Sherry Colbourne, CEO, Spark Centre
Sherry Colbourne is a Canadian entrepreneur with decades of experience in Ontario’s high-tech sector. Her career has taken her to the far corners of the world in pursuit of building strategic business relationships for the companies she has served. As CEO, Sherry guides the direction and growth of Spark Centre and advocates for an international approach to the development of Durham Region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Sherry is a strong believer that entrepreneurism brings diverse cultures and people together and that the opportunity for Durham Region lies in its roots as an innovative and diverse Region.

Justin Gammage, PhD, Industry Liason Specialist, Ontario Tech University
Justin Gammage is the Manager for the Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network Technology Development Site in the Durham Region. He also serves as the Industry Liaison Manager for the Vice President of Research and Innovation at Ontario Tech University. In this role he leads the institution’s automotive and transportation industry outreach and creates industry driven research programs with leading faculty and research labs. Among these labs is the Automotive Centre of Excellence (ACE), Canada’s most sophisticated full scale automotive research facility.

Ali Hirji, Project Manager, AI Hub with Durham College
Ali Hirji is the Project Manager of AI Hub, and lead of the Centre for Cyber Innovation at Durham College. He has over 14 years of experience working on a variety of technology implementations in the government, academic and not for profit sectors. With a specific interest in broadband communications, Ali has held senior roles in projects to enable remote connectivity, implement technical trainings, bolster cyber security frameworks and enhance access to mission critical applications. He has also taken a lead role in securing funding for over 15 related projects and established numerous public private partnerships. Ali is completing his PhD in communications and holds multiple research and teaching positions. He has recently been appointed as the lead of the siberXchange advisory and is working on a taskforce to deploy and scale secure communication protocols for SMBs. Ali is also part of international research groups, including the Borealis Council and CPDRC.

Chris Gillis, Manager of Applied Research Business Development, Durham College [MODERATOR]
Chris has been focused on operational performance, innovation and customer satisfaction for over 25 years in a wide variety of industries and sectors in Canada, the United States, Mexico and the United Kingdom. In his current role as Manager, Applied Research Business Development, he is the college lead for connected and autonomous vehicles. As well, Chris works to connect innovative companies interested in advanced technologies with funding and expertise.

Dan Ruby, Sector Manager, Automotive and Mobility Innovation, OCE
Dan Ruby joined OCE in 2016 as a Business Development Manager. In 2019, Dan joined the AVIN team as the Sector Manager for Automotive and Mobility Innovation. In his current role, Dan works with the six AVIN RDTS sites and helps develop and manage projects on behalf of the AVIN R&D funding streams. Dan’s prior role was Economic Development Manager for the City of Vaughan, responsible for the Innovative Research, Development and Design convergence sector. In this capacity, Dan was responsible for leading the development of the Vaughan International Commercialization Centre (VICC) initiative.