Science and Business Advisory Council Fireside Chat

Amir Alinaghian is a Product Manager at Kijiji - Canada’s largest marketplace empowering millions of Canadians to buy and sell online. In the past, he has worked as a Consultant, an Analyst, and a Project Coordinator for industry leading companies, such as Deloitte, Manulife, iA Financial Group, and TGO Consulting. Over the last five years, Amir has mentored 450+ university students, MBA grads and professionals, and consulted 50+ clients, ranging from start-ups in South America to enterprises in North America. 

Michelle graduated from Science and Business, Unspecialized, in 2019. After graduating, she worked in Healthcare Market Research for 2 years at Ipsos. She worked with Canadian and American pharmaceutical companies, helping them learn about their target market as they made business decisions related to product development, positioning, and marketing. Michelle then moved to Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, where she currently works as a Clinical Trial Coordinator.

Pablo is an alumnus of the UW Science and Business class of 2016. He previously founded startups in the 3D printing and fintech industries. Currently, he is cofounder and Chief Operating Officer at Makeship, a crowdfunding platform that collaborates with content creators to produce limited edition custom products. 

Nicola has spent the past 20 years working in strategy, marketing, product development, advertising and insights functions. She has worked in Canada, UK and the US. Throughout her career she has developed a strong reputation for transformation, change management, talent development and customer centricity. 

As Head of Fintech Corporate Development at RBC, Jonathan is responsible for the identification of Financial Technology  companies that will help accelerate innovation strategies at RBC.  Jonathan is also responsible for the execution of acquisitions and introductions of potential partners and/or investment opportunities to groups within RBC. ​Prior to assuming his current role, Jonathan was Managing Director, Corporate Development where he was responsible for sourcing, evaluating and negotiating corporate merger and acquisition activities and strategic alliances for RBC’s domestic and international business platforms. Before joining RBC, Jonathan was a member of the Corporate Finance Team with Deloitte in Toronto and London, U.K. where he was involved in a broad range of engagements across a variety of industries, with a focus on Financial Institutions. Mr. Shepherd holds  CPA, CA and CBV designations and an undergraduate degree in Science and Business from the University of  Waterloo. 

Joe Han describes himself as a blend of science and business, and a mix of east and west.  He is currently working as Vice President of Quantum Computing at QUDOOR, China’s first ion-trap quantum computing company. He is an Explorer and Enabler with diversified working knowledge in various industries across Canada, US, Hong Kong, and China. Joe earned his Bachelor of Science from University of Waterloo with major in Science and Business (Physics Specialization), and with duo minors in Economics and Computer Science. He helped to organize the 2006 Fusion Conference and was selected as the first group of SciBus Ambassadors. He is passionate about helping anyone who wants to develop their hobby or passion into a real business, and to utilize their science and business skills in their career.