BOLD SOLUTIONS
New Ideas, Bold Solutions, and Exploration.
This is what The Future of Innovation is.
The Future of Innovation Conference is an annual RBC Leadership conference, hosted by the J Herbert Smith Centre, that sparks new conversations about cutting-edge solutions for problems that are persistent throughout Canada and the world.
About J Herbert Smith Centre
The J Herbert Smith Centre for Technology Management and Entrepreneurship (JHSC) was founded in 1988 to cultivate new ideas, creative thinking, and an entrepreneurial spirit for careers in the ever-changing world of technology. Over the past 35 years, JHSC has aided countless startups to move from ideation to early startup and equipped them with the skills they need to apply their expertise in a business environment.
Speakers
GORDON PITTS
Gordon Pitts is a business journalist and author who has been a reporter and editor on Canadian newspapers for four decades, in addition to writing eight books on Canadian business. They include his 2020 release, Unicorn in the Woods, How East Coast Geeks and Dreamers Are Changing the Game, which was long-listed for Canada’s National Business Book Award and named one of the Globe and Mail’s Top 100 Books for 2020.
As a business writer, he won the National Business Book Award for Stampede: The Rise of the West and Canada’s New Power Elite, his 2008 book on the business leaders of the Canadian West. Another book, Fire in the Belly, the biography of distinguished director and lawyer Purdy Crawford, won the Dartmouth Book Award for non-fiction in 2015, part of the Atlantic Book Awards. Among Pitts’ other books are The Codfathers: Lessons from the Atlantic Business Elite and the biography of corporate director and executive Sir Graham Day, titled The Last Canadian Knight.
Until he retired from daily journalism in 2013, Pitts was a senior writer in the Report on Business of the Globe and Mail, having also held editorial roles at The Financial Post and Ottawa Citizen. He holds degrees in history and education from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, as well as a bachelor of journalism from Carleton University in Ottawa.
SAM MAGEE
Sam develops new entrepreneurial pathways for young people at Harvard University and beyond. He directs the Lemann Program on Creativity and Entrepreneurship at Harvard College, which includes both a curricular side and a co-curricular special project, Harvard HealthLab Accelerators (H2A), which is focused on accelerating public and planetary health by providing students with seed funding, 1-1 mentoring, a guest speaker series, and networking opportunities.
Each year, H2A selects an elite cohort of student teams from across Harvard University, drawing students from the liberal arts and sciences and from graduate disciplines that include architecture, business, design, divinity, education, engineering, government, law, medicine, and public health. Sam and the H2A team are also developing cohorts in Africa, Brazil, and Canada to grow an increasingly global community of talented, tightly networked young social impact entrepreneurs.
Previously, Sam was Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Harvard University's Operation Impact. For the 12 years prior, Sam developed innovative programs for students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Sam is involved in several Boston area startups in the space of innovation, community engagement, and immersive storytelling and surprisingly also holds a patent for a hardware/software device that detects freefall and deploys an airbrake for drones.
SUSAN CHALMERS-GAUVIN
Susan Chalmers-Gauvin is a strategic, results-driven leader with over 25 years of management experience. Ms. Chalmers-Gauvin is the Co-Founder and CEO Atlantic Ballet Atlantique Canada and has been responsible for the strategic and financial development of the Company since its establishment in 2001.
Ms. Chalmers-Gauvin actively pursues innovative partnerships including collaborations with the education, ICT, health and social sectors and has led multi-stakeholder community engagement initiatives at the provincial, regional and national levels. She has used art as a platform for civic engagement on violence against women, youth retention, downtown revitalization, immigration diversity and inclusion, and digital transformation. She has 16 years of experience working with Wolastoq and M’kmaq communities in the Atlantic region.
She received the TOP 50 CEO awards by Atlantic Business Magazine in 2023 and 2015, The Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medals (2022), the Meritorious Service Decoration (Civil Division) in 2021 and the Order of New Brunswick (2017). She was designated one of Canada’s Most Powerful Women Top 100 in 2013. She received an Honourary Doctor of Letters from University of New Brunswick (2012).
Panel Discussion: Transitioning
to the Future of Innovation
KATHRYN CAMERON
Kathryn Cameron joined Beauceron Security as the second full-time employee, after the closing of the first financing round. In 2018, as Chief Operating Officer, she led Beauceron Security’s participation in Cylon; the world’s top early-stage cybersecurity accelerator centered in the United Kingdom and supported efforts resulting in two successful fundraises. She has previously led the sales, product management and delivery teams, currently she is focused on marketing and corporate strategic planning. Under her go-to-market leadership, Beauceron Security’s annual revenue has grown over 10-fold.
