Dr. Denis Connor – with his more than four decades in the cleantech industry – brings a wealth of experience, creativity, and insight to his role as Founding Director of Innovative Breakthrough Energy Technologies (IBET) Ltd., an incubator for investable breakthrough energy and emission technology companies.

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A PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of British Columbia (UBC) led to opportunities working at Bell Labs and Bell Northern Research on digital video signal processing. He then joined the senior leadership team at MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. as Vice President of Engineering and Executive Vice President of Business Development, respectively.

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In 1996, Dr. Connor was the founding CEO of QuestAir Technologies Inc., a developer and supplier of proprietary gas purification systems for the biogas and industrial hydrogen sectors, followed by a C-suite position with Angstrom Power and board roles at Carbon Engineering.

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Dr. Connor was additionally a Founding Director of Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Canada; Svante, a point source CO2 capture company; and General Fusion, a leader in the magnetized target approach to controlled fusion. His work with various orders of government includes leading the Science Council of British Columbia (known today as Innovate BC) from 1988 to 1990 and serving on the BC Premier’s Technology Council from 2005 to 2009.  He additionally took on the role of Global Practice Lead for Cleantech in the Trade Commissioner Service of Global Affairs Canada from 2009 to 2014.

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He has been a long term supporter of his alma mater as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council in the Faculty of Applied Science at UBC.