Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas - the Rainforest podcast

Shaping the future requires us to "shake things up." Christa Hill and Renee Matsalla are two authentic, badass, superstar ladies doing just that in the innovation ecosystem in Alberta. All too often products are built just because someone asked for it, not necessarily because it was needed. According to Christa and Renee, product management IS the future and brings the customer, the business, and the empowered team together to achieve meaningful, purposeful business goals with impact. This work matters! Curious to learn more? Join Jen as she has a fun and enlightening conversation with Christa and Renee about all things product management! 

P.S. - Christa and Renee, it's time to get the band back together! 

For the transcription of this episode please visit: https://www.rainforestab.ca/yyc-blog/podcast-episode-163-transcription

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta. The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Host: Jennifer Morrison is InceptionU’s learner champion. She has over 11 years of experience as an educator and received her Masters of Educational Leadership from High Tech High Graduate School of Education in San Diego, CA. Jen possesses extensive experience in project-based and experiential learning and design thinking. 

Jen spent many years teaching middle and high school students which provided her with a foundational love of learning and passion for exploration and personal growth. Following her natural curiosity and growth mindset, she honed her leadership skills and dove deep into project based learning during her time at High Tech High.

As the Learning Catalyst and Lead Program Designer with InceptionU, Jen provides valued leadership, guidance, meaningful connections and an engaging learning environment. She is deeply dedicated to each of the learners and their success. As Simon Sinek says in The Infinite Game, “what good is it having a belly if there's no fire in it? Wake up, drink your passion, light a match and get to work.” 

Guests: 

Renee Matsalla is a Co-founder at Tacit Edge Product Leadership where she helps people reach their potential as product leaders. Before this, she was a product leader at Benevity, where she specialized in visioning and launching Benevity’s most innovative products. Renee’s product leadership was instrumental in Benevity’s unicorn $1.1B valuation. Renee has also worked in Berlin and San Francisco where she led the launches of mobile monetization products used by Facebook, Google, and the world’s largest mobile game developers. She now coaches Product Managers to become product leaders in the growing Alberta tech ecosystem.

Christa Hill is a Co-founder of Tacit Edge Product Leadership where she uses her industry expertise to fuel our economy with empowered, innovative, and diverse product leaders that embody the entrepreneurial spirit. She also serves as Vice President of Product YYC where she is at the forefront of creating Product Management curriculum for SAIT and other educational and corporate institutions such as the New York Federal Reserve Bank. To find out more visit TacitEdge.ca.

Christa started her career in the early days of online banking and money transfer services, while also working in various compliance roles in the financial services industry. She then took on a passion project in the not-for-profit sector to revitalize a local community recreation center. Upon her return to tech, she discovered a path from Product Ownership at Getty Images to Product Management at Benevity. At Benevity, now a $1.1B unicorn tech company, her work was instrumental in scaling the platform to onboard and vet over 2 million global not-for-profits and disburse over $2 billion in funds, while elevating the grants application process in collaboration with Microsoft USA. She then led the vision of Benevity’s content API, which is designed to become the engine of Benevity's end-user experience.

Christa returned to FinTech with Morgan Stanley At Work as Vice President, Global Private Markets Product Management. Christa was instrumental in moving money around the globe through purpose-built services that facilitate liquidity events within employee stock plans for private fortune 500 companies and start-ups. Additionally, she used her extensive API experience to create the first-ever public-facing API that scales the administration of a corporation’s lifecycle from private ownership to IPO. This ground-breaking work secured Morgan Stanley’s position as the premier product for Private Markets liquidity activities. Together with her technology partners, they rose from millions to billions of dollars in activity within 12 months.

Now, Christa is most known for coaching early and established Product Managers, helping them deepen their expertise and helping them thrive in their careers. She brings empathy and humor along while tackling the grey areas of the role, with the goal of creating future product leaders for our increasingly digital world.

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out. We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

Show Quotes:

"Perfection is not possible and once I truly accepted that, my whole life completely changed. I just said, I don't care...I'm going to try things." 

