Previous Keynotes
The CUTC has had the priviledge to host many distinguished member of industry and academia as its keynotes. We would like to thank them all for participating and helping us bring the future of technology that much closer.
Please select a former keynote from the menu on the right.
Mike Lazaridis
Founder, President and Co-CEO
Research in Motion
Mike Lazaridis is President and Co-CEO of Research In Motion, a company he founded while a student at the University of Waterloo, Canada. At RIM, Mike is responsible for product strategy, research and development, product development, and manufacturing.
Mike is known in the global wireless community as a visionary, innovator, and engineer of extraordinary talent. Since founding RIM he has earned more than thirty patents and dozens of industry and community awards for his innovations in wireless radio technology and software.
Mike supports his community and country through generous philanthropic gifts made possible by his success in business. His most noted commitment established Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in 2000. In its short history, Perimeter has established itself as a leading centre for fundamental research and has attracted the attention of the world's scientific community.
In recognition of his leadership and innovation Mike was named Canada's Nation Builder of the Year for 2002 by readers of The Globe and Mail. He holds an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from the University of Waterloo and in June 2003 was named the University's 8th Chancellor.
Brian Arbogast
Corporate Vice President, Windows Live Platform Development
Microsoft Corp.
Brian Arbogast is corporate vice president of the Windows Live Platform Development Group in the Microsoft Platforms and Services Division. His teams are responsible for developing the core technology behind Windows Live communications services, including mail, calendar, contacts, storage, instant messaging and VoIP functionality. He is also responsible for extending Live services to mobile devices and partners with network operators around the world to bring these compelling services to consumers. Finally, his teams are also focused on building a broad developer ecosystem around the Windows Live platform.
Arbogast joined Microsoft in 1986 as a software developer. He was a technical lead on Access 1.0, after which he left Microsoft and traveled extensively. He returned 15 months later as the group manager for Access, and in 1996 built and led the team that delivered Visual InterDev® 1.0. He gained responsibility for Visual Studio® in 1997, Visual Basic® for Applications (VBA) and Office Developer in 1998, and MSDN® in 1999. He was promoted to corporate vice president in early 2000 and has been helping Microsoft deliver compelling Web services to customers ever since.
Arbogast holds a Bachelor’s of Mathematics degree in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.
Bradley Horowitz
Director of Technology Development, Search & Marketplace Group
Yahoo!
Bradley Horowitz, director of technology development, is responsible for leading Yahoo!’s efforts in building innovative search technologies. Bradley’s expertise helps drive initiatives that enable the company to provide comprehensive and compelling offerings to customers. Previously he managed a portfolio of products for Yahoo!, including media search, desktop search and the Yahoo! Toolbar.
Prior to joining Yahoo!, Bradley served as both the chief technical officer and the vice president of engineering for the Virage division of Autonomy, where he was responsible for the technical delivery of five major product lines. Prior to Autonomy, he founded Virage, the company widely recognized as the market creator and leader for advanced media indexing and analysis. Bradley helped grow the company from “a garage startup” through its NASDAQ IPO.
Bradley was a PhD candidate at the MIT Media Lab. While at the Media Lab, he worked on a number of topics related to computer vision, graphics and image processing, which resulted in a patented new technique for the recovery of structure, motion and camera parameters from video sequences. Bradley holds an MS in Media Science from MIT and a BS in Computer Science from the University of Michigan.
Rosaleen Citron
Chief Executive Officer
WhiteHat
Rosaleen Citron is the Chief Executive Officer of WhiteHat Inc., an industry leading Information Technology Security Provider. Ms. Citron oversees the overall vision of the company within marketing, partnerships, alliance programs and supplier relationships. She is actively involved in the public, media and corporate awareness programs helping our partners and the public to understand the need for security in today’s high-tech marketplace.
Compelling, dynamic and informative describes one of Canada’s top women executives in high tech. Ms. Citron is engaged by publications for her insight and expertise in publications such as the Globe and Mail, the Business Journal, the Wall Street Journal and numerous technology trade publications.
Before being named as Chief Executive Officer of WhiteHat Inc., Ms. Citron gained valuable experience with one of the worlds largest Enterprise Software Providers and ISS Technologies Inc., a Bell Canada subsidiary. In 1993, with two decades of experience in the Canadian software industry, Ms. Citron founded 4comm Inc. as a computer security solutions vendor. With her customer support philosophies, extensive experience and industry knowledge she was instrumental in pioneering enterprise-wide security solutions for Fortune 500's in a specialized market sector in its infancy.
As an active member of the Computer Security Institute (CSI), the Information System Security Association (ISSA), and the Women’s Executive Network, Ms. Citron is actively pursued for speaking engagements throughout North America.
