Michael M. Karch, MD

Orthopedic Surgeon | Innovator | AI & Ethics Thought Leader

Dr. Michael Karch is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon specializing in robotic and computer-navigated hip and knee replacement. He is the co-founder of the Mammoth Orthopedic Institute and Research Foundation 501c3 located in Mammoth Lakes, California, where he also serves as faculty for the orthopedic fellowship program. He holds an academic appointment as Adjunct Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Georgetown University and the University of Nevada School of Medicine. Dr. Karch is the author of the bestselling book, The Paradox of Progress: The Roses and Thorns of Artificial Intelligence, a globally informed exploration of technology ethics. His research, writing and publications focus on the convergence of Artificial Intelligence, surgical innovation, human ethics, and business strategy advocating for globally responsible design in digital health.

Hossein Rahnama

Rogers Chair in Artificial Intelligence and Human Creativity · Toronto Metropolitan University

Professor Hossein Rahnama is the Rogers Chair in Artificial Intelligence and Human Creativity at Toronto Metropolitan University and a Visiting Professor at the MIT Media Lab, where he leads the sAipien Program. Beyond his academic roles, he is the Founder and CEO of Flybits, an AI and data science company specializing in complex, data-driven solutions for large enterprises. His research expertise lies in the design of human-AI systems, data governance, human-computer interaction, and the development of mission-critical AI systems. A prolific author and inventor, he has published numerous papers and holds many patents in computer and data science. He has been recognized with numerous accolades, including being named to the MIT Technology Review's Global TR35 list (2012), the Smithsonian Innovator to Watch (2013), and Canada's Top 40 under 40 (2017), along with the Isadore Sharp Outstanding Graduate Award (2013). Professor Rahnama currently serves on the board of Havergal College and SealSQ, a Nasdaq-listed semiconductor company focused on post-quantum chips. His past service includes roles as a council and board member at NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada), Canadian Science Publishing, and Home Capital Group. He is also a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors, holding an ICD.D designation.

Michael Schull, MSc, MD, FRCPC

CEO · Digital Research Alliance of Canada

Michael Schull is a nationally recognized leader with a track record of driving digital transformation. As CEO of the Digital Research Alliance of Canada, Michael leverages his extensive experience in building national and international research and data partnerships, and organizational growth and sustainability to support the organization’s work to advance the establishment of a researcher focused, accountable, agile, strategic and sustainable digital research infrastructure (DRI) ecosystem in Canada. Michael’s experience and deep knowledge of the research and health ecosystems have been shaped by his12 years as CEO and Senior Scientist at ICES, Canada’s leading health services research and data analytics institute, as a Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto and as a Senior Scientist at Sunnybrook Research Institute. He is also founding member of Health Data Research Network Canada (HDRN), a pan-Canadian network of health data and research centres seeking to facilitate and enable pan-Canadian research, and past co-director of the International Population Data Linkage network.

Josh Waite

CEO · Knowledge Park, New Brunswick

Josh is the CEO of Knowledge Park, New Brunswick’s largest technology park and a central force in shaping Fredericton’s innovation economy. He works across industry, academia, and government to strengthen the region’s capacity for growth by aligning infrastructure, talent, and investment around emerging opportunities.
Drawing on extensive stakeholder engagement and strategic analysis, Josh is leading Knowledge Park into its next stage of development. This includes redefining its role as a platform for innovation, deepening collaboration across sectors, and positioning Fredericton as a competitive, globally connected hub for knowledge-based industries.
His work is focused on translating regional strengths into sustained economic advantage, with an emphasis on ecosystem coordination, sector development, and long-term value creation. If you see Josh during the conference, he loves talking about strategy growth opportunities for the region.

Andrew Buzzell, Ph.D

Postdoctoral Researcher in Philosophy · University of Western Ontario

Andrew Buzzell is a postdoctoral researcher in philosophy at the University of Western Ontario and Chief AI Officer at VidCruiter, a Canadian HR technology firm. His work sits at the intersection of ethical and epistemological questions about technology and the practical challenges of engineering, governance, and compliance in high-stakes applications of artificial intelligence.

