THE INTERSECTION OF CONNECTED TRANSPORTATION & ELECTRIFIED VEHICLES
Future of Transportation and Mobility Series
The Intersection of Connected Transportation & Electrified Vehicles
Watch CITM and Durham RTDS at The Intersection of Connected Transportation and Electrified Vehicles for an exploration of the acceleration, adoption and opportunities for electrified vehicles and connected transportation.
With insightful virtual keynotes and engaging panel discussions with industry leaders like Toyota, Geotab, and more! The fifth installment of the FTMS series was a deep dive into how we can advance smart and sustainable transportation.
And that’s not all. The virtual conference wrapped up with an in-person networking reception in two locations in Ontario!
About the Future of Transportation and Mobility Series
Held annually, The Future of Transportation and Mobility Event Series (FTMS) explores and promotes a variety of topics and solutions to accelerate the future of the connected and autonomous technology sector. The series — featuring a new theme each year — is designed to engage decision-makers, industry, government, innovators and academia in exploring opportunities for critical sectors of the economy and prepare for disruption in the transportation and mobility industries.
Stay Tuned for FTMS 2023
- Expand your network and connect with innovators, influencers and decision-makers.
- Get a first-hand look at the latest ventures, sector headwinds, technology milestones, and key challenges facing the future of the goods movement and the supply chain sector.
- Gain access to key stakeholders within the electrified technology and smart transportation sectors.
Agenda
Thursday, November 3, 2022 (EST)
Stephen Beatty – Vice President, Corporate Toyota Canada Inc.
Dr. Ismail Zohdy -Innovative Mobility Expert, Roads and Transport Authority, Dubai
Join Cara Clairman, President and CEO of Plug’n Drive, as she discusses transitions in the transportation sector with Tanya Skilton, Director of Procurement and Supply Chain at BrightDrop, Mike Branch, VP of Data and Analytics with Geotab and Ivano Labricciosa, Utility Industry Expert, From the changes in powertrains and new supply chains to how we’re increasing connectivity and data in the management of vehicle fleets and how our current power generation and electricity grid are adapting to the changes in vehicle powertrains, this engaging panel will explore what’s powering advancements in the transportation sector.
Mike Branch – Vice President of Data and Analytics, Geotab
Ivano Labricciosa – Utility Industry Expert
Tanya Skilton – Director, Electric Vehicle Critical Materials, General Motors
Cara Clairman (Moderator) – Founder and CEO, Plug’n Drive
Panel: Building a company – an Entrepreneur’s Perspective
Join CITM with an exclusive panel centering around Hamilton’s top entrepreneurs! Hear from Moderator Mallory McKewen from BDC, as she discusses the entrepreneur’s perspective in building a company, with three rising entrepreneurs.
Presentation: Accelerating Adoption for Success
Before we can fully transition to an EV-centered world, there is still work to be done and the willingness to test and adopt EV technology plays a big part. Join the Durham RTDS as we discuss how Durham Region is moving the adoption of electric, connected and automated technology forward by identifying municipal challenges and putting out a call to innovators for solutions—not only from across Ontario but from around the world as well. Discover how these challenges help transition municipalities into smart communities all while taking these innovative solutions to market! You will also meet the innovators behind the winning solutions in our latest “Safe and Accessible Transportation Challenge”
Hamilton, ON:
Networking 4-6pm: CITM, 175 Longwood Rd. S., Hamilton, Ont.
Oshawa, ON:
Networking 4-6pm: Spark Centre, 2 Simcoe St. S. – Suite 300, Oshawa, Ont.
Speakers
Learn more about the 2022 FTMS speakers below.

Stephen Beatty

Stephen Beatty
Vice President, Corporate Toyota Canada Inc.
Keynote Speaker
Stephen Beatty is Vice President and Corporate Secretary of Toyota Canada Inc. (TCI), based out of the head office in Toronto, Ontario. He is responsible for the company’s Administration, Corporate Strategy & Innovation, External Affairs, Information Services, and Legal teams.
Prior to joining TCI in 1998 as National Manager, Government and Public Relations, Stephen
worked for 10 years as Executive Director of the Canadian Apparel Manufacturers Institute and the Canadian Apparel Federation, the Ottawa-based national trade associations for the clothing industry in Canada. In his time with the associations, Stephen led the industry’s efforts to transform itself into a modern, export-based business. He brought to that task extensive experience in strategic
planning, policy development, and media relations that he gained as a senior political advisor in Ottawa. His last position before leaving government to join the apparel industry was as Chief of Staff to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada.
Stephen has been actively involved with a number of volunteer advisory boards and was most recently Chair of the Global Automakers of Canada. He was also chair of the Board of Directors of AUTO21, a network of centres of excellence that focuses on Canadian research expertise to improve the global competitiveness of Canada’s automotive industry.