Kathryn is an alumnus of Venture for Canada and a member of the Wallace McCain Institute. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Commerce, with a minor in Mathematics, from Mount Allison University. She was named one of Atlantic Business Magazine’s 30 Under 30 innovators for 2022 and serves on the Opportunities New Brunswick Board of Directors. As a proud New Brunswicker, Kathryn loves creating meaningful employment opportunities in her home province with a guiding focus on diversity, equality, and inclusion, for which Beauceron Security has received recognition.
MARCEL LEBRUN
Marcel LeBrun is a technology executive and social entrepreneur and the founder 12 Neighbours Community Inc., a dignified tiny home community and social enterprise centre in Fredericton focused on providing housing, developmental support and progressive employment for individuals who have been experiencing homelessness. Prior to this, he was co-founder and CEO of Radian6, which was acquired by Salesforce.com in 2011 winning the Canadian Venture Capital Association’s Deal of the Year. Then he led the marketing cloud as Senior Vice-President at Salesforce.com, ranked as the world’s most innovative software company by Forbes magazine for 8 consecutive years. Marcel was also Venture Partner with Real Ventures, Canada’s largest seed stage venture firm. Marcel has extensive startup, and M&A experience having led and managed 6 acquisitions, two sell-side and 4 buy-side acquisitions. Marcel is a graduate of UNB, electrical and computer engineering where he remains involved as a mentor in the Masters in Technology, Management and Entrepreneurship program.
Through the LeBrun Family Foundation, he and his wife work to establish charities & projects that benefit people impacted by poverty and marginalization, as well as initiatives that benefit vulnerable youth.
SANDY BIRD
Sandy Bird is the co-founder and CTO of Sonrai Security, helping enterprises secure their data in the cloud. Sandy was the co-founder and CTO of Q1 Labs, which was acquired by IBM in 2011. At IBM, Sandy became the CTO for the global security business and worked closely with research, development, marketing and sales to develop new and innovative solutions to help the IBM Security business grow to ~$2B in annual revenue.
GORDON PITTS
Gordon Pitts is a business journalist and author who has been a reporter and editor on Canadian newspapers for four decades, in addition to writing eight books on Canadian business. They include his 2020 release, Unicorn in the Woods, How East Coast Geeks and Dreamers Are Changing the Game, which was long-listed for Canada’s National Business Book Award and named one of the Globe and Mail’s Top 100 Books for 2020.
As a business writer, he won the National Business Book Award for Stampede: The Rise of the West and Canada’s New Power Elite, his 2008 book on the business leaders of the Canadian West. Another book, Fire in the Belly, the biography of distinguished director and lawyer Purdy Crawford, won the Dartmouth Book Award for non-fiction in 2015, part of the Atlantic Book Awards. Among Pitts’ other books are The Codfathers: Lessons from the Atlantic Business Elite and the biography of corporate director and executive Sir Graham Day, titled The Last Canadian Knight.
Until he retired from daily journalism in 2013, Pitts was a senior writer in the Report on Business of the Globe and Mail, having also held editorial roles at The Financial Post and Ottawa Citizen. He holds degrees in history and education from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, as well as a bachelor of journalism from Carleton University in Ottawa.
CHRIS RAMSEY
Chris Ramsey is a 30+ year veteran in the technology software and SaaS industry. Throughout his career, Ramsey has built several successful start-ups, led hyper-growth companies, and held senior executive roles at global, NASDAQ, and NYSE traded firms, including Salesforce.com NYSE: CRM, where he led social media listening and analytics products to triple-digit growth as Chief Customer Officer. Prior to Salesforce.com, Ramsey co-founded and served as Executive VP of Business Development and Product Management at Radian6, the global leader in social media listening and analytics. In his role at Radian6, Ramsey grew the sales organization from ground zero to a run rate in the tens of millions and over 4,000 customers. This success led to the acquisition of Radian6 by Salesforce.com for $326M, winning Canadian Venture Capital Association’s “Venture Deal of the Year” award for all of Canada.
