Collisions YYC

After a series of good old-fashioned chats with a few government officials about the issues in our healthcare system, we were still missing a key side of the conversation. The perspective of someone who lives and breathes health care. Enter Dr. Bob Bray. Having spent his 30+ year career in our province, Dr. Bray has worked through the ups-and-downs of Alberta’s healthcare system. So, who better to...

Levvel is a Calgary-based organization that offers a wide range of expertise and services, including staffing, change management consulting, and software QA testing. For Co-Founder, President, and CEO Brian Milloy, it’s their software QA testing offering that truly sets them apart. Why? It's based on a unique, exclusive partnership that provides education, employment, and support to women in Rwand...

From finding a job to securing a working visa and permanent residency, moving to Canada as a foreign innovator isn’t as easy as just packing your bags and booking a ticket. Enter Marc Pavlopolous, Founder & Founder of Path to Canada and Syndesus. Based on his own experiences moving from Silicon Valley to Canada and back again, Marc helps streamline the immigration process for tech workers in t...

Alberta Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) began in 1995 to provide women entrepreneurs with capital to start their business. Over time, AWE’s empowerment has resulted in a boom of female entrepreneurship in many industries, age groups, and diversities. Now in its 25th year, CEO Marcela Mandeville and AWE are integrating our digital transformation into their programs and workshops so that women entrepreneu...

Last November, after what can only be described as a challenging year for education, Mishek Mwaba became the new President & CEO at Bow Valley College. So, how did he settle into his new role? He hit the ground running and started laying the groundwork for the vision – one that will transform the student experience and our city altogether. Join me as Mischeck shares his plans for Bow Valley Co...

While many industries are quickly adapting and accepting AI and machine learning as the way of the future, others are stuck at a standstill. One that falls into the latter category is the construction sector. Luckily, as President & CEO of Williams Engineering Canada, Naseem is speeding things up by adapting emerging technologies and integrating AI and machine learning into the way things get...

From the doors of everyday Calgarians to the halls of Parliament Hill, Kent is a strong advocate for our city and not one to keep his opinions to himself. So, when asked about the future of our province in a fast-changing world, Ken knows we need to adapt like true Albertans and start doing things differently – even going as far as mentioning a taboo eight-letter word. Join me as Kent talks about...

AlliedVP is one of Canada’s newest angel investor groups and the brainchild of Matthew Wilson. In 2013, Matthew moved to Calgary seeking to get involved in our start-ups ecosystem and soon discovered angel investing. However, our start-up comunity was young with few investment opportunities, so Matthew looked to more established markets in Canada and the US. Nearly eight years later, he’s bringing...

Collisions YYC began with an idea to start the conversation on Calgary’s digital and economic transformation and get our industry leaders, innovators, shakers, and start-ups on the same page. 16 months later,  we’ve run the gamut and covered a wide range of topics that affect Calgarians and our way forward. To celebrate our 100th episode, who better to talk to than the man who is, in a way, Calgar...

As innovators continue to tap into its unlimited potential, AI and automated machine learning is transforming the ways industries operate. Take Dr. Devon Livingstone, Founder & CMO of ENTiD. He wanted to determine whether automated machine learning could build an algorithm capable of accurately diagnosing otologic disease. The result – a solution that helps physicians better diagnose ear, nose...

Throughout his 25 year+ plus career in education, Tim has pushed student-centeredness and the importance of the undergraduate experience. So, when his phone rang with an opportunity to be President and Vice-Chancellor at Mount Royal University, he jumped at the chance to join an institution that championed a student-centric vision. Then, just after his first year, COVID arrived and took students o...

Do you remember the Orange Wave that took many, particularly Conservative leaders in Alberta, by surprise back in 2015? Well, it also came as a shock to NDP nominee David Shepherd when he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta to represent the electoral district of Edmonton-Centre. That same year, Albertans faced another drastic change, not with our leadership but in our economy. As an...

When he was appointed as Health Minister of Alberta 2019, Tyler had many long-term plans for our healthcare system. But then, COVID-19 arrived, forcing Tyler to set those plans aside and make crucial decisions that impacted both the operations and budget of Alberta’s most expensive line item in the face of a global pandemic. While adapting and preparing for the future is crucial, Tyler's biggest g...

