Board of Directors

About our Board members

Jake Arsenault

Jake is a serial high-tech entrepreneur. His related areas of interest include design, team building and new technology creation. He supports start-ups by mentoring early stage ventures and spends time as Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of New Brunswick (UNB). Jake feels that innovation and creativity are key to new venture creation.

Jake co-founded The Black Arcs in 2014 to address unmet needs in land-use planning. He brings people and ideas together acting as a liaison between problems, academia, and new technology. He has guided a series of collaborative research projects to develop the company’s foundation, working with domain experts in land-use, big data, economics, artificial intelligence, and design.

Jake has spearheaded the following projects: GNB Incubation of Smart Engagement with the Province of New Brunswick, Playful Planning: Citizens making sense of transit systems and impacts with UNB’s Department of Geomatics, Predictive Analytics and Data Visualization for Collaborative Multi-Stakeholder Planning of Transportation with the National Research Council and Public Transportation : Citizen Engagement & Simulator: Sackville the Game with New Brunswick’s Southeast Regional Service Commission.

Dr. Rabin Bissessur

Dr. Rabin Bissessur is a Professor of Chemistry at University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI), where he is also currently serving as the Associate Vice President Research & Dean of Graduate Studies (Interim). He has been at UPEI since 1999 after instructing chemistry for a year at University of Northern British Columbia. He served as Chair of the Chemistry Department at UPEI from 2014 to 2019, and as Acting Chair from January 1 till June 30, 2011.

Dr. Bissessur received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University, M.Sc. from University of Rochester, and B.Sc. (Hons) from University of Manitoba. He did his postdoctoral fellowships at Northwestern University and at Université Laval. His research interests are in the field of nanocomposite materials, conductive polymers and solid polymer electrolytes. He has authored/co-authored 58 refereed articles, 15 book chapters, and 6 educational materials for undergraduate students.

Daryl Genge

President & CEO, Ex-Officio

Daryl Genge is an executive leader with over 28 years’ experience in building partnerships among academia, industry and government. Most recently, he held Assistant Deputy Minister and Deputy Minister (acting) positions with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Department of Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development where he championed public-private investment strategies to drive the development and growth of innovative industries and played a leadership role in international trade and foreign direct investment attraction.

Previously, he was the founding Director of Memorial University’s Atlantic Canada Venture Gateway, a pan-Atlantic organization which prepared high-potential technology firms to raise growth capital and assisted with expansion into international markets, primarily in the Middle East.

Mr. Genge started his career in Canada’s east coast offshore oil industry and progressed into senior positions in the private sector as well as government-held corporations including Operation ONLINE. He also spent eight years as President of an independent consulting firm specializing in innovation and organizational strategies for government, industry and university clients. He is a graduate of Memorial University and is also a Certified Management Consultant.

Mr. Genge has held numerous board and committee positions including participating on the advisory boards of two venture capital funds and continues to act as an advisor and mentor to entrepreneurs commercializing promising technologies.

Raymond Gosine

Dr. Ray Gosine is Associate Vice-President (Research) and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy and a Professor (status) in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Gosine’s research is in the areas of intelligent systems, robotics and automation with a particular interest in the applications of these technologies to natural resource industries. His academic appointments included an NSERC Chair in Industrial Automation at the University of British Columbia and the J.I. Clark Chair of Intelligent Systems for Operations in Harsh Environments at Memorial University. Dr. Gosine recently chaired a Public Review Panel (www.nlhfrp.ca) to advise government on the scientific, socio-economic, public policy, regulatory, environmental and public health issues associated with unconventional oil and gas development (i.e. fracking) in Western Newfoundland. Currently he is collaborating with colleagues at the University of Toronto and Memorial University on research related to understanding the opportunities, challenges, and consequences associated with automation and digitalization of Canada’s underground mining and offshore oil and gas industries.

Dr. Gosine is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering (FCAE), a Fellow of Engineers Canada (FEC), and a Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) program on Innovation, Equity and the Future of Prosperity.

Stephen Hartlen

As Assistant Vice President (Industry Relations) and Executive Director of the Office of Commercialization and Industry Engagement (OCIE) at Dalhousie University, Stephen Hartlen interacts with the local private sector community to develop research contracts and create student internships with local, national and international industries. He is helping to grow the $132 million worth of research being carried out by the Dalhousie faculty, and working to enrich the learning experience for future leaders and innovators.

Stephen Hartlen spent the last eight years at Innovacorp, Nova Scotia’s crown corporation for the commercialization of early stage research, serving as vice president (mentoring) and most recently, interim president and CEO. OCIE and Innovacorp are both housed in Dalhousie’s Life Sciences Research Institute and the combination of the two helps to strengthen university-industry research partnerships and provide economic growth to Nova Scotia.

Dalhousie’s OCIE commercializes research at the university, manages and facilitates collaborations between companies and university researchers and assists in the creation of spin-off ventures. Innovacorp helps high potential early stage Nova Scotia companies commercialize their technologies and succeed in the global marketplace.

