company. Recently Roy has been working, under contract, with companies that are either starting up or looking to move to the next level. He utilizes his technical, business, and financial skills to position the corporation properly in the marketplace and with potential investors. He has acted as the interface between non-technical entrepreneurs and their highly technical software contract firms to define product functionality, select proper technology platforms, and derive factual project costs and schedules.

Paul Lindahl

CEO, nGrain

As CEO of NGRAIN Corporation, Paul Lindahl draws upon 25 years of experience in the high technology sector and has earned a reputation as a successful corporate builder with proven leadership expertise.

Prior to founding NGRAIN, Paul was President of Hewitt Rand Corporation, a computer hardware manufacturer, where he led and expanded the company's North American operations, and directed a merger with Seattle-based Merit Distributing Inc.

Paul holds a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in geotechnical engineering from the University of British Columbia, and a Master of Business Administration from Queen's University, where he received the Business School's 1986 Vicom Award of Merit. Paul is a member of the Young Presidents' Organization, and has been on the board of directors for community charities, including serving as Chairman of the HR Macmillan Space Centre. He also serves on the board of directors for the BC Technology Industry Association.

Mark Longo

Partner, Clark Wilson LLP

Mark Longo is a Partner with Clark Wilson LLP's Technology and Corporate Finance Practice Groups. Through this experience, Mark brings a practical skill set and business perspective that are invaluable in advising multinational technology clients throughout the entire life cycle of their companies, from start up through to exit. Mark has served in senior executive, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary capacities for a number of international technology companies, including most recently as Vice President Corporate Development, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary of Intrinsyc Software International Inc. (TSX:ICS), a leading international provider of software solutions for mobile devices headquartered in Vancouver.

Mark previously served as Vice President Business Development, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary of Datawire Communication Networks Inc., a privately held company headquartered in Toronto that provided Internet transaction delivery network services to the payment processing market. Mark was lead counsel and a member of the negotiation team in the 2007 sale of Datawire to First Data Corporation (NYSE: FDC). Mark also served as General Counsel and in various executive roles at Star Data Systems Inc., a TSX-listed company that provided real- time information services and transaction processing software to the financial services industry. Star Data was acquired by CGI Group Inc. (TSX: GIB.A) in 2001. Mark articled at Borden & Elliot (now Borden Ladner Gervais LLP) in Toronto.

Mark holds a Masters of Business Administration (Executive MBA Program) from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario (2001), and received his LL.B. in 1992 from Queen's University and his Bachelor of Arts (Political Science/Economics) from McGill University in 1989. Mark is called to the Bar in British Columbia and Ontario.

Ross McDonald

President, Clean West Capital Inc.

Ross McDonald has seventeen years experience in corporate finance, banking and entrepreneurship. Ross is President of Clean West Capital Inc., a corporate finance firm that provides M&A advisory and raises institutional capital for clean energy projects and clean technology ventures. Ross is also co-founder of Bright Peak Power, a solar developer.

Hector MacKay-Dunn, Q.C.

Senior Partner, Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP

Hector MacKay-Dunn, Q.C. is a Senior Partner at Farris which is among Canada's leading law firms, where Hector has advised both early-stage and growth private and public companies in a broad range of industries on domestic and cross-border private and public securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions, tender offers, and international partnering transactions.

He is frequently quoted in the media and considered a leading advisor to his clients. Among his notable achievements, Hector has been recognized by Lexpert, the most respected legal publication in Canada, as among the Top 100 Canada/US Cross-Border Corporate Lawyers in Canada and among Canada's leading lawyers in mergers and acquisitions, technology, and biotechnology.

Hector holds the highest ("AV" Pre-eminent) legal ability rating from Martindale-Hubbell, an authoritative and global source for identifying leading lawyers and law firms and the Best Lawyers in Canada ranks Hector as a national leader in Technology and Biotechnology. Hector was appointed Queen's Counsel in 2003.

Hector is the immediate past Chair of the BC Innovation Council, a director of BC Leading Edge Foundation Fund and LifeSciences BC and a former director of Genome British Columbia.

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Richard MacKellar

Managing Director, Chrysalix; NxtPhase, Brightside

Richard MacKellar is managing director with Chrysalix, an alternative energy venture firm. He started as an engineering with Rolls Royce supplying to electric utilities. As an entrepreneur Richard was CEO of BrightSide (sold to Dolby) and NxtPhase.

