Event

Grad Career Series (GCS) 2014

Thursday, May 1, 2014toTuesday, June 3, 2014
Brown Student Services Room 5001, 3600 rue McTavish, Montreal, QC, H3A 0G3, CA

Getting What You Want:  The Art of Negotiation
Thursday, May 1 | 10:00 am -11:30 am | Brown 5001

This seminar will be an interactive, fun, and interesting way to learn about negotiations and acquire information that will help you develop your negotiating skills.  Whether it's a salary negotiation, a promotion, acquiring a job, bargaining a deal, learning how to work effectively in a team environment, or networking, you will be called upon to negotiate. It is not as daunting as it seems once you've developed a sensible approach.

 PRESENTER:

 Jay Allen Hewlin, Esq.

Jay A. Hewlin is an attorney and consultant specializing in managerial effectiveness, employment law, and leadership. Jay provides training and instruction in a number of key areas, helping managers of organizations develop the skills necessary to avoid complaints of discrimination and its associated costs. Jay has extensive experience counseling corporations on employment law matters arising under Title VII, the FMLA, the ADA, the ADEA, and the USERRA. In addition, Jay is a Course Lecturer at the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University, Montreal, Canada, where he teaches Negotiations and Conflict Management. As well, Jay collaborates with management scholars throughout the US and Canada on research examining employee satisfaction, retention, organizational culture, managing a diverse work force, and selection. Much of Jay’s work involves teaching managers how to be effective in a diverse work force.  Jay has counseled and represented the United States Senate offices in employment law matters, and researched the impact of particular provisions of the U.S. Constitution on workplace policy. Before working for the Senate, Jay worked in New York City for Proskauer Rose LLP, one of the nation’s largest law firms with a national reputation for its Labor and Employment practice. While at Proskauer, Jay investigated charges of discrimination for private and public sector clients. He counseled human resource managers and senior executives on a broad range of labor and employment issues arising under federal and state labor and employment laws.   In addition to his legal experience, Jay is a seasoned manager and entrepreneur, having worked as an executive in private industry and managed his own corporation in New York. He has extensive experience negotiating and drafting contracts. He has taught classes in management and negotiation at the McDonough School of Business and the Center for Professional Development at Georgetown University. He has also been a guest lecturer at Howard University’s Business School, and the Robert H. Smith School of Business of the University of Maryland. Jay participated in a leadership conference in Singapore where he taught CEOs and senior executives on the topic of leadership and management.  Interestingly, Jay has an extensive background in performance and production. He is a professional trumpeter, songwriter, and singer; having performed as a soloist in major concert events in the U.S. and Europe. He has also had several opportunities to perform live on television. Moreover, Jay has worked as an “extra” in various nationally broadcast daytime dramas. Additional television credits include several interviews related to his artistry, and a nationally broadcast news program on President Obama’s inauguration. As a producer at radio station WQXR, 96.3 FM (New York), he produced numerous radio commercials, live radio broadcasts, and concert events featuring leading artists in the classical and jazz musical genres. Jay has won many international and national awards for excellence in broadcasting. Jay received his Juris Doctorate from Columbia University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Boston University. He has published in The Corporate Counsellor, Columbia Law Review, and Ovation Magazine. As well, Jay authored a book titled: The First Fifteen Minutes (For Those Dating With Marriage in Mind).


Mitacs Suite of Programs and Prospecting 101
Thursday, May 8 | 10:00 am -11:30 am | Brown 5001

Are you a graduate or postgraduate candidate interested in making money while refining your research skills and building your professional network? Come to this presentation and learn about Mitacs and the tools to help you connect with industry!

Marc-Olivier Fregeau and Rebecca Reich will give an overview of the ‘tips and tricks’ of the major steps of prospecting. Whether one is trying to find an internship, a research partner or even a job, there are certain fundamentals which will greatly improve one’s odds if used correctly. Marc-Olivier and Rebecca will illustrate how to use these skills to maximize the benefits of Mitacs’ programs.

