Judging Criteria
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JUDGING BIO
Akaash Palaparthy / SCSU
Akaash Palaparthy currently serves as the Vice President of Operations at the Scarborough Campus Students Union. He recently earned his degree from the University of Toronto Scarborough, graduating with a Double Major in Economics and International Development, and a Minor in Applied Statistics. Throughout his academic journey, he specialized in research areas such as ESG investments and economic development.
In his prior professional roles, Akaash contributed as a Research Assistant with the City of Toronto and the Department of Geographical Studies at UTSC. Beyond his academic pursuits, he has actively participated in campus life, holding roles in Athletics & Recreation, the Department of Management, and various student-led clubs.
Asim Khan
Asim Khan is a Managing Partner with Digital Fusion Consulting and specializes in helping companies to leverage technology to achieve positive impacts in their business. His firm works in conjunction with Business Development Bank of Canada and the Ontario Centre of Innovation to help entrepreneurs to achieve breakthroughs in their respective markets and to make operational gains.
With a background in Engineering from the University of Toronto and senior Business & Consulting roles with IBM, Asim brings a wealth of experience to his role. He also has an entrepreneurial mindset and enjoys coaching high-potential start-ups and growth-stage companies to overcome challenges and achieve new heights of success. When he is not in front of a computer or meeting clients, he enjoys adventure travel and playing guitar with local band ' The BPM Fight Club.'
Benetta Yogendran
Benetta Yogendran is a Director of Business Operations and Strategy at Cresco Labs with over a decade of experience in scaling businesses for optimal growth. She has been instrumental in defining growth strategies and operationalizing initiatives. Benetta Yogendran's proficiency extends to Program Delivery, where she operationalized strategic initiatives and led teams to streamline processes, drive cost savings, and implement data visualization tools. Her skillset spans risk management, efficiency improvements and fostering growth in fast-paced, evolving industries. She holds an MBA from the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).
Deepan Vigneswaran
Gray Graffam
Former director of The Hub, Gray Graffam, welcomes the new term to The Hub. Gray is an entrepreneur, mentor, and coach with a background in tech development.
Harshit Minda
A finance professional and AI enthusiast with background in startup ecosystem as a Analyst working for companies like CIBC Mellon, Tangentia Ventures and Preqin Capital.
Jason Glover
Jason has served on various boards ranging from fundraising, profit to non-profit, governance to academic sectors. Jason’s Federal appointment to the Social Security Tribunal and current appointment to the Veterans Review and Appeal Board allowed him to interview, evaluate, and write clear and binding decisions. Jason is a member of the University of Toronto at Scarborough Campus Council and a member of the Hub Advisory Board. Finally Jason served as a Trustee with the OPTrust Pension Plan from 2018 to 2021 which entailed helping to administer a jointly sponsored pension plan with the Government of Ontario and the Ontario Public Sector Union. Jason is a graduate from the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus and completed the Directors Education Program from the Rotman School of Management.
Laura Scarlett Martin
Laura Scarlett is a neurodivergent, multi-award winning executive and Top 100 Global Finance Influencer (MPA, 2021 & 2022, Growth 500 List 2018 & 2019, CMA 2018-2022) with an Honours BSc. in Cognitive Science & Psychology from the University of Toronto. She is the Marketing Director and Venture Capital advisor at Nobellum, a social enterprise that is creating 100 black entrepreneurs in STEM by 2025. and leading the Venture Capital arm at Nobellum
Laura advises entrepreneurs on achieving reliable growth and lead generation with an authentic personal brand by leveraging her expertise as a top 0.1% Linkedin user with an expansive 40,000+ network of connections. What sets Laura Scarlett apart as an advisor is her authenticity and passion for sharing deep insights on leveraging psychological concepts and AI tools with business leaders looking to transform their organizations.
Leah Yoo
Leah is currently working as a Business Intelligence Developer in the healthcare sector with a background in Polymer Science Engineering. Committed to fostering innovation, she brings years of experience mentoring GBC HIM students. With a keen interest in Physics and Technology development, Leah aims to provide valuable insights and guidance at the EVolve Hackathon Pitch Competition, ensuring projects align with the dynamic landscape of the automotive and mobility industry.
Lenko Grigorov
Lenko is a Lead Software Developer at ChargeLab Inc. where he is involved with the architecture and design of the cloud solution for charger management, as well as with the technical refinement of new features.
Before coming to ChargeLab, Lenko gained experience at multiple companies in a wide range of industries, incl. RIM - Blackberry, 3M, Imagine Communications, Nasdaq and others. He holds a Doctoral degree from Queen's University, Ontario.
Mark Donaldson / Quantuity Analytics Inc.
Mark Donaldson is the Founder and CEO of Quantity Analytics Inc. an AI, ML, and TinyML intelligent edge IoT technology Startup.
Mark’s company has a provisionally patented AI smart sensor solution used to help the commercial transportation trucking industry maintain regulatory compliance, safety, and efficiency of fleets, vehicles, and drivers, including predictive maintenance of air brake systems, anywhere and everywhere using 5G connectivity.
Quantuity Analytics Inc. has participated in the Southern Ontario startup incubator community including The DMZ’s SupplyAI stream for 2022, ventureLAB’s Hardware Catalyst Initiative for the automobility stream 2-year program 2023 - 2025, the MaRS Discovery District’s SupplyAI stream for 2023, and Intellectual Property Ontario (IPON) for intellectual property training and assistance in IP strategy and grant funding support.
