Meet the Velocity Team

Adrien is Velocity’s Executive Director and leads Velocity’s mission, strategy, and coordinates its two programs: student founders and the Velocity Incubator to maximize experience for students and productivity for founders, respectively.

Prior to being named Executive Director, Adrien served as the Deeptech and Science Advisor from 2017 to 2019 where he supported companies with his expertise in product development, market positioning and fit, strategic planning, team management, and IP creation and management. As Velocity’s ‘voice of the entrepreneur,’ he will bring his passion to ensure that great business ideas and technologies can break out into commercial success.

Before joining Velocity, Adrien led many initiatives at Xerox ranging from corporate R&D projects to creation of new businesses. Previous to his work at Xerox, he was a principal investigator at the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA.

Adrien holds a PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Calgary and earned his BSc in Applied Chemistry from the University of Waterloo. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan. While working at Velocity, he also completed an Executive Master’s in Technology Management program at the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics.

Adrien has 25 research publications (with more than 11,000 citations), holds over 50 patents and a number of awards for business and technical accomplishments.

What interests Adrien:

Unleashing a tidal wave of life-and game-changing technologies and businesses from inventors’ minds and academic institutions.

John is the Senior Director of Founder Development. He leads Velocity’s early-stage programming on the University of Waterloo campus and develops strategic initiatives that serve to find, develop and connect new founders.

Before joining Velocity, John was Co-founder and CSO of Nicoya for 7 years. As co-founder, he worked on IP creation and prototype development while supporting pitching and early business development activities. As CSO he led its R&D efforts, early product development and customer support through his experience in nanotechnology-based sensor development.

John holds a PhD in Materials from the Imperial College of London and earned his Masters and Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from McGill University. He also completed an MBA from Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at Laurier University.

John believes that an entrepreneurial mindset can and should be developed by any student from any field, regardless of their selected career path. These graduates will be prepared for a growingly precarious future and will improve the productivity and competitiveness of Canadian businesses.

What interests John:

Finding ways to forge great teams and building collaborations with like-minded organizations. In his spare time, John can be found rowing on the Grand River, throwing axes (in a league) or cooking at home.

Alroy is a Director of Deep Tech at Velocity

Alroy’s love for Velocity runs deep as it was the birthplace of his own entrepreneurial journey. Though much has changed since his time in the program, Velocity remains steadfast in making founders move further, faster. He is now focused on working with the leadership team to set Velocity’s purpose, goals, and structure for its next stage of growth.

It is also his goal to make Canada the global leader in deep tech. Waterloo Region, in particular, has the talent to build strong businesses underpinned by extremely challenging technologies – materials science, robotics, artificial intelligence, quantum/photonics. Alroy is building out programming and partnerships to support and accelerate these companies.

Previously, Alroy was CEO and Co-founder of Voltera where he worked with a world class team to revolutionize electronics. They reduced traditional circuit board manufacturing time from weeks to hours and introduced scalable manufacturing processes for circuits that are flexible, stretchable, moldable, biodegradable, and biocompatible – features that will forever change how we all interact with the devices around us.
Alroy is a Mechatronics Engineering alumnus from the University of Waterloo. He remains involved in the undergraduate engineering student experience as an Alternate Warden for Iron Ring Camp 15.

What interests Alroy

Outside of work, Alroy enjoys cycling, boxing, snowboarding, playing soccer, and much to the detriment of his mental health, cheering for the Leafs.

Moazam is the Director of Velocity Health

A staunch believer in the impact of data driven technologies in healthcare, Moazam
found Curiato in 2015, a digital healthcare platform that analysis and predicts hospital acquired conditions directly from the surface of the bed with a smart bed cover. Moazam grew the company from inception (right here at Velocity) to revenue, from raising capital, executing clinical trials, developing international partnerships, receiving regulatory confirmations, and scaling a brilliant team across 3 continents.

Alongside growing Curiato, Moazam helped developed a micro-VC fund in San Jose, where he served as EIR and guided early-stage companies on Go-to-Market strategy, fundraising and scaling. Moazam has also spent some time in consulting in the Pharmaceutical and SaaS industries.

Moazam graduated with distinction from both the Faculty of Science (B.Sc) and
Faculty of Engineering (MBET). During his time at University of Waterloo, Moazam
developed automation software for family physician offices and a portable handheld
vein visualization device. He is the recipient of the Norman Esch Entrepreneurship
Award and most recently an Alumni Achievement Award winner from uWaterloo.

