National Competition Judges – 2010

Niraj Bhargava
Chairman & CEO, Energate Inc.

Niraj Bhargava is Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Energate Inc, a company specializing in home energy management solutions. Previously, Niraj was President and CEO of Enerstat Limited, the company that first commercialized the electronic programmable thermostat. After Enerstat, Niraj became a Professor of Entrepreneurship at Queen’s University, CEO of Queen’s Centre for Enterprise Development, and then Dean of the Business School at Royal Roads University.

Earlier in his career, Niraj held a number of positions at Bell-Northern Research, 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, including an International Business Certificate from Stockholm School of Economics.

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 is in open source company strategy, product development, organizational structure/product architecture interaction, and tech based startups.  John is writing a book 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.

Denzil Doyle
Chairman, Doyletech Corporation

Denzil Doyle, Chairman of consulting firm Doyletech Corporation, has been a long-time player in the Ottawa High Technology Industry. He has been a Director of the National Research Council, Newbridge Networks, Mitel, and Med-Eng Systems and has successfully founded a number of high-tech companies.

From 1995 to 2005, he served as Chairman of Capital Alliance Ventures Inc., an Ottawa-based venture capital firm specializing in technology investments. He is also the author of Making Technology Happen. In 2005, Mr. Doyle was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada.

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. In addition to his role at Mxi, Brad 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.).

Mark Norton
President, Pakenham Holdings Limited

Mark Norton is an electrical engineer. In 1984 he formed Pakenham Holdings Limited, a privately held investment company focusing primarily on investment and financing of manufacturing and technology companies.

He is currently a director of Green Avenue Ventures Inc., a private investment and management company, BCI Brenor Inc., a holding company of automotive service companies, and CMA Holdings Inc., the principal holding company of the Canadian Medical Association.

Until recently he was a director of International Datacasting Corporation, a TSX listed company that manufactures satellite communications equipment, Med-Eng Systems Inc., a producer of body protection products and military electronic counter measure systems, and Instantel Inc. a producer of seismograph and RFID sytems.

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.

Caroline Somers
Co-CEO, Cassidy Bay Group

Caroline Somers is the co-CEO and founder of Cassidy Bay Group Inc, which provides executive and entrepreneurial coaching services primarily to early stage companies. Caroline has a wealth of business and operational experience gained in a long and wide-ranging career in the high technology industry and has been an angel investor in more than two dozen companies. Among other notable roles, Ms Somers was co-founder and VP Marketing and Product Management of Vienna Systems, a pioneer of Voice over IP products that was acquired by Nokia in 1998.

Strongly believing in giving to and helping grow the community, she serves on many non-profit and commercial boards of directors. Caroline is a certified coach and MBA graduate from Queen’s University.