BCBusiness

Catherine Dahl co-founder and ceo, Beanworks solutions inc., van- couver developer of accounts payable automation software Natalie Dakers founding president and ceo, accel-rx, canada's first health sciences accelerator, based in vancouver; adjunct professor, faculty of pharma- ceutical sciences, UBc Tasha Da Silva founder and co-ceo, infuse i.t. inc., kelowna developer of point-of-sale and business management solutions for shops, restaurants and wineries Lesley Esford president, lifesciences British columbia, non- profit industry association in vancouver; former industrial technology adviser to the national research council's industrial research assistance program (irap); member of kauffman fellows, a silicon valley–based international leadership program Alexandra Fedorova associate professor, department of electrical and computer engineering, UBc; recipient of 2012 alfred p. sloan research fellowship; research focuses on computer performance, usability and energy efficiency Bonnie Foley-Wong founder, pique ventures, vancouver-based impact investment and management firm that allocates to technol- ogy companies; founding investor, pique fund Agnes Garaba head of human resources, sap canada inc., developer of enterprise application software, vancouver Jennifer Gardy assistant professor, school of population and public health, UBc; associate member, department of microbiology and immunology; canada research chair in public health genomics; research interests include genomic march 2018 BCBusiness 33 BcBUsiness.ca march 2018 BCBusiness 33 up, Chan and her team quickly cut costs and pivoted to concentrate on custom- ized products for high-end clients. "That really kick-started our pro"t engine," recalls the Premier's Technoložy Coun- cil member. Declining to comment on criticism that Ottawa skipped a full national secu- rity review of the Hytera takeover, Chan says the new Shenzhen-listed owner will give 205-employee Norsat access to Asian markets and support its research and development. "We believe that over the next few years, there will be a lot of new and exciting products coming out of our R&D department." Chan's eˆorts to change the STEM gender imbalance include mentoring young women who lack the con"dence to pursue their passion. As a female CEO in her industry, she's no stranger to sexism. When she visits South Korea with her purchasing manager, for example, people open doors for him because they assume he's the boss. "There's still the social perception that women do not lead high-tech compa- nies," says Chan, who holds three U.S. patents and was named to the Women's Executive Network (WXN) Hall of Fame in 2015. —N.R. hOW CAn We GeT mORe WOmen inTO sTem? in the past few years, chan says, at least 10 organizations promoting women in stem have approached her. "i'm wondering if there's a unified way of putting all the effort together," she asks. "i'm hoping the government plays a larger role as well." COmPuTeR sCienCe BeThAny eDmunDs Associate dean, computing, British Columbia Institute of Technology Before Bethany Edmunds joined BCIT, she was headed for a career in academic research. Edmunds enjoyed computer programming as a child, and when she attended Rowan University in her native New Jersey to study elementary educa- tion, a female mentor and academic adviser encouraged her to pursue it. Hav- ing earned a BSc in computer science, Edmunds wrote §ight simulators for the Federal Aviation Administration, but she soon decided to do a PhD, specializing in machine learning, at Rutgers University. While working in Rutgers' Laboratory for Real-Life Reinforcement Learning, developing small autonomous vehicles that learned to drive on diˆerent sur- faces, she met her Canadian husband, who persuaded her to move to Vancou- ver in 2008. "Since coming to BCIT, I've come back to my passion of education," says Edmunds, who began as a computer systems and technoložy instructor in 2010 and was named associate dean last year. "I focus a lot on making sure that we can train the talent that's needed." BCIT offers a two-year diploma in machine learning—a rarity in a ¨ield where most training is at the research level, Edmunds says. Machine learning is decision-making based on previous data, she explains, citing Net§ix, which recommends what to watch next by track- ing viewing habits. "It's everywhere now, and so people that are going to be any kind of software developer need to know what's out there," Edmunds says. The BCIT diploma teaches students to use existing machine learning tools at companies such as Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft. Edmunds has worked with Microsoft on its DigiGirlz skills development and mentoring conference and spoken at Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technoložy ( SCWIST) events. With women comprising just 15 to 20 percent of BCIT computer science students in any given term, attracting and keeping them is a challenge, she admits. "And so we want to try and build that mentorship," Edmunds says. "As much as I'm trying to give back, I'm also trying to get people from industry to come in and speak to our stu- dents." —N.R. hOW CAn We GeT mORe WOmen inTO sTem? Bcit is working with the B.c. government to bring computer science into the k–12 education system. it's important for students to get a chance to see if the field is right for them, edmunds says. CARe suPPORT TeChnOLOGy ALexAnDRA GReenhiLL Co-founder and CEO, Careteam and myBestHelper A graduate of Université de Montreal and McGill Universit y, Alexandra B.C.'S MOST WOMEN Continued on page 35

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