Canada West Defence & Dual-Use Research and Innovation Forum

With a doctoral degree in international affairs (Carleton University, 2017) and over a decade of professional experience in the Canadian defence and security sector, Gaëlle combines operational expertise, strategic leadership, and extensive research experience.

Prior to CDAI, Gaëlle was a strategic analyst with DRDC where she closely worked with the RCN, the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, and the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado Springs. She is an affiliated expert with the European Center of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats and was a Fulbright research fellow in the International Security Program at the Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

Major Dugald Thomson is a CAF officer and underwater acoustics specialist based in Victoria, BC. He joined the CAF in 2000, completed electrical engineering at the Royal Military College of Canada, and served in maritime air operations, including experience flying on the CP-140 Aurora. He later specialized in ocean acoustics, completing a Master’s in Acoustical Oceanography at the University of Victoria in 2012 and a PhD in underwater acoustics at Dalhousie University in December 2025. 

He currently works with DRDC on underwater sensing technology development, with a focus on passive acoustic monitoring, acoustic data exploitation, and machine learning. His work includes DeepPAM, a deep learning–based passive acoustic monitoring capability for maritime detection, classification, and analysis.He brings operational credibility and technical depth to discussions on maritime security, ocean technology, AI-enabled sensing, and responsible underwater operations in British Columbia and beyond.

Roz Seyednejad is an entrepreneur, investor, business leader, and advisor with over 25 years of experience in engineering, technology commercialization, government funding, and business growth. She is the Founder and CEO of Stratesol, a Canadian consulting firm that has helped innovation-driven companies with government funding and incentives, with expertise in SR&ED, grants, defence and dual-use programs, and Industrial and Technological Benefits.

Roz is also part of the leadership team at SenseNet, an AI-enabled wildfire detection and situational awareness company, and is a mentor with CDL, supporting companies in the defence and dual-use technology sector. A UBC engineering graduate with an Executive MBA from SFU, Roz serves as Chair of the Dean’s Advisory Council for UBC Applied Science and is actively involved in Canada’s technology, innovation, and defence ecosystems.

Akshay Singh is the University of British Columbia's inaugural Director, Research Security. Starting in this role in September 2023, Akshay is responsible for building and maintaining a robust research security program that sets researchers up for success as they navigate a range of security considerations. 

Akshay has over fifteen years of practical experience in international relations, national security and intelligence-related policy matters and research. He has a B.A. and M.A. in Political Science from Simon Fraser University, where he focused on international security, trade, and Canadian policy issues. Akshay wrote his final M.A. research project on the topic of formulating a pragmatic China policy for Canada and researches the implications of a shift of international power to the Indo-Pacific, with a specific focus on the opportunities and challenges this shift provides Canada.

Dr. Roza Bidshahri is Senior Manager of Canada's Immuno-Engineering and Biomanufacturing Hub (CIEBH) at UBC, where she helps set strategic direction and builds partnerships across academia, industry and government. Before CIEBH, Roza spent more than seven years at AbCellera. She joined in 2016, when it was an early-stage startup, and stayed through its IPO and growth to more than 600 people. Her roles spanned R&D, leadership and business development. During that time she worked under DARPA's Pandemic Prevention Platform (P3) program, which aimed to compress the timeline from pathogen detection to protective antibodies down to weeks. 

Roza holds a BSc from the UBC–BCIT Biotechnology Program and an industrial PhD in Biomedical Engineering from UBC, where she developed ultra-sensitive diagnostic technologies. She focuses on platform innovation, venture creation, and the partnerships that turn breakthrough science into real-world capability.

Founder and currently CEO of TerraSense Analytics, as well as a founding member of the CRWN.ai board of directors, Jozsef Hamari is responsible for the company’s technology leadership, building the engineering team and driving technical and product vision. 

Prior to taking on the role of CEO in 2025, Jozsef worked as the CTO of the company and brings expertise in intelligent sensor system design, artificial intelligence and machine learning software development and deployment, as well as remote sensing and data fusion. He has experience in remote sensing and data processing, including remote sensing in the fields of airborne sensing, forest management, and wildfire management.

TerraSense is a defence tech company focused on computer vision AI/ML and autonomy in the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance domain on air, land, and sea. The company has delivered numerous defence contracts, works closely with Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, and BAE Systems, and has a longstanding R&D partnership with UBC.

Jozsef earned both of his degrees from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

Dr. Bernd Althusmann has been heading the KAS office in Canada since November 2024. From 2013 to 2016, he served as the head of the KAS office in Namibia and Angola, based in Windhoek, where he supervised three EU projects as part of the country program and relaunched the Windhoek Dialogue for young African politicians from various Sub-Saharan countries in 2015. Before joining the foundation, he served as Minister of Education and State Secretary in Lower Saxony from 2009 to 2013.