"I need autonomy, I need to be myself, I need to practice product there way I believe it should be practiced, and also, it's going to be contagious. Don't hire me if you don't want that. This mindset changed everything for me and the last two years have allowed me to experiment in ways that I never thought were possible to create the life for myself and my daughter that I've always wanted."

"The exclusivity of the product manager role is not going to serve us in the next phase of our ecosystem growth. We have to let it go. What are we going to do to get people into this field so we can all thrive?"

"With the growing demand, we can't afford to not democratize access to education and funding to open up this field to people who are interested and provide them access to the network of people who can help get them these jobs."

"Awareness breeds interest. If we can meet that interest with education, how can we accelerate the competency of product management with where we are? The potential is endless."

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: New Idea Machine

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

 

Join Peter Beaudoin as he discusses with Ken Scheck and Joel Magalnick about their recently launched event platform BLive Music that enables musicians to host virtual shows.

For the transcription of this episode please visit: https://www.rainforestab.ca/yyc-blog/podcast-episode-162-transcription

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta. The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Host: Peter Beaudoin Peter manages strategy and partnerships for an innovative alliance of energy companies committed to reducing environmental impacts through collaborative R&D efforts. Peter worked for more than 20 years in Asia building and investing in a variety of businesses. His most recent role outside of Canada was with the World Wildlife Fund, where he was the Chief Executive Officer of WWF China, based in Beijing. Prior to that, Peter lived in Hong Kong for 15 years working in the technology industry.

Guests: Ken Scheck is the Founder of BLive Music. Inspired by his long-time passion for live music and his experience helping grow a local industrial business from $3M to over $300M in annual revenue, Ken set out on a journey to bring this passion into the everyday lives of as many people as possible. In doing so, BLive supplies a network of hosts that create opportunities for performers while giving fans a new way to connect and build relationships with the artists they love. Where does live music go between concerts? The BLive app—that’s where!

Joel Magalnick’s innate curiosity allows him to ask critical questions and view a challenge from multiple angles. Joel has brought this experience to BLive Music, where he serves as product and marketing lead to bring the joy of live music to audiences, wherever they may be. Live music has certainly brought him joy over the course of his own life — it’s a well-kept secret that he sometimes sings louder than the actual performer.
Joel’s experience includes more than a decade as editor and publisher of a newspaper, and in addition to his work with BLive is a podcast producer and strategic communications advisor. He’s also a professor of user experience design at MacEwan University and sits on the steering committee of Rainforest Edmonton.

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out. We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

Show Quotes:

"So rather than being too picky and too focused on trying to find the performers that you like. We put some trust in a host, just like with a podcast. We might not know all of the guests that are gonna come onto this Rainforest Podcast here, but we know that Peter, Al, you're gonna put together good content. So I'm going to put my trust in you."

"I see fans being able to. Turn the app on anytime and find something that is interesting to them and it's live music it's happening right now. And it's within some form of community that they wanna be involved in through the host, through their location or through the performer that they want to hear."

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: Assembly Coworking Space

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

 

Most traditional businesses don't know how to innovate - they approach it with little to no structure or the right skill, preventing them from leveraging their greatest asset: staff.

For the transcription of this episode please visit: https://www.rainforestab.ca/yyc-blog/podcast-episode-161-transcription

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta. The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Host: Val McCarty is in the business of helping organizations visualize, communicate, and execute strategy in real time. Her studies were acquired at both University of Alberta and Grant MacEwan University, and encompassed Management, Education, and Human Services, with an aim to continue learning. Her previous experience includes the Financial Sector, Fitness Sector, and Early Childhood Education.  When Val is not at work you can find her outside with her grandkids, or looking forward to the next live jam.

Guest: With a Bachelor of Biomedical Science, Shannon Phillips thinks like a scientist to better understand human behaviour and decision making. He’s your go-to for innovation management, organizational change management and organizational behaviour strategic planning, and innovation. He’s also trained in different psychology concepts, such as behavioural psychology, emotional intelligence, and personality psychology. Shannon loves thinking outside the box and challenging others to do so. He’s people-focused and is always trying to understand why people do what they do.

