BCBusiness

10 BCBusiness march 2018 portrait: adam BlasBerg I f you did a double-take at this month's cover, you're not alone. That isn't a woman embracing scientist Suzanne Gildert. Some readers (ahem!) may recognize Harmony, seated on the left; her maker, U.S.-based Realbotix LLC, bills her as the world's ‚rst AI sex robot. Gildert's brand-new business, Vancouver- headquartered Sanctuary AI, plans to build equally lifelike humanoids. But as she and her team develop what they call arti‚cial general intelligence to inhabit those bodies, they're testing it with the most convincingly human- looking machines now on the market—which happen to come from the adult industry. As Gildert explained to us, Sanctuary won't put Harmony to work in the sex trade. Instead, the physics PhD said, it sees its role as giving robots like her new options in life. That's a touching story, even more so against the backdrop of the #MeToo move- ment. Women are rising up against sexual abuse, harassment and just plain sexism— plagues the world was supposed to have shaken by now. My 16-year-old daugh- ter has already dealt with unwanted attention from grown men sitting near her on the bus and walking by her on the street. She also intends to pursue a career in science. I know she has the brains and the con‚dence to make it happen, but I worry that she faces a tougher road than men with the same dream. The all-female expert panel who put forward the names for our fourth annual B.C.'s Most In•uential Women feature share my concern. This year we had planned to cel- ebrate women in technolo–y, but on the suggestion of panellist Gerri Sinclair, we broadened our reach to cover all of the STEM disciplines: sci- ence, tech, engineering and math. As you'll see starting on page 28, B.C. has a wealth and diversity of female talent in these ‚elds, from entrepreneurs to academic researchers. Thank you to our panel for assembling such an impressive list. Looking at the roster, you wouldn't think that women are still vastly underrepresented in STEM. That's the reality, though, and it's up to all of us to move things in the other direc- tion. "I don't see it as a woman problem; I see it as a people problem," panellist Elizabeth Croft said. "It's a 100-percent societal oppor- tunity, and we need 100 percent of society." With that in mind, Suzanne Gildert and the other exceptional women you're about to meet show just how much is possible. Besides motivating girls like my daughter, I hope their stories will help push men and women to rewrite the rules. Nick Rockel, Editor-in-Chief bcb@canadawide.com / @bCbusiness editor's desk Our fifth annual 30 Under 30 list brings together the best young business minds in B.C. IN APRIL Women's Work C O N T R I B U T O R S Prince George photographer kayla Hughes chose a cold day to meet University of Northern British Columbia MBA director Cheryl Wallace ("Charting a New Course," p.49) at the school's main campus. "It's beautiful up there, which is why I took her to seven different locations," says Hughes, who has run Kreative Eye Studios since 2012. "It was, like, –15 out, but she was willing to go wherever I thought the shot needed." From the U.K., writer and editor Fiona Morrow has lived in Vancouver for 14 years and co-edits the Time Out guidebook to the city. Her adopted home has changed a great deal since she arrived, and not all for the good, she says. Visiting Roundhouse Radio (p.15), Morrow was impressed by CEO Don Shafer's drive to create a better community. "Here is someone trying to practise what he preaches," she observes. "Props to him for that."

• Cover