THIS WEEK IN TECTORIA

A community blog celebrating Victoria's booming tech sector

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Tectorian of the Week: AXYS Group

August 14, 2014 by Nevin Thompson

axys 40

Our Tectorian of the Week is the AXYS Group, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this month.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7f-8RHlo3c]

In many ways, the AXYS Group represents where Greater Victoria’s tech sector has been, and where it’s going. Forty years ago, a tight-knit group of visionaries saw an opportunity and then worked like crazy to take advantage of it.

Along the way, the companies of the AXYS Group have created a whole bunch of new technologies that are helping change the world, have produced a ton of high-paying jobs, and have put Victoria on the map as the location of Canada’s top ocean technology cluster.

Besides attracting talent, the AXYS companies also nurture and produce talent, adding knowledge, wisdom and experience to the Tectoria gene pool.

Privately-held AXYS Group was founded in 1974 and has played a leading role both in the economy of Saanich Peninsula and Greater Victoria.

The founding members of the AXYS Group all had graduate degrees in marine analytical chemistry. Their background and interest in marine science is responsible for the direction the AXYS Group has taken.

Paul Erickson played a key role within the AXYS Group with Seastar Chemicals. Since stepping back from day-to-day operations just over a decade ago, Erickson has turned a personal interest in type 1 diabetes into an active role as a philanthropist involved in funding research to for the hereditary condition. He has been an early stage investor in numerous biotech and technology companies.

David Thomas still serves as the president and chairman of the AXYS Group of companies, while Peter Berrang was the founder and President of Seastar Optics Inc. for 10 years.

Seastar, which manufactured semiconductor laser devices for the telecommunications industry world-wide was sold to SDL Inc. of San Jose, CA., a public company, in Dec. 1995. SDL was subsequently acquired by JDS Uniphase.

AXYS Group company Seastar Chemicals is still a major employer on the Saanich Peninsula, while AXYS Analytical is a world leader in ultra trace analysis of Persistent Organic Pollutants and emerging organic contaminants.

AXYS Technologies, which designs and builds its distinctive yellow marine hardware, is the most recognizable of the companies sharing the local DNA.

The AXYS Technologies legacy began with marine consulting contracts to Environment Canada for wave studies in 1974. This was followed by the design of several marine technology devices in the 1980’s that lead to an opportunity to design, manufacture, install and service Canada’s Marine Weather Buoy Network. Enhancements and improvements to these technologies has been an ongoing mandate in close collaboration with Environment Canada.

In the early 1990’s, AXYS began inventing additional marine technologies in collaboration with the National Research Council (NRC), including the industry-leading TRIAXYS directional wave monitoring buoy. The NRC also assisted financially with development of the next generation WatchMan500™ controller processor.

Over the last twenty years, AXYS Technologies has continued to grow its marine product portfolio and increase market share with major buoy network sales in Italy, Colombia, Spain, Portugal, the United States, and Brazil. AXYS has built and tested over 200 meteorological and oceanographic data buoys of various types.

In the last five years, AXYS Technologies further diversified with the creation of the first commercially-deployed offshore wind resource assessment buoy, as well as hydrological products for freshwater monitoring, and automated weather stations for aviation data.

Other companies in the AXYS Group have also developed a strong reputation for innovation.

In 2005, Atlantic Canada’s Jacques Whitford acquired AXYS Environmental Consulting Ltd. to become one of Canada’s largest environmental and engineering consulting firms. In 2008, engineering services giant Stantec went on to acquire Jacques Whitford – a lot of people all over Canada and the rest of the world are looking at what innovative companies are doing in Tectoria.

With special thanks to ASL’s David Fissel who himself has not only watched the local ocean cluster thrive and grow, but has also played a key role in the process.

Filed Under: Tectorian of the Week

Innovation Elsewhere: Touch+

August 13, 2014 by Tectoria

Innovation Elsewhere has been taken over by Bud’s Weekly Geek-out, a weekly radio spot on the The Zone @ 91-3 sponsored by the folks at Tectoria (that’s us).

bud the zone fm

This week:

Wanna use your desk as a touchpad? Your keyboard? The AIR? Now, you can, with a neat little doohickey called Touch+.

Filed Under: Innovation Elsewhere

Ho Kim: Nominate Yourself or Somebody Else for the VIATeC Board

August 12, 2014 by Tectoria

Don’t miss out! VIATeC’s AGM and board elections are coming up on September 18; the deadline for nominations for board elections is September 5.

