Meet the Speakers


Dave Allan
Vice President, Canada | Kal Tire Mining Tire Group

Dave Allan is the Vice President, Canada for the Kal Tire Mining Tire Group. He leads the sales and operations teams to be the partner of choice for mining companies across Canada. Focusing on sales and service in concert with safety and innovation are the key parts of his role.  

Before joining Kal Tire, Dave spent 13 years with a mining equipment manufacturer running the parts and service divisions in both country and global locations.  

He currently lives in Vernon, BC with his family where they enjoy the Okanagan lifestyle of golf and skiing. 

________________________________________________________________________________


Andrea Bauer
Director Technical Services & Asset Management | KMC Mining

Andrea holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Mining and Mineral Engineering) from the University of Alberta. She began her career as Mine Performance Engineer at KMC’s operations in Northern Alberta, progressing to Manager and then Director of Technical Services & Assets. Through her career, she has been instrumental in leading teams in the development of a robust, multi-component and all season Emissions Reduction Program and Idle Management Systems. Andrea has experience leading strategic teams for Continuous Improvement, Project Estimating and Asset Management including being Chairperson of the Large Tire Users Group of the Surface Mining and Research Technology (SMART) organization. She is a member of APEGA and past member of Canadian Institute of Mining (CIM). Andrea is a volunteer with many non-profit organizations. She has served as a board member of ShareLife Foundation, an organization that sponsors initiatives that enhance education, relief of poverty and offers lasting hope to those in marginalized communities. 

________________________________________________________________________________


Jean-Francois Beaulieu
Regional Discipline Director – Digital Services | BBA

Jean-Francois is an industrial IT specialist and a senior digital services consultant at BBA. He has more than 18 years of experience in consulting engineering and in industrial and mining operations. Currently, he acts as consultant to help clients better collect, store and leverage their data. As head of BBA’s digital group, he leads a team of 130 people with expertise in system integration, instrumentation, control, telecommunications, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and advanced analytics. With BBA since 2010, he became a partner in the firm in 2018.

Jean-Francois has been a member of GMG since 2019. He has been involved in the development of Open Data Sets guidelines for Artificial Intelligence in mining.

________________________________________________________________________________

Cherie Burgett
Director of Cyber Intelligence Operations | MM-ISAC

Public Speaker, Theologian, and ISAC Operations, Director. As the Director of Cyber Intelligence Operations for the Mining and Metals Information Sharing Analysis Center (MM-ISAC), Cherie Burgett leads the ISAC’s cyber intelligence program, enables sharing and coordinates responses to active threats. She provides the link between the public and private sector, and supports companies to develop strategies as they undergo digital transformation.

________________________________________________________________________________


Tom Demorest
R&D Senior Technical Advisor | Research & Development Center, Syncrude, Operated by Suncor

Tom is currently Senior Technical Advisor at Syncrude Canada Ltd, operated by Suncor, and is located at the Syncrude Research and Development Centre in Edmonton, Alberta. Tom is a graduate of Queen’s University, Kingston Ontario in Applied Science (1977), Mining Engineering. He joined Syncrude Canada Ltd in September 1978. During his career he has worked in the areas of Mine Planning, Mine Operations, Bitumen Production, and the Research and Development organization. 

________________________________________________________________________________

Heather Ednie
CEO | Global Mining Guidelines Group

Heather Ednie is an influential mining professional who has more than 20 years’ experience in the mining and metals sector, developing and spearheading vital business solutions through communications and association management.

In September 2021 she became the Executive Director of MM-ISAC to develop and implement the strategy to support its mission to improve the cyber resiliency of mining and metals companies. Since 2012 she has also been the CEO of Global Mining Guidelines Group (GMG) whose purpose is to be a catalyst for the operationalization of innovation in the global mining industry to improve the safety, sustainability and productivity of our mines.

________________________________________________________________________________


Tim Joseph
Principal Engineer | JPI mine equipment & engineering

Dr. Joseph is the Principal Engineer, JPI Ltd. mine equipment & engineering, serving the global mining   industry since 2000 (www.jpicanada.com).  He is also Professor Emeritus, Mining Engineering, University of Alberta, Canada having trained over 50 M.Sc. and Ph.D. graduates and thousands of engineers with 50+ journal and 200+ conference papers to his name.  He is a Board Director of Engineers Canada, Ambassador to the Canadian Institute of Mining and sits on numerous other boards.  In 2011 Dr. Joseph was awarded the CIM Distinguished Service Medal for his lifetime contributions to the global mining industry. 

