Chace is an IT Project Manager and AR/VR Lead for the Smart Cities team at The City of Calgary. With extensive experience in leveraging immersive technologies, Chace drives digital transformation initiatives that support City business units. Currently, he leads multiple AR/VR projects at the Wave Tech Centre, a cutting-edge facility designed to accelerate innovation and collaboration. Passionate about the potential of AR and VR to enhance both internal operations and the lives of Calgarians, Chace is dedicated to pioneering new solutions that create a smarter, more connected city.

Sessions:

• Oct. 22, 9:15 – 10:15 a.m.: Convergence: AI and IoT in a Smart City
• Oct. 23, 11:15 a.m. – 12 p.m.: Equity in Smart Cities panel

Dave is Manager, Business & Enterprise Architecture and Application Portfolio Management, with Information Technology at The City of Calgary. He leads teams focused on increasing the value of existing City software applications by evaluating current and future business technology requirements. The team also offer guidance on optimal solutions to meet objectives for the delivery of City services and facilitates business change through these solutions.

Sessions:

• Oct. 22, 9:15 – 10:15 a.m.: Convergence: AI and IoT in a Smart City
• Oct. 22, 1:30 – 2 p.m.: Data Governance

Nan is an IT engineer, technology enthusiast and Manager of the Emerging Technologies Division with Information Technology at The City of Calgary. With a PhD degree in machine learning and neural networks, Nan has led his team to develop award-winning technology solutions for The Corporation using technologies such as Telematics, IoT (Internet of Things), RPA (Robotic Process Automation), and AI. He is also an adjunct professor at The University of Calgary, where he supervises graduate students and conducts research on AI and IoT in his spare time.

Sessions:

• Oct. 22, 9:15 – 10:15 a.m.: Convergence: AI and IoT in a Smart City
• Oct. 25, 1:40 – 2:20 p.m.: My Robot Colleague: YYCRobot Project

Orest is the Director of the Broadcast-Broadband Convergence B²C Lab at Humber Polytechnic. He is a graduate of both McMaster and Toronto Metropolitan Universities, and a Fulbright Specialist with over 30 years of audio engineering experience. He has worked in music, broadcast, film post-production, and systems design. Orest has received an Emmy award, two Emmy nominations, and a Cinema Audio Society award. His research focuses on emerging audio technologies and developing audio watermark technologies.

Session:

• Oct. 22, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.: ATSC 3.0 technology for municipal operations

Red Grasso is the Director of the First Responder Emerging Technologies (FirstTech) Program at the State of North Carolina. With a background as a firefighter and experience in public safety communications, Red has served in various roles at different levels of government, including disaster response. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Emergency and Disaster Management and is a graduate of the Community Preparedness and Disaster Management program at UNC-CH.

Session:

• Oct. 22, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.: ATSC 3.0 technology for municipal operations

Chris, co-founder and CEO of Device Solutions, has decades of experience in commercial product development, mobile devices, and applications. He drives the company forward by focusing on business development, ensuring core beliefs stay at the forefront, and expanding into new technologies. Chris pushes Device Solutions to provide unique end-to-end solutions, ensuring technical, regulatory, and commercial success. Recognized worldwide as an authority on advanced mobile devices, Chris is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has an MSEE from North Carolina State University and holds 14 patents

Session:

• Oct. 22, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.: ATSC 3.0 technology for municipal operations

Mark is the SVP of Emergent Technology Development at Triveni Digital. His team focuses on strategies to address disruptive changes in TV technology, leveraging new capabilities offered by ATSC 3.0. Mark has led product development efforts and custom projects during his 27-year tenure at Triveni Digital. He holds a B.S. in Mathematics and Computer Science from Bucknell University. Mark is a recent ATSC board member and contributes extensively to the ATSC efforts as the chair of the S38 Specialist Group on Interactive Environment, the chair of the Caribbean Implementation Team and the chair of the India Implementation Team currently in hiatus.

