Meet the Team
Adam Freed
Over the past 20 years, Adam has covered a number of roles including human factors specialist, system engineering design, project management, sales, and event planning. Bringing people together to help usher in a better connected future for our society is what has driven him to build IoT613. In addition to his leadership role at IoT613, Adam brings his passion for safe, effective, and efficient system design to FactorSafe Solutions, where he is President, Human Factors and Safety Consultant. Adam acted as Chair of CapCHI, the local chapter of ACM SIGCHI from 2013 until 2018.
Walter Knitl
Walter founded Praxiem to help clients reduce the risk and time to deliver the right product and strengthen their return on investment. This ranges from business and investment assessment, through product introduction and commercialization, to ongoing lifecycle management. He has a record of successful product introductions and deep experience in Product Management and hands-on development in the ICT sector. Walter also founded and curates the Internet of Things eXchange Ottawa offering a platform for mutual awareness and promotion of IoT actors and activities in Ottawa.
Robert Decher
Robert Decher has been working in marketing communications for over 15 years with some of Canada’s most recognizable brands, startups, and industries. With a keen interest in technology, Robert brings a unique mix of marketing, public relations, and digital media production to the group. Robert is currently Account Director at spark*advocacy, a leading public affairs communications and advertising agency in Ottawa, ON.
Charlie Morling
Charlie brings years of technology experience to the IoT613 team, particularly with companies passionate about improving the Internet of Things and Machine to Machine management spaces within Ottawa. Born and raised in Ottawa, Charlie is a graduate of Algonquin College’s Business Marketing program and has worked with technology companies throughout Ottawa and Gatineau for more than six years now. Her areas of expertise span social media marketing, event planning, email marketing, and most things digital!
Colin Pennie
Colin Pennie is an enthusiastic and engaging digital marketer and public speaker and the Chief Technology Officer of Huckleberry Marketing and Advertising Agency, at the forefront of innovation in the digital and tech industry. While running a global team of marketing and advertising professionals, Colin also is a sought after digital media expert due to his uncanny ability to unpack the complexities of building and managing digital media to optimize growth and audience reach, working with brands and organizations like the IoT613, the World Bank, Kino-mo Hypervsn, Lead Forensics, Shared Services Canada, India Electronics Week, Knights of Columbus, The Hendricks Institute and Shopify to name a few.
Jessica Perreault
Jessica Perreault is a leader in content development and stakeholder engagement. Having worked with some of Canada’s largest public sector focused conferences and brands, she has developed a deep understanding of how to drive and facilitate essential conversations between the public sector and industry, both in-person and online. She brings expertise in content development and strategy, marketing communications, and stakeholder engagement to the team. Jessica is the Founder and Principal Consultant at Bloom Content Strategies.
Monica Zaczynski
Monica has been in the design industry for over 10 years. She has worked with organizations and companies large and small – startup to national telecom – building memorable brands and unsurpassed user experiences. Monica is interested in exploring new ways to shape the user experience with new and emerging technologies. Passionate about improving health outcomes for Canadians, she is currently a Senior User Experience Designer at TELUS Health in Ottawa, ON. Monica brings her keen eye for design to the IOT613 team.
Ben Cowan
Ben has worked on the designs and development of marketing sites, portfolios, and an application that focuses on improving student success. A graduate of the Interactive Media Design program and Algonquin College, Ben has experience working in various forms of media including web, video, and print. His projects were well received at four RE/ACTION Day showcases at Algonquin College, and his user first design–and a strong team working alongside him–helped achieve that success.
Faisal Arafsha
Faisal has a mix of expertise in management and technology solutions. He has many years of R&D experience in sensor networks, cyber-physical systems, and software-hardware integration, in addition to working as a control systems engineer in the energy sector. He is currently managing CREATE-BEST, a $1.65 million-dollar biomedical engineering training program funded by the government of Canada, and he is passionate about digital startups and bringing technology and automation to every aspect of life. Faisal brings his project management and organization skills to the IoT613 team.
Dom Saul
Dominira Saul has been a leader, a champion, an advisor and an advocate of Human-Computer Interaction and user centered design for a very long time. Mr. Saul has over 20 years experience in the UX field. Over that time the methods by which people interact with the Internet has changed, and people for the most part have stayed the same. Dom is intrigued by the challenges and implications of IoT and has had the opportunity to research, design and test various IoT devices and platforms. Dom believes that good user research and thoughtful design is at the centre of any good IoT solution.
