This speaker series provides an opportunity to hear from entrepreneurs, accelerators, incubators, and investors about their experiences and offerings, and to network with them.
2024
Fall 2024
Again, again & again - the art of mistakes
Anna Timofeeva
Co-founder, Tailor
Anna (BCom ‘23) is a co-founder at Tailor, an AI-powered platform helping career services teams provide personalized support for their students. Backed by McGill Engine and District 3, Tailor is expanding to schools across North America. Before launching Tailor, Anna worked at Autodesk in data and marketing and organized career events with Desautels’ Career Management team. Her work with career centers inspired her to build Tailor and make career advising more accessible and helpful for students.
Connect with Anna on LinkedIn :)
Ricky Liu
Co-founder, Tailor
Ricky (BEng ‘23) is a co-founder at Tailor, an AI-powered platform helping career services teams provide personalized support for their students. Tailor is backed by McGill Engine and District 3, and is currently expanding to schools across North America. Before launching Tailor, Ricky worked in DevOps and full-stack roles at Unity, Autodesk, and Flare, and helped McGill engineering students secure internships. His experiences inspired him to create Tailor, empowering schools to better support student career success.
Connect with Ricky on LinkedIn or visit riccus.notion.site
Date: Oct 24th, 2024
Time: 5:30 – 7:00 pm ET
Location: McGill Engine Centre (FDA5)
RSVP here!
Mehrsan Javan
Co-founder, Chief Technology Officer, Sportlogiq
Mehran is the CTO & Co-founder of Sportlogiq, an award-winning AI powered sports analytics company. With over 15 years of experience in algorithm development for intelligent systems, Mehrsan has been contributing significantly to Sportlogiq's growth and technological advancements by blending AI research with software development leadership seamlessly. Mehrsan earned a PhD in computer vision and machine learning from McGill University and an MBA from Concordia University.
Date: Sep 12th, 2024
Time: 5:30 – 7:00 pm ET
Location: McGill Engine Centre (FDA5)
2023
Fall 2023
Chloë Ryan
CEO & Founder @ Acrylic Robotics
Chloë is the CEO and Founder of Acrylic Robotics, an art-tech startup leveraging robotics & machine learning to allow visual artists to produce collections of painted artwork at scale. The company is the ultimate fusion of her background as an independent artist and her training as a mechanical engineer at McGill University.
You can connect with Chloë on LinkedIn.
Date: Sep 7th, 2023
Time: 5:30 – 6:30 pm ET
Location: McGill Engine Centre (FDA5)
Winter 2023
Julien Coupez
Solution Architect at AWS
Overview of running AI in the cloud
For the past 20 years, Julien Coupez has been driven by a passion for building products that change the way companies do business, and has brought this energy to several startups, taking on roles as varied as full-stack developer, QA, Product Manager, Architect and finally CTO. This desire to help startups is now translated into his involvement as Solution Architect at AWS, helping tomorrow's companies to transform the world in order to meet the challenges that come with it. Being the lever that will propel tomorrow's companies to the top is what motivates him the most.
You can connect with Julien on LinkedIn.
Date: Feb 16th, 2023
Time: 1:00 – 2:00 pm ET
Location: McGill Engine Centre (FDA5)
Justin Dragan
Co-Founder & CEO of Tulsi Farm
How to build and scale a company sustainably
Sustainability in Engineering at McGill (SEAM) and Engine are pleased to invite you to our Entrepreneurship-In-Action Speaker Series with Justin Dragan, co-founder of Tulsi Farm. Justin is innovating the way organic produce is grown indoors and distributed in cities. He is a recent McGill Mechanical Engineering graduate and received Engine support via two TechAccel Project Grants! Justin will share his entrepreneurial journey and how he was able to build and how he will scale his company sustainably!
You can connect with Justin on LinkedIn.
Date: Jan 19th, 2023
Time: 5:30 – 6:30 pm ET
Location: McGill Engine Centre (FDA5)
2022
Fall 2022
Dr. Alejandra Huerta
Co-Founder of AIM Colours
How to build your startup with grants!
