Brad Wood (HBSc.'89) worked full time with De Beers Canada Inc. for 29 years, starting his career in diamond exploration and progressed through Mineral Evaluation and into Mining.  He has been involved in exploration activities throughout Canada and in Namibia and South Africa.  He was responsible for discovering the first kimberlites in Alberta and on Victoria Island in the Canadian Arctic.  He has spent 2 ½ years in South Africa working at De Beers; Namaqualand Alluvial Diamond Mines as the Divisional Geologist.  Brad has been involved in all stages of the Victor Diamond Mine development in Northern Ontario; from finding the first piece of kimberlite float on the Attawapiskat River in 1987, as a summer student, through the Pre-feasibility and Feasibility stages of evaluation, and into the Construction and Development phases where he held the position of Ore Extraction Manager.  Brad moved to Namibia in September 2014 to take on the position of Mine Manager for Namdeb’s Northern Coastal Mines until 2018, when he moved back to Canada and currently lives in Port Colborne, Ontario. 

From the makers of Jack Box TV this fun online game hosted over zoom has players type in their best response to a prompt and then pits them against each other in a head-to-head battle, while the rest of the players (and audience) vote on their favorite. All you need is your cell phone and either a computer, laptop or tablet.

Join us on Zoom for a fun and informative craft beer and cheese pairing event. Maddie and brewmaster Chris from Couchiching Craft Brewing Co. will talk about the brews, the process and how to pair. Join in the tasting fun by having all the ingredients on hand and ask all of the burning beer questions you have!

Start your day with this 60 minute Facebook Live yoga session with incredible personal health coach Emilie Petras of Wellness Warrior Coach. Tune in to @SimcoeChapter on Facebook and refresh your mind for the rest of the weekend. 

Join us for a celebration of Alumni Award Recipients, Academic All Canadian Athletes, and Student Musicians at this first ever virtual gala.

Jason Grant (B.Sc. Mathematics & Physics '05) has over 20 years’ experience working in technology and operations management as a CTO (Chief Technology Officer) for small business. In terms of academia, Jason has a degree in math and physics, but that doesn’t really matter because it was such a long time ago.

What does matter is that Jason is the founder of The Automated Method, a path-of-least-resistance philosophy and process that allows executives to spend more time focusing on their business, and less time managing the minutiae of it. Working on the business, as opposed to in the business, is modern business design.                        

Jason embodies his work and his process. His minimalism pervades everything he does, which is why he’s obsessed with business intelligence and user experience – namely the efficiency of cloud continuity. When asked what keeps him up at night, his response is commonly, “The robots are coming.”

Brian Ritchie, (P.Eng, MBA '84) an indigenous entrepreneur from Chapleau Cree First nation who is now in the middle of his second software startup. He is the CEO of Kama.AI, an emotionally intelligent conversation enablement platform that can power chabots, Facebook Messenger, mobile phone apps and Alexa Skills.  His entrepreneurship roots go back to his family's hunting and fishing tourist business where he sold wood carvings and polished stones to a captive audience of his dad's clientele. As well as running his own business, Brian also serves on the boards of 3 First Nation corporations and he is an Advisory Board Member on The Ted Rogers School of Business MBA Program.

Shandor Alphonso attended Lakehead University where he played Varsity Hockey for the Thunderwolves from 2005 to 2010 and helped the team capture the OUA Queen’s Cup Championship in 2006. Shandor graduated from Lakehead with a Honours Bachelor of Commerce Degree majoring in Information Systems and he also earned a Master of Business Administration Degree. He started officiating after his playing days were over and he was hired by the NHL in September 2014 where he has been a linesman ever since. 

The GTA Alumni Chapter invites you to join us for rounds of Trivia! Topics include Lakehead, Pop Culture, Toronto and Movies