Richard holds a Metallurgy Degree from Sheffield University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

William Milligan

Principal, The Osborne Group

Bill Milligan brings over 25 years of experience in biopharmaceutical business development and commercialization; 16 years split between Roche and Lilly in executive and management roles commercializing CellCept, Roferon-A, Invirase, Activase, Rituximab, Herceptin, Prozac, Accutane, Axid and numerous other drugs. In biotechnology, Mr. Milligan served as CEO, Director and Chief Business Officer (BD, CD, IR) in building start-up and public companies and raised over $60MM of venture, equity and government financing.

Greg Peet

World-Class High-Tech Entrepreneur, Business Leader and Community Supporter

As a high-tech entrepreneur, executive, board director and angel investor, Greg Peet has consistently contributed to the province of BC by creating successful enterprises and supporting local charitable activities.

Prior to its acquisition by healthcare and information technology giant McKesson Corporation for $536 million cash, as CEO Greg oversaw the transformation of ALI from a research and development facility with 14 employees into the largest independent global supplier of radiological image management systems for hospitals and clinics. Under his leadership, ALI/MIG grew to generate revenues in excess of US$100 million per year, achieving recognition as one of BC's best employers and the top-rated supplier of medical imaging management products by most popular industry surveys from 2002 to 2004.

After leaving McKesson in 2004, Greg was recruited to the 23-member Premier's Technology Council (PTC) and was appointed Co-Chair in 2006. Under Greg's direction the Council has played a significant role in promoting the development of the province's knowledge based economy. Greg has also been active in providing advisory and financial support to a number of BC-based technology businesses. In 2002, Greg was recognized as the Ernst & Young Pacific Northwest Entrepreneur of the Year.

Basil Peters

Angel Investor and Exit Strategist

Basil Peters is the principal of Strategic Exits Corp and fund manager for Fundamental Technologies II.

He writes a blog on best practices for entrepreneurs and angel investors at www.AngelBlog.net and has just published his first book: Early Exits - Exit Strategies for Entrepreneurs and Angel Investors (But Maybe Not Venture Capitalists). For more information, visit: www.BasilPeters.com.

Tanner Philp

CFO & Partner, Lions Capital Corp.

Tanner is a Partner and CFO of Lions Capital, manager of BC Advantage Funds (VCC) Ltd. and Lions Liquidity Investment Fund I Limited Partnership. Tanner focuses on Lions Capital's software, telecommunications and internet/new media investments. Tanner currently serves as a director or advisor of Conasys, RewardStream, Urodynamix Technologies (TSX-V: URO), Vigil Health Solutions (TSX-V: VGL), and Voice Mobility (TSX: VMY) and is an observer at Zeugma Systems. Tanner is a Chartered Accountant who worked previously at KPMG Vancouver and London (UK) where he specialized in providing assurance, consulting and corporate finance services to asset management and private equity firms. Tanner has a Bachelor of Business Administration concentrated in Finance from Simon Fraser University. In addition to his professional endeavours, Tanner is a seminar leader for New Ventures BC and BC Excels (a division of Life Sciences BC) where he teaches entrepreneurs how to raise money. In 2007 Tanner was awarded the Early Achievement Award by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of BC.

Jonathan Rhone

President & CEO, Nexterra

Jonathan Rhone is President and CEO of Nexterra Energy Corp. a leading developer and manufacturer of biomass gasification systems. He has an extensive track record with energy and technology businesses including Dome Petroleum, Amoco Canada and The Delphi Group. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the British Columbia Technology Industry Association, Chairs the BC Cleantech CEO Alliance and serves on the Advisory Board of the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions.

Danny Robinson

Managing Director, Bootup Labs
Co-founder, Launch Party Vancouver

Danny has been starting and advising early stage technology companies for over 15 years. In this time, he has closed more than $100M over 9 rounds of venture capital financing. Prior to founding Bootup Labs, Danny co-founded Strutta, a platform that enables anyone, from a small publisher to the world's premier brands, to easily create online promotions centered around consumer generated content and social media.

As an accomplished entrepreneur, Danny works to promote Vancouver as the tech center he believes it can be by connecting local entrepreneurs with Silicon Valley-based VCs, co-organizing the popular tech mixer, Launch Party Vancouver, speaking at local and international tech events and serving on the Science World Equity Committee. Danny is a member of the Board of Directors for Strutta, Suite101, and the Bootup Entrepreneurial Society.

Mike Satterfield

General Partner, IT Investments, Yaletown Venture Partners

Mike is a co-founder and General Partner of Yaletown Venture Partners. Yaletown invests in early-stage Cleantech and IT companies. Based in Vancouver BC, Yaletown seeks to be an investor-of-choice for entrepreneurs and a go-to partner for co-investors. Mike brings 25 years of experience in the software industry to Yaletown. Prior to Yaletown, Mike was CEO of Simba Technologies (acquired by Pivotal) and Partner of Paradigm Development. Mike is active in a number of technology industry associations and is a director of the Vancouver Aquarium.