Following his return to Lower Saxony state politics in 2016 as state chairman of the CDU in Lower Saxony, Bernd Althusmann served as Minister for Economic Affairs, Labor, Transport, and Digitalization, as well as Deputy Minister President of Lower Saxony. Until mid-2024, he was a member of the CDU Germany’s presidium for six years and a long-standing member of the state parliament. Dr. Bernd Althusmann earned his doctoral degree at the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences at the University of Potsdam while working part-time. He also successfully studied business administration and pedagogy. His professional career began in 1986 as an officer in the German Armed Forces.

Dr. Adam Clare is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair. Specializing in advanced manufacturing, additive technologies, and surface engineering, his work bridges cutting-edge research and commercial impact. As lead of the Asymmetric Last Line (ALL) research accelerator at UBC, Dr. Clare active drives technology translation, supporting university spin-offs, de-risking deep-tech innovation, and collaborating with industry partners across aerospace, biomedical, and energy sectors.

Dr. Adrien Desjardins is a Professor jointly appointed in the Departments of Electrical & Computer Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Holding a PhD from MIT/Harvard, his research focuses on imaging, optical sensing, photonics, ultrasound, and autonomous robotics across medical and marine applications. Bringing direct entrepreneurial experience as a venture co-founder (including Echopoint Medical) and former industry senior scientist, Dr. Desjardins excels at bridging academic deep-tech with real-world commercial impact.

Dr. Bungay is a Professor in the School of Nursing and the Associate Dean, Research and Graduate Studies at the Faculty of Applied Science at UBC. She has previously served as Associate Director, Research and Teaching Scholarship (2022-2024) and Associate Director, Strategic Initiatives (2018-2021) in the School. She brings a wealth of research experience, strong leadership skills, and a proven track record of fostering inter-professional collaboration and networking. Her deep understanding of tri-council funding agencies and industry, along with her knowledge of the role of research in a research-intensive university makes her well positioned to support and advance our strategic priorities. 

Colin is currently the Acting Dean in the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science. Prior academic and administrative positions include Associate Dean Research, professor of mechanical engineering, Canada Research Chair and Visiting Research Fellow at the National University of Singapore.

Grounded in an engineering physics background, Colin’s more recent research initiatives have been in the areas of optical sensors, machine vision, instrumentation, automation and mechatronics. His research work has also involved national and international research collaborations with partners across Canada, the USA, Europe and Japan.

Mark Thibodeau serves as the Director of Sonar Systems at General Dynamics Mission Systems–Canada. With over two decades of experience at the forefront of Underwater Warfare innovation, he has consistently advanced the capabilities of this critical defence domain. 

Mark joined General Dynamics in 2006 as a Senior Engineer, where he and his team engineered the foundational code for what would evolve into a state-of-the-art mission system currently deployed by the Royal Canadian Navy. In his current, Mark leads a team focused on advancing Distributed Anti-Submarine Warfare capabilities for Canadian and allied naval forces.

Mark holds an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from Dalhousie University and is a licensed Professional Engineer in Nova Scotia. He also completed an Executive MBA from the University Ottawa’s Telfer School of Business in 2019. 

Lucas Bjorgan is a Senior Economic Advisor with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada’s Western Regional Office. In this role, he serves as the regional lead for British Columbia and Yukon’s defence and dual-use technology sectors. His expertise in defence and economic policy is informed by applied experience at ISED and other federal departments, including supporting domestic firms in leveraging the Industrial and Technological Benefits Policy and the Aerospace Regional Recovery Initiative at Pacific Economic Development Canada, and advancing international trade and investment through Global Affairs Canada’s Trade Commissioner Service. Lucas holds a Master of Public Policy from Simon Fraser University.

Rob is the Head of Growth and a founding executive at Dominion Dynamics, where he leads the development of a dual-use network that integrates multi-domain products into a sovereign data fabric to enhance Canada’s security and close critical technology gaps. Rob leads Dominion’s product expansion across Aerospace, Maritime, Land, Space, and Cyber, while building international partnerships across government and industry. 

Previously, he was Director of Business Development and Government Relations at Sanctuary AI, where he led partnerships with major enterprises including Microsoft, Nvidia, and Accenture, and secured over $32M in government funding. Including partnerships in Physical AI and Robotics with global OEMs. 

A 20-year veteran of Canada’s Department of National Defence, Rob spent a decade with the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM) leading technology-focused teams on national and international missions and directing programs that advanced AI and autonomous ISR capabilities.