When he was studying Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo, Michael spent his time bouncing back and forth between Silicon Valley. As he got closer to graduating, he knew he wanted to innovate rather than land a cushy tech gig. All he needed was that big idea. Then, on a coast-to-coast road trip back to campus, that idea came to him and his co-founder – Vidyard, an online video...

Most of us have the instinct to complain when we are deafened by noise pollution. For Norm and his co-founder, they had an instinct to innovate. So, they took an idea that stemmed from Harley Davidsons disturbing the peace and quiet in Naramata and turned it into Zerosound – the most scalable active noise control technology on the planet that can reduce noise by up to 92%. Join me as Norm takes us...

We’ve all had a big idea only to have no clue how to make it happen. So, what was Adam’s big idea? To use his tech background to bridge the gap between a big idea and a successful execution. Since then, as the Head of Technology for Aleta, Adam has provided guidance and development for start-up founders in Western Canada and North America who have a great idea but a lack of tech-savviness. Join me...

Kari got her start in marketing and business development right here in Calgary, working with a local architecture firm before entering the oil and gas sector. Once she grew weary of big business politics, Kari started her consultancy to help Calgarian tech entrepreneurs get their ideas off the ground, a venture that took her to conferences around North America. That’s when an AI start-up from New...

AI has come a long way in recent years, but it still carries a stigma. For most people, AI feels like an inevitable replacement that keeps them on their toes. But according to Jil, AI is quite the opposite. Instead, it’s a powerful tool we can use to enhance our jobs, elevate our potential, benefit our businesses, and allow us to focus on the work we want to do. Join me as Jil sets our minds at ea...

In 2009, Megan opened espy Experience to transform the retail experience from sifting through multiple racks of clothes to having something found just for you. Since then, Megan and her team have created strong relationships with everyone that walks through their doors and helped each re-imagine themselves. So, when the world went into lockdown, how did Megan keep her in-person experience alive? B...

Another buzzword that’s been making the rounds is FinTech; a term that refers to innovations in the financial and technology crossover space that disrupt traditional financial methods and services. As the President & CEO of Alberta Central, an organization that serves Alberta credit unions, Ian has his finger on the innovation pulse to ensure that credit unions and their members always have th...

Chris is a born-and-bred Calgarian and the CRO of Jolera, a multinational technology hybrid aggregate service provider (HASP) focused on delivering IT solutions for its customers and channel partners. Now, while that sounds like an interesting topic, Chris joins me for a different kind of conversation. Before we went into lockdown, Chris’s work took him to all kinds of international tech hubs, whi...

If you live in Calgary, you’ve more than likely seen Justin hanging around town. Not in person, obviously, but on ads for Justin Havre & Associates of RE/MAX First, one of the top and most trusted residential real estate groups in Calgary. For over 15 years, Justin has lived and breathed residential real estate in Calgary. So, naturally, I was excited to meet the guy who is plastered all over...

As one of the founders of SkipTheDishes and the co-founder and CMO of Neo Financial, a new digital platform that gives Canadians a more rewarding spending and saving experience, Jeff can teach us a lot about start-ups, innovation and technology. But as a new Calgarian, he brings a fresh perspective on what we can do to make ourselves synonymous with new technology and to create more opportunities...

For nearly 20 years, Billy worked as a Chemical Engineer using a lot of technologies that originated from the 60s and 70s. Many of them improved over time, but none were innovative game-changers that kept up with the times. So, in 2015, Billy decided to shake things up, quite literally. He founded Exergy Solutions Inc., a disruptive technology-focused consultancy that offers fit-for-purpose lab-sc...

As the conversation on racism and discrimination continues around the world, I know as both a leader and as a human that it’s time for a long-overdue change. That is why I’m honoured to be joined by Eve Akinyi Aboka-Griess. As the Founder of Capability Career Group, Eve reaches out and helps organizations in Calgary identify discrimination and racism that exists in their ranks and helps them under...