2015 Speakers

David Carter is the Executive Director of the Innovation Factory (iF). iF is Hamilton’s Regional Innovation Centre with the mandate to “be a catalyst for innovation in Hamilton”. Appropriately, David’s career has been working in innovation since he joined the workforce. It started as a consultant in the burgeoning personal computer industry and then as an International Markets Analyst Toronto Stock Exchange in the late 80’s. At Microsoft he worked through the revolution in desktop computing and the internet in the 90s. In 2001, after 11 years at Microsoft he decided to start his own company. From 2001 until 2012 he and his partner took their start-up from a small office in Burlington, to a Boston based firm raising $20million in venture capital. Carter is thrilled to support today’s entrepreneurs in Hamilton and to be a part of the larger Hamilton ecosystem.

Click here for David Carter’s Talk! 

Kevin Tuer is Managing Director of the Open Data Exchange, a national initiative slated to be launched in the fall of 2014 with a mandate to help the private sector adopt and commercialize data from public and private sources for the purpose of enhancing their current products or creating new products.

As Vice President Strategic Initiatives for Communitech, Kevin leads cluster building activities including open data, Internet of Things (IoT) and digital media, for the purpose of creating or accelerating new opportunities in emerging fields to the private sector. In his role as Vice President, Kevin is also responsible for developing and deploying Communitech’s international strategy.

Previously, Kevin was the founding Managing Director of the Canadian Digital Media Network (CDMN), a federal Centre of Excellence for Commercialization and Research, which is dedicated to establishing Canada as a world leader in Digital Media by enabling connections and collaboration of people across the country and bringing more digital solutions to market. He led the design and deployment of the Communitech Hub, a world leading innovation centre located in the Waterloo Region as well as the CDMN’s national network and associated programming strategy.
Prior to launching the CDMN, Kevin held several engineering and senior management positions in the high tech industry including Senior Research Engineer with Computing Devices Canada (now General Dynamics Canada), VP Engineering for Control Advancements Inc., as well as co-founder and CTO of Handshake VR. Kevin holds a BASc (Honours) in Mechanical Engineering, a MASc in Mechanical Engineering, and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Waterloo. Further information can be found at ca.linkedin.com/in/kevintuer/.

Click here for Kevin Tuer's talk!

Her musical journey has led her to LA, Toronto and Nashville where she began in earnest writing her own songs-a blend of old jazz and blues with a new age twist. On Valentine’s Day 2014, Daniel Lanois released a single featuring Laura entitled “Papineau”- a father daughter conversation.

Laura’s first all original record “Dirty Cheat” was released August 21, 2014. Kicked the debut record off with a fabulous release party at Porcelain Records, where Steve Bigas produced the whole record live off the floor.

Daniel Lanois, Executive Producer, introduced Laura, the band, and her accomplishments to date.

It was a magical evening that is still talked about to date. The Laura Cole Band has been playing their hearts out, gaining as much exposure as they can and stealing hearts across the world.

Click here for Laura Cole's talk!

Michael Waterston heads the business development team at CIMTEC, the Centre for Imaging Technology Commercialization. At CIMTEC, Michael fosters new medical imaging engineering and clinical testing projects to prepare clients for market launch. Before coming to CIMTEC, Michael worked in neuroscience commercialization at the Rotman Research Institute in Toronto where he implemented an entrepreneur-centric incubation model. Michael has held leadership positions in both start-up and world-leading software development firms, including Microsoft and Amazon. Michael holds an MSc from the Montreal Neurological Institute at McGill University and an MA in economics from the University of British Columbia.

Click here for Michael Waterston's talk!

Paul Cooper is Vice President of Strategic Development at MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA); one of Canada’s largest technology companies, where he is responsible for mergers and acquisitions and new business creation.

A former entrepreneur and university professor, he has a Ph.D. in Computer Science. Paul is also on the Board of Family Outreach and Response, a community mental health services organization in Toronto.

He lives in Etobicoke with his wife and two daughters.

Click here for Paul Cooper's talk!

Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Mohawk College and coordinator of Mohawk’s state-of-the-art Additive Manufacturing Resource Center (AMRC) , Robert is an expert in the tools and techniques required to create and deliver innovative designs, products and solutions quickly and cost effectively.

Robert is a Certified Engineering Technologist with a diploma from Mohawk College in Mechanical Engineering Design and an MBA from California Coast University.

Click here for Robert Gerristen's talk!

As Manager, Strategic Initiatives at HTX, The Health Technology Exchange, Shahira leads all local and international initiatives relating to medtech market access. Her key focus in this role has been on leading an international initiative focused on documenting the regulatory, reimbursement and HTA evidentiary requirements of Canadian and global markets for medical devices. She possesses sound knowledge on the heterogeneities and nuances of medtech commercialization within Canadian provinces as well as other major global markets. These data points as well as extensive global connectivity with key resources, are utilized to provide strategic guidance on maximizing product and clinical trial designs and develop multi-market access strategies of innovative Canadian technologies.

Prior to working in the innovation space, Shahira was a practicing clinician and entrepreneur within the health-care sector for over 15 years. Having created and operated a successful multi-disciplinary centre and managing several others, Shahira brings a unique patient and clinician perspective as well as sound business acumen to her current role in healthcare device development and commercialization.

Shahira holds a B.Sc in Physical Therapy from the University of Western Ontario and a Masters in International Health Technology Assessment and Management from the University of Montreal. Shahira has recently co-authored publications that document the Canadian regulatory, reimbursement and HTA pathways for the International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) and the Institute of Health Economics (IHE).