We are pleased to invite you to our Entrepreneurship-In-Action Speaker Series with Dr. Alejandra Huerta, co-founder of AIM Colours. Alejandra is revolutionizing self-expression by combining cosmetics with technology! She has a PhD in Organic Chemistry from McGill University, she received McGill Engine and Mitacs support, and completed McGill Dobson’s X1-Accelerator in the summer of 2022. Alejandra will share her entrepreneurial journey and all the resources she used to help her successfully grow and build her company.
You can connect with Dr. Alejandra Huerta on LinkedIn.
Date: Nov 10th 2022
Time: 5:30 – 6:30 PM ET
Location: McGill Engine Centre (FDA5)
Snacks will be provided!
Daniel Drouet
Co-Founder of XMachina
Venture Financing: Raising millions with a Powerpoint deck.
We are pleased to invite you to our Entrepreneurship-In-Action Speaker Series with Daniel Drouet, Co-Founder of XMachina, a company that provides public market investors access to fast growing AI startups. He is a proven tech executive able to take an idea and turn it into a business. He's been deeply involved in tech for over twenty years as an engineer, entrepreneur and venture investor. He teaches entrepreneurship at l’École de technologie supérieur (ÉTS) and coaches startups at Centech, a Deep Tech focused accelerator. Daniel has a B.Eng in Electrical Engineering from McGill University.
You can connect with Daniel on LinkedIn.
Date: Sept 20th 2022
Time: 5:30 – 6:30 PM ET
Location: McGill Engine Centre (FDA5)
Snacks will be provided!
2021
Fall 2021
Sarim Malik
Co-Founder & CEO of Neat
Starting a company right out of university. Sarim (BEng '21) is the Co-founder and CEO of Neat, a venture-backed startup building a desktop app offering the most seamless web notification experience for knowledge workers. Neat was a McGill Engine's TechAccel past grantee. Before launching Neat, Sarim worked in various software and engineering-related roles at Citi, Pratt & Whitney, and Electronic Arts (EA). At McGill, Sarim served as the Engineering Senator at SSMU and EUS.
You can connect with Sarim on LinkedIn or Twitter.
Date: Nov 25th, 2021
Time: 6:00 – 7:00 pm ET
Location: Remote
Brennan Spellacy
Co-Founder & CEO of Patch
The McGill Engine and SEAM are excited to invite you to hear Brennan Spellacy, Co-founder & CEO of Patch speaks about his entrepreneurial journey and share his tips for success!
Brennan (B.Eng '16) is the co-founder and CEO of Patch, the platform for negative emissions. Before founding Patch, Brennan worked in a range of product and software engineering roles at startups like Sonder and Shopify.
Date: Oct 25th, 2021
Time: 6:00 – 7:00 pm ET
Location: Remote
Jimmy E. Chan
Co-Founder & CEO of Dropbase
From Idea to Product-Market Fit. Building a startup is really hard. In this talk, Jimmy will talk about his entrepreneurial journey and share thoughts on the most important things that early-stage startup founders should focus on.
Jimmy is the Co-founder & CEO of Dropbase, a data platform that helps analytics and operations teams automate all the manual work of gathering, cleaning, and centralizing internal and external data. Jimmy is a Y Combinator and Next 36 alumni. He is an experienced entrepreneur, product manager, and UX designer. Jimmy has an M.B.A. from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and a B.Eng. in Computer Engineering from McGill University.
Connect with Jimmy on Linkedin or Twitter.
Date: Sept 21st, 2021
Time: 5:30 – 7:00 pm ET
Location: Remote
Winter 2021
Alex Grant
Principal at Jade Cove Partners
The McGill Engine and SEAM are excited to present: There are no adults - Alex Grant will share his experience of starting a lithium extraction technology company and now how he sees the future of global decarbonization of battery manufacturing. Principal at Jade Cove Partners
Alex is a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree in Energy for 2021. Alex is Partner at Minviro, where he helps build environmental impact models of lithium-ion battery supply chain processes. He is also Technology Innovation Advisor at Zelandez, a lithium brinefield services company with operations in Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile. Alex is a co-founder of Lilac Solutions, a Silicon Valley lithium extraction technology company funded by Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Alex has an M.S. from Northwestern University in Chemical Engineering and a B.Eng. from McGill University in Chemical Engineering & Philosophy.
