Jeremy is a Canadian aerospace engineer and entrepreneur driven by an intense curiosity and duty toward people, systems, and their problems. Over the last 10 years, he has led teams of all sizes to redefine aerial robotics and regional air mobility, resulting most notably in the development and entry to service of several highly automated FAR 23/103/107 aircraft, the production of custom payloads for drone-based LiDAR mapping and aerial spraying, the first automated gate-to-gate flight in Canada, the first drone flight in Canada to use a 5G link, $64M in B2B and B2G revenue and LOIs, and ~70% of product development costs subsidized through grant and tax strategy.
Born and raised in Scarborough, Jeremy’s foray into aerospace started in high school, working as a research assistant on vision-based aircraft collision avoidance at York University. In university, Jeremy quickly progressed through technical and leadership roles at the University of Toronto Aerospace Team, where he built, flew, and published research on award-winning drones, rockets, and satellites. Jeremy ended his time there as Executive Director, having doubled annual sponsorships to $19M. Jeremy worked briefly at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) before serving three years as CTO at The Sky Guys, Canada’s top commercial drone operator, where he founded a self-sufficient engineering division developing NATO Class I drones for industrial and military SOF clients while scaling operations across North America.
Currently, Jeremy is the co-founder and COO of Ribbit, an airline that builds and operates self-flying airplanes to improve transportation in rural, coastal, and remote regions. Ribbit is backed by venture capital and the Government of Canada, credited with various firsts, and works with e-commerce, humanitarian, and defence clients.
Jeremy supports the broader community through his service to universities (e.g. U of T, UW, RMC), colleges (e.g. Centennial, George Brown), associations (e.g. AIAA, CASI, RTCA), government (e.g. Transport Canada, RCAF Aerospace Warfare Centre), and events (e.g. NASA Space Apps Challenge). Since 2023, he has served as an adjunct professor of systems design engineering at the University of Waterloo. Jeremy is also a sought-after speaker and subject-matter expert on technology, startups, policy, and leadership in aerospace and defence.
Jeremy holds a BASc in Engineering Science (Toronto) and a PhD in Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering (Waterloo), where he researched exact, approximate, and machine learning approaches for non-ideal computational fluid dynamics. Outside of work, he plays piano, reads WWII history, and enjoys learning about different cultures through food and language with his wife. Jeremy believes that anyone can lead, everyone must lead no matter their title or position, and the best leaders do so by example, expertise, and empathy.
Last Update: 2024-10-14
