Dr. Renee Chow

Dr. Renée Chow received a B.A.Sc. (with honors) in mechanical and industrial engineering from the University of Toronto in 1997, a M.S. in industrial and systems engineering from the Ohio State University in 2000, and a Ph.D. in mechanical and industrial engineering from the University of Toronto in 2005. She is now a Defence Scientist at Defence R&D Canada – Toronto, where she performs research on requirements analysis, modeling and simulation, human systems integration, and the design of decision support and collaboration tools, as applied to national defence and public security. Dr. Chow is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo.

Company description n:R&D Canada
Defence R&D Canada (DRDC) is an agency of the Department of National Defence responding to the scientific and technological needs of the Canadian Forces. The agency is made up of seven research centres located across Canada with a corporate office in Ottawa. DRDC has an annual budget of $300 million and employs 1,500 people. With a broad scientific program, DRDC actively collaborates with industry, international allies, academia, other government departments and the national security community. DRDC Toronto is Canada's centre of excellence for human effectiveness science and technology in the defence and national security environment. Using a systems-based approach, the centre covers all aspects of human performance and effectiveness, including individual and team performance, human-technology interaction and the influence of culture on operational effectiveness.  DRDC Toronto also supports the operational needs of the CF through research, advice, test and evaluation, and training in the undersea and aerospace environments.

Andrew MacDonald

Andrew Macdonald is a native of Nova Scotia and a graduate of St. Mary’s University and Dalhousie University. He received his Bachelor’s of Engineering from Dalhousie in 2003. Since then Andrew has been employed at the University Health Network, which includes Toronto General, Princess Margaret and Toronto Western Hospitals.

Based out of the Nursing Information Systems department, Andrew’s role includes projects to improve patient flow, staff workflow and the overall use of hospital resources. He makes use of many industrial engineering concepts, from time-motion studies, to process improvement methodologies such as Lean.

Outside of work, Andrew enjoys travelling, running and mountain biking.

Company Description: University Health Network
When thinking of engineering in the context of healthcare, the achievements of high tech medical devices and implants usually come to mind. Another growing area in healthcare for engineers, particularly industrial engineers, is the improvement of the delivery of care itself.

Industrial engineers in healthcare, sometimes known as management engineers, offer a broad range of skills to improve the complex processes involved in providing patient care.

University Health Network (UHN), one of Canada's largest teaching hospitals, has added a growing number of engineers to workforce in recent years. The network covers three sites, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto Western Hospital and Princess Margaret Hospital.

UHN has over 10,000 employees and has been named one of Canada’s top 100 employers for the past five years and one of the top 50 employers in the GTA for the past two.

University Health Network has an operating budget of more than $850 million with primary funding from the Ontario Ministry of Health. Other funding sources include patient services, grants and donations from individuals and corporations.

Ashley Lawrence

Ashley is the Business Intelligence Manager at eBay Canada. He identifies business trends, develops insights, and creates actionable solutions to grow trade on eBay. Prior to eBay, Ashley was an associate with one of Canada’s largest private equity firms, EdgeStone Capital Partners, investing in technology companies.  Ashley also worked for MMV Financial as an associate in venture debt lending. Ashley holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Prior to Kellogg, Ashley was a consultant with IBM Global Services in their Security and Emerging Technologies Practice.  During his PEY term at IBM as a market analyst, he developed pricing models and strategies. Ashley holds a B.A.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Toronto and has passed all levels of Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program. Ashley is an avid golfer, marathoner, and is on the organizing committee of the 2008 Art Gallery of Ontario Massive Party.

Company Description: eBay
Founded in 1995, eBay Inc. connects hundreds of millions of people around the world every day, empowering them to explore new opportunities and innovate together. eBay Inc. does this by providing the Internet platforms of choice for global commerce, payments and communications. Since its inception, eBay Inc. has expanded to include some of the strongest brands in the world, including eBay, PayPal, Skype, Shopping.com, and others.

Barry Levine, P.Eng

Barry Levine is a Principal of RSM Richter Consulting.  He has over 23 years of experience as a consultant working with a variety of manufacturing and distribution organizations.  He has extensive experience in business strategy and planning, feasibility studies, operational reviews, process improvement, productivity and cost reduction, labour costing, plant location and economic analyses, performance measurement, business requirements definition, software selection and project management.

Company Description: RSM Richter
Entrepreneurs have been the focus of our firm for more than eight decades. Founded in 1926, we have built a strong reputation for innovation, growing and evolving with the realities of a competitive business world. We're proud to say that our clients have done the same.

Today, RSM Richter is one of the largest independent accounting, business advisory and consulting firms in Canada. Our ability to help owner-managed organizations anticipate and meet complex challenges is why we are still the firm that means business for entrepreneurs.

Dr. Karen Caputo

Karen is a physician who is passionate about improving the quality and safety of patient care through the creative use of technology.  During Toronto’s SARS outbreak in 2004, she created an innovative risk management framework that was incorporated into the government’s Independent SARS Commission’s recommendations to reduce the spread of future infectious disease outbreaks.  She also collaborated with researchers at Harvard University to develop an implementation strategy for medication bar-coding technology within hospitals to reduce medication errors. Furthermore, Karen took a lead role in an initiative to integrate information systems and electronic patient records between hospitals in Canada.

 Karen is currently specializing in Anesthesiology at the University of Toronto (U of T). Prior to medical school, she received a BASc in Industrial Engineering and Systems Management from U of T, where she was awarded the Wilson Medal for highest standing in her class.  While studying engineering, Karen was elected into student government annually, culminating as President of U of T’s Engineering Society. In 2005, Karen was selected as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women.