People
Barry Gander
For 25 years Barry Gander has helped jump-start the development of advanced technology organizations in Canada and abroad. Working with companies, associations, the public sector and academia, Barry has established a network of leaders who thrive on leading-edge initiatives. As EVP of Canada’s largest high-tech association, the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA) Barry has helped showcase the best of Canadian innovation to global markets. The i-CANADA program, which he co-founded, aims to create an “Intelligent Nation” by establishing a grass-roots movement of communities that network at ultra-fast speed.
Catherine Vardy
Catherine Vardy joined the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) in 2015. As a Business Development Officer for the Atlantic Region, Catherine enjoys working with people to identify and highlight the value of IP. As the Network Liaison and Program Manager at Springboard Atlantic, Catherine worked closely with innovative SMEs, universities and colleges. Catherine also worked in Atlantic Canada as a Research and Innovation Development Officer with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC).
Charlie Greene
Charlie is a senior software developer at The REDspace. He is alumni from Colibri Software where he worked for two years, ever since graduating from Acadia University with a Honors degree in Computer Science with Co-Op option. Charlie’s profile picture was created by a robot inspired by the work of Ruby the painting elephant. True story.
Chris Jordan
Chris is a software developer with 16+ years experience with Henry Schein. Not to be pigeonholed, he’s got his hand in all sorts of things: Top tier support for an installation base spanning 2000+ customers, Brand development, Application planning and development, Database design, Documentation, Testing, Training, Training material development: web, print and video, Customer support, Installer creation, Phone system programming. Chris’ profile pic is a mashup of a picture of his swiped from Facebook and R2D2.
Cindy Trudel
Cindy Trudel is an Instructor in Acadia University’s Departments of Computer Science, Business and Mathematics. Her primary research interest is in developing retention programs for students who have self-selected Computer Science as an area of study.
David Duke
David Duke is an Associate Professor in the Department of History and Classics and as Coordinator of the university’s recently-established Environmental and Sustainability Studies program. His academic areas of expertise are the history of Russia and the USSR, the history of science, and environmental history, and he teaches in all these areas.
Dr Daniel Silver
Dr. Daniel L. Silver is the Director of the Acadia Institute for Data Analytics . He is also a Professor in and currently the Acting-Director of the Jodrey School of Computer Science at Acadia University. His areas of research and application are machine learning, data mining, and data analytics. His expertise is in Lifelong Machine Learning and Transfer Learning. He has published over 65 scientific papers and has co-chaired or been part of program committees for a number of national and international conferences, seminars and workshops on data mining and machine learning.
Dr Darcy Benoit
Dr. Darcy Benoit is a Professor in and the Director of the Jodrey School of Computer Science at Acadia University. His areas of research include mobile application development, database management systems, and computer science education. An avid supporter educational outreach, Darcy oversees the Acadia Robotics program, a province-wide outreach program that sees approximately 400 students from grades 9-18 compete in two international robot programming competitions. His outreach work resulted in him collaborating with the Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development on the implementation of computer programming in the public school system from grades 7-12.
Dr Randy Newman
Dr. Newman is a Cognitive Neuroscientist whose primary research interest is in understanding the brain mechanisms responsible for reading and speech processes using event-related potentials and eye tracking techniques. Current research is examining the impact of a word’s spelling on how quickly we recognize spoken words. A secondary area of interest is in understanding factors responsible for the gender gap that persists in some areas of science, notably computer science and engineering.
Elizabeth Garrett
“Just like becoming an expert in wine - you learn by drinking it, the best you can afford - you learn great food by finding the best there is, whether simply or luxurious. Then you savor it, analyze it, discuss it with your companions, and you compare it with other experiences” - Julia Child, Mastering the Art of French Cooking