PRESENTERS:

Marc-Olivier Frégeau, PhD

Marc-Olivier joined Mitacs in August 2013 and is currently Specialist of Business Development in Montreal.  Prior to Mitacs, he obtained a PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Sherbrooke. During his PhD, Marc-Olivier worked on cellular biology, dopamine signaling and calcium signaling to understand the importance of intracellular calcium in schizophrenia. Marc-Olivier has also been involved in the organization of provincial conferences in Pharmacology. His full profile can be found here: http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/marc-olivier-frégeau/2b/a1/457/

Rebecca Reich

Rebecca has been with Mitacs since 2010 and is currently Director of Business Development and Team Lead for Quebec and Atlantic Canada.  Prior to Mitacs, she worked in Canada for Octasic Semiconductor and in USA and Europe for Analog Devices.  With degrees in Electrical Engineering from McGill and MIT (and a minor in Arts-Music), Rebecca has done research in acoustics and signal processing, and has spent the more technical part of her career providing support for customers in building audio systems for electronics.  Her full profile can be found here: http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/rebecca-reich/1/423/447/



Pharma Careers Day
Friday, May 9 | 9:00 am – 5:00 pm | SSMU

Morning Session – Talk Session (at Madeleine Parent room, SSMU Building) (morning program)

The morning session of the Career Day consists of two one-hour talks by Prof. Youla Tsantrizos, and Dr. Katia Zubkova, preceded by a brief introduction of American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) and our McGill Student Chapter.

  • 9:30-11:15am: Scientific Careers at Health Canada by Dr. Katia Zubkova (Scientific Reviewer at Health Canada)
  • 11:15am-12:15pm:  Road Map to a Scientific Career: Success & Failure, Two Sides of the Same Coin by Prof. Youla Tsantrizos (Professor at Department of Chemistry, VP of Canadian Society of Chemistry)
  • 12:15pm-1:30pm: Lunch break

Afternoon Session – Mentor Me Over Coffee (at Madeleine Parent room, SSMU Building) (afternoon program)

The afternoon session consists of two hours of 25-minute small group discussion. Participants will be divided into groups of eight to ten and engage with an established professional from the pharmaceutical domain in a round-table format. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions about available career options, to gain an insider’s view on the hiring process, and to network with professionals. After every 25 minutes, students will rotate from table to table in order to meet with the mentors. Coffee and pastries will be served. Our panel of "two-hour mentors" consists of a wide range of professionals with extensive experience in their respective domains.

  • 1:30 - 5:00 Mentor me Over Coffee

List of mentors:

  • Dr. Matthieu Boucher (Medical advisor, Pfizer; Adjunct professor, Dept. Pharmacology, McGill University)  
  • Brian John Capogrosso, LL.B (Associate, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP)
  • Dr. John Colucci (Research scientist, Zamboni Chemical Solutions; Former research scientist, Merck-Frosst)
  • Dr. Carmela Deluca (Partner and patent agent, Bereskin & Parr LLP)
  • Dr. Sarah Gora (Medical and scientific relations leader, L’Oreal)
  • Dr. Joseph Mancini (Associate Director, Vertex Pharma; Adjunct professor, Dept. Pharmacology, McGill University)
  • Dr. Arshad Siddiqui (President and CEO, Paraza Pharma)  
  • Dr.Youla Tsantrizos (Professor, Dept. Chemistry, McGill University; Vice president, Canadian Society for Chemistry)
  • Dr. Katia Zubkova (Scientific reviewer, Health Canada)

Leveraging LinkedIn to Win:  Be-IN-Valuable!
Thursday, May 15 | 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm | Brown 5001

LEVERAGING LINKEDIN TO WIN: Be- IN-Valuable Workshop: Are you getting 100% from your LinkedIn Experience? Many individuals are on LinkedIn but not really LinkedIn!  This workshop will demonstrate how best to utilize the only professional social networking tool and take full advantage of ALL it has to offer. You will learn how optimize your profile, build "key" connections, job search, and apply social media intelligence. Networking is not what it used to be!