Ho Kim, President and CEO of CAMACC Systems and VIATeC board chair explains why participating on the VIATeC board of directors is a great way to give back to your community.

b5-camacckim-jpgPhoto courtesy Adrian Lam, Times Colonist

 

Ho Kim: I run a successful technology company, which means I’m a lot like you.

Okay, I’m probably taller and more Asian than you, but my point is that if you’re involved in the management of a complicated, demanding technology business, you and I have a lot in common.

We’re busy.

Seriously, relentlessly, balls-to-the-wall busy.

One of the things our shared experience tells me about you is that you’re not really looking for more things to add to your days or evenings.

You Only Get Out of Your Community What You Put Into It

That was me, three years ago, before I was nominated for a seat on the VIATeC board. My company had been a member of VIATeC for years. A quiet member, a not-really-interested-in-more-on-our-plate kind of member.

In truth, I was never satisfied with that kind of membership in the local technology community.

I’ve always played team sports, so I know – I know deep in my bones (the ones that ache today because I’ve always played team sports) – that you only get out what you put in.

Like all busy people, I needed a push to participate, an obligation to do what I knew to be right for me and my company and the community.

So I put on my game face, and made the conscious – and a little bit scary – decision to run for a seat on the VIATeC board. It was a great decision.

Connect With Your Community on the VIATeC Board

Being on the board, and sitting as board chair for the past year, has been a great obligation, in that it has obligated me to participate in a surprisingly wide range of VIATeC activities – participation that has helped me and my staff develop, connect, and serve the wider community.

We’re now plugged into sector roundtables, where leaders share experience and learn from each other; social and networking events; promotional events like the technology awards; community service activities like the FoodBank Challenge…

My company and I have benefitted greatly from all of them.

Nominate yourself, or somebody else, for a position on the VIATeC board

I know that you and your company will benefit in the same way, even though you’re busy. Maybe because of it. Let me encourage you to think of yourself, or somebody you know, in terms of the same obligation to participate in VIATeC.

Nominate yourself, or somebody else, for a position on the VIATeC board.

Do it today!

Ho Kim

President and CEO, CAMACC Systems

VIATeC Board Chair

The nomination deadline is September 5, 2014.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Viatec

Innovation Elsewhere: Bud’s Weekly Geek-out

August 7, 2014 by Tectoria

Starting today, Innovation Elsewhere will be taken over by Bud’s Weekly Geek-out, a weekly radio spot on the The Zone @ 91-3 sponsored by the folks at Tectoria (that’s us).

Untitled

This week, Bud discusses how a drone carrying phones, tobacco, and marijuana was found outside the Lee Correctional Institution in South Carolina.

Filed Under: Innovation Elsewhere

Tectorian of the Week: Erin Athene

August 7, 2014 by Nevin Thompson

erin

Our Tectorian of the Week for August 8th is Erin Athene.

As an Executive in Residence at Accelerate Tectoria, Erin is a well-known wise and friendly face in Victoria’s community of technology startups.

Erin has been there, and has done it all, which helps her guide, coach and grow ambitious early-stage technology entrepreneurs to continue the ongoing astounding growth of Victoria’s tech sector.

Erin brings nearly two decades of experience in a variety of roles, from management consulting to business development, communications, entrepreneurship, investor relations, and launching start-ups.

Erin’s Twitter feed is a great place to catch bite-sized portions of her vast knowledge and ask her any questions about entrepreneurialism you might have.

But what makes Erin our Tectorian of the Week?

A fellow mentor has this to say about Erin:

  • She’s busy, but always available to help.
  • She possesses a wealth of life experience allowing her to see things from multiple perspectives, with a sense of compassion and empathy.
  • She’s passionate and committed to making a difference in her community.

A prime example of Erin’s community-building attributes is her role as a champion of the Victoria chapter of Ladies Learning Code, aka “LLC.”

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LLC is a Canada-wide not-for-profit group that is working to empower everyone to feel comfortable learning beginner-friendly technical skills in a social, collaborative way.

The Victoria chapter will hold an “Introduction to HTML & CSS Workshop” on September 27 at MediaCore and is designed for absolute beginners.

Says Erin: “We need to raise $1000 to show that there is enough community interest to support offering workshops in Victoria. All proceeds will be used for direct expenses required for the workshops, and extra funds will go towards scholarships for women who cannot afford the $50 workshop fee. ”

The Tilt campaign has so far raised $600, with 15 days left to go.

Update from Erin:

We’ve already hit our $1000 target, so our stretch goal is to raise $5000, because every donation is doubled thanks to VIATeC’s generous offer to match $5000!

