iLaunch

Alumni and employer speakers

• Monday, May 3

  For Monday's session, alumni and employer speakers will be discussing techniques for new graduates and pathways to career success with a focus on business and information technology. 

  Alumni speakers

  Danyal Sardar, BCom, CPA

  Danyal graduated from the Ontario Tech University Accounting program in 2015 and is now a Chartered Professional Accountant with years of experience in both public and private sectors. Danyal is currently a Senior Auditor with the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario, where they lead performance audits for the province. During their time on campus, they were involved with Ontario Tech's Accounting Association, DECA and worked as a peer mentor. Danyal is a huge soccer fan and has attended matches in England, Spain, and the USA.

  Victor Cho

  Victor graduated from Ontario Tech in 2015 and currently works as a Technical Solutions Architect at Cisco Meraki. Victor has held roles in customer support, product management, sales engineering, and leadership. After beginning his career in San Francisco, California, he now resides in Frederick, Maryland, with his wife and two puppies. In his spare time, he loves to cook and eat. He is currently trying to perfect Neapolitan Pizza at home.

  Tyler Turecki

  Tyler graduated from Ontario Tech University with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 2017. Tyler is currently a Charted Insurance Professional (CIP) Candidate and also holds a Canadian Securities License from the Canadian Securities Institute. Tyler joined AonRe as a Senior Broker on the Canadian Treaty Team in November 2020. Prior to that, he worked in a relationship management capacity at Willis Towers Watson on their Complex Corporate Accounts team. His responsibilities include working closely with Canadian Insurer clients to place both proportional and non-proportional reinsurance treaties in the domestic and global marketplace. By utilizing AonRe’s global footprint, Tyler works closely with colleagues in London, Bermuda and mainland Europe. He prepares reinsurance market submissions, negotiates terms and conditions with reinsurers, evaluates quotations to determine recommended pricing as well as drafts and delivers client presentations to the C-Suite of major domestic Insurers.

  Employer speaker

  Madison Harry from Labatt and Scott Robbins from Nelson Industrial, Inc.

• Tuesday, May 4

  Alumni and employer speakers for Tuesday's session will be discussing techniques for new graduates and pathways to career success with a focus on engineering. 

  Alumni speaker

  Miguel Santiago

  Miguel is a graduate of Ontario Tech with an Honours Bachelor Degree in Mechanical Engineering. As a student, Miguel was involved in various student organizations, primarily the Engineering Student's Society and the Ontario Tech Student Union. With this experience, Miguel earned an internship with Ontario Power Generation as a Project Coordinator in the Darlington Nuclear Units Refurbishment and continues to work for OPG, where he hopes to complete the Refurbishment Project. Miguel has an interest in graphic design, which includes photography and video editing.

  Employer speaker

  Connor Dougherty from Invista and Mario Fernandes from Nelson Industrial, Inc.

• Wednesday, May 5

  Alumni and employer speakers for Wednesday's session will be discussing techniques for new graduates and pathways to career success with a focus on sciences and health science. 

  Alumni speaker

  Maria Roussakis

  Maria Roussakis is a registered Medical Laboratory Technologist working within the Platelet Immunology laboratory at McMaster University. She graduated from Ontario Tech University in 2016 from the Bachelor of Health Science in Medical Laboratory Science program. Since graduating, she has gained experience working in clinical laboratories within community hospitals and academic centres, practicing in the medical laboratory disciplines of clinical chemistry, hematology, and transfusion medicine. Last fall, she graduated from the Master of Science in Health Science Education program at McMaster University. When she is not working, she also enjoys volunteering with various organizations. She is an active volunteer with the Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science, the Medical Laboratory Professional’s Association of Ontario, and the American Association of Blood Bankers. Finally, she has become an advocate for the medical laboratory profession on social media, awarding her a spot on last year’s Pathologist magazine’s Power List.

  Amber Armstrong Izzard

  Amber graduated from Ontario Tech University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours) degree. She is currently in her final year of her Master of Science in Occupational Therapy at McMaster University. As a student occupational therapist, she has had the opportunity to complete placements exploring physical and mental health. She is excitedly looking forward to her next placement in Atikokan, Ontario, a small northern community known as the canoeing capital of Canada. During her time at Ontario Tech, she was actively involved on campus through the University Works program as a Peer Employment Advisor and several on-campus clubs. After graduating from Ontario Tech, she moved to Manitoba to work in addictions and mental health services. This experience solidified her drive to address substance use in Canada with a client-centred response as a future occupational therapist. 

