Backbone Start Me Up Innovation Campaign | Judges 2013

Presented by Backbone magazine - raising innovative entrepreneurs to the next level.

First, Second and Third Round Judges

	Mike Edwards, Executive Director of GrowLab, and co-founder of Launch Academy Second and live round judge Edwards is a life long entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. Angel Forum named Edwards as the 2012 BC Angel Investor of the year. He is the CEO and co-founder of LX Ventures, a public company that launches, integrates and acquires early-stage high growth companies.
	Dr. Darin Graham, President and CEO, Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network (ORION ) Second and live round judge Graham was appointed President and CEO of ORION on August 1, 2010 and is a true leader in international information communications technology. Graham was most recently Director of NZi3, New Zealand's ICT Innovation Institute at the University of Canterbury at Christchurch, where he was invited to establish the institute as an innovation centre and global 'hothouse' of strategic ICT research – moving ideas from the lab, across the innovation gap, and into industry and commercialization.
	John Cardella, Executive VP & Chief People Officer, Ceridian Canada Second and live round judge A progressive Human Capital Management leader, John is responsible for creating innovative management techniques and HR best practices that reinforce Ceridian’s reputation as one of the best companies to work for in Canada. As executive vice president and chief people officer, John leads the company’s HR strategies and provides counsel and thought leadership to Ceridian’s overall strategic business direction.
	Perry Dellelce, Managing Partner, Wildeboer Dellelce Second and live round judge Dellelce is a founder and managing partner of Wildeboer Dellelce LLP, one of Canada’s leading corporate finance transactional law firms. Dellelce practises in the areas of securities, corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions, offering a unique blend of legal and corporate finance experience combined with hands on business management experience across a wide range of sectors including technology, natural resources and financial services. Dellelce has served as Chair and director of a number of public and private companies. He currently serves as a director on the board of ePals Corporation, an online social learning network.
	Valerie Fox, Director, Ryerson Digital Media Zone, Ryerson University Second and live round judge Valerie Fox has over 25 years of tech experience in both academia and industry sectors. Her roles ranged from business development, to creative direction and user experience. Fox’s experience in facilitating organizational change, coaching, project management, innovation, communication strategy, user experience and creativity was the perfect fit for her initial role at Ryerson University: facilitating student engagement. Before this, Valerie Fox was National Practice Lead of User Experience Design for IBM Canada, and Creative Director for the Official Sydney Olympics website. Fox is a professional coach and an inventor herself, holding multiple patents.
	Eugene Bomba, Canadian Leader of PwC's Emerging Company Services practice Second and live round judge Bomba focuses on early stage and high growth companies in the areas of technology, digital media, mobile, social media and enterprise solutions. Prior to joining PwC in 2008, Bomba was CFO at Healthscreen Solutions Inc., an early stage technology company that was listed on the TSX-V. Bomba is also senior manager with the Audit and Assurance practice of PwC, specializing in managing growth from startup to high growth phases. Bomba is a mentor at DRIVEN and INcubes technology accelerators in Toronto and has made appearances as a panellist on BNN's The Pitch.
	Peter Wolchak, Editor, Backbone First, second and live round judge Wolchak has been a professional print journalist for more than a decade. Starting as a news photographer at a community newspaper, Wolchak then worked as a staff writer and later served as the editor for four years at ComputerWorld Canada, a national trade magazine. Wolchak then moved up to the national business magazine arena as the editor of Backbone. Wolchak has also worked as a public speaker and discussion moderator, served as a judge for the McLuhan Festival’s Vortex awards, and sits on the E-Business Program Advisory Committee at Sheridan College.
	John Weigelt, National Technology Officer, Microsoft Canada Second round judge Weigelt is responsible for driving Microsoft Canada’s strategic policy and technology efforts. In this role, Weigelt helps business and governments innovate with. He leads Canadian outreach for Economic Development, Environmental Sustainability, Accessibility, Privacy, Security, Critical Infrastructure Protection, Government 3.0, Interoperability and other policy related activities. Prior to joining Microsoft, Weigelt was Senior Director of Architecture, Standards and Engineering at the Chief Information Officer Branch of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. He holds a Master’s Degree in computer and communications security engineering from the Royal Military College of Canada.