Panel Discussion: Trends in
Technology Innovation
DEBASMITA MUKHERJEE
Dr. Debasmita Mukherjee is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering and J Herbert Smith Centre for Technology Management & Entrepreneurship at the University of New Brunswick. She received her PhD in Mechanical Engineering from The University of British Columbia in 2023. Motivated by the dynamics and seamless collaboration within human teams, as well as the potential for working alongside highly adaptable robots, Dr. Mukherjee's research endeavors to create a safety-centric and natural communication framework for human-robot collaboration within the context of a human-centric Industry 5.0. Her primary focus involves personalizing deep learning models to user behaviors through the use of affective computing, naturalistic feedback mechanisms, probabilistic approaches, and expert systems, all geared towards enhancing system safety and facilitating natural communication. With approximately 8 years of experience in both research and development, spanning roles as a Senior Engineer in a multinational corporation and within academic settings, Dr. Mukherjee specializes in designing models geared towards deployment in industrial environments. Her research has been patented, published in prestigious journals and international IEEE conference as well as covered in news and media outlets.
LIUCHEN CHANG
Liuchen Chang received B.S.E.E. from Northern Jiaotong University in 1982, M.Sc. from China Academy of Railway Sciences in 1984, and Ph.D. from Queen’s University in 1991. He joined the University of New Brunswick in 1992 and is a Professor Emeritus at UNB. He was the NSERC Chair in Environmental Design Engineering during 2001-2007, and the Principal Investigator of the Canadian Wind Energy Strategic Network (WESNet) during 2008-2014. He is a long-time volunteer for IEEE for over 30 years and was the President of the IEEE Power Electronics Society (2021-2022).
Dr. Chang is a recipient of CanWEA R.J. Templin Award for his contributions to the development of wind energy technologies, Innovation Award for Excellence in Applied Research in New Brunswick for his contributions to smart grid and renewable energy technologies, and PELS Sustainable Energy Systems Technical Achievement Award for his contributions in distributed energy systems. He is a fellow of Canadian Academy of Engineering (FCAE). He has published more than 400 refereed papers in journals and conference proceedings. Dr. Chang has focused on research, development, demonstration and deployment of renewable energy-based distributed energy systems and direct load control systems.
SAM MAGEE
Sam develops new entrepreneurial pathways for young people at Harvard University and beyond. He directs the Lemann Program on Creativity and Entrepreneurship at Harvard College, which includes both a curricular side and a co-curricular special project, Harvard HealthLab Accelerators (H2A), which is focused on accelerating public and planetary health by providing students with seed funding, 1-1 mentoring, a guest speaker series, and networking opportunities.
Each year, H2A selects an elite cohort of student teams from across Harvard University, drawing students from the liberal arts and sciences and from graduate disciplines that include architecture, business, design, divinity, education, engineering, government, law, medicine, and public health. Sam and the H2A team are also developing cohorts in Africa, Brazil, and Canada to grow an increasingly global community of talented, tightly networked young social impact entrepreneurs.
Previously, Sam was Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Harvard University's Operation Impact. For the 12 years prior, Sam developed innovative programs for students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Sam is involved in several Boston area startups in the space of innovation, community engagement, and immersive storytelling and surprisingly also holds a patent for a hardware/software device that detects freefall and deploys an airbrake for drones.
ROB WHITLA
Rob Whitla has been the Founder and Managing Director of The Tantramar Group since 2012 serving clients across Canada and the United States. He began his career with Accenture, then Andersen Consulting, and later moved from big consulting to become co-founder of a Start-Up. The idea at the time was “AWS meets GeekSquad”, which grew to over ~$6M USD in recurring revenue; then “9/11” happened, and everything came to a stand-still. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you learn. Returning to consulting in the company that preceded Tantramar Group, Rob was involved in a joint venture helping with the redesign of the Airport Operations and Security Operations Control Center at the upgraded Toronto Pearson International Airport, and then moved on to work on the Sun Life Financial and Clarica merger of customer service operations. He never looked back.
Tantramar Group these days is a boutique consultancy with its home base in The Beach Triangle in Toronto, Canada. Current projects include deployment of Advanced Distribution Management Systems (ADMS) and Outage Management System (OMS) applications for the electric grid, integrating voice systems into SAP for gas, electric and water utilities, and running a strategic planning Summit for National Engineering Firm.
Panel Discussion: Future Outlook to Investments in Innovations
JEFF WHITE
Jeff White is the lead visionary at NBIF. He’s a technology industry veteran, and a seasoned venture capital financing expert. He has worked with some of our region’s past and current emerging biggest start-ups: such as Radian6, Q1 Labs, Procedure Flow, and SmartSkin Technologies to name a few and was a co-founder and COO of East Valley Ventures. That experience gives Jeff a unique perspective to see and understand the growth potential in New Brunswick’s start-up and innovation sectors. As a bonus, he’s very passionate about it too!
