Shift by Alberta Innovates

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Welcome to episode two of our KDays Innovation Zone retrospective! 

Alberta Innovates had the opportunity to participate as in-kind sponsors for the Innovation Zone led by Explore Edmonton. This was a great opportunity to meet and feature some Edmonton-based entrepreneurs, businesses and students on the Shift podcast. 

This second episode is my discussion with Kathy Janzen and Ken Schmidt from Wilson Analytical Services. We dive into the work they're doing in the area of spectroscopy.  

Other KDays Innovation Zone interviews include:

• Jean Bruce Koua from Elev Homes,
• Krishna Panchal from the University of Alberta's Future Creators, and 
• Joe Callahan from Correct AI.

Bios

Ken Schmidt, President and founder

Ken is an Alberta based Professional Chemist and entrepreneur. He completed his PhD in Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Calgary in 1990. Over the last 25 years, he has worked with universities and the mining and energy industries to solve industry specific problems in sulfur chemistry, catalysis, ceramics, chemical vapour deposition (CVD) coatings and spectroscopy. His expertise is in industrial analytical chemistry, process laboratories for industry, instrument design, manufacturing, sales and technical support.

He has been involved in several high tech start-ups, including Wilson Analytical (which he co-founded in 2003). He is also President of Canadian Tool, a Montreal firm specializing in machining and manufacturing. Ken's key role at Wilson is technical development and customer relations.

Kathy Janzen, Vice President and founder 

Kathy is a professional Chemist with twenty-five years of experience with the RCMP as a forensic scientist, followed by two years as one of the principles of the analytical services side of Wilson Analytical. She was also involved in several high tech start-ups, and worked with entrepreneurs at the Northern Alberta Business Incubator (NABI).

Kathy served 10 years as the Executive Director of the Association of the Chemical Profession of Alberta (ACPA) and was also the former council chair of the Federation of Canada’s Professional Chemists. Kathy's main role with Wilson is financial and strategic planning, sales, and human resources. Together, Ken and Kathy make all company business decisions.

Shift by Alberta Innovates focuses on the people, businesses and organizations that are contributing to Alberta's strong tech ecosystem.

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I met Nick Kazakoff onsite at Inventures  2023. His company OneTwoSix Design had generously offered the use of one of their Loop Phone Booths for me to feature to interview guests for the podcast while we were in Calgary for the event.

My Inventures 2023 guests included the following: 

• Nick, who you'll hear from today
• Damien Hocking from Madala Software, 
• Lorna Baird and Joy Agnew from Olds College of Agriculture and Technology,
•  Dr. Ben Schultz from Maverick Large Animal Veterinary Service, 
• Ian Hagreaves from ATB, and, 
• coming soon, Ian Beacraft from Chicago-based Signal & Cipher.

OneTwoSix Design

Founded by Industrial Designers Nick Kazakoff and Brendan Gallagher, Onetwosix is an award winning design agency and team of artists, researchers, designers and builders working to give form to ideas.

Based in Western Canada, they regularly work with clients across Canada and the USA. From businesses in Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, and San Francisco to Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and New York - they turn great ideas into beautiful and functional products that can be manufactured efficiently and cost effectively. 

Shift by Alberta Innovates focuses on the people, businesses and organizations that are contributing to Alberta's strong tech ecosystem.

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At Edmonton's recent KDays event, Alberta Innovates had the opportunity to participate as in-kind sponsors for the Innovation Zone led by Explore Edmonton. This was a great opportunity to meet and feature some Edmonton-based entrepreneurs, businesses and students on the Shift podcast. 

This is the third episode and it features my brief chat with Krishna Panchal from the University of Alberta's Future Creators. 

KDays Innovation Zone interviews also include:

• Jean Bruce Koua from Elev Homes,
• Ken Schmidt and Kathy Janzen from Wilson Analytical, and 
• Joe Callahan from Correct AI.

Future Creators

Future Creators is a University of Alberta Engineering student group and nonprofit organization that inspires future engineers and technology innovators by providing youth with the mentors, knowledge, and resources to bring their own technology projects to life.

They partner with schools to provide a weekly afterschool program to students in grades 7-12.

