Academic Keynote

Dr. Brian Fleck

Associate Professor
Mechanical Engineering University of Alberta

Brian A. Fleck received a B.Sc. from the University of Alberta, holds a diploma in fluid dynamics from the esteemed Von K´arm´an Institute, an M.Sc. from Laval, and a Ph.D. from Queen's University.

He is currently a professor in the Mechanical Engineering department at the University of Alberta, where he conducts research on topics such as multiphase flow, renewable and nonrenewable energy, turbulence and mixing, and combustion. He has been involved in environmental consulting for the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (AEUB) and British Gas, and helping the Department of National Defense.

Currently, Dr. Fleck is a host of the popular CBC program "Project X," which seeks to present cutting-edge science to the public in an entertaining and sophisticated manner.

Industry Keynote

Mr. Wayne Karpoff

Vice-President, Chief Technology Officer
YottaYotta Inc.

Title of Keynote: "Silicon Prairie - Could Alberta Ever Be A Valley Style Tech Mecca?"

Wayne Karpoff is currently co-founder and CTO of Edmonton based YottaYotta Inc., a dominant player in next generation, geographically-deployed storage and data management technology. YottaYotta's customers and research partners include some of the most demanding data users in the world. YottaYotta is currently a private company having raised over $90 million in equity financing. At YottaYotta, Wayne has filled a wide spectrum of senior management roles.

Wayne is the founding chair of the Alberta ICT Council, an organization that brings together ICT industry organizations from around the province along with government and institutional stakeholders in the growth of the ICT industry. Wayne is board member and past co-chair of the Digital Solutions Alliance, an organization that partners stakeholders with coalitions of Alberta SME's to commercialize technology required to address very large problems, such as scalable healthcare infrastructure. Wayne has chaired several "Connector" events which matches Alberta companies with IP based opportunities in world markets. Wayne also cochairs the Edmonton ICT Cluster. Wayne sits on the board of InfoTech, TEC Edmonton, is a founding board member of the Alberta Chamber of Technologies and is a Regent at Grant MacEwan College. Wayne is on the steering committee for the Banff Venture Forum and served for 6 years on IRC of iCORE, and sits on the advisory boards of several Edmonton companies. He has also served as president of several community boards outside the technology space.

Wayne holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Computing Science from the University of Alberta. Wayne holds several pending and awarded patents.