SARAH YOUNG
Sarah Young is a Founder and Managing Partner with Sandpiper Ventures, the team empowering women investors and founders to thrive through venture capitalism. Sarah is a deeply experienced leader who has been identifying and scaling business opportunities for over 25 years. She has counselled numerous founders and leaders on how to enter new markets, tackle complex challenges, tap into shifting consumer trends, and expand operations. In her leadership capacity with Sandpiper, she is committed to imparting her operator experience with women-led teams and with investors who understand the value and opportunity that is manifested through a more diverse and inclusive venture capital ecosystem.
Sarah has been named one of Atlantic Canada’s Top 50 CEOs; Atlantic Canada's 25 Most Powerful Women; and Concordia University’s Top 50 Corporate Leaders. She was also a recipient of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40™.
Sarah currently serves as a director on the boards of the Trans Canada Trail, as well as the select Sandpiper PortCos, the YMCA for Greater Halifax/Dartmouth Board of Honourary Trustees.
MONICA JUSTASON
Monica Justason, the VP of Transformation at Mariner, has been instrumental in steering Mariner Innovations through a transformative journey, expanding its workforce to over 350 employees and diversifying its solution offerings. With a proven track record spanning 25+ years in information technology, consulting, and change management, Monica has consistently delivered impactful results. She has partnered with regional start-ups and established enterprises alike, leaving an indelible mark across sectors, including telecom, healthcare, human services, and economic development. Since 2007, Monica has been involved in the world of regional start-ups, honing her investment acumen, and gaining invaluable insights into the ecosystem. Her commitment to fostering inclusivity in the start-up investment community is evident in her passion for increasing underrepresented group participation.
CHRIS CROWELL
Chris Crowell has held product, operations and marketing leadership roles with Bell Canada, Mariner Partners and OpenText – where he built their global 3rd party technology partner program. He also spent time consulting with Deloitte and Accenture, leading Accenture Ventures and health open innovation for Canada.
Chris’ career is distinguished by the impacts he has made both working with startups and building the ecosystems they thrive in – especially on the East Coast. Chris is a co-founder in Tidal Venture Partners, an Atlantic Canadian seed / pre-seed stage fund with LPs from across North America. He built Volta’s first corporate innovation program, has consulted on innovation cluster strategies for several governments and crown corporations, and currently serves as the chair of the board for Ignite Atlantic.
Chris holds a L.L.B and MBA from Dalhousie University and completed the LEAD Corporation Innovation program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
RAY FITZPATRICK
Innovation Spotlight: Linda Bulmer presenting Picketa
LINDA BULMER
Linda Bulmer served as Professor and Chair to the J Herbert Smith Centre – from 2005-09 advancing the program through strengthening its Entrepreneurship component, its local community impact and North American reach. She is the proud Founder of the Student Pitch Competition in 2006 and the Innovation Conference, "Managing the Innovation Process." Linda has also been a Registered Facilitator of LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY™ since 2005. She led the introduction of LSP™ to Entrepreneurship Education while at UNB and was invited to present her research on its positive contribution at the "Sixth International Conference on Innovation and Practices in Engineering Design," Hamilton, Canada, the Roundtable for Entrepreneurship Education, REE– Stanford University, Ca, USA and the Babson SEE/SEE+ Symposia for Entrepreneurship Educators, Boston Ma, USA.
Utilizing her Chemical Engineering, UNB based training, she began her Technical and Management Consulting career in Alberta, and moved to Denver, Colorado consulting with Mobil Oil LTd. After receiving her M.Sc., Specializing in Telecommunications at the University of Colorado, she joined US WEST Advanced Technologies as Senior Business Architect integrating computing and communication environments.
Upon returning to Canada in 1990, she consulted with Fujitsu Consulting Inc. (Formerly DMR Consulting Group), Fredericton, NB where she advanced to the role of Vice President. There, Linda Co-authored “The Relationship-Based Enterprise: Powering Business Success Through Customer Relationship Management” and presented these strategic concepts at several internationally attended conferences in North America and abroad.
PICKETA
MAXIME DUMONT
Maxime Dumont, COO and co-founder of Picketa Systems, excels in turning engineering concepts into reality, seamlessly integrating technology into practical applications for user success. With his roots on a New Brunswick dairy farm, Max's personal agricultural background fuels his commitment to empowering agronomists and farmers. Holding an Electrical Engineering degree from UNB, he passionately develops and introduces innovative technology to enhance precision farming. By combining agricultural insight and technical expertise, Max advocates for precision farming practices, engaging directly with growers and promoting the adoption of Picketa's groundbreaking technology. He now travels globally, sharing the company's groundbreaking technology with growers.