Guest: Tristan Ham has a background in human services, mainly in child protection. He did this both in Australia and in Canada. Throughout this work, Tristan worked with adult learners with frameworks from Crisis intervention to Change management. He later worked in the tech industry with recruitment and for the last few years has been working in program delivery with Startup Edmonton. His main roles with Unbounded Thinking are Business development and program delivery. You can always find this Sci-Fi nerd arguing what is and isn’t canon in the Star Wars universe! 

 

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out. We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

Show Quotes:

"Unbounded Thinking shifts the discussion to HOW businesses are innovating, by providing that structure and the skills needed to innovate effectively. We do this through a human-centered approach to Innovation Management."

Links:

• Unbounded Thinking

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: Assembly Coworking Space

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

 

Learn the origin story of the greatest developer meetup ever created and the nerd who is responsible for it. Tony Grimes shares his obsession with Pixels & Pints.

For the transcription of this episode please visit: https://www.rainforestab.ca/yyc-blog/podcast-episode-160-transcription

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta. The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Host: Al Del Degan I have been involved in software development for more than 25 years. I have started companies, lead companies and worked for companies - doing many different things. I am honored to be considered a leader in Alberta's innovation ecosystem, and I give back as much, and often as I can. When I am not working or podcasting, you will find me pursuing my passions of photography, crypto investing, and wood working along with the occasional round of golf.

Guest: Tony Grimes is a Contract programming instructor for SAIT and InceptionU. Founder and organizer of the Pixels and Pints Meetup group. Lover of space, pinball and making things.

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out. We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

Show Quotes:

"That was the funnest part about running events, is, they do all the work for you. Your job is to create the room, you know the guidelines are not, you know, explicit. We don't have rules of like, this has to be a safe space. You just make it a safe space by having it be a safe space, Right? And that was one of the things that I'm fairly good at, is the talking and the charisma and all of that, so that was a lot of fun."

"We've got a lot of seniors, intermediate and some juniors, because there always is the, the idea of finding a job. That's what networking events are kind of all about. But when we did the online ones, because I was a teacher, it was mostly my students, InceptionU students, it was my SAIT students, which is awesome, it's just not the type of event that Pixels was known for."

Links:

• Pixels & Pints Meetup Group
• Pixels & Pints on Twitter

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: Assembly Coworking Space

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

 

Launchcode's own Alberio Bathory-Frota (CEO & Co-Founder) and Robbie Butchart (CRO & Partner) are friends and business partners who often find themselves asking "How is this an opportunity for me to grow?" Both Alberio and Robbie recognize that curiosity, humility, and trust to create the space for innovation, new ways of thinking, and impactful outcomes. Join us for a fun, insightful, and cheeky conversation about all things business, people, and passion!

For the transcription of this episode please visit: https://www.rainforestab.ca/yyc-blog/podcast-episode-159-transcription

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta. The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Host: Jennifer Morrison is InceptionU’s learner champion. She has over 11 years of experience as an educator and received her Masters of Educational Leadership from High Tech High Graduate School of Education in San Diego, CA. Jen possesses extensive experience in project-based and experiential learning and design thinking. 

Jen spent many years teaching middle and high school students which provided her with a foundational love of learning and passion for exploration and personal growth. Following her natural curiosity and growth mindset, she honed her leadership skills and dove deep into project based learning during her time at High Tech High.

As the Learning Catalyst and Lead Program Designer with InceptionU, Jen provides valued leadership, guidance, meaningful connections and an engaging learning environment. She is deeply dedicated to each of the learners and their success. As Simon Sinek says in The Infinite Game, “what good is it having a belly if there's no fire in it? Wake up, drink your passion, light a match and get to work.” 

Guests: Alberio Bathory-Frota is the Co-Founder and CEO of Launchcode. He is passionate about start-ups and creating products that solve real-world problems. His experience includes running a successful business for over 15 years and being involved in a number of start-ups. He lives each day with a desire for growth and continuous improvement.

 

Robbie Butchart is the Chief Revenue Officer and Partner at Launchcode. An engaging and energetic personality who is passionate about changing client engagement and experience while leaving the world in a better place than he found it.

