Meet the Team

Executive Director – Dr. Rui Resendes

rui.resendes@greencentrecanada.com
613-507-4700

He is an inventor, a scientist and a practiced industry leader. Dr. Rui Resendes' educational and professional background adds up to a rare combination of expertise, one that has equipped him with the ability to bridge the two distinctive worlds of science and business for a singular cause: innovation. Dr. Resendes graduated from the University of Toronto with a PhD in chemistry and a specialization in advanced materials. Since then, he has filled numerous leadership roles in research and business development with Bayer MaterialScience and LANXESS. During this time, he has contributed to several patent families and has numerous technical and commercial publications and presentations to his credit.

In 2007, Dr. Resendes assumed the role of Director of Commercial Development, Chemistry and Materials, at Queen’s University’s PARTEQ Innovations, one of Canada’s foremost technology transfer offices. Shortly after joining PARTEQ, Dr. Resendes led the creation of GreenCentre Canada, an exciting new commercialization model that is the first of its kind in North America. In 2009, he was appointed the Centre’s Executive Director.

Technical Director – Dr. Philip Jessop

philip.jessop@greencentrecanada.com
613-507-4700 ext. 104

Dr. Philip Jessop (PhD, UBC) is the Canada Research Chair of Green Chemistry and a professor in the Departments of Chemistry and Environmental Studies at Queen’s University. Previously, he worked for the Research Development Corporation of Japan (1993-1996) under the guidance of Ryoji Noyori (Nobel Prize, 2001) and then was an assistant professor at the University of California, Davis (1996-2003). In 2008, Dr Jessop was awarded the NSERC John C. Polanyi Award.

One of the world’s most recognized Green Chemistry researchers, his discovery of switchable surfactants was listed in the Canadian Chemical News trade journal as one of 20 key chemical discoveries in Canada of the last 100 years.

Director, Operations and Commercialization – Davis Hill

davis.hill@greencentrecanada.com
613-507-4700 ext.105

Davis Hill (BScH, Queen's; MBA, London Business School) brings her experience in commercial development and international relations to GreenCentre. She is the former Director of Commercial Development at PARTEQ. Previously, she worked as a consultant for the telecom industry, including Nortel Networks China. Her background includes an international exchange in Biotechnology and Health Care with the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Commercial Development Director –
Dr. Michael Szarka

mike.szarka@greencentrecanada.com
613-507-4700 ext. 109

Dr. Michael Szarka (PhD Toronto) is a physical chemist and a respected university technology manager. He was instrumental in the launch and operations of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology and previously was a Technology Manager at the Innovations Foundation, University of Toronto. During his tenure at U of T, Dr. Szarka played critical roles in the development of two of the university’s key startup companies, Biox Corp. and Opalux Inc. He also has expertise in the photonics and small business consulting sectors and is an experienced negotiator and policy adviser in the areas of intellectual property and licensing.

Dr. Szarka completed postdoctoral work at York University’s Centre for Atmospheric Chemistry. He is Chair of the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) transactional metrics committee, and sits on the Board of Directors of the Ontario Society for Excellence in Technology Transfer (OnSETT).

Commercial Development Director –
Lynn Leger

Lynn.leger@greencentrecanada.com
613-507-4700 ext. 110

Lynn Leger (MBA, York), has more than two decades of commercialization experience in the chemical industry, from automotive coatings to disinfection technologies. Her roles have included technical manager, marketing manager and sales manager. Most recently she was Project and Market Leader for a new research initiative using enzymes for in-situ disinfection initiatives, and a Critical 50 project leader for a new technology platform in Removable Antimicrobial Coatings (RAC). She is a named inventor on patents for the latter technology, which was also recognized at the 2009 global Board of Directors meeting as one of the most promising inventions in the corporate pipeline.

Ms Leger is a certified Six Sigma Green Belt and a recipient of the DuPont Global Sustainable Growth Award and a $EED Grant for Entrepreneurial Development. She is the former Chairperson of the Advisory Board for Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety at the University of Guelph, and has been a frequent speaker for DuPont.