Find Alex by Linkedin, Twitter, or ag [at] jadecove.com (email). He is based in beautiful San Francisco, California.
Date: Feb 9th,2021
Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location: Remote
2020
Fall 2020
Colin Gallacher
How Not To Build A Startup: From Zero To Your First Million. The decision to build a company is a big one. In the fast-moving-get-rich-quick-on-to-the-next-adventure spirit of today it can be surprising to learn that building a company normally takes years. Having travelled the entrepreneurial path for the past 6-years and in the process of doubling the size of his company to 20 personnel, Department of Mechanical Engineering Alumni, Colin Gallacher, will provide concrete steps to take to avoid early mistakes in starting your entrepreneurial journey.
You are invited to hear Colin Gallacher, Co-Founder of Haply Robotics share his experience about starting and growing his company all while developing a new ventilator to fight COVID-19!
Haply's mission is to add touch to technology and change the way we interact with the digital world. They develop various technologies to incorporate the sense of touch to computers, smart phones, tablets and the new emerging virtual reality and augmented reality platforms.
Colin is a B.Eng. and M.Eng, in Mechanical Engineering from McGill University.
Date: Nov 18th, 2020
Time: 5:30 PM-6:30 PM EST
Location: Remote
Louis Dorval
Louis works to create jobs in Africa. He facilitates investments in innovation, advise social enterprises, and start his own ventures.
Specialties include: Strategy Development, Entrepreneurship, Change and Operations Management, Private Sector Development, Start-Up Consulting, and Sub-Saharan Africa Experience.
Date: Oct 28th, 2020
Time: 12:00 PM-1:00 PM EST
Location: Remote
Jessica Knapp
Project Manager of ELLEvate Women Entrepreneurs at YES Montreal
Jessica Knapp is the Project Manager of ELLEvate Women Entrepreneurs at YES (Youth Employment Services). Alongside the entrepreneurship team, she develops programming and resources to support women entrepreneurs to launch, grow, and scale their businesses. YES is a non-profit, community-driven English-language service provider that has been helping Quebecers province-wide find employment and start and grow businesses for 25 years.
Date: Oct 7th, 2020
Time: 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM EST
Location: Remote
Mitch Seguin
Co-Founder & CPO/CTO at ChefsList
You are invited to hear Mitch Seguin, share his experience about starting his company and on being an entrepreneur.
Mitch went to McGill University to study mechanical engineering, but then veered off and found his place building digital products. He has seen every facet of product design and development! Working with companies from seed round, he saw huge growth among his client partners and quickly gained an eye for potential success.
Now, Mitch is based in Berlin, trying to balance ambition, patience, and humility to make something wonderful.
Date: Sept 16th, 2020
Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EST
Location: Remote
Winter 2020
Asad Lesani
Asad Lesani is the CEO and Co-Founder of Blue City Technology, a startup developing a novel technology to improve mobility and safety in the road networks. He Has a PhD in Civil Engineering (Transportation) from the Department of Civil Engineering of McGill University, with more than ten years of experience in intelligent transportation systems, electronics, and artificial intelligence. He has won different outstanding awards including McGill Engineering Doctoral Award, IVADO Postdoctoral Fellowship on Entrepreneurship.
The McGill Engine Centre will be hosting three entrepreneur speakers throughout the 2020 winter semester. This speaker series provides an opportunity to hear from entrepreneurs, accelerators, incubators, and investors about their experiences and offerings, and to network with them.
