Pilar Portela

Pilar Portela is a member of the select group of visible minority women CEO’s in the technology industry. It took her more than 25 years to reach that seat by selection, and not by personal appointment. As a Senior Executive in the technology industry with over 20 years experience in business operations, project management and c-level roles in a variety of industries, Pilar currently leads Canada’s first Industry 4.0 hub (i4c.tech) focused on providing end-to-end Industry 4.0 solutions to solve complex industrial problems.

Pilar has worked in strategic environments translating business drivers into actionable and measurable results. Aside from her functional expertise, she has deep understanding of strategic thinking, capability building and adapting planning.

Her passion on rural sustainability led her and her husband to move to the Kootenays where she has been ensuring her current endeavours thrive and grow as part of her larger vision in global rural economic development.

Pilar has been asked to speak in numerous occasions, both from a technology viewpoint as well as about her role in female-led technology organizations.

Karen Matthews, PhD

Karen Matthews, a native of Baltimore, MD, began her academic career at the US Naval Academy, received a BS in Electrical Engineering from Morgan State University (1989) and a MEng (1991), a PhD in Electrical Engineering (1998) and an MBA (2007), all from Cornell University.

Prior to pursuing an MBA, Karen held senior positions in Corning Incorporated’s Science & Technology Division in opto-electronic packaging and as a research and then senior research scientist. After completing her MBA, she worked as a technology and market development manager for Corning’s Specialty Materials division. Upon returning to Science and Technology, she began working in early innovation stage markets and technologies for the optical communications sector to identify and help implement new growth opportunities. Her focus on moving concepts through to commercialization remains, with a current emphasis the wireless industry.

Dr. Matthews has authored numerous publications and patents, been a speaker/keynote speaker at various industry conferences, and is a member of several technical and professional organizations. Most recently, she has been invited as keynote speaker, moderator, panellist and open forum discussion leaders at various 5G and Internet of Things-based conferences.

She has served as Corning’s Executive Board member of Georgia Tech’s Center for the Development and Application of Internet of Things Technologies (CDAIT) – sitting on the Research Work Group and leading the Thought Leadership Work Group therein. She continues to lead CDAIT’s Thought Leadership Working group and is currently a Visiting Scholar at Georgia Tech, a member of the OFC 2019 program committee and the Chair of the OFC 2020 N5 Market Watch, developing the programming for Market Watch, Network Operators Summit and Data Center Summit.

Carlos Felipe Rocha

Carlos Felipe Rocha is an international entrepreneur and advisor with 20-year practice in leading businesses, innovation and multicultural teams across the globe. He has been responsible for overseeing 200-million-dollar businesses and building and driving innovation through a portfolio of global brands, such as Dunhill and Lucky Strike.

His experiences include ABInbev, Arthur Andersen, British American Tobacco and Brazilian companies and startups.  He has co-founded and created companies – made exits and also write-offs. Recipient of National and International awards, including NACO’s 2016 Most Promising Startups of the Year.

As a Fulbright scholar, lecturer and mentor, he is a strong advocate for practical education and entrepreneurship. In 2018, Carlos published, in collaboration with Columbia University Marketing Chair Noel Capon, the bestseller Marketing for Brazilian Decision Makers.

Carlos is the founder of the Private Banyan, an investment and consulting firm. His group invests in real estate and businesses. He is also a partner and advisor for Darwin Startups (chosen as #1 startup accelerator in Brazil), including a 50+ startup portfolio in the areas of Big Data, Fintech and Insurtech.

Carlos is passionate about promoting global and fair business, innovation, education, and giving back.

Darwin Startups Website

LinkedIn

Terra Cochrane

A hybrid of technology and marketing, Terra Cochrane brings a unique perspective to business strategy and operations. After nearly a decade in the fast-paced world of advertising, working with organizations across a variety of sectors from crown corporations to non-profits, she made the leap deep into the technology world as Managing Director of a web development company. Having been bitten by the software bug, she went on to join the leadership team of an EdTech start-up to drive user adoption and product support across the growing customer base in Canada, United States and Australia.

