Canada’s Innovation Agenda – Building on our Natural Resources Advantage

Gary Bunio is a professional engineer with over 30 years of experience in the upstream petroleum industry in Canada and internationally. He obtained a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada (1980) and then a Masters of Quality Management from Loyola University, New Orleans, U.S.A. (1998).

Mr. Bunio has held senior technical and management roles in oil sands research and development, operations, and project management at Imperial Oil, PanCanadian (EnCana), Paramount (MGM Energy) and Barrick. He has been involved in many innovations in the production of extra heavy oil including gravity drainage and infill wells as a follow-up thermal process, solvent injection, partial upgrading, and CO2 sequestration for enhanced gas recovery.

Mr. Bunio is currently Suncor’s General Manager, Technology Development. He is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta and Manitoba, the NWT Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists, the Society of Petroleum Engineers and CHOA. All of you who have met him before know he is an enthusiastic evangelist of oil sands development and related emerging technologies.

As always, Gary is here with the permission of his two children, Sian and Lyndon.

Catherine Cobden is the Executive Vice President of the Forest Products Association of Canada. In this capacity she provides leadership and develops strategy on key files of the Association to ensure an effective national voice for the forest products industry. She supports FPAC in helping its members become global leaders in sustainability; attract highly skilled workers; and transform for longer term economic success.

Catherine has been a committed advocate for advancing the industry’s competitive position and environmental performance for the past 24 years. She has played a leadership role in developing the Canadian Forest Sector Transformation Strategy, shepherded the landmark Bio-pathways study and launched a new dynamic direction for the sector – Vision2020 – in 2012.

Before joining FPAC, Catherine was an Ottawa-based government relations consultant with Fleishman Hillard and she also held several corporate positions within forest products companies throughout Canada.

She is a Board member of FPInnovations and the Canadian Bioenergy Association.
Catherine is a chemical engineer from the University of Toronto.

Mark Dietrich is an entrepreneurial leader with decades of executive management experience, and a proven track record of building and transforming organizations, increasing revenues, and maximizing organizational effectiveness. He specializes in innovative corporate strategy, marketing, business development and exceptional service delivery. Mark was previously the Chief Executive Officer of the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE), Ontario’s professional association for engineers, where he strengthened OSPE’s member value proposition through increased advocacy, professional development and career services, increased non-government revenues by 20%, reversed a significant decline in membership, and brought the organization to record membership levels.

Prior to joining OSPE, Mark founded Bloodstone Solutions Inc., a Toronto-based professional services firm specializing in strategic value innovation, lean services, and eGovernment solutions for public and private sector clients. Mark was also the Executive VP & COO for the Ontario Research and Development Challenge Fund (ORDCF), a $500 million government fund established to support leading-edge, innovative and industrially relevant university and hospital research. The ORDCF provided support to more than 100+ university-industry research partnerships in diverse areas, including nanotechnology, bioinformatics, as well as working to coordinate HPC initiatives at SciNet, SHARCNet, and HPCVL.

Mark’s diverse background in new product development, commercialization, service delivery, and marketing was built through a series of executive leadership roles with companies in the Greater New York City area. His success spans multiple industries, including consulting (strategy, marketing, process improvement, business model innovation), technology and information services (internet service delivery, commercialization, engineered solutions), and finance (project- and asset-based financing), in the United States and Canada, with international mandates. Mark has a BEE degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Mathematics from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Paul Dufour is a Fellow and Adjunct Professor with the Institute for Science, Society and Policy at the University of Ottawa. He is an External Board member to the student Science Policy Exchange in Montreal and is on the Scientific Advisory Board and Investment Committee of Grand Challenges Canada.