What interests Moazam

Solving big problems! Outside of work, Moazam enjoys time with family,
brainstorming ideas with his friends and catching up on soccer.

Parisa leads product development spaces, resources, and workflows within a multi-disciplinary environment at Velocity both on campus and the incubator. She provides mentorship in product development mindset and supports students and start-up founders in their product development roadmaps to reach technical milestones that align their business milestones.

Prior to joining Velocity, she worked as a project coordinator at the Centre for Bioengineering and Biotechnology, facilitating a “Needs-first” Biomedical graduate program as well as managing several interdisciplinary collaborative projects between academic and hospital partners. During her postdoc fellowship in System Design Engineering, Parisa led multiple research projects for proof-of-concept, design and development of of biotech products in collaboration with a few startups.

She strives to provide scientific support to startups with disruptive technologies and to facilitate a collaborative environment for accelerated product development.

What interests Parisa

Staying inspired and curious about people, design, technology and nature. Outside of work she spends the majority of her time with her family, practicing Yoga, sketching, and hiking.

Scott is a hardware mentor and advisor to Velocity startups that have a hardware element to their product(s).

Scott has a degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Waterloo and has spent the majority of his career in the Waterloo area. He worked at Blackberry for twelve years in Hardware Engineering as the Manager of Conceptual Prototype Development, as well as the Manager of MEMS Motion sensors. Prior to Blackberry, Scott spent ten years developing machine vision cameras and systems at Dalsa, and at the same time ran his own engineering services company. 

What interests Scott:

Cooking, the outdoors, and strategy board games.

Eric has founded two Velocity companies, Kenota Health and Samos Insurance, both of which attended YCombinator. He has a PhD in chemical engineering from UWaterloo. Eric is passionate about helping early stage startups navigate the earliest challenges of getting a company off the ground.

As Associate Director of Partnerships and Communications at Velocity, Michelle is focused on building meaningful connections and driving impactful growth. Her focus is on developing meaningful partnerships and crafting communication strategies and opportunities that support Velocity’s mission to support founders.

With over 20 years of experience in marketing communications, Michelle brings a wealth of expertise in developing and nurturing relationships that advance organizational goals.

Previously, Michelle held a senior marketing position with the Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club, where she successfully enhanced the brand’s visibility, created engaging content, and expanded community impact through programs and partnerships.

Michelle aims to strengthen relationships with leading industry partners, students, founders and community organizations to enhance Velocity’s presence and influence. By fostering collaboration and creating engaging content, she seeks to open new opportunities and contribute to the organization’s overall success.

What interests Michelle:

Outside of work, you’ll find her enjoying time with her family, exploring new restaurants, trying to master the perfect latte and getting outdoors as much as possible. 

Hillary is responsible for the management and support of Velocity’s operational systems, including information and data, resource administration, and other administrative functions. She works to ensure the administrative and operational processes at Velocity are working efficiently and effectively. Hillary graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor of Arts from the Arts and Business program, majoring in Political Science and minoring in Gender Studies.

What interests Hillary:

Outside work Hillary enjoys spending time outdoors and hiking, devouring fiction novels in an afternoon and volunteering backstage with local community theatre groups.

Krysta is the Associate Director of Founder Development, and her goal is to make the University of Waterloo the best place for student entrepreneurs to learn and grow. She connects teams with the right programs, advisors and resources offered by Velocity to help build their entrepreneurial skills.

Krysta believes in making entrepreneurship accessible to everyone, and that the most successful founders can be those who never even considered it as a path. In 2016, she co-founded BrightGuide, a software company working to support persons living with dementia and their family caregivers with activities of daily living. Having three years’ experience as an early-stage startup founder has given Krysta a wealth of experience to draw on when coaching teams. Afterwards, she helped small businesses with their digital marketing and online presence through the pandemic via her consulting company Weave Digital. Her combination of working in software, deeptech and local industries gives her a unique perspective on entrepreneurship. Krysta holds a BSc in Chemistry and an MBET from the University of Waterloo.

What interests Krysta:

Krysta loves getting lost in long Twitter threads and Wikipedia rabbit holes on eclectic topics. When she’s not reading, she loves doing yoga, embroidery, cooking, spending time outdoors and travelling.