PRESENTER:

Shelly Elsliger, B.A, B.Ed, PPCC, SME-M Cert.
Shelly Elsliger is a Career Development Specialist, certified Professional Coach, LinkedIn Trainer Strategist, Social Networker, and Founder of Linked-Express. Over the past 13 years she has helped diverse individuals find, use, and expand their natural talents to allow them to find and settle in a career that is both meaningful and fulfilling. Shelly is also an avid runner and will complete her first 1/2 Marathon on June 1st, 2014.


Science Careers Under a Microscope
Friday, May 16 | 10:00 am - 11:30 am | Brown 5001

Wondering what else you can do with your science graduate degree other than teaching or research? This panel of science professionals will discuss their career paths including Health Advisor for Health Canada & Science Communication.

PRESENTERS:

Sophie Hamel, PhD candidate in Cellular and Molecular Medicine - University of Ottawa

Sophie Hamel received her Bachelor of Science and Master in Experimental Medicine from McGill University. She is a PhD candidate in Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of Ottawa and participated in an externship at Harvard University in 2011. Sophie has many years of experience in pharmacovigilance and emergency drug approval. She acts as the lead officer reviewing application for the emergency release of new pharmaceutical products at Health Canada. In the past, Sophie was appointed as the International Health Science Advisor to the Health Canada's Director General of the International Affairs Directorate. She is the author of several manuscripts in the area of oncology and had the chance to travel to over 30 countries and 5 continents.  

Jordanna Bermack, PhD, Freelance Science Communication

Jordanna is a freelance Medical Writer and Editor. She completed her PhD in Neuroscience at McGill University in 2004 followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in Molecular Neuroscience at University of Ottawa. She then began her career as a medical writer working at an agency specializing in pharmaceutical sales training. Shortly after that, she started a new role as medical liaison at a Medical Device Company which led to a later promotion to the global medical communications team where she worked for 5 years. More recently, she led a team of writers at an agency specialized in continuing medical education. Following the birth of her second child she decided to pursue freelance medical writing and teaching and will be teaching a medical writing course in the fall at Concordia's Department of Continuing Education. During her career she has been involved writing a variety of medical communications including sales force training, peer review journal articles, guidelines documents, marketing material, learning programs, etc in a wide range of therapeutic areas. 
 

Damien Calvet, Ph.D.Patent Search Specialist & IP Strategist, BREVETEK

Damien Calvet holds a PhD in chemistry. He is a member of the Ordre des Chimistes du Québec  and of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (IPIC).  Before founding Brevetek, Damien Calvet was an intellectual property advisor for eight years in a Montreal IP law firm. As an IP advisor, he specialized in the preparation and management of patents and registered industrial designs. His clients included Canadian, European and American companies (pharmaceutical, cosmetics, chemical, bio-tech, medical devices, agricultural tools, polymeric materials, electrochemical…). He has drafted many patentability, validity and freedom-to-operate opinions.  As a chemist, Damien Calvet has more than 8 years of experience in scientific research at a number of European and North American universities. He specialized in organic chemistry, synthesis and characterization of polymers and he has a strong expertise in rheology (physics of fluids) of gels and hydrogels. During his post-doctoral research,  he focused on the measurement of nanoscale forces using SFA: Surface Force Apparatus – a high-tech tool mixing physic, optic and electronic technologies.  As an IP advisor, Damien Calvet performed numerous Prior Art searches (patents, patent applications, scientific papers) through public databases of the Canadian patent office (CIPO) and the US patent office (USPTO), Espacenet of the European PO, Patentscope of the WIPO, and using Questel‘s orbit.com search tool, with which he is still collaborating. As a research scientist, he wrote a number of scientific papers and conducted bibliographic searches using tools such as SciFinder and STN of the CAS (Chemical Abstract Service).