Ms. Citron is amongst the Profit and Chatelaine Top 100 Women Business Owners for the past several years and has been nominated for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Profit Magazine had nominated Ms. Citron as Canadian Woman Entrepreneur of the Year. Most recently CRN Magazine, names Rosaleen Citron #2 in the 5 Canadian Innovators worth Watching in 2005.
Werner Vogels
Vice President and CTO
Amazon.com Inc.
Dr. Werner Vogels is Vice President & Chief Technology Officer at Amazon.com where he is responsible for driving the company's technology vision, which is to continuously enhance the innovation on behalf of Amazon's customers at a global scale.
Prior to joining Amazon, he worked as a research scientist at Cornell University where he was a principal investigator in several research projects that target the scalability and robustness of mission-critical enterprise computing systems. He has held positions of VP of Technology and CTO in companies that handled the transition of academic technology into industry.
Vogels holds a Ph.D. from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam and has authored close to 80 articles for journals and conferences, most of them on distributed systems technologies for enterprise computing.
Adrian Hartog
CTO
ATI
Adrian Hartog is Chief Technology Officer as well as Senior Vice President and General Manager, Consumer Business Unit, ATI Technologies Inc. Mr. Hartog is responsible for the overall management of ATI’s research and development as well as its consumer products business unit worldwide, including business operations, distribution and marketing.
As head of all ATI research and development programs for the past 15 years, Mr. Hartog built ATI’s technical team from five to 850 engineers. During that time Mr. Hartog was responsible for designing and managing the design of complex application specific integrated circuits, including 2D and 3D graphics controllers, digital video devices, digital audio and communication system-on-chip (SOC) devices, and general purpose processors. Mr. Hartog was the chief architect of ATI’s first, second, and third generation graphics accelerators and is the holder of seven patents. From 1998 to 2000 he managed ATI’s semiconductor business and enabled ATI to become a world leader in the PC graphics market segment.
Mr. Hartog holds a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Toronto.
Glenn T. Edens
Senior Vice President
Sun Microsystems Laboratories
With an extensive background as a researcher, entrepreneur, corporate strategist and consultant in telecommunications, entertainment and information technology, Glenn Edens directs Sun's Communications, Media, and Entertainment business as well as research and development at Sun Labs.
In 1979, Edens co-founded Grid Systems Corporation, the company that developed the first laptop computer. In 1985, Glenn founded WaveFrame Corporation, which developed the first all-digital audio workstations for the motion picture, television and recording industries. WaveFrame received an Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in for its pioneering work in digital audio.
From 1992-1998, Edens was at Interval Research Corporation in Palo Alto, managing research and the transfer of technology into Vulcan Venture's portfolio companies. As president of AT&T Strategic Ventures (1998-2001), Glenn also served as VP of Broadband Technology for AT&T Laboratories. From May 2001 to September 2002, Glenn served as vice president, Chief Strategic Technology, for Hewlett-Packard. He has also held positions at NBI, Apple Computer, National Semiconductor and Xerox Corporation.
Edens is a member of ACM, IEEE and the Audio Engineering society. He has served on several boards of directors for non-profits and public corporations, most recently F5 Networks and ZeroOne, the art and technology network.
Craig Young
Global Research Centre Program Manager (AE)
General Electric
Mr. Young is currently the Manager, GE-Aviation Research Programs at GE Global Research. He is also a certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt and is responsible for setting the long-term technology development strategy, the execution, and the transition to product of over $100M in GE technologies each year.
Mr. Young was born in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, but grew up in south Florida. Following high school he recieved his Machinist Certification and worked briefly in the packaging industry. Mr. Young served in the U.S. Army Infantry and was awarded the Army's Green-to-Gold Scholarship. Upon leaving the Army, Mr. Young began studies at the University of Florida. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Florida and accepted a job at Pratt & Whitney's Government Engine and Space Propulsion business in West Palm Beach, Florida as a space shuttle performance systems engineer. In 1995, Mr. Young accepted a role as an design engineer at GE Aircraft Engines in Cincinnati, Ohio. He has served as a design engineer in combustion design, turbine airfoil design, product support engineering, field service engineering, and systems engineering. In 2000 he was named Manager, GE90 Combustion Design and was responsible for design of the GE90-115B engine combustion system design. In 2002, he was named Manager, Mechanical Systems for the CF34-10A engine which was selected to power the Chinese Advanced Regional Jet for the 21st century. In 2004, Mr. Young was named to his current role as Manager, GE-Aviation Research Programs for GE Global Research in Niskayuna, New York.
Doug Cooper
Country Manager
Intel Canada
Doug Cooper is the Country Manager for Intel of Canada Ltd. He reports into the Americas Sales and Marketing Group. He has been with Intel since 1983.