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out. We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

Show Quotes:

"How can we create a holistic experience for our team/clients and foster opportunities to be better versions of themselves?"

"There is a better and more trusting way to do business. Giving trust first will help move things a lot faster and also help you find the right people to be on your team. Trust is extremely important and while it may be hard to do sometimes, it is essential to the successful growth of your business."

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: Assembly Coworking Space

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

 

Join host Peter Beaudoin as he explores the growing health sector with Chris Bladen, CEO and Co-founder of Zymedyne Therapeutics, a Calgary based company that is developing more effective treatments for chronic pain.

For the transcription of this episode please visit: https://www.rainforestab.ca/yyc-blog/podcast-episode-158-transcription

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta. The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Host: Peter Beaudoin Peter manages strategy and partnerships for an innovative alliance of energy companies committed to reducing environmental impacts through collaborative R&D efforts. Peter worked for more than 20 years in Asia building and investing in a variety of businesses. His most recent role outside of Canada was with the World Wildlife Fund, where he was the Chief Executive Officer of WWF China, based in Beijing. Prior to that, Peter lived in Hong Kong for 15 years working in the technology industry.

Guest: Dr. Chris Bladen received his PhD in Molecular Neuroscience from the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary in 2014. His thesis was based on using Electrophysiology and Molecular Biology to develop drugs and small molecules for Pain and Epilepsy research as well as other clinical purposes. He has a B.Sc. in Freshwater Chemistry and a degree in Environmental management and has extensive experience in both academia and industry. His previous work experience includes several years as an independent environmental consultant for the oil and gas industry in Alberta and several years working in the biopharma industry.  He has developed a world-wide collaborative network in the fields of Electrophysiology, Molecular Biology and Drug design. In addition to being CEO of Zymedyne therapeutics, he is currently an (Online) Lecturer at Macquarie University’s Department of Biomedical Sciences, where he teaches Pharmacology and conducts research into the therapeutic potential of Synthetic and Phyto Cannabinoids.

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out. We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

Show Quotes:

"[Big Pharma] see smaller biopharma companies, such as ourselves as being much more nimble in the R and D space. So they look to partner with multiple small biopharma and their ideas, and then take some of those ideas and they do what they they're good at, which is the latest stage clinical trial planning phases. And of course the FDA approval marketing."

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: Assembly Coworking Space

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

 

How can we be better at being human? Think about it, when was the last time that you made a conscious effort to develop your skills with any of the following: Curiosity, Creativity, Problem Solving, Collaboration, Communication, Character, Citizenship, and Critical Thinking? David Gaudet of The Daily Undoing shares his insights on the value of always learning to learn, embracing the journey, and not allowing competencies that are innate within all of us to become dormant.

For the transcription of this episode please visit: https://www.rainforestab.ca/yyc-blog/podcast-episode-157-transcription

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta. The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Host: Jennifer Morrison is InceptionU’s learner champion. She has over 11 years of experience as an educator and received her Masters of Educational Leadership from High Tech High Graduate School of Education in San Diego, CA. Jen possesses extensive experience in project-based and experiential learning and design thinking. 

Jen spent many years teaching middle and high school students which provided her with a foundational love of learning and passion for exploration and personal growth. Following her natural curiosity and growth mindset, she honed her leadership skills and dove deep into project based learning during her time at High Tech High.

As the Learning Catalyst and Lead Program Designer with InceptionU, Jen provides valued leadership, guidance, meaningful connections and an engaging learning environment. She is deeply dedicated to each of the learners and their success. As Simon Sinek says in The Infinite Game, “what good is it having a belly if there's no fire in it? Wake up, drink your passion, light a match and get to work.” 

Guest: David Gaudet is A self-described “curiositist", David Gaudet is a 20-year postsecondary prof, best-selling textbook author, and business advisor to companies large and small in all things marketing. His new book, "The Daily Undoing: Being Better at Being Human” is a print version of his "micro-podcast", in which he shares knowledge and passion in the field of competency based learning, and applies it to every day living.

