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FPTT 2009 National Meeting

Biographies


John Biles

John Biles is the Director of Partnerships and Knowledge Transfer for the Metropolis Project (a policy-research network examining immigration, integration and diversity in cities in Canada and around the world). One of his main responsibilities is to ensure that research findings are transferred to policy-makers and practitioners through a combination of publications, face-to-face interactions, and electronic knowledge transfer.


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Jeff Braybrook

Jeff Braybrook is Deputy Chief Technology Officer with the Chief Information Officer Branch of the Treasury Board Secretariat of Canada. In this role he helps set overall policy direction for the Management of IT in the Government of Canada and provides technology guidance to all IT organizations within the Government. He is responsible for the Effectiveness of IT Management within the Management Accountability Framework (MAF). Mr. Braybrook also leads CIO Branch’s efforts in establishing government-wide policy guidance on Web2.0 social networking tools.

Prior to joining Treasury Board Secretariat Mr. Braybrook spent thirty years in IM/IT consulting, management and business development roles with various information technology product and services organizations. Mr. Braybrook holds a Bachelor of Mathematics degree from the University of Waterloo.


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Ronald Brunet

Ronald Brunet (B.Sc. McGill, MBA Queens University) has been responsible for the business development and commercialization of intellectual property and technologies in the Federal and Provincial Government domains as well as academia and the private sectors. He has established over 300 collaborative and license agreements, and created over 30 new companies with financing in excess of $300 million. His experience with organizations has provided him with insights into the unique challenges facing government technology transfer and how best to align government interests with the interests of industrial partners.

Ronald Brunet is now associated with Brecon Business Solutions.


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Tom Brzustowski

Dr. Brzustowski was President of NSERC from 1995 to 2005. He taught mechanical engineering at Waterloo from 1962 to 1987, and also served as Vice-President, Academic of the University from 1975 to 1987. After that he was Deputy Minister of Colleges and Universities and later of the Premier's Council in the Government of Ontario. Tom Brzustowski is an Officer of the Order of Canada, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, and holds honorary doctorates from numerous Canadian universities.  In 2006, he was awarded the Gold Medal of Professional Engineers Ontario.

Tom Brzustowski is actually RBC Professor in the Telfer School of Management of the University of Ottawa and he is also Chair of the Board of the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo. 


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Glenn Carroll

Glenn R. Carroll is a technology transfer practitioner and consultant, specializing in the security and public safety sectors. His past experience as an RCMP forensic scientist, program and project manager with the Canadian Police Research Centre, and consultant working internationally have afforded him a global perspective in this domain.


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Thomas Corr

Thomas Corr's career includes over 30 years in the IT sector including positions as Managing Partner at Catalyst Partnership; founder and CEO of Momentum Systems; founder and CEO of Applied Development Corp., and president of Canadian Data Processing Corp. He was also Director of Commercialization - IT & Communications at the University of Toronto. Tom's education includes a Doctor of Business Administration degree from Henley Management College/Brunel University in England, an MBA from the University of Toronto, and an Advanced Post Graduate Degree in Management Consultancy from Henley Management College. Tom has also completed his certification as a corporate director by the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Thomas Corr is currently the CEO of the Accelerator Centre (AC) at the Waterloo Research and Technology Park and Associate Vice-President of Commercialization at the University of Waterloo (UW). Tom also teaches part-time at the University of Toronto and McMaster University.


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John Culley

John Culley worked for Agriculture and Agri-food Canada (AAFC) for about 15 years as a soil physicist. In 1991 he became Research Team Head, then Assistant Director at the Saskatoon Research Centre where he led the establishment of the oilseed biotechnology group. Since 1997 he has worked at AAFC’s HQ. Much of his time has been devoted to developing commercial technology transfer capacity in the department, and doing research and technology transfer agreements. Since 2003 he has been director of AAFC’s Office of Intellectual Property and Commercialization.


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Eli Fathi

Eli has been a technology entrepreneur for the past 25 years. In 1986, he founded Applied Silicon Inc. Canada. He is also a co-founder of Chide.it, an Enterprise software company specializing in collaborative feedback. Eli has been involved with several organization Boards such as the Ottawa Center for Research and Innovation, Ottawa Chamber of Commerce, the Canadian Advanced Technology Association, the Ottawa Community Loan Fund and more recently with the Alzheimer Society of Ottawa and Renfrew County. He received the University Of Ottawa Faculty Of Engineering Alumni Award of excellence for 2002. In 2004 he was the Recipient of the Order of Ottawa for Economic Development, and was the Recipient of OCRI 2004 Civic Entrepreneur of the Year award. Eli Fathi earned an Electrical Engineering degree in 1978 and a Master of Science degree in 1982 from the University of Ottawa.