Non-Profit Panel: The Costs & Benefits of Working in the Non-Profit Sector
Tuesday, May 20 | 10:00 am – 11:30 am | Brown 5001

Interested in working in the non-profit sector? Learn how to leverage your graduate degree from a panel of speakers who have built careers you may want!

PRESENTERS:

Marie-Michèle Dumas, chargée de projet sur la relève au CSMO-ÉSAC (Comité sectoriel de main-d’œuvre de l’économie sociale et de l’action communautaire)

Marie-Michèle Dumas est chargée de projet sur la relève en économie sociale et en action communautaire pour le compte du Comité sectoriel de main-d’œuvre de l’économie sociale et de l’action communautaire (CSMO-ÉSAC). Diplômée de deuxième cycle de l’École des Sciences de Gestion de l’UQAM en gestion des entreprises sociales et collectives, elle détient également plus de cinq ans d’expérience à titre de conseillère en emploi et intervenante psychosociale auprès des clientèles jeunes et immigrantes dans un Carrefour jeunesse-emploi. Elle est également membre fondatrice d’une OBNL et d’une coopérative de solidarité dans le domaine de la culture.

Béatrice Alain, Project Manager, Head of international relations and Coordinator of the RELIESS

Béatrice Alain has a joint degree in Economics and Political Science at McGill and a Master’s degree from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. After graduating Ms. Alain lived for several years in Latin America and Italy, mostly working on the organisation of various international conferences and publications. Since 2010, Ms. Alain works at the Chantier de l’économie sociale, where she is responsible for international relations and coordinates the RELIESS, a virtual international centre on public policy for the social economy.  

Stephanie Guico, Strategy and Management Consultant  

Stephanie Guico graduated from McGill in 2005 with a BA in Political Sciences and International Development. Her passion for holistic socio-economic development brought her to work abroad for a time... which made her realise she could have far more impact at home in Montreal. In 2009, she discovered the power of cooperatives to build prosperous and tight-knit communities and has not looked back. She has since worked with coopérative La maison verte in NDG, the Cooperative Development initiative, a national coop development program, the Desjardins Group and the RESEAU de la coopération du travail, in addition to facilitating capacity building and strategic development exercises in Central America and the Caribbean. She is currently doing consulting work with cooperatives in Canada and the United States. 

Kathryn Muller, Ph.D., Associate Director, Development Programs, Development and Alumni Relations, McGill University

Kathryn Muller is a historian-turned-fundraiser at McGill University where, as Associate Director of Development Programs, she is responsible for overseeing philanthropic activities in several faculties. Prior to McGill, Kathryn was a consultant for a number of art and culture organizations, as well as Executive Director of the McCord Museum Foundation.  Kathryn holds a MA from Université Laval and a PhD from Queen’s University in Aboriginal History; she was working on a post-doc at McGill before initially taking the leap into fundraising for the Faculty of Arts in 2010. She also sits on the executive of several organizations, including artsScène (Business for the Arts), the Young Directors of the Institute for the Governance of Public and Private Organizations, and is a volunteer on the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Education Committee and with the Action Canada Alumni Network. 


Challenges and Opportunities: How Science Policy Contributes to Shaping our Society
Wednesday, May 28 | 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm | Thomson House

What fields of study are relevant to Science & Policy?  What are some of the key science policy challenges presently impacting Canada (and Quebec's) economies and how can they be addressed?  Science policy contributes significantly to shaping our world: Policies regulating the fields of science and technology impact the way in which societies move forward, whether support is offered to new entrepreneurial ventures, and pave the way for innovative discoveries to get off the ground. There is an ever-greater need for a broad and informed discussion on key science policy issues and the way in which they contribute to shaping our society. Fostering dialogue between policy-makers, scientists, entrepreneurs, as well as the general public has the potential of shedding new light on common challenges and opportunities facing these stakeholders, and may even point towards novel solutions and courses of action. Join our panel of experts as they will be discussing some of the key issues facing the field of science policy today and how things can be improved in order to better serve the interests of society at large, as well as ways in which individuals from various fields can get involved in this exciting field.