Ismail Zohdy

Ismail Zohdy
Innovative Mobility Expert, Roads and Transport Authority,
Presentation Speaker
Dr. Zohdy is an expert in smart and innovative mobility solutions with more than 15 years of experience across USA, Egypt and the UAE in Intelligent Transportation Systems, Autonomous and Connected Vehicles technology and Smart City initiatives. He is currently the program manager for the Self-Driving (autonomous and connected) Transport strategy in Dubai Government, UAE. He is the author of over 40 peer-reviewed publications, and book chapters for innovative mobility research in addition he is a professional trainer/instructor of Future Mobility Systems & Smart Cities

Mike Branch

Mike Branch
Vice President of Data & Analytics, Geotab
Panelist
Mike leads the charge for developing solutions that enable insight from over 2 million connected vehicles and 40 billion telematics records that Geotab processes on a daily basis. Mike joined the Geotab team in 2016, and prior to that was the CEO of Inovex Inc. which in 2013, spun off a brand new entity Maps BI — a platform for geo-spatial data visualization. Maps BI was integrated within Geotab’s telematics platform as a key partner and was later acquired by Geotab in 2016. Mike has received numerous honors including the University of Toronto Arbor Award and Early Career Award, Engineers Canada Young Engineer Award, Professional Engineers of Ontario Engineering Medal, and the Cloud Innovation World Cup.

Ivano Labricciosa

Ivano Labricciosa
P.ENG., M.ENG., MBA
Utility Industry Expert
Panelist
Providing energy and communication services to Oshawa, Durham Region, and parts of the GTA, with
utility experience spanning 40 years, Ivano leverages his leadership skills and change management
experiences to effect sustained business performance improvements throughout the organization.

Tanya Skilton

Tanya Skilton
Director, Electric Vehicle Critical Materials, General Motors
Panelist
Tanya leads the sourcing of critical materials required for the creation of cells for use in electric vehicle batteries.
Tanya’s prior responsibilities at General Motors include the founding of the BrightDrop procurement and supply discipline, taking GM’s first Smart Cities software platform, “Future Road” from concept to launch and partnering with Cruise Automation to forge viable sources of sensing and computing technologies to enable Level 4 vehicle autonomous operations. Tanya previously spent over a decade with the Rio Tinto Group, where she laid the commercial foundations for the implementation of fully autonomous mining equipment. Tanya has a passion for her faith, lifelong learning, history and languages, leading to a global career spanning her native India, as well as the United States, France, China, Japan, Australia and Singapore. Tanya holds dual Bachelors’ degrees in Economics and Communications and a Masters of International Business.
Skilton serves on the Board of FiveTwo, a Christian organization equipping entrepreneurs to start new ventures, as well as on the Leadership Advisory Board of the General Motors Asian Connections employee resources group.

Cara Clairman

Cara Clairman
Founder and CEO, Plug’n Drive
Panel Moderator
Cara Clairman is President and CEO of Plug’n Drive, a non-profit that is accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles through education and outreach, to maximize the environmental and economic benefits that EVs can provide. Cara has taken Plug’n Drive from an idea to a thriving non-profit, recognized as a leader in the EV space. Focused on accelerating adoption for more than 10 years, Plug’n Drive has created a number of unique programs to reach consumers, including the award-winning Electric Vehicle Discovery Centre, launched in 2017, and the Mobile EV Education Trailer (MEET), launched in 2020.
Cara has more than 25 years of experience working in the environmental and sustainability fields, including 12 years working at Ontario Power Generation, initially as OPG’s environmental lawyer and later in the role Vice President of Sustainable Development. Prior to joining OPG, Cara spent five years practicing environmental law with the Torys law firm.
She holds a Bachelor of Laws from Osgoode Hall and a Masters in Environmental Studies from York University, as well as an Honours Bachelor of Science degree from Queen’s University. Cara is the 2017 recipient of the Women in Renewable Energy’s ‘Woman of the Year’ award and the 2021 winner of the Al Cormier Leadership Award from Electric Mobility Canada. She lives in a two EV household, including a Chevy Bolt and a Tesla Model 3.