Eli Fathi is currently the CEO and founder of OrbitIQ, a business accelerator company with globally-deployed channels to market.


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Cyril Gibbons

Dr. Gibbons brings more than thirty-five years of experience as a researcher and research manager to his current role as Director, Commercialization, Physical Sciences & Engineering.  He received a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of British Columbia, and has worked in materials science, building envelope performance, mineral processing, hydrometallurgy, ceramics and electrochemistry.

Prior to joining The Innovations Group at U of T, Dr. Gibbons spent fifteen years as a materials science research manager and ten years as intellectual property manager for ORTECH Corporation, where he was active in the licensing of chemical processes, engineering products and medical devices. He has extensive experience in all aspects of technology development and commercialization through licensing and start-ups, and has strong organizational and project management skills.


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Amy Lemay

Amy has been working in science and technology for more than 20 years. Since 1998, she has worked with all stakeholders in the innovation value chain and has managed more than 400 projects in all aspects of innovation. She developed the R&D Prioritizing and Positioning Framework™, a proprietary method for identifying R&D priorities and positioning R&D to maximize innovation opportunities and impacts. She has also developed and is piloting a qualitative R&D Impact assessment methodology that identifies both the economic and non economic impacts of R&D. Amy is a member of the FPTT Awards Selection Committee. She has served on an Expert Panel for the Networks of Centres of Excellence Management Funds Program. Amy has a M.Sc. and B.Sc.Agr. in Environmental Biology from the University of Guelph and a B.Ed. from Brock University.

Amy Lemay is currently the President and Founder of VISTA Science & Technology Inc, a spin-off of Brock University and Niagara College.


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Peter Levesque

With 20 years of building relationships between sectors, Peter Norman Levesque draws on his experience to analyse, design, and implement creative ways of improving how we access and utilize knowledge from many sources. He is a social entrepreneur focused on building the capacity of businesses, governments, associations, educational institutions, health centres, and civil society organizations to access, implement, utilize, and evaluate the best knowledge and practice available - to improve the quality of life of populations, especially our most vulnerable. Peter had served as the Deputy-Director of Knowledge Products and Mobilization for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. He also held the position of Knowledge Exchange Specialist for the Provincial Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health. For three years, he was the founding Chair of the Knowledge Mobilization committee for the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation.

Peter Levesque is currently the Director of Systems and Operations at Knowledge Mobilization Works.


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Jean Marion

Jean originally joined Rx&D from Merck Frosst Canada where he managed clinical studies as a Clinical Research Project Manager. Prior to joining the private sector, he was part of a team at Industry Canada working to improve the business environment affecting the pharmaceutical industry. His career in government also included a posting to the Canadian Embassy in Brussels as a Science and Technology Counselor and a role in the implementation of the University-Industry Program at the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC). Jean received a doctorate degree in biochemistry from McGill University and held an Industrial Research Fellowship at Ayerst Laboratories and Bioresearch Laboratories.

Jean Marion is currently Director, Regulatory and Scientific Affairs at Canada's Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (Rx&D). He has played a key role in the development of application policies in the pharmaceutical sector for the Scientific Research and Experimental Development Program of the Canada Revenue Agency. 

 


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Craig McNaughton

Craig began working with SSHRC in 2000, first managing Interdisciplinary & Multidisciplinary Studies within the Standard Research Grants program and then a series of pilot programs in strategic research. He was responsible for SSHRC’s National Dialogue on Research and Aboriginal Peoples, which led to online production of the 2003 report to Council entitled “Opportunities in Aboriginal Research,” which formed the basis of the Aboriginal Research program. Previously Craig worked as executive director of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and the Movement for Canadian Literacy. He also spent six years working on northern/Aboriginal policy and intergovernmental issues within Environment Canada’s Corporate Planning Group.  Craig has an Honours B.A. in History and Religion from Queen's University and an M.A. in International Affairs from Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs.

Craig McNaughton is currently Director of the Knowledge Mobilization and Program Integration Division at the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). 


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Conrad Melanson

Conrad Melanson is an experienced communications professional with 20 years of demonstrated leadership in communications consulting at all levels. His expertise lies in developing strategies and tactics to support communications initiatives. Conrad began his career with the National Research Council of Canada as a producer working on corporate and institutional video and new media projects across the country. During that time Conrad also established an innovative intellectual licensing model for the sale of NRC images and video footage.

