34th Annual ASTech Awards Winners 2023
Award: Aerospace Innovation
Winner: Dr. Yang Gao, University of Calgary
Presenter: Roger Haessel, Advisor – RPAS Strategy, APEX Alberta (Regional Innovation Network of Medicine Hat)
Initiative: Innovation Brings High-Precision Satellite Navigation to People and Applications
Award: Hydrogen and Alternative Energies
Winner:Exro Technologies Inc.
Presenter:Chris McLeod, Vice President, Global Marketing & Communications, Edmonton Global
Initiative: Power Electronics Experts: Exro’s innovations in the transportation and energy sectors
Award: Construction / Smart Cities / Transportation
Winner: Levven Electronics(James Keirstead, President)
Presenter: Alicia Cafferata-Arnett, Industrial Applied Research Specialist, Red Deer Polytechnic; co-lead CARIN (Central Alberta Regional Innovation Network)
Initiative: Whole Home Automation System that Saves Time and Materials for Builders.
Award: Community Initiatives
Winner: NeurAlbertaTech Neurotechnologies Ltd. (Keerat Sandhu, Director, Business Development)
Presenter: Crys Vanier – Executive Director, Post-Secondary Investments & Emerging Technology, Alberta Innovates
Initiative: NeurAlbertaTech presents natHACKS: A Hackathon Like No Other
Award: Medical / Healthcare / Pharmaceuticals
Winner: Dr. Elise Fear, Professor, Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Calgary; Co-Founder, Wave View Imaging
Presenter: Jesse Monck, Director – Alberta Blue Cross
In photo: Dr. Elise Fear’s colleague accepted the award on her behalf.
Initiative: Imaging Technologies to Improve Breast Cancer Detection
Award: Agriculture / Agrifood Innovation
Winner: Livestock Gentec (Graham Plastow, CEO; John Basarab, Head of Beef Operations)
Presenter: Lorna Baird – Manager, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Olds College of Agriculture & Technology, and co-lead Central Alberta Regional Innovation Network – CARIN
Initiative: Developing and Driving Adoption of Transformative Genomic Technologies for Cattle
Award: Environment / Water / Air Innovation
Winner: Excir (Hiwa Salimi,CTO; Loghman Moradi, CIO; Pat Derkacz, Eng Manager, Aaron Logan, COO)
Presenter: Jeffrey Priest, Professor,Schulich School of Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Calgary
Initiative: Critical Minerals Recovered from Waste with Ultra Low Environmental Impact
Award: Environmental Applications in Energy
Winner: Kathairos Solutions (Dick Brown, CEO)
Presenter: Mal Carroll, Manager of Research and Development, Syncrude Canada Ltd (Operated by Suncor)
Award: Energy / Cleantech Innovation
Winner: Applied Quantum Materials Inc. (Jonathan Veinot, Chief Technical Officer)
Presenter: Justin Riemer, CEO – Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA)
In photo: Award accepted by Dr. David C. Bressler, Associate Dean, University of Alberta
Initiative: Silicon Nanomaterials: Small particles making a big impact
Award: Sustainability Solutions / Approaches
Winner: Reimagine Architects (Vivian Manasc, Executive Principal)
Presenter: Peter Fenwick, Director, Mount Royal University – Catalyst Growth Program
Initiative: Reimagining the Built Environment
Award: Digital (General)
Winner: SMART Lab, Dr. Rafiq Ahmad, Associate Professor, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta
Presenter: Rainer Iraschko, Principal Technology Architect, TELUS
Initiative: Smart and Sustainable Systems Empowering Industries and Society
Award: AI/ML Advancement
Winner: Hadis Karimipour, Associate Professor, Dept. of Electrical and Software Engineering, University of Calgary
Presenter: Rollie Dykstra, Executive Vice President, Impact – Alberta Innovates
Initiative: Secure and Resilient Cyber-Physical Systems
Award: AI/ML Application
Winner: Willowglen Systems (Wayne Karpoff, President); Suncor (Gordon Meyer, Manager – Automation); NTwist (Chowdary Meenavilli, CEO)
Presenter: Rollie Dykstra, Executive Vice President, Impact – Alberta Innovates
Initiative: SentientQ: Empowering Pipeline Optimization through AI-Driven Decision Support
Award: Social Innovation/Educational Technologies