In addition to Innovacorp, Mr. Hartlen has worked with companies including xwave, Infointeractive, MTT, and Keltic Inc. He has served on several Nova Scotia government committees such as the Deputy Minister’s Leadership Team on the Economy and Environment and was included in recent consultations for the Savoie and O’Neill reports. He is also an advisory board member for Dalhousie’s Corporate Residency MBA program.

Dr. Francis Leblanc

Francis LeBlanc is Associate Vice-President for Research and Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research at the Université de Moncton since January 1st, 2017. Previously, he was Director of the Department of Physics and Astronomy and Dean of the Faculty of Sciences at the same university. Dr. LeBlanc holds a doctorate in physics from the Université de Montréal and is an active researcher in astrophysics. His research has been funded on an ongoing basis by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) since 1998. He has been an Associate Professor or Visiting Research Associate at four renowned academic institutions (Université Laval, Université de Paris VII, Université de Toulouse and Observatoire de Paris-Meudon). In 2010, he published a book at the prestigious Wiley publishing house entitled ‘An Introduction to Stellar Astrophysics’. This book has been used as a textbook at more than 75 universities including Harvard, Caltech, Berkeley, Stanford, Cambridge, U. libre de Bruxelles, Tokyo, Warsaw, Montreal, Victoria and Western.

Dr. David Magee

A native New Brunswicker, David first came to University of New Brunswick in 1978 to do a BSc in chemistry. He went on to receive a PhD in synthetic organic chemistry from UNB in 1987 under the direction of Professor Zdenek Valenta. He then undertook a two-year NSERC post-doctoral fellowship with Professor Robert K. Boeckman, Jr. at the University of Rochester. In 1990, David began as an Assistant professor at UNB; in 1995 he was promoted to Associate Professor and in 2000 was promoted to full professor. From 1999 to 2007 David served as Chair of the Department of Chemistry, except for a brief 6-month period from July 1 to December 31, 2005, where he served as Acting Dean of Science. From July 2008 to June 2017 David served as UNB’s Dean of Science, until he stepped into the role of Acting Vice-President Research in July 2017 for a 1-year term.

David’s area of research is mainly in the development of new and/or simpler ways to make biologically interesting and structurally challenging natural products. In recent years David has had several research collaborations with academic (Dalhousie, Acadia, Shahid Beheshti University Tehran) government (Canadian Forestry Services, Newfoundland Department of Natural Resources) and private (JDI-Ltd, Sylvar, Agrifor, Forest Protection Limited) organizations. David has published 44 peer-reviewed research papers in numerous prestigious national and international journals and has 5 patent applications. David has presented over 66 papers at various national and international conferences and been an invited speaker on 17 other occasions. He has also served as an external examiner for numerous PhD theses.

In conclusion, David has refereed over 170 papers for 34 different journals and 38 grant proposals for national and international granting organizations.

Since joining the faculty at UNB, David has established an excellent scholarship and teaching record. He has supervised 27 graduate students: 10 completed PhDs, 15 completed MScs, and 1 MSc and 1 PhD still in progress. In addition, he supervised 67 Honours BSc students. Undergraduate and Graduate students from his group have gone on to MSc and PhD degrees, MD studies, post-doctoral fellowships, university professorships, research scientist positions, and pharmaceutical sales.

While at UNB David has served on several University Committees. Of recent note is his involvement on the Academic Planning Committee (both stages), the Administrative Bargaining Committee for the most recent collective bargaining, the Strategic Research Planning Committee, and the UNB Standing Review Committee responsible for reviewing all CRC, CFI and AIF applications from the institution.

Michael Maguire

Michael Maguire is an independent consultant and Professional Engineer with a career spanning 3 decades in the offshore energy and ocean industries. Mike has led teams of engineers in a variety of international settings to assure technical integrity and certification of high value oil and gas developments in harsh offshore environments. Over the past 10 years, Mike has emerged as a leader in advancing technology and innovation to support safe and sustainable business growth, including establishing an R&D strategy and managing a $10+ million annual innovation portfolio for a leading Canadian integrated energy company. Since 2001, Mike has been the President and Principal Consultant for Currach Consulting Ltd., which provides technology, innovation, engineering and business consulting to international energy, marine and ocean technology sectors.

Mike holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering at Memorial University of Newfoundland and is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Newfoundland and Labrador, the United Kingdom Engineering Council and the European Federation of National Engineering Associations, and holds professional memberships in: the Society and Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNaME); the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST); and the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).

In addition to serving on Springboard Atlantic’s Board, Mike’s professional volunteer roles include: Chair of the Board of Directors for OceansAdvance – Newfoundland a Labrador’s Ocean Technology Cluster; long-standing member of Canadian Standards Association Technical Committee on Design, Construction, and Installation of Offshore Structures (and Working Group Lead for Floating Offshore Structures); and Member of the Lloyd’s Register Offshore Technical Committee. He previously served as Advisory Committee Chair for Memorial University’s NSERC CREATE Training Program for Offshore Technology Research and has participated in several other advisory committees, including: The American Bureau of Shipping Arctic Technology Advisory Committee; the International Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP) Arctic Technology Group; and Memorial University’s Scientific Computing Industrial Advisory Board.