In 1999, Conrad established his own Production Company, ImageTree Inc. and has produced over 200 corporate video productions, web sites; print and electronic print projects, plus a wide variety of interactive multimedia products and live events. In 2006, ImageTree produced its first feature film released in Canadian theaters across the nation: “Hank and Mike”.


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Pierre Meloche

Pierre has extensive licensing, technology transfer and company start-up experience with the National Research Council (NRC), federal government laboratories and the private sector.  Prior to joining NRC, Pierre was employed as a business development manager at Forintek Canada Corp, a private wood products R&D lab.

Pierre Meloche is an Industrial Technology Advisor (ITA) with NRC`s Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP).  Working directly with SMEs, NRC-IRAP supports innovative research and development and commercialization of new products and services.


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Jim Mintz

James (Jim) H. Mintz was formerly Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications at Health Canada. Jim lectures in the Undergraduate Program at Sprott in his specialty areas of Marketing Communications and Non-Profit/Public Sector/Social Marketing. He also teaches public sector and non profit marketing at the University of South Florida, College of Public Health in Tampa. He has given marketing workshops in the USA, Australia, Europe and Japan. He has been a member of the steering committee for the "Innovations in Social Marketing" conference (Washington) and MARCOM. He served on the Professional Chapters Council of the American Marketing Association (AMA) and was President of the AMA Chapter in the National Capital Region.

Jim is presently Director of the Centre of Excellence for Public Sector Marketing (Ottawa-Toronto-Regina-Calgary). He is also Program Director of the "Professional Certificate in Public Sector and Non-Profit Marketing" and the “Executive Certificate in Public Sector and Non-profit Marketing Leadership” at Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business.


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John Molloy

John Molloy (MBA, Queen’s) has been responsible at PARTEQ Innovations for the commercialization of intellectual property of the Queen’s University since 1986. During that time PARTEQ has generated more than 40 technology companies that have attracted more than $900 million in investor funding and created more than 700 jobs. In 2009, under his guidance, PARTEQ became the first Canadian technology transfer office in Canada to host a national Centre of Excellence in Commercialization and Research. Mr. Molloy has also led the creation of the Working Ventures CMDF Queen's Scientific Breakthrough Fund and the PARTEQ Internet Ventures Fund. Mr. Molloy is a member of the Association of University Technology Managers, chairman of the Ontario Society for Excellence in Technology Transfer (OnSETT), and a founding director of the Alliance for the Commercialization of Canadian Technology. He is also a member of the Boards of Directors of numerous companies, both private and public.


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Marcel Mongeon

Marcel Mongeon is an intellectual property coach who assists institutions and companies with the development and implementation of strategies to profit from their intangible assets. As a lawyer qualified in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Québec as well as New York State in the USA, Marcel is well versed in the applicable national and international legal environments that affect intellectual assets. He was responsible of the technology transfer office at McMaster University overseeing all sponsored research, patenting and commercialization activities from 1997 to 2006. He is a Canadian Registered Patent and Trade-mark Agent and holds business, law and science degrees. He is a Fellow of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada and a Chartered Director (C.Dir.). Marcel is active in many community and industry groups and has served on many boards. In 2006, he was recognized for his services to the Canadian technology transfer community by being awarded the Order of the Beaver by the Association for the Commercialization of Canadian Technology (ACCT).


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Claude Morasse

Claude comes from the NRC-Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) where he has been an Industrial Technology Advisor in the Outaouais and Montreal regions since 1994. Recently, he was seconded to Industry Canada for four years where he was the Quebec Innovation Director responsible for the regional delivery of the Technology Partnerships Canada program and for the coordination of the industry sector group. While there, he oversaw nearly $735M in projects in support of Canadian industry. He also advanced some innovative prototypes for generation of intelligence to support the analysis of industrial clusters and innovation capacity. As well, in 2001-2002 he participated in an NRC international mission to implement a program similar to IRAP in Thailand. Claude studied remote sensing and geomatics at the University of Montreal.  He has also worked at the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS) at Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) in the Applications Division on climate change, agriculture and geology. In addition, he participated in the development of applications for the Canadian Radarsat 1 satellite. Claude Morasse is the Director of the Federal Partners in Technology Transfer (FPTT).


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David Phipps

Dr Phipps built a career managing academic research holding successively senior positions at the University of Toronto Innovations Foundation (Manager of Biotechnology and Life Sciences), Canadian Arthritis Network (Director of Business Development) and Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Director of Partnerships). Dr. Phipps authored the first grant offered by the tri-council Intellectual Property Mobilization program funding knowledge mobilization in partnership with the University of Victoria to build the infrastructure for a KM network. He also authored York’s Knowledge Impact in Society grant piloting local KM operations. Dr. Phipps received his Ph.D. in Immunology from Queen’s University and undertook post-doctoral studies in HIV research at the University Health Network in Toronto. In 2001 Dr. Phipps completed his MBA from the Rotman School of Management (University of Toronto).