 

Commercial Development Director – Dr. Jonathan Sargent

jonathan.sargent@greencentrecanada.com
613-507-4700 ext. 108

Dr. Jonathan Sargent (PhD, MA, University of Southern California) has more than 11 years of industrial experience in product and business development, in the chemical, materials, and biotechnology fields. He worked for GE Plastics in a variety of global management roles for seven years and worked in the biotech sector for four years as both a researcher and founding employee. He has also consulted for the venture capital industry. He is a Six Sigma black belt and is currently completing his MBA at Schulich School of Business at York University.

Senior Product Development Scientist – Dr. Preston Chase

preston.chase@greencentrecanada.com
613-507-4700 ext. 113

Dr. Preston Chase (PhD, University of Calgary) comes to GreenCentre from the University of Toronto where he was a research associate with Dr. Doug Stephan, developing metal-free hydrogenation catalysts. Previously he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. He received his BSc from the University of Victoria. A recipient of a number of postgraduate and postdoctoral awards, he has published extensively and is a named inventor on two patents.

Senior Product Development Scientist – 
Dr. Tim Clark

tim.clark@greencentrecanada.com                                                    
 613-507-4700 ext. 114

Dr. Tim Clark (PhD University of Toronto) graduated from the University of Calgary with his BSc in chemistry in 2002. From there he completed his doctoral work at the University of Toronto, and later at the University of Bristol, where his work centered on the discovery of catalytic routes to rings, polymers and nanomaterials based on elements from Groups 13/15. He also worked collaboratively on a project involving the use of crosslinked polymers in photonic crystal templates as color fingerprinting materials. In 2007, Tim began an NSERC-funded postdoctoral fellowship at Cornell University where his work focused on exploring the synthesis and performance of polymer-based alkaline anion exchange membranes for fuel cell applications. Tim has received numerous awards throughout his education, has published extensively in the open literature and has three provisional patents pending.

Senior Product Development Scientist – 
Dr. Brian Mariampillai

brian.mariampillai@greencentrecanada.com
613-507-4700 ext. 116

Dr. Brian Mariampillai (PhD, Toronto) comes to GreenCentre from the Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zurich, where he was an NSERC-funded postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Erick Carreira, working on asymmetric cyclopropanation catalysts. He completed both his PhD and BSc at the University of Toronto, where he worked on the development of new palladium catalyzed coupling reactions. He has published and presented frequently, and has received awards for both his teaching and research.

 

Senior Product Development Scientist – Dr. Dominik Wechsler

dominik.wechsler@greencentrecanada.com
613-507-4700 ext. 115

Dr. Dominik Wechsler  (PhD, Dalhousie) brings both industry and academic experience to his position. Most recently he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Queen’s University where his research focused on developing new hydrogen storage media for fuel cells. Previously he worked for the National Research Council’s Institute of Marine Biosciences, and Jellet Biotek. He received both PhD and BSc from Dalhousie University, where his doctoral research focused on organometallic catalysts. 

Product Development Scientist - Jeff Hastie

jeff.hastie@greencentrecanada.com         
 613-507-4700 ext. 119
Jeff Hastie graduated with a MSc in chemistry from the University of Guelph in 2009, where his work was mainly focused on the synthesis of Group 14 and Group 15 amido complexes using novel polyamines as donor ligands.  Further research interests involved the electrochemical oxidation of persistent organic and inorganic species present as contaminants in wastewater systems.

 

Product Development Scientist - Amy Holland

amy.holland@greencentrecanada.com
613-507-4700 ext. 117

Amy Holland (MSc, Queen’s-pending), obtained her Bachelor’s degree with honours in chemistry from Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, under the supervision of Dr. Robert Singer. She is currently completing graduate work at Queen’s University, where she is an NSERC-funded Master’s degree candidate under the supervision of Dr. Cathleen Crudden. Her work focuses on investigating rhodium-catalyzed hydroboration and the Suzuki-Miyaura cross coupling of secondary organoboronic esters.  The recipient of many academic awards, Ms Holland has made numerous conference presentations and was Chairperson of 33rd Annual APICS Undergraduate Chemistry Conference in Halifax, NS.