Session:

• Oct. 22, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.: ATSC 3.0 technology for municipal operations

Stephen Yuen is the Co-Founder and Head of Operations at Inclucity Calgary. His mission is to create a world where people are included and valued in the decisions that affect them by supporting inclusive design and innovation. Stephen’s role involves leading collaborative efforts to create solutions that foster inclusion and belonging and empower people to learn, discuss, and implement inclusive approaches. Under his guidance, Inclucity Calgary is dedicated to giving individuals a voice, providing a space for collaboration, and offering tangible paths to equity. Stephen champions the belief that inclusion and belonging extend beyond moral imperatives to also demonstrate organizational value.

Session:

• Oct. 23, 9 – 11 a.m.: Equity in Smart Cities

Erik Langner is the Founder and CEO of the Information Equity Initiative (IEI), working to bridge the digital divide for communities lacking internet access. Prior to IEI, Erik was President of Public Media Company, managing mergers, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships to expand public media access. He has a background in law and international human rights. Erik graduated from the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and received his B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Session:

• Oct. 23, 9 – 11 a.m.: Equity in Smart Cities

Dr. Ed Czarnecki is the Vice President for Global and Government Affairs at Digital Alert Systems, where he drives the development and adoption of advanced emergency alerting technologies and standards. He currently serves as vice-chair of the ATSC Advanced Emergency Information Implementation Team (IT-1) and is chair of ATSC’s Emergency Alerts working group. Additionally, Ed is the chairman and executive director of the NextGen Video Information Systems Alliance (NVISA), an international coalition of manufacturers and broadcasters dedicated to advancing ATSC 3.0.  

Ed has played a pivotal role in key governmental emergency alerting committees and has provided advisory support to several nations on emergency information and public warning systems.

Sessions:

• Oct. 23, 9 – 11 a.m.: Equity in Smart Cities

As an IT Project Manager on the Digital Equity team, Ross works to ensure Calgarians have equitable access to City services, and the supports they need to be engaged digital citizens. Ross also fosters connections between the startup and innovation community, not-for-profits, and other ecosystem partners that can contribute to the Calgary community. Ross has a background in Urban Research, Climate Resilience, and over 15 years working in various roles in technology sectors across consumer, business, education, not-for-profit, legal, and government. All this combines into giving Ross a variety of lenses to approach addressing and improving equity impacts.

Session:

• Oct. 23, 11:15 a.m. - noon: Equity in Smart Cities Panel

Erin Ruttan is a Smart Cities Project Manager and driving force behind the development of Calgary's Digital Equity Strategy and the ATSC 3.0 Smart City. Her journey with The City of Calgary began 15 years ago and has been anything but linear, yet her north star has always been to make lives better. Erin’s background in public engagement and her extensive experience running social programs in a variety of settings, both urban to remote, gives her a unique, community-focused approach to addressing the digital divide, technology shifts, and the barriers they create. 

Session:

• Oct. 23, 11:15 a.m. – 12 p.m.: Equity in Smart Cities panel

Savera is the Director of Community Strategies at the United Way of Calgary and Area. She focuses on building partnerships and embedding social innovation into UW’s community investment framework. Trained in international development and management from the London School of Economics & Political Science, Savera has worked with funding agencies and institutions like the World Bank, the United States Agency for International Development, University of Calgary, and the Aga Khan University on strategies and programs that leverage strengths of community, private and public sector in creating social resilience and long-term community impact.

Session:

• Oct. 23, 11:15 a.m. – 12 p.m.: Equity in Smart Cities panel

Dr. Katharina Koch is a Research Associate in the Energy and Environment division at the School of Public Policy, University of Calgary. She contributes to the development of a Canadian climate policy database and has researched infrastructural disparities in Canada’s northern regions. Katharina holds a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Oulu in Finland and she has an M.A. and a B.A. from Maastricht University in the Netherlands.