Dr. Phipps is the Director, Research Services & Knowledge Exchange at York University where he manages all research grants and contracts including and knowledge and technology transfer.


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Elsie Quaite-Randall

Dr. Quaite-Randall was an active researcher in the field of protein biochemistry, structural biology and molecular biology in New York and Illinois. Then Elsie became the Manager of IP commercialization in the Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) at Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago, Illinois. She is the PI of the C4 network, a technology transfer community in SW Ontario. She was involved in the creation of several start-up companies and has successfully negotiated agreements with commercial, government and academic partners. She completed her undergraduate studies and received her PhD from the Queen’s University of Belfast, Northern Ireland. She completed an MBA degree and was also admitted to practice before the US Patent and Trademark Office as a Patent Agent.

Dr. Elsie Quaite-Randall is the Executive Director of the McMaster Industry Liaison Office (MILO). She is charged with transferring the discoveries and knowledge created at McMaster University, St Joseph’s Healthcare and Hamilton Health Sciences to the private sector.


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Rui Resendes

Rui Resendes (BSc, PhD, Toronto) joined PARTEQ Innovations from LANXESS Inc., a global manufacturer of synthetic rubber, chemicals and plastics, where he worked on a number of academic research collaborations, including with Queen’s. He has extensive technology transfer experience, including product development, intellectual property management, and marketing. He is a named inventor on 11 patent applications and has numerous publications and presentations to his credit. In 2008 Dr. Resendes was appointed Executive Director of GreenCentre Canada, a national Centre of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CEC) established by PARTEQ.   


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Marc Romoff

Mr. Romoff has a strong track record of advancing the competitive interests and opportunities for Canadian companies internationally. Mr. Romoff was Executive Director of the Federal Department of Industry, where he was responsible for building the export readiness of Ontario companies, encouraging foreign investment in Ontario and strengthening the global competitiveness of industry across the province. From 1996 to 2002, Mr. Romoff served as Consul General in Buffalo, New York, where he helped establish and implement the framework and policies governing cross-border relations between the United States and Canada. Over the course of his foreign-service career, Mr. Romoff served as Commercial Counsellor in Nigeria, Mexico and Malaysia. From 1992 to 1996, he was Minister-Counsellor in the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo with responsibility for Canada’s trade, investment and science and technology relationship with Japan. Mr. Romoff has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from McGill University, and a Masters in Applied Science from the University of Waterloo.

Mark Romoff is the President and CEO of the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) Inc. since 2004.


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Sandra Schillo

Ms. Schillo has advised clients such as Industry Canada, the Federal Partners in Technology Transfer, The Conference Board of Canada, and the Prime Minister’s Advisory Council on Science and Technology, and a number of Science-based Departments and Agencies. Her contributions as a consultant are also grounded in her experience in IP management and technology transfer at the National Research Council and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Ms. Schillo is currently an external doctoral candidate at the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, University of Kiel, Germany, and holds a Master’s in Industrial Engineering (Diplom in Wirtschaftsingenieurwesen) from the University of Karlsruhe, Germany.

Sandra Schillo is the founder of Innovation-Impact, an Ottawa-based consulting company specializing in innovation, technology transfer, and research management.


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Janet Scholz

Janet has extensive background and experience in the fields of intellectual asset management, business development, technology transfer management services and university/business/government relations. She holds a Ph.D. in OJT (on the job training) with more than 30 years experience in these fields.  She has served on numerous national and international committees, boards and organizations, in the public and private sectors. She is a member of the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM), the Licensing Executives Society (LES) and the Society of Research Administrators (SRA).  Janet is a Past President of the Association of University Technology Managers and remains active in the association through committees, teaching and service.

Janet Scholz is the Managing Director of the Alliance for Commercialization of Canadian Technologies (ACCT Canada) and the Manager of the Southern Alberta Intellectual Property Network. 


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Usha Srinivasan

Usha Srinivasan worked at Frost & Sullivan, a leading global market research and consulting company where she published key research papers, consulted for companies of varying sizes and managed a group of analysts to provide quality research. She has technical & industry background in water, environment and building technologies space having worked with global clients such as GE, Siemens, Veolia, American water, IBM, Honeywell and Brita.  She has also worked with the Northern Research Institute and the Department of Forestry in the Yukon and helped to research and write the “State of the Environment” report for the Yukon territories. She holds a BSc in Microbiology from University of Bristol and a PhD in Environmental Sciences from University of Abertay in Dundee, Scotland. She is an NRC fellow and has completed postdoctoral work at the US Environmental Protection Agency and University of New Brunswick.

