IEEE Training
David Whyte completed a degree from the University of Toronto (Electrical Engineering), holds a Professional Engineering License and is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE).
He has over 25 years of engineering, practical and management experience in the telecommunications industry in Canada and internationally, holding positions of increasing responsibility at CN Telecommunications, CNCP Telecommunications, Unitel, AT&T Canada, CTI Datacom and DAMAR Consulting. David is the Managing Principal at DAMAR Consulting.
He is currently the President of the IEEE Canadian Foundation, an ex-officio director of both IEEE Canada and the IEEE Foundation. He is the recipient of the 2009 IEEE Canada M.B. Broughton Central Canada Merit Award.
Nancy Ostin is director of IEEE-HKN (Eta Kappa Nu), the honor society of IEEE, joined IEEE in 2012. She has worked to grow HKN to 268 Chapters worldwide. In cooperation with the Board of Governors, she has established programs and services to increase the value of membership and to strengthen Chapters. She also has worked to establish a culture of philanthropy with HKN alumni.
IEEE-HKN has over 200,000 members and inducts over 3,000 students each year. Signature programs include the HKN Experience (online conference), Annual Student Leadership Conference, Pathways to Industry program, THE BRIDGE magazine, and HKN Awards Program.
Nancy is a graduate of Emerson College in Boston, MA, and the University of Aix-Marseilles, Aix-en-Provence, France. She has over 30 years of association management experience and received her Certified Association Executive (CAE) in 2008. She completed the US Chamber of Commerce Institute of Organization Management in 2011. She has held positions with the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, the Society for Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals, The Girl Scouts and served as President of the Middlesex County (NJ, USA) Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Innovation Panel
Lucy Casacia, B.Sc., has established herself as a recognized leader in the application of technology for Smart Cities and Connected Infrastructure area for the past 20 years. Ms. Casacia works to acts as a catalyst and driver for enhancing people’s lives using innovative technology to create solutions for city and industrial zones, real-estate campuses, transportation, and energy systems through Human-centered design. As an invited speaker to various conferences, she shares insights into how to create better outcomes for people, the planet, and our next generation.
Through her experience gained working at Fortune 500 companies (WSP, Siemens, Dofasco Steel, BHP Billiton) and entrepreneurial companies, Lucy has held C-Level roles, manages P/L’s and applies human centered design skills to deliver technology solutions that benefits a wide stakeholder matrix such as owners, users, employees, stakeholders and shareholders. By combining data and evidence-based design principles, favorable decisions for complex projects have been achieved. Tools such as data analytics, 3D digital twin modeling, virtual reality and future forward scenario planning have been applied by Lucy to create transparency, leadership, program management, business case development and engineering solutions. Areas of specialization include mapping sustainability targets to technology levers, intelligent infrastructure, digitization (Industry 4.0), CO2 mitigation strategies, resiliency, future ready systems for buildings, energy grids, transportation and building infrastructure. She has developed and managed the engineering feasibility, and sustainability work which was instrumental in obtaining approvals for the first arctic wind farm for a remote diamond mine, managed the Pan Am Games 2015 program for Siemens Canada to create smart sports venues in the cities of Hamilton, Milton and Toronto, and has created strategies for cities, industry and developers in the areas of smart grid, building automation, CO2 mitigation for the City of Mississauga and the Toronto GTAA airport. She works nationally and partners with global teams based in London, UK, Germany, USA and Australia. Lucy is a mentor and coach active with IEEE, Women in Leadership and is a graduate of McMaster University (B.Sc. Metallurgy and Materials Science) and the Schulich School of Business (York University) earning a Master’s Certificate in Strategic Leadership.
Lucy was elected to the Board for Oakville Hydro to serve from 2015 to mid-2016. She was elected as a Board Member for Oakville Enterprises Corporation (OEC) since June 2016 and is proud to be a member delivering strategic input and high dividends to the shareholder. In 2021, Lucy was elected to serve as a member of the Smart Cities Task Force for the City of Vaughan, Ontario.
Naheed is the Co-founder, President and CEO of Cyclica, a leading AI in drug discovery company who advance molecules to medicines by embracing the complexity of disease. In addition to his role at Cyclica, Naheed is also a Co-founder and Director of EntheogeniX Biosciences, a psychedelic inspired biotech company for mental health, a Co-founder, Board Member and Chair of the Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare (AAIH), and serves as a Member of the Life Sciences Advisory Group for Global Affairs Canada. Naheed is passionate about how people interact with technology to inform effective decision making, while dedicated to advancing the responsible application of AI to healthcare and the impact on patients. Naheed holds an MBA from Rotman School of Business, an undergraduate degree from the University of Ottawa, and a certificate in AI from MIT.
Utpal Mangla is the General Manager responsible for Telco Industry EDGE Clouds in IBM. Prior to that, he was the Vice President and Senior Partner in IBM. He is a recognized Global Leader of IBM’s Telecommunications, Media and Entertainment (TME) Industry. He is focused on driving AI, 5G EDGE, Hybrid Cloud and Blockchain Innovations for TME clients worldwide. Under his leadership, IBM recently achieved the company's mission of making "Watson AI touch 15 billion Consumers” and creation of four “Telco Industry Blockchain platforms”. He is at the forefront of making Hybrid Cloud and 5G EDGE technologies real for enterprises across the globe by deploying, scaling and replicating B2B solutions. Utpal’s team is leading the Distributed Cloud EDGE transformation agenda for cross-industry clients globally.
Utpal has been with IBM (and PwC) since 1998. With 20+ years of consulting, system integration, customer relationships, program delivery and industry experience, Utpal brings depth of expertise and knowledge on building, running, and scaling businesses. Recognized as a “top talent”, he has deep experience across all pillars of IBM business including complex program management, turning around DE engagements, sales, account/sector and practice management.
Utpal is a Senior Member of IEEE and a regular speaker at industry forums, university and business conferences globally. He is a Senior Inventor and has over ten patents (incl applied) with focus on Cloud, Telco EDGE 5G. Key patents include innovations in Dynamic network data management, Generative experiments for application deployment on 5G networks and Delayed instantiation of slices in a 5G environment among others.
Utpal holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science Engineering from Pune University with highest honors and MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Mgmt. He has completed executive studies in the Harvard Business School’s strategic leadership, Wharton School’s financial value creation and Stanford Business School's entrepreneurial leadership programs. He holds several designations in the fields of IT Architecture, SAFE Agile, ITIL, Program management and Design Thinking.