Cheryl Slusarchuk

Partner, McCarthy Tétrault

Cheryl Slusarchuk is a Partner in the Vancouver office of McCarthy Tétrault LLP practicing in the Business Law Group. She is consistently ranked among Canada's top information technology lawyers and is also the Chair of the CleanTech Taskforce for the Premier's Technology Council and the Chair of the BC Climate Action Team.

Russell Stothers

COO, Clean Current Technologies

A mechanical engineer with 16 years aerospace experience and strong leadership attributes. Russell's analytical and creative abilities have led to significant improvements to the original Clean Current tidal turbine design and to a patent that protects those improvements. Russell has been involved with Tidal Energy since 2003 and he now currently leads the engineering team of ten full time staff.

Martin Taylor

President & CEO, Ocean Networks Canada

Martin Taylor is President and CEO of Ocean Networks Canada, the not for profit agency responsible for the management and development of the VENUS and NEPTUNE Canada ocean observatory programs and the Ocean Networks Centre for Enterprise and Engagement, a federal centre of excellence for commercialization and research. Before assuming this position, he served for nine years (1998-2007) as the University of Victoria's first Vice-President Research. He has extensive experience serving on research boards at the federal and provincial levels. Martin Taylor is the author of two books and over 100 peer-reviewed publications in the field of environmental and community health.

Dave Thomas

Partner, Rocket Builders

Dave Thomas is an executive, business consultant and advisor for a number of technology companies and manages the Rocket Builders ‘Market Readiness Program'. He is also the General Manager of the Canadian Financing Forum matching North American Corporate and VC investors with serious entrepreneurs looking to build world-class technology companies.

Joe Timlin

Vice President, Investments Information Technology, GrowthWorks

Joe Timlin joined GrowthWorks Capital in 2002 focusing on software and information technology investments. Prior to joining GrowthWorks Capital, he worked for four years with BDC's Venture Capital Group focusing on information technology and alternative energy investments. Joe has experience in technical sales and sales management, and has worked as a construction engineer. Joe has a BSc in Civil Engineering from Queen's University and a MBA from UBC.

Joe is currently on the Board of Directors of Bycast, Layer-7 Technologies, Make Technologies, ResponseTek Networks, Sutus, Teradici, and QuIC Financial Technologies.

Ralph Turfus

Lead Mentor, ACETECH Growth Strategy Program; Founder
& Past-CEO, Class Software Solutions

Ralph Turfus, B.A.Sc., M.A.Sc., M.B.A., P.Eng., has launched eight startup companies in his career, and spent 28 years as the founder and CEO of Class Software (originally Escom Software), which began as a minicomputer sales and distribution company in 1976 and moved on to create registration and booking software for municipal parks and recreation departments, clubs, colleges, and schools.

Mr. Turfus trained as an engineer and also spent seven years in the Canadian Air Force. In his years at Class Software, he steered the company through what were the largest changes so far in the history of computer software and data processing industry, from the dawn of minicomputers through the personal computer era to the dominance of the web. He was the sole shareholder, with no venture capital and no debt, leading the firm to 30% annual growth, more than 140 staff, over 730 customers at more than 10,000 individual facilities, and $20 million in revenue.

David Turner

Executive Vice President, Lignol Energy Corporation

Mr. Turner is a chartered accountant with extensive business and corporate development experience in a variety of industries. Mr. Turner was previously a Regional Director of a business in Asia engaged in the marketing and distribution of pharmaceuticals and medical device products with responsibility for revenues exceeding $1B. He has held senior executive positions with large public and private corporations, having led several financing transactions involving foreign issuers on international stock exchanges.

Mossadiq Umedaly

Executive Chairman, Enecsys Ltd.

Mossadiq S. Umedaly is the Executive Chairman of Enecsys Ltd., a development stage solar micro-inverter company based in Cambridge, England.

From 2007 to 2009, Umedaly was the Chairman of BC Hydro, British Columbia's $5 billion electric utility, and Executive Chairman of Powertech Labs, BC Hydro's clean energy technology subsidiary.

From 1999 to 2008, Umedaly was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Xantrex Technology Inc. During this time, he repositioned and transformed the advanced power electronics company from a small niche player to a world leader in renewable power markets. His focused business strategy helped Xantrex to grow its revenues from $10 million in 1998 to $300 million in 2008. In September 2008, Xantrex was acquired for $500 million.