Ga Wu

Assistant Professor of Computer Science · Dalhousie University

Ga Wu is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Dalhousie University and leads the Dalhousie Applied Machine Learning Research (DAMLR) Lab. His research focuses on artificial intelligence and machine learning, including agentic AI systems, model explanation, machine unlearning, and large-scale commercial AI systems such as recommender and retrieval platforms. His lab actively collaborates with more than ten industry partners to develop practical AI solutions across domains including healthcare, finance, and aerospace.

Amir Satvat

Business Development Director · Tencent Games

Amir works in games, but what he cares most about is helping people who love video games find work, leading ASGC, the largest career support initiative in games, with 2,500+ volunteer coaches and 4,700+ gamers supported.
Alongside this work, Amir is a Business Development Director at Tencent Games in North America. He brings 20 years of experience across Amazon, Veeam, VMware, Dell EMC, and Goldman Sachs. At Amazon, he led business development and strategy for Prime Gaming and served as a Principal Producer for Amazon Games.

Kate Edwards

CXO/CoFounder · SetJetters

Kate Edwards is an award-winning, 33+ year games veteran, Forbes Women 50 Over 50 List, Geographer & Culturalization Innovator at Geogrify, CXO/CoFounder at SetJetters, former exec. director of the Global Game Jam and IGDA.
During her time at Microsoft and since, she's worked on many game franchises, including Halo, Fable, Age of Empires, Dragon Age, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Mass Effect, Battlefield, and many others. Kate has been a columnist for MultiLingual Computing magazine and plans to publish a culturalization handbook for game developers in the near future.

Manny Hachey

Senior Director of Developer Success · Xsolla

Manny Hachey is a 15+ year European games and tech industry veteran, Senior Director of Developer Success at Xsolla, startup founder, investor, speaker, and mentor with deep expertise in business development, operations, team building, and partnerships across the indie and global games sectors.
At Xsolla, Manny designed and launched a global accelerator program from the ground up. She has initiated and delivered dozens of multi-stakeholder projects ranging from under 500k to over 2 million. A rural French Canadian based in Germany for 17+ years, Manny is also the creator of The Regreening, a cozy game currently in development.

Tony Sheehan

Co-founder and CTO · NorthBound Advisory

Tony Sheehan is the Co-Founder and CTO of NorthBound Advisory, a New Brunswick–based consulting firm helping small and mid-sized businesses adopt AI and data-driven solutions in practical, measurable ways. Tony brings decades of technology leadership from companies including Salesforce and Introhive. He is an expert in scaling teams, driving digital transformation, and pioneering AI-powered SaaS solutions that help organizations turn innovation into everyday business value.

Jeanne Charbonneau

Director · INNOV

Jeanne Charbonneau is currently the Director of INNOV, the Innovation and Applied Research Center at CCNB. She has earned three Master's degrees and studied in seven different countries. A social entrepreneur and sustainability advocate, she has been involved in creating projects, businesses, and organizations focused on sustainable development for over fifteen years. She has served as a part-time member of the BAPE (Occasional Commissioner) and has held leadership roles at Vire-Vert, Roulons Vert, the Green Municipal Fund, and the City of Shawinigan, always focusing on business development, sustainable development, and marketing. She was Director of Special Projects at CNETE and co-founded and led the Escouade Énergie, a network of 22 Technology Access Centers supporting Quebec’s energy transition. Through her professional activities, she has received several awards, including the 2024 Female Personality in Renewable Energy in Quebec, the Michel Jurdant Award for Air and Climate Change from Réseau Environnement, the Canadian Social Innovation Award from the McConnell Foundation, the Rising Star Award from CRES Mauricie, and the New Business of the Year Award from the Trois-Rivières Chamber of Commerce.