To hit our stretch goal, we’re looking for 7 tech companies to donate $500 each, or 70 individual supporters to donate $50 (the cost of 1 workshop participant)! We’ve already raised $1100 with 14 more days to go!  We can do this Victoria!

Contribute to LLC Victoria’s Tilt Campaign here.

The end goal? Helping create new technology entrepreneurs; high-growth businesses – Erin’s passion.

In 2007, Erin co-founded Topaz Bridge Corporation, an enterprise software company providing HR applications connecting SAP to Microsoft Sharepoint, to save Fortune 500 companies millions of dollars in SAP customization costs.

Topaz grew from conception to first multi-million dollar customer acquisition, to a valuation of over $20M after only 17 months in business. Erin was primarily responsible for fundraising and investor relations, raising $1.4M in Seed and Series A financing rounds, closing by Q4 2008.

Erin has gone on to found business development startup MarketplaceREV Partners and, most recently Purpose Social Media, a coaching resource to support social enterprises, faith-based initiatives, and causes of global and local significance who want support with their online messaging, visibility and digital marketing strategy.

So, Erin is a high-energy individual with a strong community focus and a laser-focus on helping fledgling entrepreneurs cross the chasm and take their game to the next level.

Which is exactly what every Tectorian really ought to be.

Filed Under: Tectorian of the Week

Innovation Elsewhere: GBA4iOS

July 31, 2014 by Tectoria

game boy

You can play every Game Boy Advance game on your iPhone right now, thanks to GBA4iOS from developer Riley Testut.

Using a loophole in Apple’s app installation systems, this emulator can easily be installed on any iOS device, for free. There is a slight (but seemingly easily) trick you must do to your iPhone settings. After you perform the hack, you can download the app directly from the GBA4iOS website.

The emulator with full support for Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy itself, plus accelerated speed and Dropbox syncing for saves between multiple devices.

We’re not sure if this conforms to the App Store’s terms of service (so watch out) but if you’re missing your long-lost Game Boy this may be fun to play with!

Filed Under: Innovation Elsewhere

Tectorian of the Week: Eric Jordan

July 31, 2014 by Nevin Thompson

 

Eric Jordan, Codename Entertainment

Eric Jordan is our Tectorian of the Week for August 1, 2014.

The CEO of Victoria gaming company Codename Entertainment (formerly known as DJ Arts) is an archetypal Tectoria success story:

Eric got his start in a computer lab at UVic in the mid-90’s where he helped co-found PureEdge Solutions.

By the time the home-grown software company was acquired by IBM in 2005, PureEdge had 70 employees and 5 million users.

Following the acquistion, Eric took a year off to travel the world with his family. But Eric came back to Victoria, and has been committed to making our community a better place every since.

How?

Eric helps out in a lot of ways. For example, he’s a board member of the Cool Aid Society and is the co-chair (along with Victoria mayor Dean Fortin) of the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness.

The Coalition’s mission?

By 2018, all people facing homelessness in Victoria will have access to safe, affordable, appropriate, permanent housing.

The Victoria region has built a considerable number of supportive and affordable housing units since 2008, but the Coalition estimates that at least 1,500 units of affordable housing and more than 250 supportive housing units are still needed to end homelessness in Greater Victoria.

If you want to join Eric and the Coalition on their mission to end homelessness, get involved.

In fact, Eric has always tried to help out his local community, including a decade ago when as chair of the VIATeC board of directors, he helped launch the VIATeC Food Bank Challenge.

The Food Bank Challenge has since grown into a massively successful Tectoria community campaign that has collected more than $1.5 million so far to help out the more than 20,000 individuals in Victoria who rely on a food bank each year to avoid going hungry.

More recently, after serving as president of the Premier’s Technology Council, where he had the opportunity to educate senior levels of government about the important role tech companies play in BC’s economy, Eric has returned to his roots to lead a successful high-growth company right here in Victoria.

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You should know that Eric is also all about games, both online and IRL with his family and friends (a certain Tectoria blog writer has even received useful parenting tips from Eric about how to “gameify” household chores so that the kids will actually do them).

This makes him the perfect choice to lead Codename Entertainment. The growing company is part of Victoria’s booming gaming industry, and has created a ton of cool titles that gamers all over the world can play on Facebook, Kongregate, BigFish and more.

Always ready to help build community, Eric sits on the Video Game Round Table, and is organizing the Video Game Startup Boot Camp here in Victoria on October 17.