Mr Dufour served as interim executive director of the Office of the National Science Adviser to the Government of Canada. He worked with the International Development Research Centre in developing their knowledge capacity program. Other stints included Natural Resources Canada, Ministerial Assistant to Canada’s Secretary of State for Science, Research and Development, the Science and Technology Strategy Directorate at Industry Canada and international S&T relations’ adviser to the Prime Minister’s Advisory Council on Science and Technology and advisor to the Science Council of Canada. Paul was a member of Canadian National Committee of the International Polar Year that was awarded the 2010 Gold Medal by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

Born in Montreal, Mr. Dufour was educated at McGill, the Université de Montreal and Concordia University in the history of science, science and human affairs and science policy. He lectures regularly on science policy, has authored numerous articles on global policy directions in S&T and has just completed the Canada chapter for UNESCO’s World Science Report in to be released in November 2015. He believes that innovation policies are NOT too narrowly focused on R&D.

Jean Paul (JP) Gladu is currently the President and CEO of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB) based in Toronto. Anishinaabe from Thunder Bay JP is a member of the Sand Point First Nation located on the eastern shores of Lake Nipigon.

Mr. Gladu has over two decades of experience in the natural resource sector. His career path includes work with Aboriginal communities and organizations, environmental non-government organizations, industry and governments from across Canada. He has produced a number of publications related to Aboriginal issues including: forest certification, Native values collection, biofuel opportunities, First Nation community land use plans, criteria and indicators for sustainable forestry, and cedar product development.

With a passion for his community, his culture and traditions Mr. Gladu brings the past, present and future to the table, moving corporate Canada and Aboriginal business toward sustainable partnerships and shared economic prosperity. JP is also a regular blog contributor to the on-line National Post Entrepreneur section.

An experienced negotiator JP led a number of business development projects in northern Ontario. JP completed a forestry technician diploma in 1993 and obtained an undergraduate degree in forestry from Northern Arizona University in 2000. He also holds an Executive MBA from Queens University.

Dr. Gracia-Garza is currently the Deputy Chief Scientist of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and the Director General, Science Program Branch of the Canadian Forest Service at NRCan. His responsibilities include: ensuring alignment of the CFS S&T portfolio to Government of Canada and departmental priorities; communicating the impact of NRCan’s work to partners and stakeholders; creating an environment to sustain excellence in science; advancing science-policy integration; furthering the integration and performance of the forest sector innovation system; and, supporting the delivery of key programs including invasive alien species, climate change and adaptation, and genomics.

Dr. Gracia-Garza has worked in various senior positions at Environment Canada, the Office of the National Science Advisor and other science based departments of the Government of Canada.

He graduated from McGill University as a plant pathologist and has worked as a scientist with government and academic institutions in Canada, the United States and Mexico.

John F. Helliwell, of the Vancouver School of Economics at UBC, is Senior Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and Co-Director of CIFAR’s program on ‘Social Interactions, Identity and Well-Being’. His most recent books include Well-Being for Public Policy (OUP, with Diener, Lucas and Schimmack, 2009), International Differences in Well-Being (OUP, edited with Diener and Kahneman, 2010), the World Happiness Report (edited with Richard Layard and Jeffrey Sachs, 2012) and the World Happiness Report 2013 (same editors, UN Sustainable Development Research Network, September 2013). The World Happiness Report was recently awarded the 2014 award for the Betterment of the Human Condition by the International Society for Quality of Life Studies.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and an Officer of the Order of Canada.

More information and publications available from:
http://faculty.arts.ubc.ca/jhelliwell/

Dr. Ted Hewitt is the president of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), a federal agency in Canada that promotes and supports post-secondary–based research and training in the humanities and social sciences. Through its programs, SSHRC works to develop talented leaders for all sectors of society; to help generate insights about people, ideas and behaviour; and to establish connections within and beyond academia that will build a better future for Canada and the world.

Prior to his appointment as president, Ted was executive vice-president and chief operating officer at SSHRC. From 2004 to 2011, he was vice-president, research and international relations, at Western University in London, Ontario, where he became a leading figure among research-intensive universities across Canada.