Will is Velocity’s Brand Marketing and Communications Officer. Fueled by the joy of creation, Will looks forward to creating, collaborating, and connecting with those within the innovation community.

Before joining Velocity, Will directed the marketing/content creation efforts for Centre In The Square, which included over 350 live events/concert tours. He has also produced albums for local and international artists which appear on radio and streaming services today. He once unknowingly became Aretha Franklin’s personal shopper for shampoo and haircare products.

What interests Will:

In his free time, Will enjoys spending time with his family, fly-fishing and is on a seemingly neverending pursuit of scratch golf.

As the Laboratory Operations Specialist, Karen is responsible for the effective operation of Velocity’s laboratory facilities by maintaining safe, organized and efficient laboratories while overseeing the daily operations and overall laboratory functions. Karen welcomes new lab users by guiding them through the necessary safety training processes, fostering a culture of safety consciousness within the laboratory and serves as their primary point of contact for all laboratory related questions. Karen graduated from the University of Guelph with an Honours Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry.

What interests Karen:

Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family, fostering abandoned dogs until they are adopted and reading a good book.

Tina Wilton is the Manager of Strategic Partnerships at Velocity. She connects the top entrepreneurial institution in Canada with top business leaders and founders resulting in a one-of-a-kind startup ecosystem. Her priority is creating collaborative opportunities to foster innovation that propels industries and impact forward.

Tina has 6+ years of experience designing entrepreneurship and innovation programming for University students across Canada. She has experience working at startups, scale-ups, and corporations with a focus on innovation. Her interest in experiential learning started during her time as a student at the University of Waterloo where she lived in Velocity Residence and was a member of the Hack the North organizing team.

What interests Tina:

When she is not working, you can find her hiking, rollerblading, or exploring with her dogs (Milo and Bolt!). 

With more than ten years under her belt as journalist, both in editor and freelance roles, Naomi looks forward to applying her writing and critical thinking skills, and collaborative mindset to her role as Communications Engagement Specialist at Velocity. Naomi’s writing career has spanned two continents — from humble beginnings as a student journalist at the University of Iceland to an established career in Toronto, where she lived for 12 years before relocating to Kitchener. She has covered news ranging from business and politics to social justice issues, and has a diverse portfolio of writing including long-form journalistic articles. 

What interests Naomi:

In her free time, Naomi likes to maximize her time outdoors — especially exploring local Kitchener-Waterloo trails, and staying active by cycling, swimming and running. She believes in the importance of giving back to the community and has volunteered with Hospice Toronto, giving support to caregivers living with loved ones in hospice care.

Prior to joining Velocity, Grace worked as a project coordinator in the Health Initiatives Unit within the Office of Research, which is responsible for advancing Waterloo’s research excellence, innovation, entrepreneurship and partnership in the interface of health, society and technology. In her role, she facilitated and led several initiatives and projects to form institutional and sustainable partnerships in health care, to support the expansion of health innovation in policy and practice and to strengthen Waterloo’s position in the community. Grace also brings to her Velocity role community-based and equity-focused approaches from her PhD studies at Western University and postdoctoral research at Mount Allison University in the humanities and social sciences.

What interests Grace:

Exploring new things and spending time with loved ones.

Emily is an Entrepreneurship Experience Coordinator at Velocity. She plans and facilitates programs for entrepreneurial-minded students, including the 5K competition! She is an alumna of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (also known as Ontario Tech University) where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Digital Media Studies. Before joining the Concept team, she worked at Ontario Tech’s Student Learning Centre, where she gained a passion for creating informative, engaging, and inclusive programming to encourage student success in all aspects of their academic journeys. 

What interests Emily:

Her other interests include baseball, reading, playing trivia games, and trying new recipes!

Suleyman is a digital communications specialist with a wealth of experience. Prior to joining the Velocity, he has held numerous digital communications and media-related roles in international organizations working with multiple governments and institutions. Over the past years, he has developed and executed multi-channel international campaigns to raise awareness and generate commitment regarding youth policies and social issues. He has also built effective digital communications channels to connect stakeholders with decision-makers, as well as engaging communities to promote inclusion and diversity. 