Eric is working with VIATeC and IGDA to create a structured, intensive day-long workshop to connect local Tectorian teams and individuals with industry experts to put together a business plan.

The goal? To build a video game company right here in Victoria and help this vibrant sector continue to grow.

And, of course, as a technology veteran and a member of the gaming community, Eric can be counted on to participate in events like OrcaJam and GottaCon that mix gaming, technology, and the creative industries.

That’s a lot of community involvement! Thanks, Eric!

Eric has done a lot of other cool things in his life, and we know he will continue to accomplish a lot. And we also know he’ll always be here, helping make Tectoria a true community.

Filed Under: Tectorian of the Week Tagged With: featured

Hasbro Launches 3D Printing for Fan Art

July 23, 2014 by Tectoria

BrianHarris_Spike_front

Hasbro has a new idea about how to make money off fan art: 3D-print it. The company has launched a new site called SuperFanArt where My Little Pony fans can buy figurines designed by non-professional artists, created on-demand by Shapeways.

Anyone with a eye for design is encouraged to contact Hasbro to join the list of approved artists.

Hasbro, which owns My Little Pony, Transformers and many other popular toy brands, would start with My Little Pony with other toy lines proposed in the future. Five individual artists that have almost total control over how they design products with Hasbro’s pony toy line. Over time, more brands and artists will be added to the website, which was launched to coincide with Comic-Con.

The marketplace Hasbro is hoping to create is similar to Etsy, a website where more than 19,000 My Little Pony and 4,700 Transformers items are currently listed. Many of those items are made by sellers that likely aren’t paying Hasbro a licensing fee, and so by creating its own marketplace, the toy company can compete with those sellers.

Filed Under: Innovation Elsewhere

Tectorian of the Week: Laura Meyer

July 23, 2014 by Nevin Thompson

laura meyer starfish

Laura Meyer of StarFish Medical is our Tectorian of the week.

Laura is StarFish Medical’s supply chain manager, her background is in electro-optics, and she has also built aircraft for several years. She’s a Lean facilitator, which means Laura helps optimize supply chains, and she’s happy to share her expertise with other supply chain and manufacturing managers in Victoria.

In fact, a true Tectorian, Laura volunteers her time to organize the VIATeC Supply Chain Round Table. Collaborating with peers across different companies to share best practices and build a strong tech community is the Tectorian way, so thanks Laura!

Before arriving in Victoria nearly a year ago, Laura worked all over the world managing and then building supply chains for advanced manufacturing companies like StarFish Medical, Victoria’s well-known medical device design, development and manufacturing company.

StarFish clients are often entrepreneurs bringing new concepts to life. Laura’s job is to help engineers source or create standard products that turn concepts into prototypes and eventually medical devices. Laura also supports ViVitro Labs, a StarFish Group company which is itself well-known within its global industry for designing and providing cardiovascular device testing equipment and lab services.

What makes Laura such a pleasure to work with?

“She brought the promise of adding experience and energy to the manufacturing and supply chain team. Eight months later she has delivered on all counts,” says Jason Dolynny, StarFish’s Director of Manufacturing.

“Recently Laura helped transfer entire existing supply chain from a Calgary manufacturer into our operations,” says Jason. “The medical device involves 30 vendors and the task was completed in 3 months. Laura works so closely with the client that her counterpart in Calgary feels completely aware and trusts the StarFish team completely.”

Once again, a Tectorian is helping put our community on the map as a place where idea grow. We’re happy Laura has come here to share her experience and drive, and look forward to seeing what she does in the future!

Filed Under: Tectorian of the Week

Innovation Elsewhere: Name Your Own Exoplanet!

July 15, 2014 by Tectoria

exoplanetsIf you ever wanted your own planet, now’s your chance.

The International Astronomical Union has invited the public to suggest official names for 20 to 30 planets found outside of our solar system.

See the invite here.

Over 1800 exoplanets have been discovered (1810 planets in 1125 planetary systems including 466 multiple planetary systems.

Astronomy clubs around the world will vote for which of 305 well-studied worlds they feel deserve more exciting names.

Once the list has been nailed down to 20 or 30, the clubs will be invited to suggest names for them through citizen science organisation Zooniverse. But there are strict rules. You can’t suggest anything copyrighted, or anything named after a living person or a person known for political, military or religious activities. Names of pet animals are also forbidden.

To suggest a name, you’ll need to be a member of an astronomical club. Or form one, make a website, and register the group with the IAU as soon as possible.

Filed Under: Innovation Elsewhere

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