Terra now leads the digital efforts for Kal Tire, which is Canada’s largest independent tire dealer and North America’s 2nd largest commercial tire dealer.  As part of the Strategy team at Kal Tire, her portfolio spans the full digital customer experience, including e-commerce strategy and operations, marketing automation and digital marketing. Terra has a deep understanding of the value of data and automation to deliver scalable experiences.

Ripi Singh, Ph.D

Ripi Singh, Ph.D. is Founder and Chief Innovation Coach at Inspiring Next. Since 2013; he is engaged with his client partners around the world, on their journey through Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0 using his proven Innovation Framework called +4p.

Ripi has over 25 years of experience in product, technologies, process, and people leadership, spanning aerospace and defence, renewable energy and power, healthcare and medical devices, advanced manufacturing, and IT. As Director R&D for Alstom Power (now GE) and as Advanced Technology Manager for United Technologies, Singh successfully delivered advanced technologies on high impact and leading edge aviation and energy programs (supported by DARPA, USAF and leading aircraft industries). He also performed foundational research on system sustainment and life extensions in collaboration with industry and universities.

He supports robust innovation economic system development in Connecticut and works with a number of innovative spaces and incubators, as well as startups through SCORE. His influence spans across mentoring young minds to coaching business owners, startups to growth companies, commodities like garments to futuristic technologies like drones. He engages in global projects in Germany, India, Singapore and the United States.

He holds numerous national and corporate honours, authored over 70 publications, gave more than 250 lectures, holds two patents and has edited numerous books. He authored Innovate-Pedia, a compilation of Best Practices in Innovation Management, which accelerates new product development, reduces risk and uncertainty, and blends near and far term goals. He also won the “President of India Cash Prize” for outstanding research and was later accepted as US naturalized citizen under the category of “outstanding researcher” with extraordinary ability. He serves on council of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering, as well as the industrial advisory board for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at University of New Haven and University of Hartford. He holds a BS, MS and a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the India Institute of Science, an executive master’s degree in Business Strategy from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a post‐doc in Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.

Paris Gaudet

As the Executive Director, Paris is responsible for the leadership of ACETECH and building communities of support for the organization. Paris is a passionate advocate for diversity in the tech sector and her commitment to growing the tech sector in BC. She is a savvy ecosystem connector and excels at developing relationship, connecting the dots, and uncovering collaborative opportunities.

Prior to joining ACETECH, Paris was the Executive Director of a regional technology organization for over a decade on Vancouver Island. Under her leadership, the organization strategically advanced its tech entrepreneurship programs, expanded its reach and galvanized partnerships.

Recently, Paris was an integral member of the Transition Team supporting Canada’s Digital Technology Supercluster with the development of its ecosystem programs and diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Outside of the office, you will find Paris running trails with her husband, testing a new plant-based recipe or planning an adventure with her 17-year-old daughter. Her favourite quote is “Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary” by Cecil Beaton.

Aliya Amershi

Aliya is the CEO and Founder of the Techie Concierge, offering services for non-technical business owners and startup founders that need to quickly launch, grow, or digitally transform their company with the best technical training and talent.

Aliya is also a Blockchain Evangelist, hosting blockchain business discussions and educating the business community on the benefits of blockchain. In addition, she is currently a member of YEC Next, a Forbes Business Council, and was recently a Director at the Founder Institute in Vancouver, a Silicon Valley-based Global Incubator. Her other speaking, mentorship, and contributor roles include Techstars, Startup Week, and Women 2.0 to name a few.

Her previous startup, AskaTechie, was a Tech Talent 2.0 Marketplace, and was accepted into the Canadian Technology Accelerator Silicon Valley Program, focused on Artificial Intelligence. They were also a finalist for 500 Startups and NextAI Canada.

Aliya has over 20 years of technology experience and 15 years of professional experience working as a Software Engineer, Tech Lead, and IT Manager at places like Viacom Networks in New York, Codemasters in England, and Electronic Arts in Canada. Some of the award-winning and popular products that she has been involved with in a leadership capacity include SpongeBob.com, Fight Night, the Kids’ Choice Awards, NBA Live, Operation Flashpoint, and the Emmy Award-winning Nick App.