From 1990 to 1998, Umedaly was the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of fuel cell pioneer, Ballard Power Systems. At Ballard, he played an instrumental role in securing key strategic partnerships and in developing, financing and positioning the company for growth. During this period, the value of the company increased from $10 million to $6 billion.

Peter van der Gracht

AVDG Consulting

A successful technology start-up veteran, Peter van der Gracht has over twenty-five years of experience leading companies through multiple financings, operational build-outs, acquisitions, mergers and buy-outs. He currently serves as Executive Chairman of a number of Vancouver based technology companies. Peter was the past President & CEO of Ignition Point Technologies Corp, a multi-divisional, broadband communications company focused on providing connectivity in the last-mile. In 1982, Peter co-founded Nexus, which became the world's second largest manufacturer of satellite and cable TV head-end equipment. When the company was sold to industry giant Scientific-Atlanta, he became vice-president and general manager of the Nexus division. He then moved to lead Scientific-Atlanta's Head-end Systems division, as well as five other businesses in 1998. In 1999, Peter led Imedia Corporation, a Silicon Valley-based digital video start-up, to a successful $100M buy-out. Most recently, Peter negotiated the sale of Wavemakers Inc., a developer of processors and software algorithms which optimize voice quality and speech recognition in automotive environments to Harman International. Throughout his career, Peter has identified, funded, designed and launched dozens of innovative technology products, and has been responsible for all aspects of corporate operations. Peter is a director of many public, private and not-for-profit organizations. Peter holds a master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of British Columbia and is the recipient of multiple awards for entrepreneurship.

Mike Volker

President, Western Universities Technology Innovation Fun
Founder, Vancouver Angel Technology Network
Director of Industry Liaison Office, SFU

Michael C. Volker is an Entrepreneur active in the development of new high technology ventures. A University of Waterloo Engineering grad, Mike started his own company (Volker-Craig Ltd) in 1973, sold it in 1981 and then decided to work with entrepreneurs in building new companies. Since coming to B.C. in 1988, he has continued this work as Executive Director of the B.C. Advanced Systems Institute and is currently the Director of Simon Fraser University's Industry Liaison office. Check out his latest two projects: Greenangel Energy Corp, a public company that invests in green technologies and WUTIF - the Western Universities Technology Innovation Fund - an "angel" fund for start-ups. To further encourage tech entrepreneurship, Mike runs the Vancouver Angel Network, VANTEC and he's also quite active with New Ventures BC - an annual business competition. For more information, visit: www.mikevolker.com.

Steve Wandler

Founder, YourTechOnline.com (acquired by support.com)

Founder of YourTechOnline.com Inc which was acquired by SupportSoft Inc from the San Francisco Bay Area (NASDAQ: SPRT) in May 2008. Wandler leveraged 19 years of experience in entrepreneurial and leadership roles which lead YourTechOnline to the #1 ranked Online Tech Support Company in North America - winning the PC Magazines Editors Choice.

Over the past 8 years he has built strong relationships and influenced change at the senior executive level of major computer and software companies. An industry expert in consumer experience in the cloud, support centers and work from home call center agent infrastructure. Not only responsible for having his founding company being acquired by a Bay Area company, he has been instrumental in setting up matching relationships to several high tech companies to being acquired. Early-stage startups are in his wheelhouse, as well as companies "on the bubble."

Sam Znaimer

General Partner, Ventures West

Sam Znaimer joined Ventures West in 1983, and is a pioneer of the Canadian venture capital scene with 25 years of hands-on early stage technology investing experience. Based in Vancouver, Sam focuses on cleantech and communications investments, and leads the firm's communications practice.

Sam's past investments include Statpower (acquired by Xantrex Technology), OctigaBay Systems (sold to Cray, NASDAQ: CRAY), Convedia (sold to RadiSys, NASDAQ: RSYS) and AudeSi (sold to Wind River, NASDAQ: WIND).

Sam currently serves as a director of Aegis Mobility, QuIC Financial Technologies, SWITCH Materials and Zeugma Systems, and acts as an Observer with BelAir Networks. Sam is a director of the Wavefront Wireless Innovation Society of BC and is a member of the Nanoworks Alberta Steering Committee. Sam was a founding Director of BC Technology Social Venture Partners where he has advised EMBERS, an economic development group in Vancouver's downtown eastside, and now works with SVP's Grants Committee.
Sam received an A.B. (cum laude) in chemistry from Harvard University and a M.Sc. in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.