Interviews

David Shin (BA '00)

As a Banker, David most recently worked for TD Bank as their Asia Head of Global Equity Derivatives and Repo Sales. David was the key crypto and blockchain expert at TD, working with senior management to develop the bank’s strategy on digital assets. David also wrote the draft response to the Canadian Regulators on behalf of TD Bank as to how crypto currencies should be regulated in Canada.

After leaving the banking industry in 2019, David joined Bitcoin.com as the Head of their exchange. In early 2020, David helped a US based cyber security company founded by Max Kelly, set up an Asian entity in Singapore while developing their business across the region. More recently, David joined the Tezos Foundation as their Head of Asia; growing the ecosystem adoption for both developers and users.

David is a go to guy for a lot of the financial institutions that seek advice and consultation on crypto and blockchain related projects. He is considered to be an early adopter of digital currencies which has led him to appear on regional and global media outlets like CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg, NY Times, Swiss TV and the Economist.

Upkar Arora (BA '85, MAcc '85)

Upkar Arora is the CEO of Rally Assets Inc. the leading impact advisory and investment firm in Canada which works with family offices, foundations, and high net worth individuals to invest their capital to generate a financial return and positive social or environmental benefit. After graduating from University of Waterloo and getting his Chartered Accounting designation with KPMG he has worked for some of Canada’s most successful entrepreneurs including Paul Reichmann, Peter Munk, and Gerry Schwartz, buying, building, financing, and operating  businesses in Canada, the US,  Mexico and Europe. For the last eighteen years Upkar has run a boutique advisory firm that specialized in strategy, operations, M&A and finance.

Upkar has served on several Boards including VanCity Community Investment Bank, Metrolinx, Institute for Canadian Citizenship, Why Not Theatre, and Inner Analytics.

Upkar has been recognized as a Fellow, the accounting profession’s highest mark of distinction, holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors and is a BMW Foundation Global Responsible Leader. He has also received an Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award from the University of Waterloo.

Asif Khan (BA ’97)

Asif Khan is the founder of the Location Based Marketing Association, a global non-profit organization that helps businesses using location-based data navigate the evolving and complex ecosystem of geo-spatial opportunity.  He’s also the founder and CEO of GroundLevel Insights, an artificial intelligence startup that helps businesses and governments turn geolocation data into strategic decisions. In 2020 GroundLevel Insights created CANATRACE, a service that securely collects contact tracing information from employees or patrons during the COVID-19 pandemic. The app is completely free and bilingual.

Jim Estill (BASc ’80)

Jim is an esteemed entrepreneur, a successful investor, and the CEO of both Danby and ShipperBee. His achievements in the business world earned him the title of EY Entrepreneur Of The Year for Ontario in 2019. For his efforts resettling Syrian refugees in his home city of Guelph, Ontario, he was named to both the Order of Ontario and the Order of Canada.

Dr. Rohit Ramchandani (BSc ’04)

Dr. Ramchandani is the Founder & CEO at Antara Global Health Advisors, a global consultancy that provides technical expertise & evidence-based public health & management advise to public and private organizations around the world. He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the School of Public Health & Health Systems at the University of Waterloo, where he teaches Global Health Innovation, and was recently made a Fellow of the Balsillie School of International Affairs. As Public Health Advisor & Principal Investigator at ColaLife, he has worked around the world to help curb epidemics of diarrheal disease, the second leading cause of death in children under 5 globally. He sits on the Board of Directors of the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada, working on conservation, sustainable development and awareness initiatives at the intersections of animals, people and the environment. Dr. Ramchandani is also co-Chair of the University of Waterloo’s Toronto Alumni Chapter, out largest global alumni chapter, with over 50,000 alumni.

In addition to his BSc in Health Studies & Gerontology from the University of Waterloo, he holds a Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a Masters of Public Health (MPH) in Global Health & Epidemiology from Boston University. In relation to the COVID-19 response, and in collaboration with stakeholders like the World Health Organization, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Novartis and others, Dr. Ramchandani is currently leading a study and advising an international consortium of donors, on the R&D systems in place for the development of global health products. This includes a review of the R&D processes around diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines for poverty-related and neglected diseases, including COVID-19. His team is also in the process of developing a platform for tracking the unprecedented innovation arising from the current pandemic.