Session:

• Oct. 23, 11:15 a.m. – 12 p.m.: Equity in Smart Cities panel

Jacqueline is the CEO of Helpful Places, advancing technology transparency for people-centered smart(er) cities. She leads the adoption of Digital Trust for Places and Routines (DTPR.io), an open-source communication standard. Jacqueline has experience in public, private, and non-profit sectors, including roles at Mozilla Foundation and Sidewalk Labs. As the inaugural Director of Data Analytics at the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, she developed the agency’s data strategy, developed the open data program and founded its first data science team.

Session:

• Oct. 24, 9 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.: Do you know what that camera is doing? Fostering digital trust at The City of Calgary

Alicia Nahmad is an architect and Associate Professor at the University of Calgary’s School of Architecture Planning and Landscape. She has a passion for robotics and digital fabrication, and is a strong believer that robotics can augment human craft and that human-robot collaboration is the future of the construction industry. Alicia is the CEO and Founder of MI Toolbox and The Circular Factory (CF), two startups that focus on futureproofing the trades by enabling equal and democratic access to digital machines and tools whilst upskilling the trades. 

Session:

• Oct. 25, 9:30 – 10:20 a.m.: Civic innovation through post-secondary partnership

An active educator, scholar, and practitioner, Dr. David J. Finch specializes in workforce development and performance management. He currently sits on the Government of Alberta’s Minister’s Council for Higher Education and Skills and is the board chair of the LearningCITY Collective. Dr. Finch also holds several academic appointments, including Professor and Senior Fellow at the Institute for Community Prosperity, Mount Royal University, Visiting Fellow at the Henley Business School at the University of Reading (UK), and the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics at the University of Guelph. Before academia, Dr. Finch held progressively senior corporate strategy roles in Canada and abroad. 

Sessions:

• Oct. 25, 12 – 12:45 p.m.: Bring your own Lunch and Learn - Future of Tech Workforce

D'Andre Wilson-Ihejirika is the Executive Director of Work Integrated Learning at Calgary Economic Development, leading the TalentEDyyc initiative. She collaborates with local post-secondary institutions, businesses, and non-profit organizations to align learning with work through student placements and projects. A licensed professional engineer (P.Eng) and project management professional (PMP), D'Andre has worked in the oil and gas industry before transitioning to education. She is pursuing a PhD in engineering education and serves on various boards, including the Canadian Engineering Education Association and BrainSTEM Alliance.

Session:

• Oct. 25, 12 – 12:45 p.m.: Bring your own Lunch and Learn - Future of Tech Workforce

For eight years, Steve Harder has been a member of Corporate Learning and Development (CLD) at The City of Calgary, previously as an Instructional Designer, and currently as an HR Consultant. Prior to that, he spent 17 years in the private sector, developing end-to-end learning solutions for telecom, oil and gas, and retail clients across Canada. Some of Steve’s most gratifying moments include designing the Emerging Leaders Program, as well as the recent Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Foundational module. Steve has a BFA in Media Arts and Digital Technologies. This lens has given him a unique perspective throughout his career, allowing him to make connections between learning and design.

Session:

• Oct. 25, 12 – 12:45 p.m.: Bring your own Lunch and Learn - Future of Tech Workforce

Geoff Evamy Hill is the Manager of Applied Research for Entertainment Arts at Bow Valley College. He holds a M.Des. Strategic Foresight & Innovation from OCAD University and a B.K.I. Knowledge Integration from the University of Waterloo. Geoff’s early career included varied experiences building expertise in post-secondary education strategy, policy advisory, and product management. Specifically, he has specialized in blending strategic foresight, serious games, and political economy to approach wicked problems in the energy transition, defence and security, and natural resources spaces. Geoff loves to make connections to solve problems and is eager to develop diverse projects in entertainment arts research.