________________________________________________________________________________


Rob Labbé
Founding Chair | MM-ISAC

Rob is an accomplished senior executive with more than 20 years of success across the IT security industry, within mining, software development, telecommunications, retail, oil & gas, manufacturing and healthcare. Leveraging extensive experience in cyber security risk management and critical infrastructure, he is a valuable advisor for an organization that is concerned around the security of their manufacturing or industrial networks, needing to enable a digital transformation. His broad areas of expertise include risk management, building diverse cyber security teams, vendor management, training, and professional development. Throughout his executive career, Rob has held leadership positions with Microsoft and Fidelis IT inc. and is currently Chair of the Mining and Metals Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MM-ISAC).

________________________________________________________________________________


Nick Maltchev
Chief Operating Officer (COO), Mirai Security

Since getting his first job cleaning windshields as a 13-year-old in Bulgaria, Nick has always had high ambitions. Renowned from a young age as a software developer, Nick earned an MBA in Management Information Systems in his native country after studying computer science at UBC. With a combined skillset of computer savvy and business expertise, Nick has held several high-level positions at notable companies. As the Chief Technology Officer at HarvestOne, a publicly traded company that afforded Nick unique experience operating in a highly regulated environment. 

Never losing his passion for cybersecurity, Nick received a CISM certification from ISACA and serves as a board member for their Vancouver chapter. In March 2020, Nick joined Mirai and has been instrumental in spearheading Mirai’s work with Teck Resources.

As someone who sees the positive in every experience, Nick is thrilled to be in his newly expanded role as COO and looks forward to empowering the Mirai team to do good work and continue our rise as Western Canada’s premiere cybersecurity consultancy. 

Away from work, Nick loves listening to Dark Side of the Moon, his easy choice for the greatest album of all time. 

________________________________________________________________________________

Dillon McKinnon
Manager Mining Technologies | SMS Equipment 

Dillon McKinnon began his career as a Heavy Equipment Operator before earning a Bachelor of Engineering Degree (B.Eng) in Mechanical Engineering and an Advanced Engineering Diploma in Mechanical Engineering Technology. Dillon has managed autonomous deployments in Alberta’s Oil Sands and British Columbia’s Elk Valley and has worked collaboratively with clients to strategically implement the Komatsu Frontrunner Autonomous Haulage Systems (AHS). Most recently Dillon is working with customers to deliver innovative mining solutions focusing on electrification, trolley assist haulage, and technologies to support carbon reduction strategies 


Catherine Mendonsa
CISO, Director Information Security Systems & Enterprise Architecture | Finning International

Catherine is a senior executive with a proven track record of supporting business objectives through secure data-driven strategic and technical direction. She has more than two decades of establishing security management systems, high performance teams, and progressive leadership with extensive experience in IT, information security, and privacy. Catherine sits as a Board member of the CIO Association of Canada (Calgary Chapter), and the National CISO Board. Her passion for pragmatic security has advanced risk management, incident response and cybersecurity programs transcending many industries including the Calgary Police Service, the Alberta Energy Regulator, Cenovus Energy, AltaLink (Berkshire Hathaway Energy), TransCanada Pipelines, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, and now Finning.

________________________________________________________________________________


Mark O’Brien
General Manager for Digital Technology & Innovation | CITIC Pacific Mining

Mark O’Brien currently serves as the General Manager for Digital Technology & Innovation at CITIC Pacific Mining, the world’s largest magnetite iron ore operation, and China’s largest resources sector investment outside of China. His responsibilities cover strategic engagement with the business, technology leadership and innovation, and ownership of the key application and infrastructure platforms at CPM, across both IT and OT. He has an involvement in mining technology that stretches over 30 years. He is a graduate of Curtin University with an undergraduate degree in Mathematics and Computer Science and has undertaken postgraduate studies in AI, Philosophy and Ethics. Mark is also the Chair of the GMG AI in Mining Working Group, as well as a contributor to national and international collaborations around mining technology.

________________________________________________________________________________


Mark Richards
Manager Mining Technology | Teck

Mark has been interested in technology in the mining industry for many years since working on the automation of Finsch mine in South Africa. Since then, he has been involved in the design, development and implementation of technology solutions across many facets of mining.

Mark has been active in the mining business for nearly 40 years and is a Professional Engineer in British Columbia, graduating from Camborne School of Mines (UK). He completed a MSc (Mining Engineering) at Queens University (Canada), before starting working for De Beers, working in underground and open pit operations. In the 1990’s Mark was a key advocate in the development of the mine-to-mill philosophy at Highland Valley Copper and subsequently across Teck. He is a keen proponent of the value of cooperation to develop best practices across the industry.

Mark has published papers in proceedings and journals on the development and implementation of technology across the mining space. He completed his MBA at Simon Fraser University in 2015 with a thesis on Technology and Innovation Strategies. He has been involved with GMG since its inception; participating on several working groups, the governance committee and is currently Secretary on the Executive Council.

_________________________________________________________

Mark Sawyer
Mining Program Advisor | Stream Systems

Mark Sawyer is Mining Program Advisor for Stream Systems. In this role, Mark provides oversight for application of Stream Systems advanced simulation tools to complex mining systems and data sets to offer new areas of potential optimization and insights for value generating change.