Cooper graduated from the University of Waterloo in 1981 as an electrical engineer. He began his career with Intel as an applications engineer, working to help engineers at companies across Canada incorporate Intel technologies into their products. With Intel´s acquisition of the Sarnoff Labs in Princeton, New Jersey, Cooper expanded his scope, helping to take Intel Digital Video Interactive technology (DVI) to broadcast and multimedia organizations across the country.
Cooper also helped create an Intel FP500 program in which he served as the technology liaison to the IT departments of some of Canada´s most influential companies. His engineering background and knack for simplifying the inherently complex has allowed him to develop strong business relationships with the IT managers of top corporations.
In 1995, Cooper took over responsibility for all of Intel Canada´s marketing activities. In 2000, he was appointed Director of Marketing for both Canada and Latin America assuming the challenge of developing marketing directions for both these regions. Today he assumes a broader role as Intel´s Canadian Country Manager expanding the company's Sales and Marketing activities as well as developing the role of Government Affairs liaison.
Professor John Polanyi, P.C., C.C., F.R.S.
Website
John Polanyi, educated at Manchester University, England, was a postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University, U.S.A. and the National Research Council, Canada. He is presently a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Toronto. His research is on the molecular motions in chemical reactions in gases and at surfaces. He is a Fellow of the Royal Societies of Canada (F.R.S.C.), of London (F.R.S.), and of Edinburgh (F.R.S.E.), also of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the Pontifical Academy of Rome and the Russian Academy of Sciences. He is a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada (P.C.), and a Companion of the Order of Canada (C.C.). His awards include the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the Royal Medal of the Royal Society of London, and over thirty honorary degrees from six countries.
He has served on the Prime Minister of Canada's Advisory Board on Science and Technology, the Premier's Council of Ontario, as Foreign Honorary Advisor to the Institute for Molecular Sciences, Japan, and as Honorary Advisor to the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, Germany.
He was a founding member of both the Committee on Scholarly Freedom of the Royal Society, and a further international human rights organization, the Canadian Committee for Scientists and Scholars, of which he is the current President. Additionally he was the founding Chairman of the Canadian Pugwash Group in 1960, and has been active for 40 years in International Pugwash. He has written extensively on science policy, the control of armaments, and peacekeeping. He is co-editor of a book, 'The Dangers of Nuclear War', and was a participant in the recent 'Canada 21' study of a 21st century defence posture for Canada. He was co-chair (with Sir Brian Urquhart) of the Department of Foreign Affairs International Consultative Committee on a Rapid Response Capability for the United Nations.
David E. Orton,
Executive Vice President - Visual and Media Business
AMD
Dave Orton is Executive Vice President of Visual and Media Businesses at AMD. In this role, Mr. Orton is responsible for the overall strategy and operational activities of AMD´s newest business organization, the Visual and Media Businesses, comprising the chipset, graphics processor, and consumer electronics groups.
Prior to joining AMD, Dave served as President and Chief Executive Officer of ATI Technologies. He came to ATI in April 2000 as a result of the company´s acquisition of ArtX, Inc., where Mr. Orton had served as President and Chief Executive Officer. Initially filling the role of President and COO, in June 2004 Mr. Orton succeeded founder KY Ho as CEO of ATI Technologies.
Before ArtX, Dave served in a number of senior management roles at SGI, including Senior Vice President & General Manager, Visual Systems Group, and Senior Vice President & General Manager, Scalable Systems. He also worked in the graphics and semiconductor industry with General Electric and Bell Laboratories. Mr. Orton holds several patents in the graphics and computer architecture areas.
Mr. Orton earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and Economics at Wake Forest University and a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Duke University.
Peter Hortensius
Senior Vice President - Notebook Business Unit
Lenovo
Dr. Peter D. Hortensius, joined Lenovo in May 2005 as Senior Vice President for worldwide product development and was appointed Senior Vice President for the Notebook Business Unit of Lenovo in October 2005.Before joining Lenovo, Dr. Hortensius was the Vice President, Products and Offerings, for IBM´s Personal Computing Division. He spent 17 years with IBM and has extensive expertise in product and technology research and development.
Before moving to Raleigh, North Carolina, he spent 10 years working at IBM´ renowned T.J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York, and is the holder of 10 patents. He holds a doctorate degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Manitoba in Canada, which he received in 1988.
Roger Skubowius
Engineering Manager
Google
Roger Skubowius received his M.Math, Universitty of Waterloo, 1994, B.Math, University of Waterloo, 1991. Roger came to Google through the acquisition of Reqwireless - a wireless software company he started in 2001. Roger currently manages Google's engineering office in Waterloo, Canada.

Mike Lazaridis
Brian Arbogast
Bradley Horowitz
Rosaleen Citron
Werner Vogels
Adrian Hartog
Glenn T. Edens
Craig Young
Doug Cooper
John Polanyi
David Orton
Peter Hortensius
Roger Skubowius