  Employer speaker

  Gopi Balasingam, Mirza Baig and Wole Fapohunda from Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC).

• Thursday, May 6

  Alumni and employer speakers for Thursday's session will be discussing techniques for new graduates and pathways to career success with a focus on social sciences and humanities and education. 

  Alumni speaker

  Amber Morley

  Amber Morley is a proud graduate of the Ontario Tech Communications and Digital Media Studies program from the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities. As an Ontario Tech student, Amber worked in the Athletics Department as Game Day Supervisor, helping to organize and host Ridgebacks varsity sports. After graduation, Amber pursued her M.A. in Professional Communications and is currently finishing her thesis focused on women in golf. Amber has also been working within communication roles for a variety of organizations across Canada.

  Ask Amber questions about work-study at Ontario Tech, a career in Communications, what she loves about Ontario Tech or questions about an online Master’s degree.

  Merit Omedo

  Merit is graduated from Ontario Tech in 2018 with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Criminology and Justice with a minor in Forensic Psychology. Since graduating, she has gained multiple experiences working in various fields. She has worked as a fundraiser, community service worker, student recruitment advisor, and currently works as a brand ambassador while on the recruitment path to becoming a correctional officer. As an International student, Merit will be able to share her experiences navigating employment post-graduation.

  Mofi Badmos

  Mofi Badmos is the Diversity and Inclusivity Coordinator and Adjunct Term Lecturer in the Commerce program at Smith School of Business and Queen's University. She leans on her passions to support the successes of and advocate for students belonging to equity-seeking groups utilizing anti-racist, equitable and intersectional lenses. In her role, she fosters inclusive spaces for Commerce students, supports the transition needs of racialized International and Domestic students, and works with colleagues on developing equitable recruitment strategies

  Mofi has five years of experience in higher education and brings her lived experiences into her work. She is very passionate about representation, advocacy and empowerment to impact higher education learning. Mofi completed her Bachelor of Arts in Forensic Psychology at Ontario Tech University and a Master of Arts in Immigration and Settlement Studies at Ryerson University.

  Employer speaker

  Ryan Smutnicki and Lori Zivanovich from Hamilton Police Service and Michelle Heald from the John Howard Society of Durham Region. 

• Friday, May 7

  Alumni and employer speakers for Friday's session will be discussing techniques for new graduates and pathways to career success with a focus on graduate studies. 

  Alumni speaker

  Bilal Khan, BHSc (Hons), MPH, PhD (in progress)

  Bilal is a first-year PhD student in Health Services Research specializing in Outcomes & Evaluation at the University of Toronto, Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation (IHPME). His dissertation research will examine rates of recidivism and clinical outcomes among incarcerated individuals living with severe mental illnesses in Ontario correctional centres. Bilal is the social activities coordinator of IHPME’s Graduate Student Union (GSU), which involves coordinating/planning events from IHPME’s student body and alumni. Alongside his graduate studies and extracurricular commitments, he works as a Research Assistant in the Virtual Care Program at Women's College Hospital Institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care (WIHV). His work compromises evaluating digital health care interventions implemented in Ontario and across Canada. In his free time, Bilal enjoys hiking with his dog, Chewie, around Ontario and has taken up baking in the last year.

  Laura McKeown, BHSc, DC

  Dr. McKeown holds a Bachelor of Health Sciences degree with an Honours in Kinesiology from Ontario Tech University. She completed her Doctor of Chiropractic from the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC) in June of 2020. Dr. McKeown completed her first year of her undergrad at the University of New Brunswick Saint John before transferring to Ontario Tech, where she enrolled in the pathway program to the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College. Dr. McKeown is a certified Animal Chiropractor and completed the Animal Chiropractic program at the Veterinary Chiropractic Learning Centre in Brantford, ON while in her fourth year at CMCC. Dr. McKeown has always valued being involved in her school community. While at Ontario Tech, she worked at the Career Centre, was a member of the novice rowing team and volunteered with the ASK Me campaign. During her time at CMCC, she worked as a notetaker and volunteered as an orientation leader.

  Employer speaker

  A panel presented by Career Accelerator:

  • Mario Quiquero from Canada Career Accelerator
  • Shawn Malhotra from Thomas Reuters
  • Jehane Adam from TD Canada Trust
  • Mory Paredes from Dentons