Session:

• Oct. 25, 1 – 1:40 p.m.: Civic tech and serious games

Dr. Henry Leung is the Schulich Industry Research Chair and professor in the Department of Electrical and Software Engineering at the University of Calgary. He was previously with the Department of National Defence (DND) of Canada as a defence scientist. He has over 350 journal papers and over 250 refereed conference papers in the areas of signal and image processing, data analytics, information fusion, machine learning, IoT and robotics, and holds more than 20 patents. Dr. Leung is the editor of the Springer book series on “Information Fusion and Data Science”. He is a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada, Canadian Academy of Engineering, IEEE and SPIE.

Session:

• Oct. 25, 1:40 – 2:20 p.m.: My Robot Colleague: YYCRobot Project

Travis Gaede is a Senior Transportation Engineer with the Growth Infrastructure Planning Division of City & Regional Planning at The City of Calgary.  A graduate of the University of Calgary's Faculty of Engineering, Travis has worked in municipal government for twenty-six years in a variety of transportation-related roles.  Travis participates in Urban Robotics Foundation (URF) initiatives as a representative of The City of Calgary, and recently served as a member of the Editorial Board for the URF Municipal Guide to Public-area Mobile Robots (PMRs).

Session:

• Oct. 28, 9:30 – 10:15 a.m.: Public-area Mobile Robots: Are we ready to share the sidewalks with robots?

Amanda Bishop is a Transportation Planner at The City of Calgary, working on projects to support the implementation of sustainable, active, and efficient transportation policies. Amanda is a systems thinker with a background in economic development, smart city dynamics, and environmental planning. She holds an MSc in Geography from the University of Calgary, where she spent time researching pathways to enhance pedestrian safety and accessibility. 

Session:

• Oct. 28, 10:30 – 11:30 a.m.: Future of Mobility

Conrad Kassier is a Senior Mobility Policy Planner at The City of Calgary, working on the intersections of mobility policy, climate resilience and industrial development. He has experience in electrification of public transit in Canada and working on hydrogen economics to support pathways to net zero carbon by 2050. Conrad worked extensively abroad on industrial energy efficiency, low carbon transport and clean tech programs at the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), contributing to diplomatic efforts for the energy transition. He studied political economics at the Universities of Stellenbosch, Wrocław and Vienna and enjoys reading, classical music and mild outdoor activities.

Session:

• Oct. 28, 10:30 – 11:30 a.m.: Future of Mobility

Kam Szabo is a licensed civil engineer in Washington State and Alberta, and certified as a Professional Transportation Operations Engineer (PTOE). With over 20 years of experience, she is an innovative transportation designer and leader. Kam began her career in Kirkland, Washington, and later joined the City of Bellevue. In 2016, she returned to Calgary, where she now leads the Transportation Design team. Kam holds a degree in Geomatic Engineering from the University of Calgary and has extensive experience in traffic design and accessibility standards. Kam’s current role is as the leader of the Transportation Design team at The City of Calgary where she is coming back to the traffic design side of the world, bringing her diverse experience to the new group.

Session:

• Oct. 28, 1 – 2 p.m.: Innovation in public spaces and traffic disruptors

Jen has worked in sustainable transportation for twenty years. As the leader of Community Projects at The City of Calgary, she supports a team reimagining mobility, parks and recreation. In 2022, Jen delivered a Neighbourhood Streets Policy to Calgary city council. The new policy goes beyond traffic calming and aims to renew balance between place and mobility. Jen most enjoys contributing ideas and helping build communities of practice, serving as president of ITE Canada from 2015-2017. Jen has led many complex projects like Flyover Park, LRT and BRT functional plans, and recently served on an expert panel to advise Parks Canada on Sustainable Transportation opportunities within Banff National Park. 

Session:

• Oct. 28, 1 – 2 p.m.: Innovation in public spaces and traffic disruptors

 Zi Wang is the Leader of the Mobility Operation Centre at the City of Calgary. Since joining in 2020 as the Supervisor of the MOC, Zi has leveraged his extensive background in municipal traffic engineering to enhance the city's mobility infrastructure. He holds both a bachelor's and a master's degree from the University of Regina. With over a decade of diverse experience, Zi has expertise in traffic signal design, signal timing, signal construction, expressway lighting, traffic safety, traffic signage design, communications systems, temporary traffic control, pavement markings, right-of-way permits, and Traffic Incident Management.