Shift by Alberta Innovates focuses on the people, businesses and organizations that are contributing to Alberta's strong tech ecosystem.

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I met and interviewed my guest at Inventures 2023 in Calgary this past May. He had a wee break in his schedule and was kind enough to join me onsite to discuss the work he and his company are doing optimize oil production on Alberta well sites.

It's fascinating to learn that his company's technology helps the onsite production engineers understand and adjust variables related to each well in real time. Evidence to this point has shown that sites using the technology are up to ten percent more productive. Over the course of many wells and many sites this number adds up to become quite impressive.

Pour yourself a cup of your favourite wake-up elixir and settle in to learn more about this made-in-Alberta oil & gas optimization tool.

Welcome to Shift.   

Bio

Dr. Damien Hocking - Chief Technology Officer for Madala Software

Damien has a diverse career in solving complex problems through technical software development.  He is an expert in hydraulics, heat transfer, thermodynamics, and both steady state and transient simulation.  He has held key technology roles at Hyprotech, Aspentech, KBC, and Computer Modeling Group. Additionally, he's worked for MEG Energy and HTRI.  

In addition to Madala Software Inc, Dr. Hocking founded Corelium Inc. which provides a scalable simulation platform.  He's the co-author of six patents in the heavy oil industry and holds a Bachelor in Engineering and PhD in Chemical Engineering both from the University of Adelaide.

Shift by Alberta Innovates focuses on the people, businesses and organizations that are contributing to Alberta's strong tech ecosystem.

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Artificial intelligence has taken the public imagination by storm and things are moving quickly.

At Inventures 2023 in Calgary we had Ian Beacraft and Timnit Gebru dedicate their keynotes to it, and a panel featuring representatives from Microsoft, Enmax and the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute discussing it from an industry perspective.

Today, we're featuring my discussion with Ian Hargreaves from ATB.

Ian and I dive in and build off a previous discussion he had on Tyler Chisolm's podcast Collision YYC (I encourage you to give it a listen) to further explore the implications, considerations and what keeps him up at night as far as artificial intelligence goes. Again, things have been moving fast and we'll talk about some of the changes that have occurred between his and Tyler's interview and his and mine.

One of Ian's big messages is that it's critical for us, ALL of US, to stay on top of AI developments and specifically business exploring the use of AI to understand the role and implications of the incoming federal Act C-27. 

Bio

Ian Hargreaves, Fellow, Artificial Intelligence at ATB

As Fellow of Artificial Intelligence at ATB, Ian is responsible for taking AI out of the lab. This means creating secure, scalable and transparent platforms that deliver on core AI capabilities like computer vision or personalization. His mission is to weave a thread of AI through all digital experiences at ATB - whether it’s tools used by ATB team members, or experiences that directly benefit customers. By rethinking how teams build, support and deliver AI capabilities, Ian and his team believe that they can truly reimagine banking by surrounding all Albertans with a network of intelligent services designed to grow their wealth, however they define it.

After an academic career using neuroimaging and predictive models to understand how people make decisions, Ian graduated from the University of Calgary with a PhD in Brain and Cognitive Sciences. Ian has developed both highly valuable intellectual property and also the foundations of a data science practice within business operations. Ian has managed numerous proofs of concept, and in scaling those quickly learned that the impact of AI is ultimately limited by trust: trust in the algorithm, trust in the team that designed it, and trust in the overall strategy. Ian has co-authored one patent and has 20 academic publications.

Shift by Alberta Innovates focuses on the people, businesses and organizations that are contributing to Alberta's strong tech ecosystem.

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I had a chance to sit down and talk with Dr. Ben Schultz at this recent Inventures 2023. Ben is a large animal vet and recent graduate of the Central Alberta Regional Innovation Network's Catalyst Incubator.

Large animal veterinary medicine is a fascinating practice that Ben describes as being a fertile ground for innovation.

I hope you enjoy our talk. Welcome to Shift!   

Bio

Dr. Ben Schultz 

Ben founded Maverick Large Animal Veterinary Service in 2012. He is also a founding partner of Momentum Equine Veterinary Specialists in Sherwood Park, and a partner at Uncas Veterinary Clinic in Uncas, Alberta.

In addition, he is the founder of Emergion Technologies, creators of TREATURE, a web based animal health protocol app designed for veterinarians, livestock owners, and veterinary pharmacies.

Ben has a professional interest in cow/calf and small feedlot and backgrounding, and is keenly interested in the economics and sustainability of the beef production industry as a whole.  Ben is particularly interested in the application of new technology to address challenges facing rural veterinarians and their clients.

Shift by Alberta Innovates focuses on the people, businesses and organizations that are contributing to Alberta's strong tech ecosystem.

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Food production is essential. Full stop.

As demand for food and the urgency for sustainable crop and animal production increases, our need for better tools increases: artificially intelligent, mechanized, data-driven tools.

With this, however, come challenges:  how do we help get these, so called, "smart" tools into the hands of those who will be using them on the frontlines? And opportunities: how do we start to understand each farm is different and localized data will help to increase sustainable production?

In this episode, we talk with Joy Agnew and Lorna Baird from Olds College of Agriculture and Technology about smart farming, how the College uses its Smart Farm to support famers to use the tools, and how it teaches the next generation of food producers and entrepreneurs to use, develop and test these tools in the field.

We also talk about the Pan Canadian Smart Farm Network that's spreading across the country, with the various locations sharing data and learnings to increase overall knowledge, and the support the College provides entrepreneurs through its Centre for Innovation, as well as partnerships with Alberta's Regional Innovation Networks and the Technology Access Centres.

This is an inspiring episode.
Welcome to Shift.

Bios 

Joy Agnew

Joy grew up on a grain farm near Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and earned her Ph.D. in Ag/Bio Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan. At Olds College of Agriculture and Technology, Joy oversees the applied research portfolio and smart farm operations. 

Applied research at Olds College is focused on crop and livestock production with a specialty in environmental stewardship, technology integration and data utilization to improve productivity and sustainability of food production.  Joy also has a leadership role in the development of the College's Smart Ag Ecosystem, bringing together the academic programming, applied research, strategic partnerships, smart farm operations, and extension & communication activities to help the College meet its goal to be a leader in Smart Agriculture. In 2021, Joy was named one of Canada’s top 50 most influential people in Canadian Ag by Canadian Western Agribition.

Lorna Baird

Lorna is the Manager of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Olds College Centre for Innovation where she helps people with new business ideas and small to medium-sized businesses access networks of people, organizations and programs that can help them develop their entrepreneurship journey. Lorna also supports Business Development for the Technology Access Centre for Livestock Production at the College where she continues to help those same individuals and businesses develop, validate and demonstrate new technologies or innovative techniques. 

Lorna also co-chairs the Central Alberta Regional Innovation Network, one of eight Regional Innovation Networks across the province that are supported by Alberta Innovates. The networks work collaboratively and share ideas and noteworthy practices. 

Shift by Alberta Innovates focuses on the people, businesses and organizations that are contributing to Alberta's strong tech ecosystem.

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The Metaverse. What were people saying about the Internet before it became commonplace? To me, it feels like a similar thing.

Thankfully we have people like Mike McCready to help us navigate and understand what a tool like the Metaverse is and can become.

To paraphrase both Mike AND Inventures keynote, Matthew Ball, it's  key for us to educate ourselves on what this technology means for us and how it will impact us. Understand it before you HAVE to understand it.

In our conversation Mike not only mentions how people attending Inventures can experience and learn about the Metaverse, but how people not able to attend can participate in the Inventures Metaverse Experience.

The INVENTURES Metaverse Experience – presented by Lethbridge College

Experience first-hand what metaverse technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR), motion capture, and more can offer industry.  Listen to global leaders share insights on various topics, ideate and collaborate together, and meet new people – all within a virtual representation of the main floor of the TELUS Convention Centre. Explore some of the advanced technologies that the Lethbridge College START Centre offers which enable industry to digitize the physical world, experience the virtual world, and blend the two together. These hardware demonstrations will be live-streamed into the INVENTURES Metaverse Experience.

How to participate physically at INVENTURES

You can join sessions or demo advanced spatial technologies hardware by visiting rooms TELUS 101-103 on May 31 between 10:15am and 4:30pm and on June 1 between 9:15am and 4:30pm.