Usha Srinivasan is currently the Director of Market Intelligence and Market Readiness Program at MaRS.


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Roman Szumski

A medical doctor and pathologist by training, Dr. Szumski was the founding CEO of Calgary Laboratory Services, and more recently Vice-President (Science & Technology) of MDS Inc. During his years at MDS headquarters, Dr. Szumski held executive-level responsibility for scientific assets of the firm, with more than 10,000 employees and $1.8 billion in annual sales. While at MDS, he also led the development of new business initiatives in cancer therapeutics and personalized medicine.

As founding CEO of Calgary Laboratory Services and as President of a private firm, Dr. Szumski championed and built a new collaboration between the Calgary Regional Health Authority and the private sector that facilitated major improvements in service and efficiency in the services offered through seven public and private sector labs. His career at Calgary Medical Laboratories included the roles of pathologist, director of microbiology, and medical director. He also worked in the Department of Pathology at the University of Calgary. Dr. Szumski is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and he holds degrees from Queen's and McGill universities.

In 2005, Dr. Roman Szumski was appointed the National Research Council's Vice-President, Life Sciences. 


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Julie Tan

Julie Tan was an Advisor with the Intellectual Property Office at Environment Canada.  She has been actively involved in various professional organizations. She was the Chair for the Industry/University/Government Transactions Sector for the Licensing Executives Society for 2004-2005.  Julie received a post-doctoral fellowship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada after completing her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Ottawa. She obtained her M.Eng. Sc. in Biochemical Engineering from the University of Western Ontario and her B.Sc. Eng. from the University of New Brunswick. 

Julie Tan is a Senior Advisor at the Intellectual Property & Technology Transfer Office to the Dept. of Health of the Government of Canada. 


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Mike Walker

During his career at the National Research Council Canada (NRC), Mike has been extensively involved in licensing practices, policy reviews in the area of intellectual property, management of the protection office and equity related transactions. In addition, he has been extensively involved in of spin-off creation, having nurtured a number of new ventures through the process of formation. Most recently, he has been enabling more business-like policies, practices and processes in order to serve NRC’s collaborative activities in fulfilling its mandate. Prior to joining NRC, he held a management position with a US-based multi-national firm in the area of industrial technology marketing. Mike has degrees in both business and engineering.

Mike Walker is the Director of the Business Services Group within the Central Business Support Office of the NRC. The Central Business Support Office is mandated with facilitating and enhancing the translation of NRC’s Science and Technology activities into value for Canada.


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Robert Walker

Dr. Robert Walker is the Assistant Deputy Minister (Science and Technology) of the Department of National Defence and the Chief Executive Officer of Defence R&D Canada. He is responsible to oversee the Department of National Defence's S&T investment. He has been elected Chairman of the NATO Research and Technology Board and is the principal Canadian representative to the Technology Cooperation Program. He also provides departmental input to national issues in defence and security science and technology. In his capacity as CEO, Dr. Walker leads Defence R&D Canada, which consists of a national network of seven defence research centres addressing a broad range of defence technologies. Dr. Walker's achievements have been recognized by the Deputy Minister of National Defence in 2003 with a DM Commendation, by the international community in 2001 with a TTCP Personal Achievement Award and by DRDC in 2005 for the Agency Performance Excellence Award.


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Judith Young

Ms. Young has been with the National Research Council Canada (NRC) for 26 years, during which she has held many positions, including research officer and business development manager.  None of her previous positions can be considered more exciting than her current role, however.  In May 2007, she was appointed Executive Director of NRC’s Central Business Support group charged with improving the Council’s business practices and processes, and enabling the transfer of sought after technology.  This position came after Ms. Young led the NRC ‘Business Review’ team tasked with ensuring NRC was well-positioned to carry out the ambitious business activities envisaged in NRC’s current strategy: Science at Work for Canada. Prior to leading CBS, Ms. Young spent almost ten years as Executive Advisor to a number of NRC VPs.  She has also been Director of NRC’s corporate Business Group, has coordinated NRC’s Entrepreneurship Program, and has participated in NRC’s market research and policy development activities.  Ms. Young also began the business office at NRC’s Institute for Marine Biosciences in Halifax. She holds a BSc in Chemistry from Carleton University and joined the Council in 1982 as a research officer.