Ted has also served as public policy scholar at the Brazil Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., and as professor of sociology at Western University. A leading Canadian authority on Brazil, his work has appeared in monographs, edited works and a range of academic journals, including Cities, Journal of Latin American Studies, Journal of Developing Areas, Third World Quarterly, and Habitat International. In 2002, he was named commander of the Order of Rio Branco by Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Relations.

Ted’s recent research has focused on national and international innovation systems, with emphasis on the roles played by universities, industry and government in promoting economic prosperity in the 21st-century economy. He is the Canadian co-chair of the Canada-Brazil Science and Technology Joint Committee for Cooperation on Science, Technology and Innovation, and a member of the boards of International Science and Technology Partnerships Canada and the Brazil-Canada Chamber of Commerce.

Ted holds a PhD in sociology from McMaster University.

Kevin and his business partner, Greg Hill, founded Qwantech in 2009. Seeing the need for a robust and scalable database system in the utility and mining companies they met with, Kevin and Greg created a user-friendly Key Performance Indicators solution now serving a number of mine sites.

Qwantech’s ticket tracking system enables management to connect with frontline insights, and provides customized reporting on items such as load calculations and tracking, health and safety indicators, and production capacities.

Kevin has experience designing and managing projects ranging from systems in mining and public utilities, to e-learning and video-management. Kevin also has 13 years experience working within the education and healthcare environments, and has a passion and vision for porting the wealth of technical advancement in industry into those fields.

Qwantech.com

Pierre Lapointe has been President and Chief Executive Officer of FPInnovations since December 2008. Under Pierre’s leadership, FPInnovations has positioned itself as Canada’s forest sector innovation hub. FPInnovations has played a leadership role in developing the Transformative Technology Program for the forest sector and creating synergies to help implement numerous new technologies in various companies, thus enabling them to achieve new competitive advantages in today’s market. FPInnovations’ scientific research has supported the forest industry with landmark projects, from building the world’s first nanocrystalline cellulose and cellulose filament demonstration plants, to creating the most comprehensive CLT (cross-laminated timber) handbook for the construction industry as well as touching on new transportation practices, bioproducts, and more.

Before joining FPInnovations, Mr. Lapointe headed l’Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) and managed its integration with l’Institut Armand-Frappier. He also initiated numerous agreements and partnerships with the global scientific community while taking an integrated development approach to international research and training.

Trained as a geologist and geophysicist, he began his career at Natural Resources Canada, where he worked in research and management with various research teams. He was subsequently appointed Director General of the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) Information and Services Branch, where he created the Quebec Geoscience Center (QGC) as part of a unique partnership between a university institute (INRS) and a government agency (GSC), a component of NRCan with offices across Canada.

Pierre chairs the new PrimaQuébec Board of Directors.

Mr. John R. McDougall was appointed President of the National Research Council of Canada in April 2010 after 12 years as CEO of the Alberta Research Council.

Mr. McDougall began his career as a petroleum engineer with Imperial Oil Limited (1967 to 1975). He founded and served as senior executive of the DALCOR companies (1976 to 1998). For more than 40 years, he was an officer of McDougall & Secord, Limited, Edmonton’s oldest privately owned business (real estate and investment).

Always an active participant in professional and community affairs, Mr. McDougall has contributed to a number of prominent advisory boards and committees, both on the provincial and federal levels. He became the youngest president in the history of the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta in 1980. He has been president of Engineers Canada, centennial president of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce and Chair in Management for Engineers at the University of Alberta. He was a key negotiator in the development of the Edmonton Regional Airports Authority and served as Canadian Chair of the NAFTA Panel on engineering services, reaching a tri-national agreement in 1996. He was a member of NRC’s Industrial Research Assistance Program Advisory Board from 2002 to 2006, and also contributed to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC); the AUTO21 Network of Centres of Excellence; the Edmonton Space & Science Foundation; the Environmental Protection Advisory Committee, and was founding Chair and President of Innoventures Canada.

A fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineers and Engineers Canada, Mr. McDougall has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Alberta, with a number of postgraduate courses in Environmental Engineering to his credit.

