National Competition Judges – 2012

Ion Aimers is a prolific local restaurateur with a creative spirit and stronger management drive that has led him to be named Ottawa’s and Ontario’s “Restaurateur of the Year” in two of the last three years...and now “ZaZaZa Pizza With Pizazz” is his latest gem. Ion is also a partner with renowned chefs Ross and Simon Fraser at “Fraser Cafe & Table 40”. Aimers is known locally for starting his famous Gourmet Burger brand “The WORKS” in Ottawa. With 10 years of explosive growth since its inception, the recent sale of the chain was considered a coup for Aimers, and was the talk of the Canadian restaurant community in 2010.

Aimers restaurants are considered a superb business model in an industry which has traditionally been labeled as tough to succeed in. Where others see nothing Aimers sees people. It is exactly this element that he attracts, nurtures and covets in all his businesses—the people. His restaurants have been repeatedly named “Top Employer” and “Fastest Growing” in this community for mainly this reason.

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Energate Inc.

Niraj Bhargava is Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Energate Inc. www.energateinc.com, a company specializing in home energy management and smart grid solutions that helps utilities to avoid building new power plants. Previously, Niraj was President and CEO of Enerstat Limited, the company that first commercialized the electronic programmable thermostat. After Enerstat, Niraj became a faculty member in Entrepreneurship at Queen’s University, Founder and CEO of Queen’s Centre for Enterprise Development, and then Dean of the Business School at Royal Roads University.

Earlier in his career, Niraj practiced engineering at Bell-Northern Research, marketing and business development at Northern Telecom and General Electric, and was General Manager of GE Energy Management. Niraj has a BASc. from University of Waterloo and an MBA from Ivey Business School. With his degree in Systems Design Engineering, Niraj received his Professional Engineering license in 1989. In 2009, Niraj received his ICD.D designation for effective Board governance.

John Callahan taught technology entrepreneurship to Engineering and Business students at Carleton University for many years. He was part of the faculty that delivered the original Lead to Win program in 2002. He was also part of the core faculty of the Technology Innovation Management program offered within the Department of Systems and Computer Engineering.

John holds a B.Sc. (Hon) from Carleton, and an MA in Applied Mathematics and a PhD in Industrial Engineering from the University of Toronto. Dr. Callahan’s research focused on open source company strategy, software and hardware product development, organizational structure/product architecture interaction, and tech-based startups. He published articles in a variety of journals including Management Science, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Research Policy, R&D Management and The Journal of High Technology Management Research.

Chairman, Doyletech Corporation

Denzil Doyle, Chairman of consulting firm Doyletech Corporation, has been a long-time player in the Ottawa High Technology Industry. He has been a Director of the National Research Council, Newbridge Networks, Mitel, and Med-Eng Systems and has successfully founded a number of high-tech companies.

From 1995 to 2005, he served as Chairman of Capital Alliance Ventures Inc., an Ottawa-based venture capital firm specializing in technology investments. He is also the author of Making Technology Happen. In 2005, Mr. Doyle was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada.

Partner, Reid Eddison Inc.

Peter is a founding partner of Reid Eddison Inc., a boutique management consulting firm that works primarily with high-growth technology companies across Canada and the United States. He was previously a co-founder of a number of Ottawa-area companies, including Mobius Software, Nabu Manufacturing, and Fulcrum Technologies, and from 2001 to 2005 was the President and CEO of AutoSkill International Inc., a leading provider of education software for the K-12 market.

A graduate in Economics and a Tricolour Award winner from Queen’s University, Peter currently serves as the National Program Director for the Nicol Entrepreneurial Award. As National Program Director, Peter works with the participating Nicol universities to help administer the local competitions, and also oversees the National Competition in Ottawa.

Founder, Mxi Technologies

Brad co-founded Mxi Technologies in 1996 and was the President & CEO until 2004, when he transitioned into the role of Chairman. As CEO, Brad oversaw the development and implementation of the strategic plan that established the company as a market leader in aviation maintenance software. Subsequent to running Mxi, Brad built an impressive portfolio of founding, managing and advising technology start-ups, including PubUpdate and inspire2go Inc. He also serves as a director on a number of other corporate boards and provides strategic management consulting services to a variety of clients.

Brad holds an Institute of Corporate Directors, Institute-certified Director (ICD.D) designation in addition to a Master of Science (M.Sc.) and Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Engineering from the University of Saskatchewan. Brad is also a Professional Engineer (P.Eng.).

Founder & CEO, WKI

Wendy Kennedy is a seasoned technology industry executive, award winning professor, and author who has spent more than 20 years helping science and technology inventors bring their ideas from “lab to life”. Wendy’s methodology and book, So what? who cares? why you?® has been widely adopted by individual entrepreneurs, government research labs, innovation centers, university commercialization offices and private sector corporations.

With over 10,000 copies of her book in use around the world, Wendy is an acknowledged thought leader in commercialization and entrepreneurship, and is a frequent speaker at conferences and forums throughout North America. She holds a Masters Degree in Business from Queen’s University and is a recipient of the Dr. Laurent Isabelle Award for innovation and excellence in education.

Manager, Commercial Credit, TD Commercial Banking

Julie Retar has been with the TD Commercial Banking since 1988, and has held progressively senior positions. She is currently the Manager, Commercial Credit in Ottawa, responsible for coaching team members in developing creative credit solutions for both new and existing clients, while being guided by the Bank’s risk metrics. She is also responsible for hiring, training and mentoring for the personal development and career planning of the bankers of tomorrow.

Julie is a Queen’s University Commerce graduate, a Fellow of the Institute of Canadian Bankers, and holds her CFP designation.