Ken Martin

Ken Martin retired from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) after 28 years of distinguished public service. Ken joined ACOA, the Government of Canada’s regional development agency servicing Atlantic Canada, in 1991 and has held progressively more responsible officer, management and executive positions.

After six years as an Account Manager, which included a secondment with a Labrador-based Indigenous organization managing the Voisey’s Bay exploration camp, Ken was appointed to the position of Manager, Commercial Programs. In 1999, he became Director, Enterprise Development, overseeing the delivery of ACOA’s core business programming in the region. In 2011, he assumed the position of Director General, Regional Operations, where he provided overall management of ACOA operations and programming in Newfoundland and Labrador. In 2015, Ken was named Vice-President for the Newfoundland and Labrador region. Ken is also a member of the Board of Governors for the College of the North Atlantic.

Ken received a Bachelor of Commerce from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1984 and a Master of Business Administration (Finance) from the University of Calgary in 1989. Prior to joining ACOA, he worked as a senior commercial lender with the Bank of Montreal in St. John’s and as a financial analyst with ExxonMobil in Calgary, Alberta.

Ken and his wife, Jackie, live in St. John’s. Spending time with their four sons; Jamie, David, Andrew and Colin and granddaughter Azriel keeps them busy.

Dr. Anna Redden

Anna Redden is the Associate Vice-President Research and Dean of Graduate Studies at Acadia University. In this position, she plays a key role in developing research policy, advancing innovative research and graduate programs, as well as working externally with industry and community partners, government agencies, foundations, and other research institutions to grow Acadia’s research enterprise and identify future opportunities.

Anna has science degrees in Biology from Acadia University (BSc Hon, MSc) and Memorial University (PhD). Her postdoctoral and first faculty appointments were held in Australia at Monash University and Newcastle University, respectively. Anna returned to Nova Scotia and Acadia in 2005 as Associate Professor in Biology and Director of the Acadia Centre for Estuarine Research.

In response to the rising interest in tidal energy development in the Bay of Fundy in the late 2000s, Dr. Redden co-led the establishment of the Fundy Energy Research Network (FERN) in 2009 to assist the province, tidal energy developers and the research community in working collaboratively to address research needs and challenges. In 2012, she co-founded the Acadia Tidal Energy Institute and served as its first Director. The Institute has focused largely on environmental and socio-economic research and outreach associated with tidal energy opportunities and developments. Anna has more than 30 years of ecological research experience in coastal waters, including recent tidal energy environmental studies on the movements of migratory fishes and marine mammals with partners in both industry (tidal energy developers and manufacturers of environmental sensors) and government (provincial and federal).

From 2009-2016, Anna served as an independent Director on the Board of the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE) and has been a Board member of the Offshore Energy Research Association (OERA) of Nova Scotia since 2018. Anna’s involvement in sustainable energy and economic development includes her focused work in 2018 as an invited member of the Task Force for the Just Transition for Canadian Coal-Power Workers and Communities.

Dr. Jeff Taylor

Dr. Jeffrey Taylor joined NSCC as its Associate Vice President of Applied Research and Innovation in June 2016, where he is privileged to oversee thriving entrepreneurship, research, innovation, international and strategic partnership activities at all 14 College Campuses across Nova Scotia. He sits on the National Research Advisory Committee, he is a member of the Steering Committee for the Change Lab Action Research Institute, he’s on the Centre for Marine Applied Research Management Committee, is a member of the Centre for Ocean Ventures & Entrepreneurship Senior Leadership Team, and teaches in Colleges & Institutes Canada’s National Leadership Institute. Prior to NSCC, Jeff worked in various positions in academia at the University of Waterloo, the University of Colorado, the University of Denver, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. He is a graduate of the National Science Foundation’s Leadership Collaboratory Executive Management Program. Jeff and his family live in Halifax.

Jeff White

Jeff White is the President and CEO of the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, an independent corporation with the mandate of developing innovation and entrepreneurship in New Brunswick, where he manages NBIF’s operations, leads its investment activities and actively manages its growing portfolio of venture capital and research investments. Jeff is a technology industry veteran and corporate financing expert and the new face of NBIF.

Jeff was previously, COO of East Valley Ventures, a New Brunswick-based startup accelerator and early-stage investor. White brings a strong track record of success to the NBIF. He was a foundational member of New Brunswick startups that put the province on the world stage, serving as chief financial officer at both Radian6 and Q1 Labs. East Valley Ventures, White mentored many of New Brunswick’s recent startups and scale-ups. He also served as interim CFO for Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, one of five clusters across Canada. The Ocean Superclusters is a major industry-led initiative, supported by the Government of Canada, focused on building on Canada’s ocean-related research capacity, business activity and technology expertise.

Prior to joining NBIF, Jeff worked as CFO at companies like Radian6, Genesys Laboratories Canada and Q1 Labs, interim CFO at Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, and most recently co-founder and COO at East Valley Ventures, the successful New Brunswick-based start-up accelerator and early-stage investor.

Jeff is a St. Francis Xavier University graduate with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). In his time away from work, he loves to coach youth basketball.

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Board of Directors

University Representative members

College representative Member

Private Sector Members

Ex-officio

About our Board members