Following graduate studies in Neuroscience at UBC and a postdoctoral fellowship in Sweden, Elissa embarked on a journey to forge a career in research strategy, policy and leadership.  Ten years in, she is leading SOSCIP through a major period of growth and expansion and is building programs, platforms and partnerships to ensure SOSCIP’s continued success as Ontario’s leading platform for collaborative R&D in advanced computing. 

A dedicated problem solver, Jenn is driven to find a simple streamlined solution to operational challenges. Jenn is a seasoned partnership builder with a passion for business innovation and high quality Canadian research.

A former journalist with a passion for telling stories, Krista has lived and worked in London, England, Vancouver, B.C. and St. John’s, N.L., before settling in Toronto, O.N. Through strategic communications, Krista connects the community with SOSCIP’s impactful research.

Jillian comes from a diverse employment background, having worked in the not-for-profit sector, career management, events planning, marketing, and various project management roles, as well as teaching English abroad. Jillian manages all financial aspects of the SOSCIP operations.

Stephen brings to the team a proven ability to successfully analyze an organization’s critical business requirements, lead change, implement best practices and execute disciplined performance management systems to drive successful business outcomes.

 Allen Lalonde leads IBM’s Research & Development Centre. Under Allen’s leadership, the CRDC team contributes project management and technological support to SOSCIP projects.  Beyond SOSCIP, the CRDC provides a national framework for IBM to help drive social and economic growth in Canada through IBM’s participation and support of collaborative innovation initiatives.

Sean is an engineer specializing in advanced computer technology research and development. He earned a B.A.Sc. degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Waterloo, and MSc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Toronto in Electrical and Computer Engineering. At SOSCIP, Dr. Wagner helps researchers use high-performance computing platforms to achieve their research goals.

With a background in R&D and international business development, Martin is dedicated to assist clients with technology commercialization. A keen interest in spearheading multidisciplinary P3s resulted in the consortia 3DFLIC, iGO3D, and NEXT. Wireless communications, multimedia production, human-machine interfaces, and connected/automated vehicles are among his areas of interest.

With over three decades of experience in R&D at start-ups and large enterprises, Ron is enthusiastic about helping collaborative research projects accelerate their R&D with HPC. As a result of his research on “Canadian Commercial Adoption of HPC” he was recruited by OCE to lead industrial outreach for SOSCIP. Ron’s a Waterloo grad.

After graduate work studying human DNA repair mechanisms in relation to ageing and neurodegeneration at McMaster University, Derrik worked as an industrial post-doc fellow to develop a DNA nanostructure-based diagnostic tool for cancer and infectious disease. Exposure to an early-stage biotech company led to a desire to help academics and companies build partnerships to accelerate growth.