Network Innovation - Innovating Networks

Sustained economic growth and our ability to compete in a highly globalized economy depend on our success in achieving greater commercialization of scientific and technological research. How can adapting to new and innovative technologies help Ontario and Canada make the leap to a leading, knowledge-based economy? In this session we hear from those who have made the success transition and learn about commercialization success stories.

• Michael Page, Assistant Professor, Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD)
  Michael Page has been involved in research in the field of 3D visualization for 30 years. He has exhibited his artworks, and presented invited papers at numerous conferences on art and technology around the world. Michael has received grants for his work from the Canada Council, The National Research Council, the Ontario Arts Council and the Ontario Centres of Excellence. He is currently part of a team of faculty and graduates from OCAD and the University of Toronto researching in the field of digital holography.
  
  
• Charles Plant, Managing Director, Market Readiness Program, MaRS Discovery District
  Charles Plant is an unreformed entrepreneur, having acted as CEO or CFO of several successful software companies, including Synamics Inc, a telecommunications software firm that he co-founded. Synamics provided mass calling platforms to telcos such as Bell Canada, Rogers, Cingular, and Verizon, along with such partners as Nortel, Lucent, and Cable and Wireless. As a management consultant, investment banker, auditor and now at MaRS, Charles has worked closely with over 100 companies and brings a multi-disciplinary perspective to solving business and technology problems. Charles is also on the faculty of York University’s Schulich School of Business and is a Chartered Accountant with an MBA in marketing.
  
  
• Hossein Rahnama, PhD candidate, Ryerson University
  Hossein Rahnama (BSc. , MASc.) is a doctoral student at Ryerson University and participates as a researcher in a European Union funded research project called MUSIC where he researches and develops innovative software solutions for entities such as the Paris Metro Authority (RATP). He works closely with Appear Networks, a global leader in mobility solutions based in Stockholm, and the Ontario Centers of Excellence. Hossein is leading a group of researchers in the Ubuquitous and Pervasive Computing Lab at Ryerson to analyze and develop the next generation of ubiquitous and intelligent mobile software platforms. Hossein is finishing his doctoral studies in the analysis of social principles in context-based mobile networks. Before starting his doctoral studies, Hossein has worked with leading telecommunications companies in the United Kingdom and Denmark.