Pierre Meulien was appointed President and CEO of Genome Canada in 2010.

Prior to this appointment, Dr. Meulien was Chief Scientific Officer for Genome British Columbia (2007-2010), where he promoted the organization’s ongoing scientific strategy, focusing on the science of genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics within the larger realm of biotechnology and life sciences. He was also responsible for facilitating the translation of genome-based technologies into end-user communities across many life-science sectors.

From 2002-07, Dr. Meulien was the founding CEO of the Dublin Molecular Medicine Centre (now Molecular Medicine Ireland), which linked the three medical schools and six teaching hospitals in Dublin to build a critical mass in molecular medicine and translational research. The Centre managed the €45 million “Program for Human Genomics” financed by the Irish government and was responsible for coordinating the successful application for the first Wellcome Trust-funded Clinical Research Centre to be set up in Ireland.

For 20 years, Dr. Meulien has managed expert research teams with organizations including Aventis Pasteur, both in Toronto (Senior Vice President of R&D) and in Lyon, France (Director of Research). He also spent seven years with the French biotechnology company Transgene in Strasbourg, France, as a research scientist and member of the management team.

Dr. Meulien received his PhD from the University of Edinburgh and held a post-doctoral appointment at the Institut Pasteur in Paris.

Alison Nankivell was appointed Vice President, Venture Capital Action Plan (VCAP), in August 2013. In this role, she leads BDC’s efforts as the key execution agent for the Government of Canada’s $400 million commitment to VCAP which involves a number of investment initiatives to help create a vibrant private sector led venture capital system in Canada.

Alison has over 20 years of corporate financing and investment experience in Canada and Asia. Most recently, she served as Director, Funds Asia with Teachers’ Private Capital, the private investment arm of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.

Prior to this, she was Head of Funds at Export Development Canada (EDC), where over a seven year period she built out the Canadian and Asian private equity and venture capital fund investment platform for EDC’s Investments Team. During her 15-year tenure with EDC, Alison served in a number of financing and investment roles and spent seven years over two postings based in Beijing, first as Chief Representative for Greater China, and then as Principal and Head of Asia Fund Investments.

Alison also lived in Beijing and Hong Kong from 1990 to 1995, where she served as a China economic analyst and editor for the Economist Intelligence Unit. Fluent in Mandarin, she has also served as an independent economist undertaking consulting work for the International Labour Organization, the United Nations Development Program and CIDA in both Beijing and Ottawa.

Alison holds a Bachelor of Arts in Commerce and Economics from the University of Toronto and a Master’s degree in Public Administration and Public Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

Lola Piché is a manager, major shareholder, and a member of the Board of Directors at North Rim. As the Director of Technical Services and Innovations she is responsible for the quality and variety of services provided by North Rim with an emphasis on continual improvement and innovation. Lola holds an (Honors) Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Saskatchewan and is a Professional Geoscientist with the Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan. She is an active member of the Canadian Institute of Mining, and Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) and the Solution Mining Research Institute (SMRI). Lola is an invited member of the CIM Sub-committee for Potash Best Practices. This committee is currently working to update the CIM “Potash Best Practise Guidelines“. Lola is also a Director of the Board for the International Minerals Innovation Institute, and a member of the Research and Development Panel for the same organization.

As a consulting geologist, Lola’s technical expertise is in the evaluation of subsurface geology with a focus on exploration and safe mining of potash and other evaporites and industrial minerals. She has completed more than a dozen large, regional scale “mining integrity studies” for various Potash clients. These studies involved identification of geological factors that could have an effect on mine planning, roof stability or inflow risks at the mining level. Lola has worked extensively on potash and evaporite exploration projects, both domestically and internationally. Her exploration work includes evaluation of potential properties, design and management of exploration programs, evaluation of exploration program results, resource calculations and NI43-101 generation as a Qualified Person (QP).