Session:

• Oct. 28, 2:15 – 3:15 p.m.: Future of Traffic Management

A.J. is co-founder and the Chief Learning Officer of Qubo Consulting Corp., and an Edupreneur with experience in business, education and coaching. After spending a decade as an educator, he now helps organizations prepare for, and adopt, quantum tech. A.J. is also conversationally fluent in Spanish.  

Sessions:

• Oct. 29, 9 – 9:30 a.m. + 1 – 1:30 p.m.: Demystifying the Second Quantum Revolution
• Oct. 29, noon - 12:45 p.m.: Is Quantum Ready for Primetime?
• Oct. 29, all day: Young’s Double Slit Demo

Katanya is co-founder and CEO of Qubo Consulting Corp, and an experimental quantum physicist at the Institute for Quantum Computing, University of Waterloo, Canada. Her main role with IQC is the Science Team Coordinator for Canada’s first quantum satellite mission: Quantum EncrYption and Science Satellite (QEYSSat). Katanya is an excellent public speaker, known for explaining difficult concepts in easy-to-understand language for business and government leaders. 

Sessions:

• Oct. 29, 9:30 - 11 a.m. + 1:30 – 3 p.m.: Quantum Technologies for Municipalities: Understand the potential of quantum tech in City operations 
  
• Oct. 29, noon - 12:45 p.m.: Is Quantum Ready for Primetime?
• Oct. 29, all day: Young’s Double Slit Demo

Dr. Daniel Oblak is an experimental physicist with a deep expertise in implementing quantum communication and quantum cryptography systems as well as quantum scale light-matter interaction. Daniel holds a PhD in Quantum Optics from University of Copenhagen and a Master’s degree in Physics and Mathematics from Aarhus University. He is the Co-Founder and Chief Scientist of Quantized Technologies Inc. (QTi), which has a mission to redefine the way the world communicates by providing solutions that offer a quantum advantage in meeting societal needs. Dr. Oblak is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Calgary, and principal investigator of the Quantum Cloud Lab, which aims to develop components for and demonstrate real-world implementations of quantum networks.

Sessions:

• Oct. 29, 11 - 11:45 a.m.: Quantum communication in Calgary - towards a quantum internet 
• Oct. 29, noon - 12:45 p.m.: Is Quantum Ready for Primetime?

Dr. Adam Bene Watts is a scientist in residence at Quantum City at the University of Calgary. Dr. Bene Watts explores Quantum Computing and Quantum Information Theory. In particular, his research focuses on using ideas from math and computer science to better understand what is and isn't possible in a quantum mechanical universe.

Session:

• Oct. 29, noon - 12:45 p.m.: Is Quantum Ready for Primetime?

Megan Lee is Managing Director of Calgary’s “Quantum City,” with nearly 20 years experience across the full spectrum of research, innovation and commercialization.

She is a recognized expert in conducting technical and business due diligence, start-up creation, strategy and management consulting, investment portfolio management and organization management of a growth stage biotech company, where she led the development of new pharmaceutical products and recorded multiple consecutive years of record turnover and profit. She has an MBA in entrepreneurship and technology commercialization and a PhD in Biochemistry.

Session:

• Oct 29, 3 – 3:45 p.m.: Quantum Tech for Calgary: Driving Innovation and Solutions

Oba Harding is the Manager of Innovation Ecosystems for Southern Alberta with Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan), a regional economic development agency and department of the federal government. He works with companies, industry associations, post-secondary institutions and not-for-profit organizations across all sectors, making strategic investments that strengthen the economy of Western Canada.

Session:

• Oct 29, noon -12:45 p.m:  Is Quantum Ready for Primetime?