How to participate virtually in INVENTURES

You can join sessions using the ENGAGE platform. Instructions on how to download ENGAGE, create an account, and join sessions can be found here (opens a .pdf).

Bio

Mike McCready, Industry Liaison and Research Advisor
Spatial Technologies Applied Research and Training (START) Centre
Lethbridge College

Mike is an educator and researcher with a focus on immersive technologies such as virtual and augmented reality. He has over 23 years of development experience and is driven to explore new technologies and understand their application within business and society. He introduced one of the first VR development courses at Lethbridge College in 2016. One of Mike’s focuses is the social interactions made possible with VR and has planned and facilitated numerous social VR activities that have garnered national and international attention, including the world’s first full-day conference held in VR – Merging Realities.

Shift by Alberta Innovates focuses on the people, businesses and organizations that are contributing to Alberta's strong tech ecosystem.

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What's your plan?

Ethics and values: two words that provide a solid foundation to any and all companies. Ignore at your own peril.

Ethics and values provide guide posts for all of your business decisions. They help to direct all members of a company into doing what that business holds as a key value.

In this era of artificial intelligence and machine learning, the growth is substantial and quick. The need for ethical guidelines when it comes to growth using AI is significant.

Join me as I talk to Susan Divers from LRN about her upcoming session at Inventures entitles: Business Ethics – What’s Your Plan?

Welcome to #ShiftbyAI


Bio

Susan Divers, Director of Thought Leadership and Best Practices, LRN

Susan brings 35+ years’ accomplishments and experience in the ethics and compliance area to LRN, a leading provider of solutions in the ethics and compliance area. She is a frequent speaker at events and conferences on ethics and compliance topics. Prior to joining LRN in 2015, she served as AECOM’s Assistant General for Global Ethics & Compliance and Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer. Under her leadership, AECOM’s ethics and compliance program garnered six external awards in recognition of its effectiveness and her thought leadership in the ethics field. In 2011, Susan received the AECOM CEO Award of Excellence. She is qualified as a solicitor the the High Court of England and Wales and admitted to the DC Bar.

TRACKS: ACCELERATING GROWTH

SESSION: Business Ethics – What’s Your Plan? – June 01, 9:15 am

Shift by Alberta Innovates focuses on the people, businesses and organizations that are contributing to Alberta's strong tech ecosystem.

Send us a text

Alberta IoT is a member-based non-profit organization working to build connections and support for Alberta-based digital companies with a focus on the Internet of Things. 

I had a chance to sit down with Brenda Beckedorf, Alberta IoT's Executive Director to talk about her organization's growth since its inception and the direction their boldly charting as they continue to function as a vital player in building Alberta as a centre for digital-based  businesses.

We discuss a number of their programs, from the Fast Track Accelerator and their Start-Up Visa for new Canadians who are working to establish themselves as tech entrepreneurs to the Science Park, Alberta IoT's newest initiative to tie industry with post-secondary to create a space for connection, collaboration and innovation to support the growth of all things digital, and much more!

Buckle up and welcome to Shift!

Bio

Brenda Beckedorf is the Executive Director of Alberta IoT. In her role as Executive Director, Brenda’s focus is to bring our community together to provide a common voice in advancing the knowledge, adoption, and growth of the Internet of Things industry within the province of Alberta and throughout the world.

Prior to Alberta IoT, Brenda started her career in technology with Graycon Group as Director of Business Development. She is a current Director of The Calgary Innovation Coalition (CIC--part of Alberta Innovates group of eight Regional Innovation Networks), a group of organizations in the Calgary region that support innovation-driven entrepreneurs, startups, and enterprises.

Brenda is also Director for Alberta Women Entrepreneur, who supports women in business through business advising, business skills development, financing, and providing networking opportunities. 

Brenda is a 2020 winner of the Universal Women Network Mentorship Award. Brenda previously served as Vice President of Calgary Women in Energy and until recently as Regional Director for AIoT Canada.

Shift by Alberta Innovates focuses on the people, businesses and organizations that are contributing to Alberta's strong tech ecosystem.