Mr. Dirk Pilat, a Dutch national, is Deputy Director of the OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation. As Deputy Director, he supports the Director of STI in pursuing the Directorate’s programme of work and contributing to the achievement of the strategic goals of the Organisation as defined by the OECD Secretary-General.

He joined the OECD in February 1994 and has worked on many policy issues since then, including the OECD Innovation Strategy and OECD Green Growth Strategy, how to draw greater benefits from information technology for economic growth, how to strengthen growth performance in OECD economies (the OECD Growth Project), how to strengthen the performance of the services sector, as well as work on climate change, labour markets, product market regulation, productivity and entrepreneurship. He was Head of the Science and Technology Policy Division from 2006 to January 2009, with responsibility for the OECD’s Committee for Scientific and Technological Policy, and Head of the Structural Policy Division, with responsibility for the OECD’s Committee on Industry, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, from February 2009 to December 2012.

Before joining the OECD, Mr. Pilat was a researcher at the University of Groningen, in the Netherlands, where he also earned his PhD in Economics. He has published extensively in a range of economics journals, with a strong focus on international comparisons of growth and productivity performance.

Mr. Roberts is CEO of Nawitka Capital Advisors Ltd. Nawitka is a strategic advisory and investment banking boutique which serves organizations in the Forest Products, Renewable Energy and Clean Technology Sectors.

Immediately prior to starting Nawitka in July 2013, Don was a Vice-Chair of Wholesale Banking, and Managing Director in Investment Banking with CIBC World Markets Inc. In this position he founded and led the Bank’s cross-functional Renewable Energy & Clean Technology Team. In addition to leading the “CIBC Clean Team”, Don also provided senior coverage of companies in the Global Forest Products Industry

Alongside his current work with Nawitka Ltd., Mr. Roberts is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Forest Resource Management at the University of British Columbia, and is on the Board of Directors of four organizations.

In 2012 Don was chosen by Corporate Knights Magazine as the individual in the Financial Services sector who contributed the most to sustainable development in Canada. In 2006 Forbes Magazine recognized him as one of the top brokerage analysts in North America. From 1995-2009, investor surveys consistently ranked Don among the top equity research analysts covering the North American Forest Products Industry.

Mr. Roberts has a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of British Columbia, a Master’s degree in Forestry Economics from the University of California at Berkeley, and both an MBA and doctoral studies in International Finance and Economics from the University of Chicago. He is also a certified Board Director with the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Dr. Trevor Raymond Stuthridge holds the position of Executive Vice President at FPInnovations.

Before joining FPInnovations in 2014, Trevor was the General Manager, Sustainable Design at Scion, a New Zealand Crown Research Institute in the forestry sector, where he also previously held the position of Unit Leader, Eco-Smart Technologies. He also served as General Manager of the Bioresource Processing Alliance, New Zealand’s largest research initiative dedicated to improved utilization of solid wastes and wastewaters.

Prior to these responsibilities, he served as environmental research group leader, chairman and member of numerous research and advisory boards worldwide. He has been New Zealand’s representative on multiple international wood processing, sustainability, biofuel, clean technology and industrial biotechnology government missions. Trevor has served as a committee member or chairperson for over 25 national and international organizations/initiatives relating to wood processing innovation, waste management, environmental sustainability and impacts assessment, biofuels and bioenergy, clean technologies, climate change, pollution and toxicity as well as life-cycle management.

Trevor has a Ph.D. in Environmental Chemistry, M.Sc. (Hons) in Chemistry and a B.Sc. (Tech) in Chemistry, all from the University of Waikato in New Zealand, plus a certificate and diploma in Company Management and Executive Management from specialized New Zealand institutes.

In 1999 Alison invested in GrowSafe. She and Founder Camiel Huisma have since grown GrowSafe from a research and development skunkworks to profitable financial results, while growing the company’s global industry presence and research and development networks through a number of ventures and partnerships. Alison was an early EDI/ECOMM innovator, holds patents for innovative technology and has presented and published articles on electronic data interchange, precision livestock farming and developing early stage technology ventures. She leads the team that received the Alberta Science & Technology Foundation Award for Innovation in Agricultural Sciences, the Canadian Information Technology & Communications Association Award for Excellence and Innovation, and the INTEL SME Award for Innovation.