PRESENTER:

Paul Dufour, Principal, PaulicyWorks; Fellow, Adjunct Professor, Institute for Science, Society and Policy, University of Ottawa

Paul Dufour is Principal of PaulicyWorks, a science and technology policy consulting firm based in Gatineau, Quebec. He is one of Canada’s leading experts in S&T policy and international development. He is a Fellow and Adjunct Professor with the Institute for Science, Society and Policy at the University of Ottawa, member of the External Advisory Board to the Battelle Center for Science and Technology Policy at the John Glenn School of Public Affairs, and is on the steering committee for the Canadian Science Policy Conference.  Having spent 30 years in the public sector as a science adviser with several agencies and departments, Mr Dufour served as interim executive director of the Office of the National Science Adviser to the Government of Canada. He was with the International Development Research Centre as special programme assistant of the project on Research on Knowledge Systems. Other professional activities included senior adviser at Natural Resources Canada, Ministerial Assistant to Canada’s Secretary of State for Science, Research and Development, senior analyst with the Science and Technology Strategy Directorate at Industry Canada and international S&T relations’ adviser with the Secretariat to the Prime Minister’s Advisory Council on Science and Technology. Mr Dufour was for several years, research advisor for the Science Council of Canada, where he produced several reports on Canada’s international and domestic technology prospective.  Born in Montreal, Mr. Dufour was educated at McGill, the Université de Montreal and Concordia University in the history of science and science policy, and has had practical S&T policy experience for over three decades. He lectures regularly on science policy, has authored numerous articles on international S&T relations and Canadian innovation policy including the Canada chapter for UNESCO’s World Science Report in November 2010. He was series co-editor of the Cartermill Guides to World Science (Canada, Japan, Germany, Southern Europe and the United Kingdom) and North American editor for the revue Outlook on Science Policy. He provides seminars to interns for the Council of Canadian Academies, writes regularly on innovation policy, and has been an assessor on several Canadian government programs, including Grand Challenges Canada and Genome Canada.

Dr. Nicole Arbour, Team Lead - Science & Innovation Network, Canada, British High Commission


To Start or Not to Start a Start Up?
Tuesday, June 3 | 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm | Brown 5001

Thinking of launching a start up? Not sure where to start? What’s involved? Hear from people who did it, investors, accelerator program representatives, and McGill’s Entrepreneurship Center.

PRESENTERS:

Patrick Vespa, MEng
Manager, Strategy and Program Development
Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurial Studies

Zouya Zarei, B.Eng, Ph.D., Aerodynamicist

Zouya has a B.Eng. and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from McGill University, specializing in numerical methods and computational fluid dynamics with a strong basis in applied mathematics and thermodynamics. His graduate research focused on the aerodynamic interactions between proximal bodies in supersonic flow. While at McGill, he also had the opportunity to work on the operations side of final exams, eventually taking on the responsibility of overseeing the exams of the entire Faculty of Engineering. Following his graduation from McGill, he worked on related research projects but continued to look for ways to channel his passion for solving problems. He is now the founder and CEO of ISENCORE, a software development firm based in Montreal. ISENCORE's goal is to streamline the product design process, specifically as it applies to the 3D printing industry. When not managing the activities at ISENCORE or coding, Zouya can likely be found writing short stories, drawing portraits and figures, or whipping up a new batch of homemade bread.

Philippe Simard, President, Simactive

Philippe Simard has been acting as the President of SimActive since its creation in 2003. Under his management, the company rapidly positioned itself as a leader in geospatial solutions. Before SimActive, Dr Simard was involved in numerous projects with world-class organizations such as the Department of National Defence and NASA. He holds a doctorate in electrical engineering from McGill University, where he did his research in computer vision. In 2005, he won the prestigious Young Innovator Award from the Networks of Centres of Excellence which honors top Canadian researchers whose work benefits society.