Sam Saad

Sam Saad
Panelist – Hamilton Concurrent Session
Sam is VP of Strategic Initiatives for Gatik. Sam is an experienced leader with a 15-year track record of delivering complex projects across diverse sectors. He currently heads-up strategic initiatives for Gatik, the market leader in autonomous middle mile logistics.Prior to Gatik, Sam co-founded the Innovation Factory’s Centre for Integrated Transportation and Mobility, a 5-year initiative to accelerate the development of CAV technologies. Sam started his CAV journey at the Ontario Centres of Excellence where he managed a portfolio totaling $215M in innovation funding. Before entering the innovation sector, Sam spent his earlier career focused on education, health promotion, and international development at the MaRS Discovery District, the University of Toronto, and the United Nations.

Shirook Ali

Shirook Ali
CEO & Founder, Ecosystem Informatics Inc. (ESI)
Panelist – Hamilton Concurrent Session
Shirook Ali is an innovator and a technology creator with 20+ years experience in high tech industry; she has 33 issued patents and over 150 publications to her name. She currently is the CEO of Ecosystem Informatics Inc (ESI) that she founded in 2019 – ESI is a next generation air quality monitoring and management solution. Shirook has a PhD in Electrical Engineering from McMaster University is a professional Engineer since 2007.

Carter Li

Carter Li
CEO, SWTCH
Panelist – Hamilton Concurrent Session
Carter Li is the Chief Executive Officer at SWTCH, an electric vehicle charging and energy management company focused on addressing the unique challenges of deploying EV charging infrastructure in high-density urban settings. Prior to
SWTCH, Carter was a management consultant at Deloitte in their Digital Strategy practice where he led digital strategy and transformation projects across multiple countries for energy, financial services, and life science industries. Carter is a
founding board member of the Ontario Clean Technology Industry Association and a committee member of Electric Mobility Canada. Carter attended McGill University for his BSc and PhD and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business for his MBA.

Mallory McKewen

Mallory McKewen
Senior Account Manager, BDC
Moderator – Hamilton Concurrent Session
Having previously been an entrepreneur herself, she aims to support as many Canadian entrepreneurs as possible with financing and advice.

Chris Gillis

Chris Gillis
Durham RTDS
Emcee
Chris Gillis, P. Eng. Manager, Applied Research Business Development, Office of Research Services, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Durham College – has been focused on operational performance improvement, innovation and customer satisfaction for over 25 years in a wide variety of industries and sectors in Canada, the United States, Mexico and the United Kingdom. Durham College is a core member of DRTDS. In his current role as Manager, Applied Research Business Development, he is the college lead for connected and autonomous vehicles. As well, Chris works to connect companies in the advanced manufacturing and craft brewing sectors with funding and expertise needed to realize their innovations.
Virtual Conference
Virtual Venue
The FTMS virtual conference featured a thought-provoking keynote presentation from Toyota Canada, a presentation from Smart Mobility Dubai, and several engaging panel discussions featuring industry leaders and innovators!
In-person Networking Venues
The 5th installment of the FTMS virtual conference was followed by two onsite In-person networking locations!
Check back for photos from each networking location!
Hamilton

McMaster Innovation Park
The Hamilton in-person networking reception was held at CITM’s offices and welcomed leading industry partners, Linamar, Fyelabs, and Nokia, as well as a diverse group of clients including Gatik, Ecosystem Informatics, Eecomobility, Mesomat, Auper, Arcpoint Connect, Aposys Technologies, and Cyberwork Robotics.
Attendees were able to get a first-hand look into the technologies of CITM innovators and Partners, including Gatik’s driverless delivery vehicle that are currently utilized by grocery giant Loblaws.
Oshawa

Spark Center
The Oshawa in-person networking recpetion was held at Spark Center and welcomed Durhman RTDS industry Partners! Attendees met face to face with Durham RTDS Partners and Clients!
Are you ready to accelerate your business?
Let us help you grow your business! If you are a start-up or scaling business that is developing the next generation of connected and autonomous vehicle, smart mobility, and smart transportation technology get in touch and we can help your business focus, develop, and grow.