The GrowSafe Big Data Internet of Things platform is changing the way livestock are measured, managed, and treated – ensuring sustainably produced safe, healthy, quality protein. GrowSafe’s platform acquires, analyses, and presents data from multiple biometric and environmental sensors, leveraging a standard personal computer connected to servers over the Internet. GrowSafe’s patented technology offers a scientifically proven and unprecedented ability in real time to continuously and automatically monitor individual animals, improve animal welfare, optimize feed efficiency and market value, and identify and treat sick animals. The platform brings the power of big data simply and affordably to livestock operations of any size. www.growsafe.com

Jim has been involved with venture capital for the last 17 years. Prior to Avrio, Jim established Farm Credit Canada (FCC) Ventures where he was responsible for developing the venture capital program, strategy, investment thesis, operating procedures, guidelines and processes. In addition, he was an active investor with a particular focus in growth stage companies in the Industrial Products sector.

Before FCC Ventures, Jim was responsible for the Bank of Montreal Capital Corporation’s activities in Western Canada. Following his experience at Bank of Montreal Capital Corporation, he worked for Westcoast Energy to help establish a structured finance group. Jim’s years of experience in venture, mezzanine and subordinated debt markets are combined with valuable operating experience at a small manufacturing company in Calgary.

Previous investments include Wolf Trax Inc (acquired by Compass Mineral Inc.), Associated Proteins (acquired by Viterra Inc.), Bento Nouveau (acquired by Whitecastle Investments Limited), BIOX Corporation (Investment position acquired by Birch Hill Partners), Commercial Solutions Inc. (TSX: CSA), and Houweling’s Nurseries.

Jim has Bachelor of Art’s (Economics) degree from the University of Alberta and an MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. He spends time as a volunteer youth group leader and assists in community welfare projects.

Annie is a Senior Investment Manager at EDC. Annie is a successful venture capitalist with over 10 years of investment management and consulting experience. Annie has a broad network of strategic and financial investors in the United States, Canada and Europe that she leverages for building and financing the businesses she manages.

Prior to joining EDC, Annie was at Northwater Capital Management where she was responsible for allocating, managing and over-seeing approximately half of the portfolio companies, including successful energy technology companies such as Skyonic Corporation, and MTPV Power Corporation as well SaaS businesses such as Aquilon Energy Services and ThinkVine.

Prior to her venture capital career, Annie helped developed a risk parity portfolio and managed large portfolios of hedge fund assets at Northwater Capital where she also developed novel credit derivatives following the credit crisis. Prior to joining Northwater Capital, Annie worked in trading and sales for one Canada’s major dealers and worked as a consultant in Deloitte’s internal audit and tax practices.

David Watters worked for 30 years in the federal government as a senior executive and Assistant Deputy Minister in a variety of Economic Ministries including Industry Canada, Treasury Board and Finance Canada. He was the Assistant Deputy Minister at Finance Canada for Economic Development and Corporate Finance, where he helped to shape the economic and innovation investments in several federal Budgets.

David then established the Global Advantage Consulting Group Inc. (Ottawa), a strategic management consulting firm, where he is currently president. Since 2002 the firm has completed over 400 assignments providing advice to corporate, association, university and government clients in Canada and abroad in a broad range of areas from organizational strategy, innovative business models, and the design and management of commercial networks to enhanced governance and decision-making. His firm also designs and builds “ecosystem maps” in the areas of new technology, innovation/commercialization, trade, and energy/climate change to support client investments in projects, programs and policy.

David holds an Economics degree from Queen’s University as well as a Law degree in corporate, commercial and tax law from Queen’s Law School. He was an adjunct Professor at the University of Ottawa Management School for seven years where he taught International Negotiation to MBA students.