Meet our alumni

Gary Schubak speaking on the Energy Technology: Spurring Radical Innovation panel at Envision 2019

Sahar Sam

CSO, Solar- Ventures

Dr. Sahar Sam has over 15 years of experience in Materials Science and Engineering, Nanoscience and Nanofabrication. She has a background in researching and developing new ideas and implementing business and marketing strategy, and is the name inventor in four patents.
In February 2020, Dr. Sam started her own company, Solaires Entreprises Inc., doing business as Solar- Ventures, a green technology company with a headquarters in Victoria BC, Canada. As the CSO of Solar- Ventures she is focused on developing and marketing an innovative solar energy harvesting technology, which can help Canada achieve a zero greenhouse gas emission target by making solar energy conversion technology more accessible and affordable. Click here to learn more.

Paulo Trevizoli

Adjunct Professor at Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG, Brazil)

Paulo V. Trevizoli joined IESVic in October 2015 as a Post Doc researcher. Working in collaboration with Prof. Andrew Rowe in Cryofuels Lab, his main research topic was in the experimental and numerical evaluation and optimization of passive thermal regenerators and active magnetic regenerators for heat pumping applications. In 2017, he was the lecturer of the course MECH494 Thermofulds and Introduction to Mass Transfer. Paulo left IESVic in September 2017. Click here for more info.

David Sanborn Scott

After moving to the University of Victoria in 1989, David founded the Institute for Integrated Energy Systems. Under his guidance, and that of many subsequent directors and professors, IESVic has flourished, attracting students from all over the world. David is highly pleased with the accomplishments of so many former students who are carrying on the mission of building sustainable energy systems. Click here for more info.

Gary Schubak

Vice President, Sales and Marketing at Ekona Power Inc.

Gary's thesis research while at IESVic was a techno-economic analysis of propulsion systems for autonomous underwater vehicles, and he was awarded his M.A.Sc. in 1992. His work focused on batteries, closed cycle diesel engines, Stirling engines, and H2 + PEM fuel cells, and by 1994 he was working for Ballard Power Systems. There he led the development of a fuel cell power system for military submarines, with the intent of replacing their lead-acid batteries and diesel engines with a single PEM fuel cell power system that used H2 and O2 storage. The advantages of fuel cells over conventional platforms for submarine application included quiet operation and greatly enhanced submerged endurance. Click here for more info.

Susan Burton

Senior Planner for the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO)

Susan Burton was at IESVic from 2007-2009. Her research focused on the technical and economic effects of integrating wave and tidal stream energy into the Haida Gwaii electrical grid. This included development of an economic dispatch optimization model, characterisation of renewable energy resources, and identification of potential cost and CO₂ savings. Click here for more info.