FIRST INFLECTION TEAM
George Yan
Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer
A Professional Engineer, an inventor (co-patentee of 5 patents), George has a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from UBC, and thrives in helping startups- to- multimillion – dollar- corporations manage technology and develop products.
Professional interests range from: Semiconductors, Thermodynamics, Quantum Mechanics, CAD, SCADA to Artificial Intelligence, and IoT.
Personal interests range from: volunteer at Saint Stephen-In-The-Fields Church Community Breakfast (Kensington Market); Children Program Coordinator for PSK (Kensington Market) to Dragon Boating and Muay Thai Student.
Also avidly interested in the traditional, time proven practices and benefits of Acupressure.
The COVID 19 Pandemic has dramatically changed many things. Practicing the philosophy of: “Seek opportunities in a crisis,” George has begun to explore flat water kayaking, yoga and tai chi.
Ralph Idems
Co-Founder and Business Strategist
With over three decades of experience in building and scaling various businesses, Ralph Idems has dedicated his career to building and helping business grow.
Ralph started his career as a CNC machine tool programmer and progressed through multiple manufacturing organizational roles including, Plant Manager, Operations manager, VP Business development, VP sales and Marketing, President, COO and CEO. He was co-founder of multiple successful Companies including Rainford Corporation, Selectech, Vertigo and most recently Praevar Corporation. Vertigo was sold to JMC Capital Partners, Boston MA in May 2016.
He has extensive experience in multiple manufacturing process’s including sheet metal stamping and fabrication, welding, powder coating, PCB assembly and final assembly and test. Industries served include: datacom and server co-location equipment, design and build of EMP and Tempest equipment, Shipboard enclosures, Telecom base station enclosures and a wide variety Digital displays and smart City Devices.
Ralph has led multi-disciplined design and engineering teams including mechanical, structural, thermal, electrical, electronic and firmware development.
Understanding the market(s) that our clients are servicing, their competition and the product requirements , known in our industry as MRD ( Market Requirements Document ) and PRD (Product Requirement Document) as well as the development of product and technology roadmaps is a big part of what we do. We also develop comprehensive supply chains for effective manufacturing of new products, ranging from NPI ( New Product Introduction) suppliers to Scale suppliers.
Outside the office, Ralph enjoys fishing, indulging in some single malt scotch, and building Lego structures with his grandchildren.
Ron Ball
Co-Founder
Ron is the founder and Chairman of EHC-Global Inc, a global leader in the supply of components to the Lift Industry. In 2020 EHC will celebrate their 43rd anniversary. Ron, with a foundation in mechanical engineering and informal business study has built his Canadian enterprise from scratch (one employee) in 1977 with its core values in customer service and product innovation in the manufacture of handrails for escalators.
Now EHC-Global has manufacturing and distribution facilities in Canada, China, Germany, Spain, France, and Brazil, and a global network of sales offices including USA, Mexico, Slovakia, United Kingdom, and Turkey, as well as EHC partners in all major markets globally.
In 2018 Shanghai awarded Ron the prestigious Shanghai Magnolia Silver Award, in recognition of his many contributions to the City of Shanghai. The Magnolia Silver Award is the highest honour that can be bestowed on a foreigner by the Shanghai government. The award is given annually to expatriates in recognition of their extraordinary contribution to the City of Shanghai in fields such as economy and trade, finance, education, science, technology, health and culture.
Ron also received the prestigious Governor General’s Medallion from the Canadian Government in recognition of his many contributions to international trade and for his efforts in fostering a strong relationship between Canada and China.
EHC’s head office continues to be in Oshawa, Canada, where manufacturing and global R&D continue. EHC owns more than one hundred patents worldwide.
To encourage and support young Canadian entrepreneurs, Ron established a Scholarship at the Ontario Tech University in Oshawa.
David Beatty
Co-Founder
As a young man, David interrupted his University Education to help his father “Stew” (Co-Founder of the family business) recover from a disastrous fire in the early 1970s.
Literally from this crisis, David helped “right the ship” navigated and led Canarm Ltd. to its current position as a Canadian “Best Managed Company” in the industries that it serves: Lighting & Fans, HVAC & Commercial, and Agriculture.
Canarm has a head office, factory and warehouse in Brockville, Ontario, factories and distribution Centers in Montreal, Quebec, Arthur, Ontario, and U.S. locations, sales representatives across North America, and 30 dedicated Chinese factories. Over 2,000 people rely on Canarm for their livelihoods.
David is a community leader in the Leeds and Grenville County, contributing time, talent and money to many public causes: Brockville General Hospital, YM-YWCA, Leeds and Grenville Economic Round Table, St. Lawrence College, Leeds and Grenville Family and Children’s Services, Leeds and Grenville United Way Campaign, Brockville Police Services Board, and Aquatarium.
Married with three children and two grandchildren, David is an avid golfer. Enjoys boating in the St. Lawrence River and doting on his two grandchildren.
Tom Sinnott
VP Strategic Partnerships
Tom has over forty years of corporate management and strategic business development consulting experience in Canada, the USA and the Far East. Tom started his corporate career with senior management positions in the CPG vertical moving into QSR franchising, licensed operations and media/PR communications.
Responsibilities included Product Management, Director of Sales, VP New Business VP Marketing/Communications and Divisional President — companies from Kraft/Altria, Foodex Inc., VF Corp and Photo Corp of America.
For the past 18 years, Tom has been focused on assisting companies grow and expand as a strategic planning/operations consultant working in New Product Development, Marketing Planning and Sales Development.
Consulting projects included market studies for IBM, licensing contracts with Toyoda Sankyo (Japan), and multiple new products introductions (Lipton, Coke, CPI Plastics Coors etc.). More currently, Tom has helped establish several new companies focused on SW B2B products ranging from wayfinding/GPS locators to emergency response protocols.
Multiple contracts have involved venture capital/equity financing with one including all the business planning and documentation for a NASDAQ listing.
Tom assumed the role of VP Marketing/Sales for Vertigo Digital Displays for 9 years orchestrating contracts for digital signage networks and monitoring in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Vancouver and Toronto. Vertigo was successfully sold to JMC Capital in Boston in May 2016.
Recent projects have involved digital signage networks with Content Management Systems as well as AI SW and targeted hyper marketing.
On a personal level NFL and golf road trips are unfortunately not part of the current agenda — but hopefully soon. Tom has a BA in Economics and Business from McMaster University and did his MBA studies at the University of Western Ontario.