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out. We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

Show Quotes:

"This is for people that really want to commit to doing something themselves. The pushback is everywhere for anything innovative, and that is something you have to accept." 

"We don't work on these things. We assume that when we need them, we will be able to flick on the pantry light that everything will be there. This is not the case, these competencies lay dormant until used and exercised. Their impact to community by way of individuals is enormous." 

"I want to leave something behind that leaves the world in a better place than when I got here. If I can rewire the way I view the world internally and somehow manifest those things externally, I think I have left the world better than I found it."

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: Assembly Coworking Space

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

 

Hanan Chebib has worked across corporate events and tech industries, always looking for the next project she could tackle and complete, which she quips as always on the lookout for her next “mechanical, fire breathing Octopus” - a callback to an impossible project she took on. We had an enlightening conversation about the attrition rate of women in the tech-industry, how role-models are significant to stimulate growth, and how mentors play a role in guiding an industry. Hanan now works at Chic Geek, a Calgary-based non-profit building a welcoming, supportive community for women in tech.

For the transcription of this episode please visit: https://www.rainforestab.ca/yyc-blog/podcast-episode-156-transcription

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta. The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Host: Adam Casole-Buchanan is the Director of Partnerships at Briefbid, a free media planner that helps marketers make smart media investments. He writes poetry in his spare time, and he's huge fan of logic puzzles.

Guest: Hanan Chebib has had the honour of working across multiple industries in her career but in every case, she enjoyed being in the heart of figuring out "how" with strong, insightful people. Through her work, Hanan led brave and innovative change by bringing together unique perspectives and expertise. She provided a thoughtful, open, collaborative environment to solve new challenges. Hanan is currently Program Specialist at Chic Geek.

Some of Hanan's most recent achievements include: 
• Artistic Producer for a series of dance films at the Alberta Ballet available online for a digital audiences during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

• As the Head of Innovation at the Alberta Ballet, Hanan led a team of production crew, an architect/designer, a metal fabricator and multiple industry leaders, in the development of a new product that addressed the waste, storage and transport of large-scale set pieces, called the Set Assembly Kit. 

• As a key part of a lean and highly productive team at Beakerhead, Hanan was the Director of Creative Experiences building spectacles of art, science and engineering for the streets of Calgary every September. Over four seasons, she had the pleasure of working with artists, scientists, inventors, and community builders to bring one-of-a-kind experiences to delight and inspire Calgarians.

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out. We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

Show Quotes:

"A lot of the research that we have done shows that 2x more women are leaving tech than men - and that's primarily women in their mid-career." "I recognize how important it is to have people advocating for you, and who want to see you succeed, be part of your professional life" "If we know that women don't see themselves in higher levels of the company - and if we can provide a mentor...that's a huge gain."

"I can imagine all of the steps that are needed and all of, maybe the resources that are needed in order to come to the end point. So whether that's a photography gig, a corporate event, you know, building out a festival. Plopping a fire-breathing mechanical octopus in the middle of Inglewood, you know, four or five days."

"So what I get to do right now within the team is sort of exploring what those programs look like and how do they operate online. And having really great, beautiful discussions with women in tech about the challenges that they're facing and the things that they want to see change as well as, like providing them with some really good services, you know, hoping that they'll stay within tech instead of leaving tech."

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: Assembly Coworking Space

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

 

Kwame Asiedu of Braintoy shares how Artificial Intelligence is going to change the world. It is his goal to make AI in Canada and the world more accessible and easier to implement.

For the transcription of this episode please visit: https://www.rainforestab.ca/yyc-blog/podcast-episode-155-transcription

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta. The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Host: Lindsay Skabar is the co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer at Bōde, Canada’s first online real estate marketplace. Giving customers choice and access are central to her personal and business philosophy. Before her career in tech and real estate, Lindsay served on the Global Business Development team at Axia, which brought high performing, low-cost fibre optic internet to rural Alberta and globally to the USA, France and Singapore. She participates in humanitarian work around the world and in her hometown of Calgary. She continues to be committed to non-profit work in the form of board engagements. Former Chair of Aids Calgary and Chair of the Branch Out Neurological Foundation for many years. Lindsay now sits on the Mount Royal University Foundation Board. She studied business and marketing at Bishop’s University. Lindsay is focused on scaling Bōde across Canada, and eventually, internationally.

