Paul Salvini is Chief Executive Officer of the Accelerator Centre, a world-renowned not-for-profit facility dedicated to developing and strengthening technology-based businesses. He holds appointments as Associate Vice President of Research Commercialization at the University of Waterloo and Sessional Lecturer at the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business in the Faculty of Engineering.
Paul is an active member of the community and volunteers with a number of not-for-profit corporations including The Centre In The Square theatre (Board Chair), Barnraisers’ Council (Chair, Social Impact Investing), THEMUSEUM (Director), and the Grand River Conservation Authority (Director). He is the past president of the University of Waterloo Alumni Council, past chair of the Network Centre of Excellence in Graphics and New Media (NCE-GRAND), past chair of the SIGGRAPH Business Symposium, and a past founding director of the Doolittle Institute.
Paul has over 20 years of executive leadership experience and proven success in inspiring teams and growing highly profitable, innovative, world class companies. Prior to joining the Accelerator Centre, Paul held CTO positions at Christie Digital and at SideFX Software, where he remains a part owner. At SideFX, he led a three-time Academy Award winning team of mathematicians and software developers in the development of Houdini: an industry-standard 3D animation and visual effects software used to create effects in thousands of Hollywood films including 19 of the past 20 films to receive the Oscar for Visual Effects. In 2018, SideFX was recognized with both an Oscar and an Emmy for its contributions to filmmaking.
Paul holds a BMath in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo, MASc and PhD degrees in engineering from the University of Toronto, and an MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. His research interests are in the areas of computer simulation and visualization.
In 2007, Paul was named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40™, a national award that honuors individuals for outstanding achievements in innovation, leadership, vision, and community involvement. Paul is a member of the Canadian Ski Patrol and actively volunteers in that capacity at the Chicopee Ski and Summer Resort. He is also a member of the Canadian Ski Instructors’ Alliance and the Canadian Ski Coaches Federation. He lives in Kitchener with his wife and two children.