Alaidine Ben Ayed

AI researcher · CCNB-INNOV

Alaidine Ben Ayed is an AI researcher at CCNB-INNOV, specializing in applied artificial intelligence and data-driven systems. He holds a PhD in Cognitive Informatics and has experience in designing and deploying AI solutions across domains such as computer vision, decision support systems, and smart infrastructure.
He is currently working on developing practical AI tools that support SMEs and organizations in optimizing operations, improving decision-making, and accelerating innovation, with a particular focus on climate action platforms, municipal data systems, and intelligent funding recommendation tools.

Dr. Richard Levesque

Director of Health Analytics and Predictive Intelligence · Vitalité Health Network

Dr. Richard Levesque currently serves as Director of Health Analytics and Predictive Intelligence at Vitalité Health Network where he leads a multidisciplinary team delivering advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, and data-driven solutions to support healthcare decision-making. His career spans more than two decades in government, academia, and the private sector. He brings extensive expertise in predictive modeling, health system optimization, and policy advisory, and has led high-impact initiatives including COVID-19 forecasting and hospital capacity planning. He is recognized for aligning data strategy and technology with organizational priorities and translating complex analytics into actionable insights for executive leadership.

Dr. Stuart Thiel

Full-time faculty in the Computer Science program · University of Fredericton

Dr. Stuart Thiel, P.Eng., is full-time faculty in the Computer Science program at the University of Fredericton. A long-time computer science educator, he has taught programming, algorithms, software engineering, and web technologies at Concordia University and the University of New Brunswick, among others. His work combines technical depth with a strong focus on pedagogy, professional preparation, and applied computing. He is also known for open-source and modding work, including ChessMod for Minecraft. He served as the class representative in the Quebec v. Meta privacy case, which led to $9 million in funding supporting post-secondary teaching, research, and privacy advocacy.

Dr. Hung Cao

Assistant Professor of Computer Science · University of New Brunswick

Dr. Hung Cao is affiliated with the University of New Brunswick as an Assistant Professor of Computer Science. He is the founding member and director of the Analytics Everywhere Lab - a multidisciplinary research group focused on critical thinking, excellence, and innovation to foster future digital transformation and solve societal challenges. He is currently an Associate Editor of Discover Artificial Intelligence Journal and IET Smart Cities Journal, a Topic Editor appointed by Electronics Journal, Editor Board Member of many other Journals. His research portfolio bridges the areas of Internet of Things (IoT), Explainable AI, Contestable AI, Edge/Fog/Cloud Computing, Machine learning, Data Science, Context-enriched Analytics, Streaming Analytics, Decision Intelligence, TinyML/Federated Learning, Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), and Real-time System.

Andrew Fisher

Assistant Professor of AI · University of New Brunswick

Andrew Fisher joined as an Assistant Professor of AI in January at the University of New Brunswick. He earned a PhD in Applied Science from Saint Mary's University in 2024, and completed a Connected Minds postdoc at York University in 2025. His research focuses on practical, responsible AI, as well as NLP designed for rigorous evaluation and real-world deployment. He is currently working on AI-enabled automation for construction and built-environment workflows, and small language models for accessible, trustworthy health communication. He was drawn to UNB for its strong industry collaborations and the chance to build applied AI research with real-world impact.

Mahtab Sarvmaili

Assistant Professor · University of New Brunswick

Mahtab Sarvmaili is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at UNB and the Director of the Responsible AI (RAI) Lab. Her research is at the forefront of Responsible AI, with a focus on explainability, controllable large language models, generative AI, and multi-agent intelligent systems. She is passionate about building AI systems that are transparent, reliable, safe, and privacy-preserving, with impact across generative AI, and classical Machine Learning. She received her Ph.D. in Computer Science from Dalhousie University in 2024, where she studied Explainable AI and privacy-preserving methods, and later completed a postdoctoral fellowship in collaboration with LastMile AI, where she advanced research on the evaluation and reliability of retrieval-augmented generation and agentic systems.