Winner: Robogarden Inc. (Mohamed Elhabiby, President)
Presenter: Dr. Steve Larter – Associate Vice President (Research & Innovation), University of Calgary
Initiative: Democratization of Digital Skills Training through AI-Powered Learning Platform
Award: Excellence in Furthering Inclusive Communities
Winner: Technology North Corporation (Ling Huang, CEO)
Presenter: Presenter: Dr. Lisa Carter, Faculty of Science and Technology – Athabasca University
Initiative: Innovation in Inclusion by TN Digital Services
Award: Indigenous-led Entrepreneurship and Contribution to Knowledge
Winner: Chief Calvin Bruneau – Papaschase First Nation (PFN)
Presenter: Tim Carwell – President, The CommAlert Group and Past-ASTech Award Winner
Initiative: Enhancing the Nation’s ability to apply land stewardship initiatives through advanced technical products and services
Award: Women in Innovation (Lifetime Contribution to the Ecosystem)
Winner: Marlene Huerta, Senior Business Advisor – Alberta Innovates
Presenter: Presenter: Amber Hall – Alberta Women Entrepreneurs
Initiative: Decades of Stewarding Innovation, Inventorship and Entrepreneurship in Alberta
Women in Innovation (Research)
Winner: Kathryn Birnie, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Anesthesiology,
Perioperative and Pain Medicine, University of Calgary
Presenter: Presenter: Amber Hall – Alberta Women Entrepreneurs
Initiative: The new Pediatric Pain Management national health standard
Award: Change Makers (Company)
Winner: Dr. Phone Fix (Piyush Sawhney, Founder, CEO )
Presenter: David James – Deputy Minister of Technology and Innovation – Government of Alberta
In photo: Accepting on his behalf – Chris McLeod, Edmonton Global
Initiative: Pioneer ‘Fixer’ of scientific marvel – the cell phone
Award: Innovation of the Year Award
Winner: RUNWITHIT Synthetics (Myrna Bittner, CEO; Dean Bittner, CTO); Edmonton Global (Malcolm Bruce, CEO); Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board (Karen Wichuk, CEO)
Presenter: Darren Fast – Associate Vice President, Innovation, Knowledge Mobilization & Partnerships – University of Alberta
Initiative: SEEITAL – The Synthetic Edmonton Environment Intelligent Advanced Laboratory a Digital Twin
Award: Researcher of the Year
Winner: University of Alberta (Ying Tsui, Professor, Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Tarek El-Bialy, Professor, Dept. of Dentistry; Jie Chen, Professor, Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering)
SmileSonica Inc (Cristian Scurtescu, CEO)
Presenter: Rainer Iraschko – Principal Technology Architect, TELUS
Initiative: Invention and Commercialization of Low-Intensity Pulsed Ultrasound Dental Therapy Device
Awards: Alberta-wide Community Champion of Innovation
Winner: Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation (Andrew MacIsaac, CEO)
Presenter: Derek Armstrong, Manager Innovation Ecosystems, PrairiesCan
Initiative: Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation secures game-changing support for life sciences.
Award: Student Changemaker of the Year
Winner: Connor Povoledo, President, Level 7 and Wound3
Presenter: David James – Deputy Minister of Technology and Innovation – Government of Alberta
Initiative: A Young Change Maker in Action
Award: Early Adopter of Innovation
Winner: Sumantra “Monty” Ghosh, Doctor of Internal Medicine and Addiction Medicine, Alberta Health Services; Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Alberta / University of Calgary
Presenter: Hasnain Baloach – Alberta Catalyzer Coach, Edmonton Unlimited
In photo: Ron Murch, Senior Instructor Emeritus, Haskayne School of Business
Initiative: Using technological innovations to preventing drug overdoses for people using substances alone during the opioid epidemic.
Award: Regional Innovation Champion
Winner: TruMe Whole Health (Melissa Hozack, CEO/President/Founder)
Presenter: Carla Otto, Executive Director, Entrepreneurial Investments, Alberta Innovates
Initiative: Empowering transformative actions that build a whole health lifestyle.