With a diverse technology career of over 25 years, Mark’s background in electronics engineering technology, RF wireless, embedded machine learning, and information technology in the telecommunications and banking sector, provides a combination of skills, experience, and knowledge used to deliver complete end-to-end solutions for customers in the commercial trucking and transportation fleet management industry in Canada and around the world.
Mark holds a diploma in electronics engineering technology from Humber College and an undergraduate Bachelor of Commerce degree in Business Technology Management with a minor in Chinese language and culture studies from Toronto Metropolitan University.
In his free time, Mark enjoys volunteering at the DMZ Startup Incubator mentoring young entrepreneurs to help them learn about and apply emotional intelligence, including hard and soft skills, strategies, and processes needed to become successful entrepreneurs. Mark also mentors SAE engineers and also Toronto Metropolitan University students through their TRI-Mentoring program.
Mark also participated as a TEDx speaker in February 2023 at the Toronto Metropolitan University speaking on his topic of “Respect the Process, Not the Prize: A Startup Founder’s Journey”.
Mark’s passion for electronics engineering technology, especially embedded systems engineering, RF wireless, artificial intelligence, and embedded machine learning is why he enjoys contributing to the “Embedded Systems Professionals” community on Discord. Mark aspires to share some of his experiences and learnings along the way to help everyone become better embedded engineers, fearless enthusiasts, and hobbyists. The demand for engineers worldwide continues to increase and there’s a big shortage of students, male and female, especially those representing the BIPOC community and of diverse backgrounds and abilities aspiring to become embedded engineers of the future.
Martin Yuill / Trent University
Moaz Ahmad
Piragal Thirugnanasundaram
Pri Uthayakumar
Pri Uthayakumar has a background in engineering, with over 15 years of experience in municipal governments, a career spanning in parks and recreation, public works and transit services. With a passion for public service and helping people, he has grown a skill set in capital planning and delivery, asset management, public policy and research and strategic planning. As a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), he has applied technical skills and business administration expertise in his career and business ventures.
Pri is experienced in the planning, execution and management of various types of programs in public service, and is currently leading multi-million ($100M+) facility and infrastructure projects in Transit. He is also experienced in leading strategic policy development, through review of legislative and regulatory requirements across varying levels of governments, analysis, research and evaluation to support the delivery of programs or new policies.
Rise Adhikari
Ryan Somer
Ryan Wong
Ryan Wong is a seasoned professional in urban planning, specializing in transportation systems. A graduate of the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor of Environmental Studies and York University with a Masters of Public Policy Administration and Law, Ryan is a registered professional planner with the Ontario Professional Planners Institute.
With 12 years of experience in both consulting and the public sector, Ryan is emerging as a leader in transportation planning. His expertise is recognized through his qualification in Transportation Planning with the Ontario Land Tribunal.
Currently, Ryan serves as a Senior Active Transportation Specialist in a Regional Municipality. His work focuses on integrating active transportation solutions into community planning, contributing to the development of efficient and sustainable systems. It's important to note that Ryan's perspectives are personal and do not represent the official stance of his place of employment or training institutions.
Ryan Wong's commitment to shaping communities and improving transportation systems underscores his impact on the field. Through his dedication, he continues to contribute to the creation of accessible, healthy, and thriving urban environments.
Sarah Somer / Scarborough Business Association
Shawn Allen / Scarborough Business Association
Shawn Allen founded Matrix Mortgage Global Canada’s Largest Brokerage Private Lending Brokerage in 2008. With a background in data base administration and marketing, Shawn has guided Matrix Mortgage Global to over $1.1B+ in funded volume to date and over 610% growth in the past five years, Matrix Mortgage Global is ranked on the 2018 GROWTH 500 list as one of the fastest growing companies in Canada. This success is shown by the numerous nominations for Broker of the Year (CMP). Shawn’s dedication to the industry has made him a major stakeholder in the Canadian Financing Landscape.
Shreya Sawant
Shreya's experience in the IT industry has been a dynamic exploration of innovation and quality assurance, shaping her career at IBM India and currently as an IT Business Analyst at Payment Evolution. During her tenure at IBM India, she spent over 3 years as a Senior QA professional and Subject Matter Expert. Those years were dedicated to ensuring the highest standards of quality in software development. This experience gave her a keen understanding of the intricacies of IT systems, emphasizing the importance of quality measures in delivering top-notch solutions.
Vikramjit Singh Sahaye / Hiring Plug
Vikramjit is a 3 times entrepreneur and currently scaling an award-winning HR Technology startup - hiringplug.com
In his entrepreneurial journey, he has successfully built three enterprise SaaS startups, raised capital of more than US$ 25 million, and acquired 2 startups including a popular fashion ecommerce company, KOOVS.com.
Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, he had successful corporate stints across Telecom, Media, FMCG and BFSI sectors and has conducted business across India, UK, Southeast Asia, US and Canada.
Vikramjit is a scholar MBA in International Business and a qualified engineer in Electronics & Communication from India. He loves to evangelize “Entrepreneurship” and the ‘future of work’, while supporting entrepreneurs globally.
Judge Bios