Product Development Scientist - Yun Yang

yun.yang@greencentrecanada.com
613-507-4700 ext. 118

Yun Yang (MEng, Zheng Zhou University) brings 10 years of professional work experience to GreenCentre Canada. With both an MSc (University of Western Ontario) and M Eng (Zheng Zhou University), she has a strong background in the development and application of polymer materials. Her most recent work experience was in super-hydrophobic coating, ice-phobic coating by silicon polymers and nano-materials. She has also worked on inorganic polymers for photonic crystals, and polyacrylate.

 

Commercial Development Manager  - Dr. Lucy Su

lucy.su@greencentrecanada.com
613-533-6000 x 79459

Dr. Lucy Su (PhD, Queen's) brings her considerable industry expertise to GreenCentre Canada as a commercial development manager (China outreach). She came to GreenCentre from PARTEQ Innovations. Previously she held a management position at the Refining Research Institute of China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (SINOPEC), and was lead chemist with ALS Environmental (Calgary). Dr. Su is a named inventor on three patents with SINOPEC and has successfully led the development and commercialization of several products. In addition to her PhD she also holds an MSc from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a BSc from the University of Inner Mongolia.

Laboratory Manager - Julie McLachlan

julie.mcLachlan@greencentrecanada.com                                             613-507-4700 ext. 106

Julie McLachlan (MEng, McMaster) is a professional engineer with more than 15 years of process engineering experience in a variety of industries. She has a strong compliance background from her work as an Environmental Engineer at INVISTA, and a strong customer focus from her sales background while working as Water Treatment Consultant for Nalco, providing technical expertise for boilers, cooling towers and wastewater treatment plants.  Her industrial experience includes manufacturing facilities, oil and gas, chemical plants and food plants. Her Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering specializedin water soluble polymers . She received her Bachelor’s degree in Engineering Chemistry from Queen’s University.

 

Executive Assistant – Cher Powers

cher.powers@greencentrecanada.com
613-507-4700 ext. 102

Cher Powers has more than 10 years of administrative experience in three levels of government. She is a graduate of the Chemical Engineering Technician Program at Loyalist College.

 

Administrative Assistant - Lyndsey Darling    

lyndsey.darling@greencentrecanada.com                                                                         613-507-4700 ext. 101

Lyndsey Darling graduated from Memorial University, Newfoundland with her MA in English Language and Literature and from Trent University with a BA in Literature.  She is currently working on a certificate in Book Publishing through Distance Education at Ryerson University. She has three years of administrative experience at Queen's University.

 

Director of Finance – Paul Vickers

pvickers@parteqinnovations.com
613-507-4700 ext. 107

Paul Vickers, CA (1997, Concordia) and CPA (2005), is responsible for GreenCentre Canada’s finances. He joined PARTEQ in 2002 from KPMG LLP, where he provided professional accounting and tax services to the technology industry. Paul specializes in tax issues of technology transfer offices and spinoff companies, including tax efficient corporate tax structures, the Scientific Research and Experimental Development program, and various government tax incentive programs.

Manager of Finance - Marilyn Gordon

marilyn.gordon@greencentrecanada.com
613-507-4700 ext. 121

Marilyn Gordon supports GreenCentre’s financial operations.  She comes to GreenCentre from PARTEQ Innovations.  Previously she managed the finance operations of Communities Together for Children/Ontario Early Years Centre of Thunder Bay.  She was responsible for both municipal and provincial government reporting and played a critical role in day-to-day management activities.  She has more than 12 years of financial management experience and is a graduate of the Accounting & Finance Administration program at Confederation College.

 

Director of Communications –
Mary Anne Beaudette

maryanne.beaudette@greencentrecanada.com
613-533-6000 x 78238

Mary Anne Beaudette (BA Guelph, BEd Queen’s), joined GreenCentre in 2010.  For more than 15 years she worked as a newspaper reporter and editor before joining Queen’s University as manager of the institution’s internal communications. In 2001 she joined the staff of PARTEQ Innovations, the founder of GreenCentre, where she manages all of the communications needs of both organizations.