National Competition Judges – 2012

Ion Aimers

Ion Aimers is a prolific local restaurateur with a creative spirit and stronger management drive that has led him to be named Ottawa’s and Ontario’s “Restaurateur of the Year” in 2 of the last 3 years...and now “ZaZaZa Pizza With Pizazz” is his latest gem. Ion is also a partner with renowned Chefs Ross & Simon Fraser at “Fraser Cafe & Table 40”. Aimers is known locally for starting his famous Gourmet Burger brand “The WORKS” in Ottawa. With 10 years of explosive growth since its inception, the recent sale of the chain was considered a coup for Aimers, and was the talk of the Canadian restaurant community in 2010.

Aimers restaurants are considered a superb business model in an industry which has traditionally been labeled as tough to succeed in. Where others see nothing Aimers sees people. It is exactly this element that he attracts, nurtures and covets in all his businesses - the people. His restaurants have been repeatedly named “Top Employer” and “Fastest Growing” in this community for mainly this reason.

Niraj Bhargava, P.Eng, MBA, ICD.D
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Energate Inc.

Niraj Bhargava is Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Energate Inc. www.energateinc.com, a company specializing in home energy management and smart grid solutions that helps utilities to avoid building new power plants. Previously, Niraj was President and CEO of Enerstat Limited, the company that first commercialized the electronic programmable thermostat. After Enerstat, Niraj became a faculty member in Entrepreneurship at Queen’s University, Founder and CEO of Queen’s Centre for Enterprise Development, and then Dean of the Business School at Royal Roads University.

Earlier in his career, Niraj practiced engineering at Bell-Northern Research, marketing and business development at Northern Telecom and General Electric, and was General Manager of GE Energy Management. Niraj has a BASc from University of Waterloo and an MBA from Ivey Business School. With his degree in Systems Design Engineering, Niraj received his Professional Engineering license in 1989. In 2009, Niraj received his ICD.D designation for effective Board governance.

John Callahan
Adjunct Research Professor, Carleton University

John Callahan is an Adjunct Research Professor in the Technology Innovation Management program within the Department of Systems and Computer Engineering of Carleton University. His research focus has been in open source company strategy, product development, and organizational structure/product architecture interaction. John has also written on managing tech based startups and recently taught an MBA course at the University of Ottawa on this subject. John coordinated the Nicol Entrepreneurship Award Competition at Carleton from 2001 through 2008.

John holds a BSc (Hon) from Carleton, and an MA in Applied Mathematics and a PhD in Industrial Engineering from the University of Toronto.

Peter Eddison
Partner, Reid Eddison Inc.

Peter is a founding partner of Reid Eddison Inc., a boutique management consulting firm that works primarily with high-growth technology companies across Canada and the United States. He was previously a co-founder of a number of Ottawa-area companies, including Mobius Software, Nabu Manufacturing, and Fulcrum Technologies, and from 2001 to 2005 was the President and CEO of AutoSkill International Inc., a leading provider of education software for the K-12 market.

Brad Forsyth
Founder, Mxi Technologies

Brad co-founded Mxi Technologies in 1996 and was the President & CEO until 2004, when he transitioned into the role of Chairman. As CEO, Brad oversaw the development and implementation of the strategic plan that established the company as a market leader in aviation maintenance software. Subsequent to running Mxi, Brad built an impressive portfolio of founding, managing and advising technology start-ups, including PubUpdate and inspire2go Inc. He also serves as a director on a number of other corporate boards and provides strategic management consulting services to a variety of clients.

Brad holds an Institute of Corporate Directors, Institute-certified Director (ICD.D) designation in addition to a Master of Science (M.Sc.) and Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Engineering from the University of Saskatchewan. Brad is also a Professional Engineer (P.Eng.).

Wendy Kennedy
Founder & CEO, WKI

Wendy Kennedy is a seasoned technology industry executive, award winning professor, and author who has spent more than 20 years helping science and technology inventors bring their ideas from “lab to life”. Wendy’s methodology and book, So what? who cares? why you® has been widely adopted by individual entrepreneurs, government research labs, innovation centers, university commercialization offices and private sector corporations.

With over 10,000 copies of her book in use around the world, Wendy is an acknowledged thought leader in commercialization and entrepreneurship, and is a frequent speaker at conferences and forums throughout North America. She holds a Masters Degree in Business from Queen’s University and is a recipient of the Dr. Laurent Isabelle Award for innovation and excellence in education.

Julie Retar
Manager, Commercial Credit, TD Commercial Banking

Julie Retar has been with the TD Commercial Banking since 1988, and has held progressively senior positions.  She is currently the Manager, Commercial Credit in Ottawa, responsible for coaching team members in developing creative credit solutions for both new and existing clients, while being guided by the Bank’s risk metrics.  She is also responsible for hiring, training and mentoring for the personal development and career planning of the bankers of tomorrow.

Julie is a Queen’s University Commerce graduate, a Fellow of the Institute of Canadian Bankers, and holds her CFP designation.