What interests Suleyman:

Snowboarding, travelling to new places, going to concerts, and occasionally trying out extreme sports. 

Ben is the Problem Lab Manager at Velocity. He is passionate about developing programming and opportunities to support students at the earliest stage of innovation through problem analysis. While completing his Honours Bachelor of Psychology at the University of Waterloo, he had the opportunity to work alongside Professor Larry Smith where he learned about all things entrepreneurship, innovation and the value of fully understanding important problems before building solutions. While at the Problem Lab, he has worked on initiatives and projects with organizations such as Open Data Exchange, Cisco Systems, Maple Leaf Foods, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), and Baker McKenzie where he researched commercial problems affecting industry.

What interests Ben:

Outside of the office, you can find Ben playing guitar, hunting for new music gear, skating, and in the kitchen cooking.

Tamer oversees Velocity Digital, a creator space that supports technology commercialization at the University of Waterloo campus. He provides technical support and mentorship to early-stage student teams that are working on their digital technology ideas, including hardware and software support. Prior to joining Velocity, Tamer worked in multiple roles leading engineering design teams, and in supporting technology entrepreneurship in academic environments. Tamer established a successful product development and design workshop space and training programs that support hundreds of innovators and creators every year. Tamer has worked in technology commercialization within higher-education at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and has held engineering design roles in industry including working for startups and starting his own. He has worked on multiple technology fields ranging from designing lighting systems to solar technology. He holds a MS in Mechanical Engineering from KAUST and BS in Mechatronics Engineering from Jordan University of Science and Technology. 

What interests Tamer:

Tamer is interested in supporting highly energetic and creative individuals to achieve amazing things. Tamer enjoys learning new things every day. When he is not learning a new gadget, he enjoys spending time outdoors with family and friends, or at the workshop getting his hands dirty.

As the Laboratory Technician, Anthony plays a role in supporting student activities taking place at Velocity Science Laboratory on the university campus. He oversees the daily operation and maintains a safe and dynamic environment that fosters student innovation from idea to product, and community inclusiveness. Anthony holds a Master’s degree in Microbiology from the University of Hong Kong and earned his BSc in Biotechnology from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Before joining Velocity, he worked with Prof. Mark Servos at the University of Waterloo on a provincial wastewater surveillance program for COVID-19. Also, he had experience in R&D and ISO accreditation during his years at SGS Testing Laboratory as a Virologist, equipping him with industry insights and rigorous standards.

What interests Anthony:

In his free time, he enjoys playing board games and badminton as well as snowboarding. He is also a dog lover.

With over 15 years of communications and event management experience, Val is excited to work with the Velocity team to curate gatherings that connect communities and ultimately help founders go further, faster.

Before joining Velocity, Val worked on the communications team with the University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Engineering, sharing stories of the amazing work being done by students, researchers, and alumni. She also worked for six years as a content producer for the Banff World Media Festival, one of the leading international events for the media industry, and spent many years writing about advertising, marketing and media.

What interests Val:

Outside of work, you’re likely to find Val rediscovering her hometown by running on the streets and trails, balancing that out by looking for new local restaurants and bakeries and spending time with family, friends and her two cats.

Rochelle is the Programs and Events Lead at Velocity, passionate about fostering innovation and community within the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Prior to joining Velocity, she served as a Program Manager at Communitech, where she spearheaded the education initiatives of ElevateIP, a federally funded program.

With a strong background in psychology from the University of Waterloo and experience in Edtech, Rochelle brings a deep understanding of individual behavior and is committed to supporting students and founders in achieving their goals. Her experience leading the launch of an educational platform for ElevateIP and developing targeted educational content for underrepresented founders demonstrates her ability to create impactful programs and foster inclusivity.

Outside of her direct work, Rochelle is a dedicated advocate for women in technology. She serves as the Events Director on the board of the Waterloo Chapter of Women in Communications and Technology (WCT), a leading organization dedicated to advancing women in digitally driven workplaces. Rochelle has experience organizing successful events, such as International Women’s Day events, which feature prominent women professionals and politicians.

What interests Rochelle:

When she’s not working, Rochelle enjoys exploring new cuisines and restaurants, cooking up a storm in the kitchen, attending live music events, spending time outdoors, and connecting with nature. She is also a passionate plant enthusiast and loves spending quality time with her friends, family, and her beloved cat, Anakin.