	Ron Shuttleworth, Technology Analyst, M Partners and Managing Director, Razor Capital Partners Second round judge Shuttleworth is President of RES Enterprises, offering strategic consulting for business plan development, commercialization, and financing. He advises C-Level operators on various aspects of execution including sales & marketing, HR, IR, and measurement, and he assists operators in accessing customers, partners, suppliers, and investors as required. He assists investors to attain reasonable returns on investments. Target operations: growth companies in the technology sector. He has been Technology Analyst, VC, CEO, CTO.
	Dragan Nerandzic, Chief Technology Officer, Ericsson Canada Second round judge Nerandzic joined Ericsson in 2001 and since 2006 has held the role of Chief Technology Officer for Ericsson in Canada. Prior to joining Ericsson, Nerandzic was responsible for wireless technology planning and strategy for an operator’s network. He actively participated in standardization and industry organizations including 3GPP2, TIA and CDG. Mr. Nerandzic also had responsibilities for engineering design of analog and digital mobile networks. Past experience includes working at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the University of Belgrade where he held various teaching and research roles in areas of fixed and mobile networks.
	Bram Sugarman, Associate, OMERS Ventures Second round judge In his role as an Associate at OMERS Ventures, Sugarman is responsible for researching and executing investment opportunities in the Technology, Media, and Telecommunications sectors. Sugarman began his career at Electronic Arts in Montreal, working on five titles as a software developer. Pursuing a strong desire to learn more about product management and business development, Sugarman then joined online gaming company CryptoLogic. Immediately prior to joining OMERS Ventures, Sugarman spent time working at Extreme Venture Partners assessing investment opportunities and building growth strategies with portfolio company Uken Games.
	Lawrence Cummer, Freelance writer First round judge Lawrence Cummer is a freelance writer with over 15 years of experience writing for periodicals, business and communications agencies. He is former senior writer and editor of the technology trade publications Network World Canada and Communications & Networking Journal, respectively. He has been a senior contributor to a variety of publications and is a frequent writer for Backbone Magazine.
	Lance Neale, President and CEO, Station X, WaterTrax and Marqui Software Second and live round judge Neale's latest venture is Vancouver-based Station X, an integrated marketing agency that helps top brands such as Bell Aliant, Mark Anthony Group and Mercedes-Benz, build deeper, more profitable relationships with their customers. Neale has a successful record of entering startups at the expansion-stage to bring leadership and innovation to the business model to drive growth and has accomplished this with WaterTrax and Marqui Software of which he is President and CEO. Earlier, he helped lead Transcontinental Media to become one of Canada's largest publishers in magazines, newspapers, and digital brands.
	Andrew Maxwell, Chief Innovation Officer, Canadian Innovation Centre Second and live round judge Andrew Maxwell Ph.D. is chief innovation officer at the Canadian Innovation Centre. Over the past 25 years, Andrew has played a strategic role in the creation of new technology based businesses, from government, academic and industry perspectives..
	Paul Day, Vice-President, Information and Communications Technology, Export Development Corporation Second and live round judge Day heads up EDC’s Investments Group, an investment partner with global reach, engaged in domestic and international investment activities to facilitate global business expansion and export growth of Canadian companies. Prior to joining EDC, Day worked as Managing Partner and CFO of a private investment and strategic management services company and with NORTEL in varying finance roles. Export Development Canada is a Canadian Crown corporation that provides financing and risk management services for the purposes of supporting and developing Canadian export trade and investment.
	Jeffrey Schwartz, Vice President, Marketing, Bell Business Markets, Bell Canada Second and live round judge Schwartz focuses on Bell’s business customers, leading the small, mid and large business marketing, take-to-market, business analytics and marketing communications teams. Schwartz began his career at Bell twelve years ago and spent eight years accelerating growth in the company’s wireless division. He spearheaded the launch of Bell Mobility’s first national sub-brand with Solo Mobile in 2005 and has designed and executed other iconic marketing initiatives including: the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics campaign; the roll-out of Bell Mobility to 700 The Source stores; and the purchase and integration of Virgin Mobile Canada.