ZACHARY ANDERSON
Zachary Andersen, CGO and co-founder of Picketa Systems, focuses his attention on the customer side of operations. His goal is to ensure Picketa's core tech stack brings tangible value to the agricultural industry, and integrates into the larger ecosystem that is precision agriculture. Since he completed his undergrad in Electrical Engineering at UNB, Zach has been spending time learning about agriculture through collaborations with growers and agronomists across the country, and using putting that knowledge to good use in his role at Picketa.
Innovation Spotlight: Barry Bisson presenting Scott Illsley
BARRY BISSON
Barry Bisson retired in October 2020 as CEO of Propel ICT, an Atlantic Canada virtual accelerator serving technology startups. The early years of his career were spent in the federal public service with Transport Canada in various positions related to air transportation operations and policy.
In 1983 Barry joined the Faculty of Engineering at the University of New Brunswick as a Professor of Civil Engineering and Coordinator of the UNB Transportation Group. He served in this capacity until July 1994 when he was appointed the J Herbert Smith Chair in Technology Management and Entrepreneurship, a position he held until 2004. During his academic career he also had considerable experience in both the private and public sectors as a consultant to numerous corporations and government agencies.
In January 2005 Barry was appointed CEO of Shad Valley International, a national non-profit organization that operates the prestigious SHAD Program at several Canadian universities. The SHAD program challenges Canada’s exceptional high school students to realize their full potential by developing the leadership, creativity, and entrepreneurial skills that are essential for success in the global knowledge-based economy. He was also the first Director of the SHAD program at the University of New Brunswick in 1985 and 1986 and served again as Director from 1998-2004.
Barry holds BSc and MSc degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of New Brunswick and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He was a member of the Board of Directors Propel ICT and the Startup Zone in Charlottetown. In 2009 he was named a Fellow of Engineers Canada. In 2013 he was awarded the distinction of Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of New Brunswick.
SCOTT ILLSLEY
Scott Illsley is a proud Technology Management and Entrepreneurship alumni, having received his Diploma along with his B.A.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Brunswick in 1999. While at UNB, Scott pursued an interest in medical technology, working as a summer student at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering on the UNB campus.
Upon completion of his master’s degree, Scott and his wife Allison moved to Hollywood, Florida where he joined a small start-up company, Mako Surgical Inc., who developed a robotic system to improve outcomes in knee and hip replacement surgeries. He was one of the primary developers of the robotic system and co-inventor on many foundational patents in the space. Mako Surgical went on to be acquired by Stryker Corporation in 2013. Today, there are Mako Systems installed across 35 countries, and more than 1 million Mako procedures have been performed worldwide.
Scott and Allison returned to Canada in 2006, where he joined Northern Digital Inc. (NDI), a Waterloo-based manufacturer of optical and electromagnetic tracking systems supplying the medical device industry. NDI’s products are like GPS technology, providing real-time 3D tracking during medical procedures including: neurosurgery, interventional cardiology, orthopaedics, spine, interventional radiology, and many more.
Agenda
OCTOBER 17
9:00 - 9:35 AM
9:35 - 10:15 AM
10:30 - 11:15 AM
11:15 - 11:55 AM
12:10 - 12:50 PM
2:05 - 2:40 PM
2:45 - 3:00 PM
3:00 - 3:15 PM
3:15 - 3:25 PM
3:25 - 3:45 PM
3:45 - 4:00 PM
4:00 - 6:30 PM
Welcome & Opening Remarks
Keynote Speaker - Sam Magee
Panel Discussion - Trends in Technology Innovation
Keynote Speaker - Gordon Pitts
Panel Discussion - Transitioning to the Future of Innovation
Panel Discussion - Future Outlook to Investments in Innovations
Innovation Spotlight
Innovation Spotlight
Recorded Talk - David Myles
Keynote Speaker - Susan
Chalmers-Gauvin
Recorded Talk - Jennica Atwin
Banquet & Dinner
Previous Speakers
Speakers Hosted:
Steve Blank
Ann Makosinski
Bibop Gresta
Spencer Boyer
Dr. Sakena Yacoobi
Devesh Bharadwaj
Gaëtan Thomas
Muthu Singaram
Madhu Verma
Allison McCain
Pasumarthy Seshu
Janine Darling
S. R. Mahadeva Prasanna
Sandy Bird
Kevin McCracken
SPONSORS
PAST SPONSORS
