06/01/2003

Vitesse is pleased to announce the appointments of Dr. John ApSimon and Dr. Adam Chowaniec

PRESS RELEASE

(January 6, 2002 – Ottawa)

The Board of Director of Vitesse Re-Skilling Canada Inc. would like to announce the appointment of Dr. Adam Chowaniec to the Board as its newest member.

Vitesse Re-Skilling Canada Inc. is an independent not-for-profit corporation created to provide cost-effective solutions to meet the skills needs of today’s knowledge-based industries.  Vitesse runs a number of innovative re-skilling programs that allow professionals to migrate to new and emerging disciplines without having to go through lengthy academic programs.

The appointment of Dr. Adam Chowaniec, who is the Chairman of Tundra Semiconductor and Sibercore, will further strengthen industry representation on the Vitesse Board.

The Board also confirmed the appointment of Dr. John ApSimon as Senior Executive Officer.  Dr. John ApSimon will be responsible for building strategic relationships and the development of innovative Vitesse programs across the country.

Dr. John ApSimon’s experience and background as Vice-President, Research and External Relations at Carleton University and more recently as Scientific Advisor to the Deputy Minister of Environment, will be of benefit to Vitesse.

“The appointments of Dr. Chowaniec to the Board and Dr. ApSimon to Vitesse’s management team, will further strengthen Vitesse’s role in meeting Canada’s skills needs especially for its emerging knowledge-based sector”, says Arvind Chhatbar, President of Vitesse.

“The appointments will further enhance the Vitesse objective of expanding the program so that emerging clusters and communities across the country can benefit from our innovative approach” adds Arvind Chhatbar.

The mission of Vitesse Re-Skilling Canada Inc. is to provide innovative, cost-effective solutions to meet the skills requirements of knowledge-based industries by using existing educational, human and business resources.  Vitesse has re-skilled close to 300 individuals to date in software engineering, Photonics and microelectronics.  It currently has offices in Ontario and British Columbia.

The success of the Vitesse model lies in its ability to bring career-oriented professionals, educators, and industry partners together and collaboratively shape individualized training solutions – providing new and relevant skills for the knowledge-based economy. 

For further information, contact:

Arvind Chhatbar, President

Vitesse Re-Skilling Canada Inc.

1200 Montreal Road, Bldg. M-50

Ottawa, Ontario  K1A 0R6

Tel.  (613) 746-3595 ext. 223

e-mail:  arvind.chhatbar@vitesse.ca

website:  www.vitesse.ca

Short Biographies

John ApSimon is Senior Executive Officer (SEO) to Vitesse Re-Skilling Canada Inc. and has been a Special Advisor (Partnerships) to the President of Carleton University and a Special Science Advisor to the Deputy Minister of Environment Canada. He recently completed a term as Vice President (Research and External) at Carleton University where his 38 year career included positions as Vice President (Academic),Dean of Graduate Studies and Research and Professor of Chemistry.  His scientific career is based in the area of the chemistry and biochemistry of natural products and he has over 200 publications, books and patents in this field. He has been editor of the Canadian Journal of Chemistry and is founding co-editor of the journal Natural Toxins. He has supervised over 70 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.

Dr. ApSimon has been involved in regional technological and scientific development initiatives for many years. He is past chair of the Research Management Board of the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI), former treasurer and Board member since 1989 of the Ontario Centre of Excellence, CITO (formerly TRIO) and is the founding and present chair of the Ottawa Life Sciences Council (OLSC). He has recently completed a 6 year term as a member of the Governing Council of the National Research Council (NRC) where he was a member of the Executive Committee and was the NRC representative on the Council of Scientific and Technology Advisors (CSTA).  He is also interested in human resource development in the technology industry and he is Vice Chair (and member of the founding board) of Vitesse (Re-Skilling) Canada Inc. and has just finished a term as chair of the HR sub-committee of the Ottawa Photonics Cluster.

Adam Chowaniec began his career in the 1970's, as a member of the scientific staff of Bell Northern Research in Ottawa. From there, he moved into engineering management at Nortel Networks. In 1983, he moved to Westchester, Pennsylvania to become Vice-President of Technology with Commodore International, where he was responsible for the development of the Amiga personal computer.  In 1986, Adam returned to Ottawa to become President and Chief Executive Officer of the semiconductor firm Calmos Systems. He was instrumental in having Calmos Systems acquired by Newbridge Networks Corporation in 1989. Calmos was renamed Newbridge Microsystems. Under this new structure, Adam served as both its President and as a Vice President of Newbridge Networks. In December 1995, Adam and a number of key associates successfully negotiated the spin off from Newbridge Networks of what is now Tundra Semiconductor Corporation.   Adam has served on numerous boards of directors in the United States and Canada, including Amiga and GEAC Computer Corporations. He currently serves on the boards IceFyre Semiconductor Corporation, SiberCore Technologies Inc., and on the advisory boards of Ottawa Hydro Holdings Corporation and SpaceBridge Networks Inc.    Adam is involved in several local business and community initiatives and his commitment and participation has positioned Adam as a key spokesperson for the high tech community in the Ottawa area. He was the chair of the Ottawa Economic Development Corporation and member of the Ottawa Partnership in 1999-2001. He also serves on the boards of the Canadian Advanced Technology Corporation, the Information Technologies Association of Canada, and the Ottawa Heart Institute and Ottawa Health Research Institute.