Matthew Smith, COO of TandemLaunch

Matt Smith is currently Partner and Chief Operating Officer at TandemLaunch, a Montreal-based venture capital fund and technology incubator that scouts, accelerates, and commercializes early-stage technologies from the world's top universities in close partnership with major Consumer Electronic brands.  Matt is a seasoned small business executive and entrepreneur having held executive roles in several startups, including as CEO and founder of two of his own.  Matt earned his B.Eng. degree in Mechanical Engineering from McGill in 2001.

Katya Marc, M.Eng., MBA, Industry Liaison Manager, Faculty of Engineering

Katya is on a two-year secondment to the Faculty of Engineering from the Commercialization Unit of the Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) as the Industry Liaison Manager. Based in the Innovations Catalyst in Engineering (ICE) hub (https://www.mcgill.ca/engineering/research/ice), she works closely with faculty members on the promotion of technologies and expertise of the Faculty to potential partners and facilitates interaction between the various stakeholders in the projects to achieve successful collaborations and transfer of outstanding research from the labs to the marketplace. Katya administers the William and Rhea Seath Awards in Engineering Innovation that support and recognize annually two outstanding individuals in the Faculty of Engineering ─ either undergraduate students, graduate students or professors ─ who are conducting groundbreaking research with commercial potential. Details of this award:  https://www.mcgill.ca/engineering/research/ice/awards.  Katya has been working at McGill for over 15 years, servicing mainly the Faculty of Engineering for their research/service contract and intellectual property commercialization needs. Prior to joining OSR, Katya was an industrial technology advisor with the National Research Council of Canada’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC’s IRAP), and before that worked for Eastman Chemical Company in Canada, USA, and Malaysia for over six years in multiple areas: technical sales, process and development control, production, and technical service.  A three-time McGill graduate, Katya earned her B.Eng. and M.Eng. degrees in Chemical Engineering, and her MBA from McGill.


WordLink.com: The Most Popular Content in the World Presentation
Monday, June 9 | 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm | Brown 5001

Do you have a talent in: Web Design, Information Systems, Social Media Marketing, Online Publishing, Broadcasting, Videography, Artistic Direction? Want to put your ideas into action? We are looking to find Montreal talent to grow our team.  Come to the presentation and learn what it takes to be a part of one of Montreal’s leading startups. WordLink.com was selected as one of the 10 most promising startups in Quebec, as a part of Capital Innovation Defi Montreal "the most important accelerator program in Quebec.” It was also invited to present at Microsoft Bizspark as one of the 12 most promising startups for Funders Road Show.  WordLink.com uses your activity on social networks to sort the world’s news. Share, like, comment, tweet, favorite, pin, or up-vote a story or video with your friends on any social network and you drive content up the front page.  Our vision is to improve the way people consume media, and to help them discover novel content beyond their personal networks and preferred sources.

PRESENTER:

Nadav Perez, Founder & President of WordLink.com

Nadav Perez received his first class honors in biochemistry in the faculty of medicine in 2008 from McGill University. His honors study and interests were in molecular dynamics simulations. When he realized his dreams of simulating experiments would not happen in his generation, like many discouraged researchers he turned to corporate and went on to the John Molson School of Business where he received the Beta Gamma Sigma honors in the joint MBA/CFA in Investment Management from the Goodman Institute and is now a CFA affiliate member. He received the Ned Goodman Teaching Assistantship and was President of the program.  After school Nadav turned down countless job offers in order to start his own business. He is now the founder, president and lead developer of one of Montreal’s most exciting new start-ups WordLink.com.  WordLink.com was selected as one of the 10 most promising startups in Quebec, as a part of Capital Innovation Defi Montreal "the most important accelerator program in Quebec.” It was also invited to present at Microsoft Bizspark as one of the 12 most promising startups for Funders Road Show.  WordLink is made up of a small team of Montrealers who aim to make their place among the media giants. It is the first searchable newspaper driven by the people of the world, available on web and mobile.


Registration required through myFuture. From your homepage, click on the Events tab followed by the Workshop tab and keyword GCS 2014.

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