32 BCBusiness march 2018 adam BlasBerg
TeLeCOmmuniCATiOns
Amiee ChAn
President and CEO,
Norsat International
Amiee Chan saved Norsat Interna-
tional Inc. from ruin—and built it into a
prime takeover target. Last summer the
Richmond-based maker of satellite
products for corporate, military and
broadcasting clients was acquired by
Hytera Communications Co. Ltd., a
Chinese radio systems manufacturer.
The $70.6-million deal saw Hytera pay
US$11.50 per share for Norsat stock, an 86-
percent premium over the market price.
An immigrant from Hong Kong,
Chan began studying electronics in high
school after her parents told her she
would only succeed by taking a diˆerent
path than others. She earned an electri-
cal engineering degree from
UBC, where
her male classmates didn't regard her
as a rival, she says, so being one of the
few women wasn't a problem. "I always
kind of saw myself as one of the guys,"
recalls the keen hockey player, who
laughs easily. "All my mentors have
been male."
Chan, who went on to earn a PhD
in satellite communications at
UBC and
an
MBA from SFU, "rst joined Norsat in
1992, becoming VP of operations and
engineering. In 2006, with the com-
pany bleeding money thanks to its
failed pursuit of high-volume business,
the board promoted her to
CEO. It was
the right call: as credit markets dried
Norma Biln
co-founder and ceo,
augurex life sciences corp.,
vancouver biotechnol-
ogy company developing
biomarker blood tests to
help patients achieve better
disease outcomes; director,
new ventures Bc
Judy Bishop
managing partner, innovex
Bc, catalyst initiative of
the Bc innovation council
that seeks to capitalize
on business opportunities by
matching top talent
with innovation; former
executive in residence,
accelerate okanagan
tech incubator
Lara Boyd
professor, department of
physical therapy, and
director, Brain Behaviour
laboratory,
UBc; canada
research chair in
neurobiology of motor
learning; researches
therapies that improve brain
activity after a stroke
Jordan
Brighton and
Lee Brighton
co-founders (ceo and
chief strategy officer),
virtro entertainment inc.,
virtual, augmented and
mixed reality gaming studio
in vancouver
Nat Cartwright
co-founder and coo,
finn.ai, vancouver developer
of a digital personal financial
management assistant for
the banking sector
Karen Cheung
professor, department
of electrical and com-
puter engineering,
UBc;
researches biomedical
and emerging micro- and
nano-technologies
Darlene Higbee
Clarkin
founder and ceo, Wholelife
healthtech inc., health
platform whose offerings
include online nutrition
business myWholelife.ca;
based in vancouver
SATELLITE RESCUE
Promoted to head of
Norsat in 2006, Amiee
Chan promptly turned the
company around
along with our
panellists and pro-
file subjects, these
women have made
vital contributions
to science, technol-
ogy, engineering
and math in B.c.
STEM
STARS