Date: Feb 18th 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Omer Dor
Co-Founder, Sports IQ
Omer is a tech entrepreneur. He's currently a co-founder of Sports IQ, a sports modelling startup building next-generation products for the sports entertainment and sports betting industries. Previously he ran a healthcare technology investment and acquisition firm. Prior to that he was the co-founder and CEO of Mobicare (acquired in 2013), a cloud based chronic disease management platform. Before founding Mobicare, Omer was selected as a Participant of The Next 36 program, an entrepreneurial leadership organization whose goal is develop Canada’s next generation of high impact entrepreneurs.
Omer graduated with McGill in 2012 with a B. Eng. in Chemical Engineering.
Date: February 11th, 2020
Time: 5:30-6:30PM
Location: McGill Engine Centre (FDA5)
2019
Michael Simla
Co-Founder and CEO, Lumenwerx
Michael Co-Founded Lumenwerx in 2014. Lumenwerx designs and manufactures innovative LED light fixtures at their headquarters in Montreal. Winner of over 20 design awards for pushing the boundaries of the industry, Lumenwerx is one of North America’s fastest growing lighting companies.
Michael obtained his B.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering from McGill in 2010.
Date: Tuesday, November 19, 2019
Time: 5:30-6:30PM
Location: The McGill Engine Centre, FDA5
Shawn Errunza
Co-Founder, Jintronix
Shawn co-founded Jintronix, a start-up in Montreal and Seattle that is transforming rehabilitation by providing an innovative, accessible and value-driven model for the delivery of physical and occupational therapy. He is a medical doctor who obtained his MD/MBA from McGill and also obtained his B.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering from McGill in 2010.
Date: Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Time: 6:00-7:00PM
Location: The McGill Engine Centre, FDA5
Odero Otieno
Co-Founder and CEO, DawaSwift
Odero co-founded DawaSwift in 2018. Focused on emerging markets globally, DawaSwift is a mobile money, medicine delivery, taxi hailing and data science company that is powered and augmented with NextPesa (its global mobile money wallet). The company has offices in Toronto and Nairobi and is FINTRAC regulated.
He will obtain his B.Eng. in Computer Engineering with a minor in Technological Entrepreneurship from McGill in 2020.
Date: Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Time: 5:30-7:00PM
Location: Macdonald Engineering Building Room 267
Justin Hunt
Co-Founder and CEO, Blaise Transit
Justin is co-founder and CEO of Blaise Transit, a start-up in Montreal that is commercializing the world's first AI-based platform to run on-demand public buses. As CEO, Justin is responsible for leading his growing team in their journey to improve public transportation. In 2018, he was selected as a Participant of The Next 36 program, an entrepreneurial leadership organization whose goal is to develop Canada’s next generation of high impact entrepreneurs. He also obtained his B.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering from McGill in 2018.
Date: Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Time: 5:30-7:00PM
Location: Macdonald Engineering Building, Room 267
2018
Callaghan Wilmott
Intl Aerospace
Intl Aerospace is a data services company, utilizing proprietary solar drone technology to provide large-scale, precision surveying to the agricultural industry.
Mechanical Engineering, Fall 2019
Date: Tuesday, October 30, 2018
Time: 5:30-7:00PM
Location: Macdonald Engineering Building Room 267
Odero Otieno
Co-Founder and CEO, DawaSwift
Odero co-founded DawaSwift in 2018. Focused on emerging markets globally, DawaSwift is a mobile money, medicine delivery, taxi hailing and data science company that is powered and augmented with NextPesa (its global mobile money wallet). The company has offices in Toronto and Nairobi and is FINTRAC regulated.
He will obtain his B.Eng. in Computer Engineering with a minor in Technological Entrepreneurship from McGill in 2020.
Date: Tuesday, October 30, 2018
Time: 5:30-7:00PM
Location: Macdonald Engineering Building Room 267
Ebou Jobe
JobeLink
JobeLink is a software application that will bring together restaurants and part-time job seekers like students, to reduce mismatch between demand and supply of labor.
Software Engineering, Fall 2019
Date: Tuesday, October 30, 2018
Time: 5:30-7:00PM
Location: Macdonald Engineering Building Room 267
Deborah Cherenfant
Principal advisor, Business Development and Parnterships, BCF Imagine
You are invited to hear Deborah Cherenfant, Principal advisor, Business Development and Partnerships of BCF Imagine, talk about the BCF Imagine program to help you launch your business, and share her experience as an entrepreneurial enthusiast.
Date: Monday, October 22, 2018
Time: 5:30-7:00PM
Location: Macdonald Engineering Building Room 267
Abdaal Mazhar Shafi
co-founder of UpstartED
Abdaal (B.Eng, ’14) is a co-founder of UpstartED, a non-profit teaching Montreal’s youth and educators about technology and entrepreneurship to better prepare them for the future. He balances this with a full-time role at SimActive, a software developer processing aerial image data, which he helped expand to over 100 countries. He has traveled to 20+ countries over 4 continents as a product specialist in the nascent commercial drone industry. His talk will focus on the skills necessary to succeed in our tech-infused society, working across cultures, and on how to balance a passion project with full-time work.
Date: Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Time: 5:30-7:00PM
Location: Macdonald Engineering Building Room 267
2017
Dr. Hamed Layssi
Co-Founder, FPrimeC Solutions
Hamed is Co-Founder of FPrimeC solutions, a technology company in Ottawa that specializes in the design and development of innovative IoT solutions for cost-effective and reliable assessment of infrastructure facilities. As chief structural engineer, Hamed is responsible for managing and directing a team of engineers and programmers to develop innovative structural health monitoring systems and intuitive risk assessment toolbox.
He obtained his PhD in Civil Engineering from McGill in 2013.
Date: Monday, November 13, 2017
Time: 5:30-7:00PM
Location: Macdonald Engineering Building Room 267
Kevin Han
Co-Founder, AON3D
Kevin is a Co-Founder of AON3D, a manufacturer of industrial 3D printers, based in Montreal, an alum of the Y Combinator program, and an engineer from McGill (2014).
Date: Monday, October 30, 2017
Time: 5:30-7:00PM
Location: Macdonald Engineering Building Room 267
Jean Amiouny
co-founder of Shakepay and graduate of The Next 36 program
Jean is a co-founder of Shakepay, a cryptocurrency startup based in Montreal, an alum from The Next 36 program, and an engineer from McGill (2013).
He’ll be sharing his toughest entrepreneurial challenge as an engineer: launching earlier than your engineer mindset is comfortable with.
Date: Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Time: 5:30-7:00PM
Location: Macdonald Engineering Building Room 267
Eliot Ahdoot
Eng., Executive Vice President of Operations of the Hypertec Group
Eliot has been acting as Executive Vice President of Operations of the Hypertec Group since 2012 after having previously served as Director of Hypertec High Availability Services, where he enhanced and maintained the datacenter infrastructures to a tier 3+ level of availability. Eliot brings to the table more than 8 years of experience in various fields of technology including datacenter design, server design and disaster recovery. Eliot obtained his Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree from McGill in 2009.
Date: Monday, September 11, 2017
Time: 6:00-7:30PM
Location: Macdonald Engineering Building Room 267
2016
Aditya Pendyala
Vice-President, Growth and Co-Founder, mnubo
ICE, MESC, and ECSESS invite McGill students to a presentation by Aditya Pendyala, Vice- President of Growth and Co-Founder of mnubo, speak about his experiences as a technological entrepreneur and cloud & big data expert.
Date: Monday, October 24, 2016
Time: 5:30-7:00PM
Location: Trottier building room 1080
Claude Vachet
Managing Partner, Cycle Capital Managment
ICE, MESC, and SEAM invite McGill students and researchers to a presentation by Claude Vachet, Managing Partner, Cycle Capital Management, who will talk about his experiences as a venture capitalist and about the seed funds that Cycle Capital manages.
Date: Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Time: 5:30-7:00PM
Location: FDA5
Les Vadasz
Co-Founder, Intel Corporation
ICE, MESC, McGill Alumni Association, and EXCESS invite McGill students and researchers to a presentation by Les Vadasz, one of the founding members of Intel Corporation, who will talk about his experiences in entrepreneurship and in the creation of the first microprocessor. Now retired, Mr. Vadasz focuses his energies on philanthropic work in education. A reception will follow.
Date: Tuesday, September 7, 2016
Time: 5:30-7:00PM
Location: Macdonald Engineering Building Room 267
Jean-Nicolas Delage
Partner, Fasken Martineu
Jean-Nicolas Delage specializes in the protection, management and commercialization of intellectual property assets, including patents, trademarks, trade secrets and copyrights. He also co-chairs the Fasken Martineau Emerging Technologies/Start-up program in Montreal. Jean-Nicolas acquired a proven expertise in the development of intellectual property management strategies and policies for granting agencies and research consortiums involving the government, industrial and academic partners as well as government research centers. He is also active in the fields of information technology, software and video games, notably with regards to open-source issues and licensing or negotiation of software development agreements.
Date: Monday, March 21, 2016
Time: 5:30-7:00PM
Location: FDA5
Charlene Li
Founder, Altimer
In the blink of an eye, new technologies come to the fore and become the bright shiny object of the moment. How can you discern which ones to pay attention to — and which ones you can safely ignore? Charlene brings decades of experience as an industry analyst, author, and consultant to talk about the core technology-driven business trends. She is a sought after speaker and advisor to many Fortune 500 companies. She was named one of the Top 50 Leadership Innovators by Inc, and one of the 100 most creative people in business by Fast Company. She is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School and lives in San Francisco with her husband and two teenagers.
Date: Monday, March 7, 2016
Time: 5:30-7:00PM
Location: FDA5
2015
Bill Aulet
Senior Lecturer & Managing Director, Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship
Bill Aulet is the managing director in the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship at MIT and also a senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management. The center is responsible for entrepreneurship across all five schools at MIT starting with education but also extending well outside the class room with student clubs, conferences, competitions, networking events, awards, hackathons, student trips and most recently accelerators. Bill is the author of “Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps to a Successful Startup. In addition to his work at MIT, Bill works with individuals and companies to become more successful through innovation-driven entrepreneurship.
Date: Friday, November 30, 2015
Time: 11:30AM - 1:00PM
Location: MC304
Lina Duque
Lina Duque, MBA
Having a strong online presence is key to branding yourself to prospective employers or for branding your start-up venture. Attend this session and learn how to build a following on Twitter, create a compelling LinkedIn profile and implement tactics to manage your online brand. Lina Duque, MBA, is a social media strategist and executive branding coach whose work has appeared in the likes of Forbes, the Globe and Mail and Huffington Post. Connect with her at LinaDuqueConsulting.com or on Twitter @LinaDuqueMBA.
Date: Thursday, October 29, 2015
Time: 5:00-7:00PM
Location: FDA5
Christina Moro
Recent graduate of The Next 36 program
Christina is a recent graduate from Mechanical Engineering at McGill University. During her studies, she explored a variety of fields, such as advanced 3D printing technologies and solar reactors. Two years ago, she joined the Quartier de l’Innovation student working group to help students get involved in Montreal’s startup community. Through the Next 36 program, Christina developed Clustr, an app that maps a city’s vibe in real time, and is now looking for new entrepreneurial opportunities.
Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Time: 11:30AM - 1:00PM
Location: FDA5
Simon McDougall
MBA, PMP, CEO and Head Coach, Ecofuel
In addition to seed financing of up to $100,000, Ecofuel offers an intensive program of training workshops, networking sessions, and an experienced mentor ecosystem.
Date: Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Time: 5:00-7:00PM
Location: FDA5
Michael Moreyne
CEO and Co-Founder, Social Orra
Michael Moreyne, CEO and Co-Founder of Social Orra Inc. (a social media software and consulting firm), will share his experience in entrepreneurship and personal branding.
Michael completed his Electrical Engineering undergraduate studies with a double minor in Management and Italian Studies at McGill in 2004. He later went on to finish an International Masters in Business Administration at IE Business School in Spain in 2011. Over the last several years, Michael has accumulated extensive experience in technology and IT services covering a wide gamut of industries including aerospace, e-commerce, telecommunications, and social media.
Date: Thursday, February 26, 2015
Time: 5:00-7:00PM
Location: FDA5
2014
Guillaume Charpenel
Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Solexium Solar Solutions
Guillaume completed his mechanical engineering undergraduates studies at McGill in 2006. He then left for Stockholm to do a Masters in Sustainable Energy Engineering. As part of the latter, he did an internship in industry in Madrid, working for the renewable energy department of one of the largest utilities in Spain (Iberdrola). He worked on large scale (20 MW) ground mount solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants. In 2009, he returned to Canada, and started his own in Solar PV company, Solexium Solar Solutions.
Date: Nov 19th 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Location: FDA5
Mark Driscoll
P.Eng., PhD, CTO of Spinologics
Dr. Driscoll is an experienced biomedical engineer with in-depth experience in taking an idea from concept to market while effectively navigating the design, development, manufacturing, regulatory and intellectual property environments. He has a proven track record of product development management with a proficiency in peer-reviewed scientific publications (20) and congress presentations (50). He has over 20 patents and pending patents in the medical device field.
Dr. Driscoll received his B.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering from McGill University and his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Polytechnique (Université de Montréal).
Date: Oct 27th 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Location: FDA5
Serge Bourassa
LL. M., M.B.A., President and COO, Centre d’entreprises et d’innovation de Montréal (CEIM)
Michael Davis
P.Eng., Senior Consultant CEIM
McGill University and the CEIM are pleased to announce the launch of a partnership, forged through the Quartier de l’innovation, that will provide McGill student and faculty entrepreneurs with access to an array of support, expertise and resources to incubate and grow their start-ups. CEIM offers customized management consulting and related services for the creation and development of companies in information technology, new media, clean and industrial technology and life sciences sectors.
Serge Bourassa joined CEIM in 1997 to begin building its New Technology group. In year 2000, he launched CEIM’s Centre de développement des technologies de l’information. Serge has twenty-five years of experience, mostly in financing and business consulting. Michael Davis has thirty-five years of management experience, largely in senior management roles. He has developed significant expertise in industrial technology, including market development, product development and product line management, in a global market environment.
Date: Oct 22nd 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Location: FDA5
Sean Brownlee
Partner, Rho Canada Ventures
With nearly 15 years of operational and venture experience, he is passionate about collaborating with entrepreneurs and helping them grow their ventures to become leaders in their spaces.
He joined Rho Canada Ventures in 2012 and focuses on investments in the areas of SaaS (Software as a Service), cloud, mobility and clean technology. Prior to Rho, Sean worked for nearly a decade in Boston at JMH Capital and 3i Corporation, a leading internationally focused venture capital firm. He has been involved in the early-stage financing of many technology companies that have achieved successful exits through M&A and IPO. Sean was also previously an investor with EDC in Ottawa.
Sean’s experience and network builds on Rho’s focus on developing early-stage companies into international leaders. He is focused on working with entrepreneurs who are thinking about global domination from the earliest stages.
Sean received an M.B.A. from the Sprott School of Business at Carleton University and a B.A. in economics from Carleton University. In addition, he is a CFA charterholder.
Date: Sept 29th 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Location: FDA5
Dr. Pil Joo
founder of Figure of Eight Inc.
Dr. Joo graduated from McGill twice, first with B. Eng. in electrical engineering. He then taught English in rural Japan for a year and returned to McGill for medical school. After his medical degree, he trained in family medicine at University of Ottawa. He now works as the chief of emergency department at St-Francis Memorial Hospital in Barry's Bay, Ontario. He also practices family medicine and teaches residents at The Ottawa Hospital. Recently he founded a start-up, Figure of Eight Inc., that develops a practice management app for physicians.
Date: Apr 3nd 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Location: FDA5
Toufic Azar,
PhD student Mech.Eng.
Dr. Ahmad Haidar
ECE alumnus
“Novel Percutaneous Mitral Valve Repair System”. This system gives those suffering from mitral valve regurgitation disease the opportunity to undergo a more effective and less invasive technique to reduce risks and trauma associated with conventional open-heart surgery.
“External Artificial Pancreas for Patients with Type 1 Diabetes”. This system gives those suffering from Type 1 diabetes the opportunity to access more effective, portable, automated treatment of their disease.
Date: March 24th 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Location: FDA5
Roger Tambay
Partner, Cycle Capital Management
Roger has 20 years of international multi-disciplinary experience with small, medium and large corporations, in a wide variety of highly competitive industrial sectors. In addition to his extensive hands-on turn around experience, he has created and developed over ten new materials and systems, thereby displacing competitive products or opening new markets. He held several positions at Eastman Chemical in Canada and United States and, more recently, he was responsible for Business development and operations for Balcan Plastics. Roger holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry, an MBA, and a bachelor's degree from McGill University in both civil and common laws. He is a member of the Quebec Bar association.
Cycle Capital invests in companies developing and commercializing clean technologies and striving to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, optimizing resource use, and improving process efficiency throughout a product's life cycle.
Date: Feb 27th 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Location: FDA5
2013
Côme Lague
co-founder Nueva Ventures
Prior to Nueva Ventures, Côme was a serial entrepreneur and angel investor involved in several start-ups. He was the founder and CEO of CDR International, which provided telephony services into emerging markets in Africa using voice over IP technology. Côme was also interim CFO at OQO, a San Francisco based computer start-up that launched the world's smallest mobile computer. Prior to CDR and OQO, Côme was CFO of Vendiva, a start-up that provided experiential web based services using an ASP model and adaptive learning techniques. He was the co-founder and COO of Adesemi Communications, a company that launched wireless telecommunications networks in Africa including the first Second National Operator license in Ghana. Côme earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electrical&Computer Engineering from McGill University and a MBA from the Harvard Business School.
Date: Oct 21st 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Location: FDA5
David Bernardi
CTO of Telesystem
David has more than 25 years of experience in product development, project management and venture capital. He has headed up large software development teams, provided technical and program governance for the world’s only civilian data satellite constellation, and negotiated complex international joint-venture agreements. For the past decade, he has been working with entrepreneurs to help them build the companies of their dreams.
Date: Sept 16th 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Location: FDA5
Helge Seetzen
an award-winning technologist, businessman and entrepreneur
MESC and Innovations Catalyst in Engineering (ICE) cordially invite you to hear Helge Seetzen is an award-winning technologist, businessman and entrepreneur, known for imaging & multimedia research and commercialization. He holds a series of patents in the display and multimedia spaces, and has launched companies to bring his own and others inventions to market. He is currently CEO of TandemLaunch Technologies, an early stage incubator focused on hardware and software projects that are either standalone or require integration with existing technologies.
Date: Mar 18th 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Location: FDA5
Jean-Sébastien Cournoyer
co-founder, Montreal Startup and Real Ventures
JS is first a husband and father of five wonderful children. By profession he is a venture capitalist, and entrepreneur. He co-founded Montreal Startup and Real Ventures, two seed funds based in Montreal, and loves working with entrepreneurs and startups. JS meets with as many entrepreneurs as possible, as his experience helps him relate with the entrepreneurs he meets and works with.
Date: Feb 11th 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Location: FDA5
David R. Rolston
PhD, Founder, Vice President and CTO of Reflex Photonics
Dr. Rolston received B.Eng., M.Eng. and Ph.D. degrees all in Electrical and Computer Engineering from McGill University. His current responsibilities include 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. He has published numerous journals and holds several US and international patents and pending patents.
Date: Jan 14th 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Location: FDA5
