March 2018
In this issue
Jessica Pautsch isn’t slow in going forward. The Vancouver social entrepreneur—who recently launched an online effort to tackle food waste in the city—wheedled her way past security at the Geneva offices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in her early 20s. “I told them it was my lifelong goal to be here, and after talking my way...
I started [wrestling] when I was 13, my first year in high school, and I was terrible, lost every single match, about 30 of them. I was going to quit and not show up for the next year, but a couple of friends were in the program and said, “Why don’t you come out for the first few weeks and...
RC Products Ltd., which makes pet gear in a South Vancouver warehouse, doesn’t have a doorbell or buzzer, but arrivals don’t go unnoticed. Knock once, and a chorus of barking dogs announces your presence. There are usually about 10 pooches in the office, says Rory Carr, the company’s founder and president. In the open area, custom-built desk-high pens with gates...
It’s business as usual at Roundhouse Radio. Jody Vance is taking calls on the #MeToo movement, the conversation turning to Louis CK and men who masturbate in public. In the lobby, local restaurateur and Top Chef Canada alum Trevor Bird is discussing the recipe he’ll explain on air with a producer, while in smaller side studio, Minelle Mahtani, host of...
First, the bad news: women aren’t anywhere close to reaching gender equality in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and computer science (also known as STEM).In 2016, Canadian men aged 25 to 34 with a STEM degree were twice as likely as their female counterparts to work in science and technology, Statistics Canada reports. Part of the explanation for this disparity: the...
As she outlines her new company’s plans to build highly humanlike robots that can live alongside people, Suzanne Gildert makes it all sound doable—and inevitable. Such machines would resemble those in the dystopic HBO show Westworld but “without all the horrible parts,” says Gildert, who radiates youthful enthusiasm. “We don’t want the things we create to become slaves, or entities...
At 83, Julia Levy is a towering figure in B.C.’s business and scientific communities. In 1981 the microbiologist founded what was later called QLT Inc. with four male colleagues, after one of them told her that the Vancouver biotechnology company needed the antibody technology she had developed at her UBC lab. Over the next two decades, with Levy as chief...
Amiee Chan saved Norsat International Inc. from ruin—and built it into a prime takeover target. Last summer the Richmond-based maker of satellite products for corporate, military and broadcasting clients was acquired by Hytera Communications Co. Ltd., a Chinese radio systems manufacturer. The $70.6-million deal saw Hytera pay US$11.50 per share for Norsat stock, an 86-percent premium over the market price.
A dual U.S.-Canadian citizen who has a BSc and a PhD from Stanford University and did postdoctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley; the University of Edinburgh; and UBC, Sally Otto originally enrolled in genetic engineering because she mistakenly thought it would involve mathematics. Fortunately, mentors pointed her in the right direction so she could combine her interests in...
Copperleaf Technologies Inc. provides decision analytics software to help utilities like Hydro-Québec, Iceland’s Landsvirkjun Power Ltd. and Essential Energy in Australia manage critical infrastructure. When Hess became CEO in 2009, Copperleaf had just one client (U.S. electric power provider Duke Energy Corp.) and 27 staff members. The company has grown to 35 major clients and expects to have at least...