Mark has spent the previous five years providing consulting services to mine operators assessing and actively integrating digital platforms and automation solutions. Mark’s services focused on building the value proposition of integrated technology systems and establishing the full scope of required change across organizations, processes, and systems.

Prior to embarking on a career path focused on mine technology deployment, Mark worked over 20 years as a Mining Engineer in the open pit mining industry in various management, operations, technical services, and project management roles. Mark received a Bachelor of Science in Geological Engineering from the University of Saskatchewan and is a Professional Engineer (P.Eng), registered in Alberta.

________________________________________________________________________________

Andrew Sell
Mechanical Engineer | Syncrude Research

Andrew graduated from Walla Walla University with a B.Sc. in Engineering (Mechanical) in 2010, and a M.A.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering (microfluidics) from the University of Toronto in 2012. Andrew started his career supporting Syncrude Research & Development’s Equipment & Process team. In 2017, Andrew took a reliability & maintenance engineering role to support the Syncrude Secondary Extraction Plant directly in day-to-day activities, and then returned to Syncrude Research in 2022. At Research, Andrew is working on equipment & process improvements in secondary extraction, as well as helping to kick-off Syncrude’s additive manufacturing program.

________________________________________________________________________________


Allyson Stoll
Lead, Technology & Innovation | Teck Resources Ltd

Allyson has led various projects over her career covering advanced process control and expert systems to predictive modelling and novel applications of technology. Through these endeavours, she has developed robust and creative solutions to common problems in mineral concentrator facilities and found unique ways to capture concepts from other industries to apply to present mining challenges. Her current projects incorporate holistic systems performance enhancements utilizing dynamic simulation and optimization tools ranging from mathematical algorithms to deep reinforcement learning. She holds a Master of Data Science from the University of British Columbia and a Bachelor of Metallurgical Engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology. Allyson is also a registered Mining and Mineral Processing Engineer with the State of Alaska and is passionate about representation and accessibility in STEM. 

 ________________________________________________________________________________


Brad Strueby
Director – Operations, Energy | Teck Resources Limited

Brad is currently Director Operations for Teck’s Energy business unit and is the Chair of the Surface Mining Society of the Canadian Institute of Mining. Brad has a degree in civil engineering for the University of Saskatchewan and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Alberta. He has 33 years of mining experience in various technical and leadership roles both in oil sands and uranium.

Brad and the Surface Mining Society are focused on best practice and knowledge sharing to support the Canadian mining industry.

 ________________________________________________________


Shawn Tetreault
Manager, Smart Mining Solutions | SMS Equipment Inc.

A drive to help others achieve business goals pulled Shawn Tetreault into the world of technology. After earning his diplomas in both architecture and computer systems, Shawn kicked off his career as a software developer in aerospace and e-learning. He then transitioned into heavy equipment, spending sixteen years managing teams of all sizes while introducing process improvements along the way. Everything came full circle when Shawn entered the mining technology space—more than ever, he was set up to help teams reach new benchmarks in safety and productivity. His expertise is on display in Canadian Mining Magazine, where he wrote about Equipment Optimization and Cost Per Ton, and also in other corporate newsletter articles. Beyond his passion for pushing mining’s capabilities, Shawn focuses on the next generation’s potential—supporting youth development, coaching, and having been a speaker for the JABC (Junior Achievement British Columbia).

________________________________________________________________________________


Gord Winkel
Chair, Industrial Professor | David and Joan Lynch School of Engineering Safety and Risk Management, University of Alberta

Retired as a Vice President for Syncrude Canada Ltd., Gord Winkel joined the University of Alberta in 2010 to establish safety and risk management education as a core competency requirement for all engineering disciplines; a unique accomplishment in Canada. 
 
His work to improve safety and technology in the Mining industry led to three Distinguished Lecturer Awards from the Canadian Institute of Mining in 2002, 2008 and 2013. Gord received the CIM National Mining Safety Leadership Medal in 2019. 
 
Gord supports the Canadian Institute of Mining (CIM) through chairing the J.T. Ryan Mining Safety Committee and as a Board member for the CIM Health and Safety Society. Provincially Gord is an Executive Advisor for the Alberta Mining Safety Association. 
 
On the healthcare front, Gord is a member of the Alberta Health Services Advisory Committee reporting in to the Official Administrator. He is also supporting the Alberta Agriculture Industry as an Executive Advisor on the AgSafe Alberta Board. In addition, he was appointed to the University of Alberta Board of Governors, Audit and Risk Committee. 
 
Gord was elected as Chair of the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires Federation for Canada, supporting an organization with 22,000 plus employees providing veteran employment. 
 
Gord also works to provide support in safety, risk management and organization effectiveness to firms across Canada.

X