Guest: Kwame Asiedu is a data scientist, entrepreneur, educator and machine learning visionary who is passionate about empowering the next generation of AI and ML users. As co-founder and Co-CEO of Calgary’s Braintoy, Asiedu is bringing an accessible and affordable machine learning platform to large, small and medium-sized businesses around the world. With clients in Canada, Ghana, Kuwait, Germany and Bangladesh, Braintoy is Canada’s first low code/no code machine learning solution helping businesses with AI-powered decision support. With a background in data science and architecture with Shaw, Enmax and ATB, Asiedu has helped a variety of industries leverage the power of machine learning and artificial intelligence to maximize business performance. Asiedu is a co-creator and instructor of the Applied AI and ML Bootcamp at SAIT, and has delivered introductory AI and ML workshops to junior school students throughout the Calgary Board of Education.   

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out. We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

Show Quotes:

"So we believe that AI as has been called the next electricity is a general purpose technology that is going to disrupt every industry. And so you cannot scale it by just hiring unicorns or bringing people in who will always solve your problems for you. Everybody has domain knowledge. So the best way to scale it is to empower people to do it."

"We've had people who have taken some of these online courses, even master's degree in data science, and they will still come and join the bootcamp. Why? Because it was not applied. So we focused on applied artificial intelligence. And through that, we created a curriculum that will teach you the principles of machine learning."

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: Assembly Coworking Space

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

 

Ross Lockwood is a fascinating guy.  He spent four months on Mars... well not literally, and has a PHD in Condensed Matter Physics.  Ross believes in focusing on what interests you until you are pretty good at it, then switching to something else.  Ross is proof that all your interests can build upon each other and open doors that you may not have known of before.

For the transcription of this episode please visit: https://www.rainforestab.ca/yyc-blog/podcast-episode-154-transcription

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta. The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Host: Al Del Degan I have been involved in software development for more than 25 years. I have started companies, lead companies and worked for companies - doing many different things. I am honored to be considered a leader in Alberta's innovation ecosystem, and I give back as much, and often as I can. When I am not working or podcasting, you will find me pursuing my passions of photography, crypto investing, and wood working along with the occasional round of golf.

Guest: Ross Lockwood is a problem solver, from quantum to cosmological complexity. As a classically trained physicist his toolbox includes graduate-level mathematical analysis, high-level programming languages, advanced computer aided-design software, precision measurements tools, and the communication skills to share the stories with impact. 

Ross' recent work with KPMG has focused on applying analytics to large scale business problems; procuring and cleaning data, developing machine learning models, and generating visualizations and reports.

His PhD in Condensed Matter Physics was awarded as a result of Ross' research into the light emitting properties of silicon quantum dots. His thesis was based on the characterization of single-electron defects on the quantum dot surface, which played a dominant role in band shifting and luminescence quenching.

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out. We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

Show Quotes:

"I figured I'll take a general science approach and I got to university, I took my first physics course and I said, I'm not going to be a doctor anymore. At least I'm not going to be a medical doctor. And I went on the full steam physics path, starting right after my first year undergraduate."

"so this HI-SEAS simulation is actually like a Mars habitat that's been built out on the mountain side of the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii. And they have been running studies since roughly 2012, um, in conjunction with the University of Hawaii and NASA, who provides funding, to do Mars ground simulations"

"at the end of my physics career, I was like, you know what, I've kind of reached the end of what I consider physics to be. I could go into research and I could narrow my focus even further, but it never felt right to me to confined myself to that box"

Links:

• Ross' blog site: http://spincrisis.com/elementary-my-dear-martian
• Ross' Twitter: https://twitter.com/spincrisis
• Amazon 4WD Raspberry Pi Robot Car Kit: https://amzn.to/3tOWLkB
• Home Assistant - Open Source home automation: https://www.home-assistant.io

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: Assembly Coworking Space

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan