The University of British Columbia

Dan Doyle, Chair of BC Hydro

Dan Doyle started his career with the Province of British Columbia as an engineer-in-training; 36 years later, he retired from the Public Service as the Deputy Minister of Transportation. Throughout his career with the Ministry, Mr. Doyle built a legacy of B.C.-wide transportation infrastructure including: the Asia-Pacific Gateway Initiative, the Gateway Program, the Sea-to-Sky Highway, the Okanagan Lake Bridge, the Kicking Horse Canon Project, and the Lions Gate Bridge Rehabilitation Project. In 2006, Mr. Doyle was appointed Executive Vice-President responsible for the development and building of venues and supporting infrastructure for the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games by the Vancouver Organizing Committee.

A strong believer in having the right team in place to do the job, Mr. Doyle is widely known for his ability to deliver major projects on time and on budget. In recognition of his highly respected public service and professional expertise, Mr. Doyle was awarded the Order of B.C. in 2010. He was also awarded B.C.'s premier distinction for professional engineering, the R.A. McLachlan Award, by the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of B.C. in 2006.

Les MacLaren, Assistant Deputy Minister, Electricity and Alternative Energy Division, Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources

Les holds a BSc in Geology from Queen's University and an MBA from the University of British Columbia. After working for 10 years in oil and gas exploration and development and in western Canada and Australia, and completing his MBA, Les joined the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources in 1991 as an Economist in the Electricity Policy Branch.

From 1998-2008, Les was Executive Director, Performance Monitoring and Advisory Services, at the Crown Agencies Secretariat in the Ministry of Finance, where he had responsibility for BC Hydro, BC Transmission Corporation and other commercial Crown corporations in the gaming, insurance, transportation, and liquor distribution sectors.

In his various roles, Les has worked on a number of major projects that impact British Columbia's energy sector and related Crown corporations. These include negotiations leading to the return of the Canadian Entitlement to Columbia River Treaty downstream power benefits, the 2002 Energy Plan and implementation (including the formation of BC Transmission Corporation), restructuring the Columbia Basin Initiative, and the development of power sales agreements between BC Hydro and Alcan.

In February 2008, Les re-joined the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources as the Assistant Deputy Minister of the Electricity and Alternative Energy Division. In this role, Les is accountable for electricity policy, including BC's new Clean Energy Act, inter-jurisdictional relations related to planning and reliability, energy efficiency policy and programs, and emerging and renewable energy technologies such as hydrogen, ocean energy and biofuels.

Tyseer Aboulnasr, Dean of Faculty of Applied Science, UBC

Tyseer Aboulnasr is currently Dean of The Faculty of Applied Science and Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of British Columbia. As Dean, she leads the Faculty of Applied Science, bringing together 11 engineering programs along with three schools: School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, School of Nursing at UBC's Vancouver Campus and the School of Engineering at the Okanagan campus. Together with over 400 faculty and staff, she oversees the education of more than 4,000 undergraduate and 1,400 graduate and professional students.

Dr. Aboulnasr received the Bachelor of Engineering degree from Cairo University, Egypt and M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from Queen's University all in Electrical Engineering. She was Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at University of Ottawa from 1998-2004 and Associate Dean (Academic) from 1996-1998. She chaired the Council of Ontario Deans of Engineering from 2001-2002. Dr. Aboulnasr received the Ottawa-Carleton YWCA Women of Distinction Award (Education) in 1999 and was elected Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada in 2002 and Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering in 2003. She was named one of the 100 most influential people in Ottawa in 2001. She received her highest honour in 2005 when she was named a 2004 recipient of the Order of Ontario.

David Wilkinson, Director of the UBC Clean Energy Research Center

Dr. David P. Wilkinson received his B.A.Sc. Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 1978 and his Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from the University of Ottawa in 1987. He has over 20 years of industrial experience in the areas of fuel cells and advanced lithium batteries. In 2004 Dr. Wilkinson was awarded a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Clean Energy and Fuel Cells in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of British Columbia. He maintains a joint appointment with the National Research Council Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation where he is a senior advisor.

Currently, Dr. Wilkinson is the Director of the Clean Energy Research Center (CERC) at the university. Prior to his university appointment Dr. Wilkinson was the Director, and then Vice President of Research at Ballard Power Systems Inc., involved with the research, development and application of fuel cell technology. Prior to joining Ballard he was the group leader for chemistry and electrochemistry at Moli Energy and part of the team that developed the world’s first commercial rechargeable lithium AA battery. Dr. Wilkinson has received a number of awards for his work including the R.A. McLachlan Award in 2001, the highest award for professional engineering in B.C. Dr. Wilkinson’s main research interest is in electrochemical and photochemical power devices and processes to create clean and sustainable energy.

Eamonn Percy, Former President & COO of Powertech

Eamonn Percy is an experienced business leader with a track record of success in delivering performance and profitability, in C-level leadership roles, with global companies in the energy, technology and engineering sectors. 

From 2008 to 2010 he was President and COO of Powertech, the commercial, for-profit clean energy engineering subsidiary of BC Hydro; a global energy engineering consulting, testing and systems integration firm, serving a large client base of more than 300+ customers in 30 countries.  From 2002 to 2008, he built a thriving business advisory firm focused on achieving significant financial improvements for it clients, through the implementation of strategic growth and profitability initiatives.  From 1997 to 2002, he was Vice-President, Operations, for Ballard Power Systems where he played an important role in building organizational capability and effective working partnerships with key global partners such as Daimler and Ford Motor Company.  From 1992 to 1997 he had general management leadership responsibility for Pirelli Cables and Optical System, where he led the management team in its restructuring and dramatic turnaround. 

Eamonn has completed Executive Education in Leading and Managing Change at Stanford University Graduate School of Business, earned an MBA from University of Toronto, a B. Eng (Electrical) from Lakehead University and a Dip. Tech. (Electrical Power) from British Columbia Institute of Technology.  He Chairs the UBC Clean Energy Research Centre Advisory Board and is a member of the Surrey Clean Energy Advisory Network.  He is a past board member of Lakehead University Board of Governors and the Architectural Institute of BC Board.  In 2007, Eamonn received the BCIT Distinguished Alumni Award for Professional Leadership and Service to the Community and in 1999 was a recipient of Canada’s Top 40 under 40 Award.

Mike Gallagher, Chair of Cummins Westport and past President and Chief Operating Officer of Westport Innovations

Dr. J. Michael Gallagher is Senior Adviser, and Former President and Chief Operating Officer of Westport Innovations, where he is working to encourage the global adoption of natural gas in transportation systems. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Cummins Westport (CWI), and Agility Fuel Systems. Prior to joining Westport, Dr. Gallagher served as a Senior Vice-President for Fluor Corp., an international engineering and project management company headquartered in California. He also held senior executive positions with both the London based multinational engineering firm Kvaerner Group and the Bechtel Group in San Francisco. Dr. Gallagher is also on the board of several non-profit Alternate Fuel organizations including NGV Global, the US Natural Gas Vehicle Association (NGVA), Montreux Energy, the California Natural Gas Vehicle Partnership, CALSTART, and the Canadian Centre for Policy Ingenuity/Climate Change. In addition, Dr. Gallagher is also Chair of the Natural Gas Group for a major new US national energy study, the DOE NPC Study of Future Transportation Fuels.

He obtained his Ph.D. in Mechanical/Nuclear Engineering from Stanford University and M.S. degrees in both Engineering Economic Systems and Mechanical Engineering from Stanford. He holds a Bachelor's degree (A.B.) in Physics and Mathematics from Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana.

Dr. Gallagher was also a Visiting Professor (on loan from Bechtel Group) at the MIT School of Engineering where he directed the technical work on a 16-nation global assessment of oil, energy and coal and published two books on the resulting conclusions.

Paul Kariya, Executive Director, Clean Energy BC

Paul Kariya is Executive Director of Clean Energy BC (formerly the Independent Power Producers Association of BC). Prior to this he was Executive Director of Pacific Salmon Foundation. Paul has also worked in the public sector both federally and provincially. He was CEO of the provincial crown corporation, Fisheries Renewal BC and Executive Director of the BC Treaty Commission, which was established by Canada, BC and First Nations. Paul holds a BA (Hon) from UBC and a MA and PhD from Clark University in Massachusetts. He is an adjunct faculty member at both SFU and Trinity Western University. Paul serves on a number of boards and commissions, including A Rocha International (Christians in Conservation) and the National Nikkei Museum and Heritage Centre. Between 2005 - 2010 Paul was a Commissioner representing Canada on the Pacific Salmon Commission.

Janice Larson, Director, Renewable Energy Development Branch, BC Government

Janice Larson is the Director of the Renewable Energy Development Branch in the BC Ministry of Energy, where she and her colleagues work on policies and initiatives to advance the development of bioenergy, biofuels and renewable energy resources and technologies for domestic and international markets.

Janice holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Lethbridge, and degrees in Education and Law from the University of British Columbia, and she is a non-practicing member of the Law Society of British Columbia.

Sailesh Thaker, Vice-President, Industry and Stakeholder Relations, Sustainable Development Technology Canada

Sailesh Thaker brings more than 20 years of management experience in technology and telecommunications to SDTC. Over the course of his career he has served in various management and executive capacities, most recently as President of Spectrocan. Previously, he has worked as Vice President at global engineering companies such as AMEC and Agra Monenco. During his career, Mr. Thaker has developed a network that extends through federal government departments and NGOs to Fortune 500 companies and international institutions. Multilingual, Sailesh speaks English, French, Swahili and Gujarati.

Mr. Thaker obtained his Bachelor of Science, Molecular Genetics option, and a Masters level in Computer Science education from Montreal's McGill University.

John Grace, UBC Professor and Canada Research Chair in Clean Energy Processes, Research Theme Lead at Carbon Management Canada

John Grace completed undergraduate studies in chemical engineering at the University of Western Ontario and a Ph.D. degree from Cambridge University. From 1968-79 he was an Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor at McGill University in Montreal. He then moved to the University of British Columbia in Vancouver where he served as department head (1979-87), Dean of Graduate Studies (1990-96) and Acting Director of the Clean Energy Research Centre (2008-9). He has 500 publications, including co-authorship and co-editorship of seven books, mostly on fluidization, related fluid-particle systems and research related to energy processes. He has supervised more than 80 graduate students as well as many post-doctoral fellows and visiting scholars. With his students and colleagues, he has worked on a wide range of topics, both fundamental and applied, including hydrodynamics, heat transfer and mass transfer in low-velocity and high-velocity fluidized beds, reactor modeling, scale-up, fluidized bed combustion, steam reforming, three-phase fluidization, spouted beds and removal of particulates from gas streams.

Dr. Grace has served as a consultant for various companies in Canada and abroad. He has chaired international conferences and served on national committees. He is Director of the UBC Fluidization Research Centre and a member of the Board of Directors of Membrane Reactor Technologies Ltd. He holds a Canada Research Chair and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Canadian Academy of Engineering, Engineering Institute of Canada, and Chemical Institute of Canada. Among the awards he has received, he is past winner of the R.S. Jane Award, the major award of the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering, the Career Achievement Award of the Science Council of British Columbia, an honorary doctorate from the University of Western Ontario, a Killam teaching prize, and the Thomas Baron Award of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Brent Sauder, Director, Strategic Partnerships, Office of the Vice President Research & International, UBC

As UBC's Director, Research & Partnerships, in the Vice President Research & International Office, Brent is responsible for forging Industry - UBC partnerships that realize solutions to industry challenges, and furthers UBC's research and technology demonstration missions. Brent resumed his employment at UBC after a two year appointment as Assistant Deputy Minister, Technology Research and Innovation, in the BC government.

Brent has over 25 years experience in the research and innovation sector. From 2002 to 2007, he served as Director, Office of Research Services at UBC and was responsible for the management of research funding and ethics compliance. Prior to UBC he led the B.C. Advanced Systems Institute, and held management/research positions at MacMillan Bloedel and the Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada. He has served as a member of the Science Council of British Columbia, a Director of various non and for-profit organizations and participated as a member of external review committees. Brent's interest in, and application of, innovative technology spans most of BC's industry sectors including forestry, communications, healthcare and multi media. Currently he is a member of the Governance Committee for the BC Innovative Clean Energy (ICE) Fund and Chairman of NSERC's Synergy Awards for Innovation Selection Committee.

Brent received both his Bachelor and Master of Forestry degrees from UBC in 1974 and 1980, respectively, and is a registered professional forester.

Richard Sones, Senior Manager, Industry Partnerships, Faculty of Applied Science, UBC

Richard recently joined the Faculty of Applied Science (APSC) to further strengthen collaborations between industry and APSC researchers and to facilitate the commercialization of APSC research.

Richard brings with him over 20 years of  business development experience commercializing technology with a number of local as well as global leaders such as MPR Teltech, Hewlett Packard, NorTel, Ascom and Harman Becker as well as several growth companies including a UBC spin-off,  Wavemakers  (now part of RIM).

Mr. Sones received his MBA from Richard Ivey (University of Western) and Electrical Engineering degree from Queen's University.

Maja Veljkovic, Director General, NRC - Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation

Mrs. Maja Veljkovic has served as Director General of the NRC Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation (NRC-IFCI) (formerly the Innovation Centre) since 2001. As NRC-IFCI Director General, she also leads the tripartite (NRC-NSERC-NRCan) Hydrogen and Fuel Cell National Program, whose successful multi-partner Technology Development Projects (TDP) have become critical to the private sector's innovation pipeline. Maja also currently leads an NRC-wide Fraternization Initiative and sits on the Leadership Council of the BC Clean Energy Technology Cooperative, a collaboration between NRC-IFCI, the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Powertech Labs.

Throughout her tenure at NRC, Mrs. Veljkovic has worked with an extensive network of industrial and academic researchers throughout NRC and across Canada at the Universities of Alberta, Calgary, British Columbia, Simon Fraser, Victoria, Western Ontario, Toronto and Waterloo; NRCan's CanmetENERGY (Devon) and National Centre for Upgrading Technology (NCUT); as well as private sector companies such as Exxon, Amoco, Shell, Ballard, AFCC, and Hydrogenics. Under her leadership international linkages with China MOST, Japan NIDO, Toyota, Nissan, and the US Department of Energy (DOE) Los Alamos National Lab, as well as regional linkages with the Government of BC, have been strengthened.

Mrs. Veljkovic came to NRC after 21 years of experience in the private sector as a senior engineer, R&D manager and Senior Advisor, Upgrading Research Program at Syncrude Canada. While at Syncrude, she was responsible for major R&D and engineering projects, such as the Coke Technology step outs. Under her leadership the following technologies were improved or developed and successfully commercialized: Exxon Fluid Coker Nozzle, Inclined Plate Settler, Naphta Recovery unit and Froth Recycle Technologies.

Mrs. Veljkovic holds an M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the University of British Columbia (1976) and a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Belgrade, Yugoslavia (1972). In addition to her memberships in several professional associations, Mrs. Veljkovic is currently a fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada and of the Engineering Institute of Canada. She has served both as the President of the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering and of the Engineering Institute of Canada, and as Chair of the Upgrading Technical Planning Group of the Canadian Oil Sands Network for R&D (CONRAD). Mrs. Veljkovic has also been recognized by her peers with a YWCA Women of Distinction Award for Science and Technology (1997) and Syncrude Executives Awards (1997 and 1998).

Pam Giberson, Research and Innovation Development Officer of NSERC

Pam has been with the NSERC Pacific regional office in Vancouver since it opened in 2006. Her primary role at NSERC is to improve stakeholder awareness of NSERC's Research Partnerships programs and facilitate research collaborations between companies and academics.

Prior to joining NSERC Pam worked for a decade in the biotechnology sector in Vancouver in a variety of roles, including corporate development at a drug discovery company spun out of UBC, as a founder of a bioreagent company, and as a consultant to the local biotech sector.

Pam obtained her PhD in Toxicology from the University of Saskatchewan in 1991 and followed that with postdoctoral training in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia.

Olga Kargina, Industrial Technology Advisor of NRC-IRAP

Olga Kargina is an Industrial Technology Advisor with NRC/IRAP program. As part of her duties she provides advisory and financial services to Canadian SMEs. Her efforts are focused primarily on firms in the area of clean technologies and alternative energy.

Dr. Kargina joined IRAP team in 1997. She brought to IRAP a combination of experience in academia (Assistant Professor at the University of Kazan in Russia), and scientific research (Research Officer at NRC/ICPET) as well as in technology transfer and commercialization of new technologies. She authored and co-authored over 20+ publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals and co-authored 8 inventions.

In addition to her core duties at IRAP, she is involved in fuel cell and other clean energy activities, in BC and internationally. She led a number of initiatives stimulating collaboration between Canadian and Russian and Ukrainian scientific organizations. She serves in a technical advisory role for clean energy related programs for the Dept. of Foreign Affairs and NSERC committees.

Dr. Kargina has over 25 years of experience in chemistry, electrochemical power sources and clean energy. Her formal education includes Ph.D. in Chemistry (1983), and an MBA (2003).

Geoff Catherwood, Director, Venture Capital of BDC

Geoff is a registered professional engineer and has 14 years of experience in industrial automation and process control and 10 years of venture capital experience. Prior to joining BDC Venture Capital in 2001, he worked for Bailey Canada and Asea Brown Boveri -- large multi-national industrial process automation suppliers. He has diverse operational experience in the process automation industry, including field service, system commissioning, engineering, management, and sales.

Geoff administers BDC Venture Capital's Energy and Cleantech portfolio in Western Canada. He is active on the boards of a number of early stage companies, including D-Wave Systems Inc. (www.dwavesys.com), Teradici Corporation (www.teradici.com), Sutus Inc. (www.sutus.com) and Switch Materials (www.switchmaterials.com). He also volunteers in a number of programs promoting entrepreneurship, including New Ventures B.C. - an annual business plan competition.

Geoff holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of British Columbia and an Executive MBA from Simon Fraser University. He has also completed the Canadian Securities Course.