Staff Directory

Michael C. Volker
Director

T: 778-782-4984
E: mvolker@sfu.ca
Mike Volker's home page

Mr. Volker joined SFU in November 1996, bringing to the position of Director, Innovation Office, a wealth of experience in the high technology sector. He is well known particularly as a director and investor in local technology companies. He has also demonstrated an ongoing commitment to encouraging university-industry interaction: he served as a Governor of the University of Waterloo, Founding Chairman of the Canadian Centre for Creative Technology’s Shad Valley program, and as Executive Director and Chairman of the British Columbia Advanced Systems Institute. Currently, he runs VANTEC – the Vancouver Technology Angel Network and the Western Universities Technology Innovation Fund.

Mr. Volker earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in 1972 and a Masters of Science Degree in Systems Design in 1973 at the University of Waterloo. He has taught courses in engineering economics, design, and management at the Universities of Waterloo and Toronto and Kansas University. He currently teaches business basics to SFU engineering students.

Ian Hand
Associate Director

T: 778-782-3843
E: ihand@sfu.ca

Ziba Afshar
Technology Manager, Life Sciences

T: 778-782-3014
E: zafshar@sfu.ca

Ms. Afshar joined SFU in August 2000, bringing to the position of Technology Manager more than 19 years of research, management, business and consulting experience in life sciences. Prior to working as a consultant to the life sciences industry, she was employed for ten years at a pharmaceutical R&D company in Edmonton, where she was responsible for management of the company's multidisciplinary drug discovery program. She also managed numerous national and international collaborative drug discovery projects with major pharmaceutical companies and government institutes, and was involved in business development and licensing activities at the company. Ms. Afshar's previous experience includes six years with the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Alberta, managing the natural products and anticancer test laboratories and conducting research in the area of marine natural products chemistry. She has also worked on synthetic projects as a research associate in Mexico.

Ms. Afshar earned an M.B.A. at the Universities of Alberta and Calgary and an M.Sc. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Alberta. She currently teaches Special Topics in Biotechnology and Business at SFU.

Justine Bizzocchi
Technology Manager, Media and Learning Technologies,
SFU Surrey

T: 778-782-7508 (Surrey)
 E: justine@sfu.ca

Ms. Bizzocchi has enjoyed a long career working in the film, television and new media industries with such organizations as the National Film Board of Canada, KCTS Television, the Centre for Image and Sound Research, and the BC Institute of Film Professionals. Ms. Bizzocchi comes to SFU from the Banff New Media Institute. At SFU she is responsible for identifying, assessing marketing and commercializing University eLearning technologies, including software and know-how.

Rob Patterson
Technology Manager, Medical Devices and Natural Resource Technologies

T: 778-782-3966
E: rob_patterson@sfu.ca

Mr. Patterson has an impressive career as a successful entrepreneur and independent consultant who has delivered intellectual property assessments to his clients and advised on their current products and product concepts. Mr. Patterson has served as Intellectual Property Analyst at the University of Manitoba where he reviewed, evaluated and advised on technologies for the Faculty of Engineering including patent searches, patent applications and start-up strategies.

Mr. Patterson is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC.

Elmer Sum
Technology Manager, Information Technologies

T: 778-782-5844
E: elmer_sum@sfu.ca

Mr. Sum has enjoyed an extensive career in the technology business. He is experienced with the key activities in technology development, commercialization, entrepreneurship, innovation, marketing and management. He has broad exposure in business/corporate development and venture financing in North America and the Pacific Rim.

Mr. Sum is a graduate of UC Berkeley with a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He obtained his M.Sc. from UCLA as well, and attended the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is a member of the Professional Engineers Associations in Ontario and British Columbia.

Elizabeta Cubaleska
Technology Administrator

T: 778-782-4985
E: Elizabeta_Cubaleska@sfu.ca

Ms. Cubaleska has joined the technology transfer team at the Innovation Office as a Technology Administrator. In that capacity, Ms. Cubaleska provides vital assistance to the IO Technology Managers over the entire range of activities associated with bringing research discoveries to market. Ms. Cubaleska has a strong background in intellectual property asset management including experience as a patent examiner.

Ms. Cubaleska was on assignment with Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, and has gained technology transfer experience at the Alberta Research Council. Rounding out her impressive credentials is a BSc in Chemical Engineering. Ms. Cubaleska is a member of the Licensing Executives Society and of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada.

Projects and Administration Assistant

T: 778-782-4292
E: sfuio@sfu.ca

The Projects and Administration Assistant provides project support and office, secretarial and administrative assistance to staff of the Innovation Office.

TIME Ventures Assistant

T: 778-782-7970
E: time@sfu.ca

The TIME Program Assistant provides project and administrative support to TIME Ventures.