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The Board of Directors
Dr. Jozef Straus, Chairman
Dr. Jozef Straus, now retired, is the former Chief Executive Officer and co-Chairman of JDS Uniphase Corporation, which formed in July 1999 through the merger of Ottawa-based JDS FITEL Inc. and San Jose, California’s Uniphase Corp. Dr. Straus co-founded JDS FITEL in 1981 and served as Chief Executive Officer and President of the company prior to the merger with Uniphase Corporation. Before 1981, he held various research and management positions related to fiber optic technology at Bell-Northern Research Ltd. and Nortel. He was educated in the Czech Republic at the Czech Technical University in Prague. He received his BSc and PhD degrees, both in Physics, from the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Dr. Straus holds Honorary Doctorates from the University of Alberta, Touro College in New York and the University of Ottawa. He currently serves as the Co-chairman of the Ottawa Hospital’s Legacy Campaign. Dr. Straus has numerous patents, publications and honours to his credit, notably the 2004 NRC/CATA Alliance Innovation & Leadership Lifetime Achievement Award as well as the 2001 Engineering Management Award from the University of Southern California.
Stephen Naor, Chief Executive Officer
Prior to co-founding Group IV, Mr. Naor was COO and VP Operations of Digital Fairway Corporation. He led the enterprise through two rounds of financing, assembling a dynamic team that built momentum with strong revenues in the space of just two years. Mr. Naor has more than 20 years of experience in sales, marketing, product management and R&D. He has held senior and executive management positions at Nortel Networks and Newbridge Networks. He introduced multiple networking products to the Japanese market, headed North American Sales for Nortel's systems integration business and launched that division's business in South America. Mr. Naor holds a Master of Applied Science degree and a Bachelor of Mathematics degree from the University of Waterloo.
Bruce D. Day
Bruce Day sits on the Board of JDS Uniphase, a US$1.4 billion public, California based manufacturer of fiber optic components and telecommunications equipment. He formerly served as Vice President of Corporate Development with Rogers Communications Inc., where he was principally involved in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and taxation, He sits on the independent review committee of the Heritage Educational Foundation, one of Canada’s leading RESP providers, with $1.2 billion of assets under management. He has 10 years of board experience with JDS, Rogers and others, complemented by more than 20 years of senior posts in corporate development, finance and treasury. Bruce held other senior executive positions with Rogers, including Vice President, Finance and Administration with Rogers Wireless and Vice President, Treasurer with Rogers Communications and has played key roles in more than 30 acquisition/divestiture projects valued in excess of $70 billion. Before joining Rogers, Bruce practiced as a Chartered Accountant in both Canada and the USA with Thorne Riddell (predecessor to KPMG). Bruce qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1980 and holds a Bachelors degree in Mathematics from the University of Waterloo.
Louis P. Desmarais
Louis Desmarais is a co-founder and Managing Director of Garage Technology Ventures Canada. He has worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs during his more than 20 years in the financial services and early stage venture capital industry. Before starting Garage Technology Ventures Canada, Louis was a general partner at Skypoint Capital Corporation. He led Skypoint’s fundraising efforts and ran the fund’s Quebec operations. Prior to this, Louis was a partner at Wynnchurch Capital, a $200 million private equity firm based in Chicago and Montreal. Between 1987 and 1999, he managed Desmarais Capital Corporation, assisting early-stage ventures in the technology, transportation and resources industries. Louis began his career as a chartered accountant at Deloitte & Touche, following which he studied law, earning both common and civil law degrees. He practiced with the law firm of McCarthy Tétrault (then Clarkson Tétrault) as a securities lawyer. Louis holds a B. Comm from Carleton University, a Diploma in Public Accountancy from McGill University, and an LL.L. (magna cum laude) and LL.B. from University of Ottawa. He was a member of the Ordre des comptables agrées du Québec from 1981 – 2001 and has been a member of the Quebec Bar since 1986.
Annette Finsterbusch (observer)
Ms. Finsterbusch is an investment manager in the Corporate Business Development group of Applied Materials. She is also a Kauffman Fellow. Formerly, Ms. Finsterbusch was the CEO at MindShadow.com, a technology spin-out of DaimlerChrysler's Research and Technology Center. Prior to that position, Ms. Finsterbusch was an investment manager for DaimlerChrysler Venture Capital. Ms. Finsterbusch also had previously worked for Applied Materials, leading its business development efforts in Russia, Belarus and Armenia and chartering the company's first office in Moscow. Ms. Finsterbusch holds a Bachelor of Science degree in economics and geology from the University of Houston and a Master's in Business Administration from San Jose State University.
Larry Lam
Larry Lam, Director of Technology Seed Investments at BDC, has more than 18 years of experience in the telecommunications, video and semiconductor industries, specializing in research and development, marketing and product management. Prior to joining BDC, Mr. Lam was Director of Marketing at Intelligent Photonics Control. He has held senior positions in various early stage companies including SiCon Video, Symagery Microsystems and Semiconductor Insights. Mr. Lam holds a MBA from Queens University and a Bachelor's in Applied Sciences (Electrical Engineering) from the University of Waterloo.
Dr. Les Levine
Dr. Levine was the co-founder, President and CEO of Fusion Lighting, Inc., a pioneer in high-efficiency electrodeless lighting. He served previously as President and CEO of Fusion Systems Corporation, a successful NASDAQ-listed manufacturer of high-tech capital equipment that was sold for $300 million to Eaton Corporation in 1997. He has also held positions on the board of M Cubed Technologies, a $40 million a year venture-backed advanced materials company, as well as on the High Technology Council of Maryland, the Maryland State Advisory Commission on Manufacturing, and the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics from Columbia University and is currently a Visiting Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania.
Jay C. Shepherd
Mr. Shepherd is an accomplished corporate lawyer specializing in the technology and energy sectors. In his 20-plus years of practice, he has completed more than 400 business deals and has served on many boards of directors and advisory boards of small companies. A well-known figure in Canada’s renewable-energy sector, he received the 1995 Hedley Palmer Award for his contribution to the country’s independent power industry. He received his Masters of Law at the University of Toronto, taught part-time at Osgoode Hall Law School for 11 years, and has published extensively on topics ranging from fiduciaries and tax policy to financing techniques and renewable energy policy.