ADVISORY BOARD

KnowledgeWhere and Blister Entertainment have an impressive advisory board comprising a variety of industry professionals with international backgrounds. These include:

Peter Kinash, Chief Financial Advisor

Peter spent the past 15 years working and volunteering in the Alberta technology sector and is currently an advisor, mentor or investor helping early stage technology companies in Calgary, mainly in the areas of strategy and finance.  Peter currently sits on the Advisory Board of SpringBank TechVentures, based out of Calgary, Alberta. 

Peter's corporate career includes serving for 20 months as CFO of Wi-LAN Inc. (TSX:WIN). During Peter's time at Wi-LAN the company made four acquisitions and raised $60million in three equity financings.  Prior to joining Wi-LAN in January 2000, Peter led the Calgary technology practice of KPMG, assisting a wide range of technology companies with issues related to strategy, alliance partners, financing, people, securities and tax in Canada and the US. Peter's technology clients were involved in over $3 billion of equity, merger and debt transactions in the late 1990's. Peter is a Chartered Accountant and graduated from the University of Saskatchewan in 1977 with a B.Comm degree.

A.J. Kim, Principal at SocialDesigner.Net, is an internationally recognized expert on community architecture and social systems design. In addition to her consulting work, AJ is the author of Community Building on the Web, a strategic design handbook for building online communities that's available in 7 languages (English, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese) and has become required reading in top design studios, consulting firms and universities. She's also an accomplished public speaker, and teaches multiplayer game design at USC.

Prior to founding SocialDesigner.Net (formerly NAIMA.com), A.J. was a Producer/Designer for Paramount's Advanced Product Design lab, where she developed online service design concepts and prototypes for MTV, Nickelodeon, and Star Trek, and designed the interface for Lenny's Music Toons, an award-winning children's music game. She was also an Interface Architect at Sun Microsystems, where she led the interface design for SimplifySQL, a suite of multimedia database tools, and designed and built a Graphical Query Editor and Report Writer. Prior to joining Sun, she worked in the Human Factors group at NASA–Ames, where she conducted research on human visual perception.

A.J. holds a PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience from the University of Washington, and a BS in Experimental Psych from UC San Diego. She lives near the Pacific Ocean in beautiful El Granada.

François Robillard has held leadership positions in digital media and entertainment companies since 1993 and is a seasoned producer and designer of interactive gaming and educational products.

During his 7 years with The Walt Disney Company, François led teams that generated many award winning products including the critically acclaimed TRON 2.0 action adventure game. As a vice president, François oversaw development of personal computer entertainment and educational software worldwide. He collaborated with Disney teams across themed attractions, film, television, and internet productions featuring Mickey Mouse, Winnie–the–Pooh, Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., Lion King and many more popular properties.

Simulations and multiplayer experiences are his current interests but François has a broad passion for games and enjoys PC, console, arcade, board, paper, and card games as well as Chess, Go, Mahjong, Backgammon and Chinese chess. François lives in Victoria, on Vancouver Island in Canada.

Dave practices general corporate and commercial law with a focus on technology–based companies.  His practice generally includes project development and finance, joint ventures and strategic partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, telecommunications, information technology, energy/power, internet/e-commerce, outsourcing, privacy, regulatory compliance, technology and intellectual property, and general contracting matters.

Dave has also assisted companies with specific concerns as to the applicability of the law to their new or developing ventures; with risk analysis as specific legal concerns arises and has also been involved in the resolution of various disputes.  Dave has represented clients before the Provincial Court of Alberta, the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench, the Alberta Court of Appeal, and various administrative tribunals.

Dr. Gerald K. Cole, PhD. PACE Product Advisor

PhD in mechanical engineering with a specialization in biomechanics from the Human Performance Lab at the University of Calgary. Dr. Cole has worked for Nike Inc. as a senior researcher in the Nike Sports Research Laboratory and currently holds the appointment of Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Human Performance Lab, where he acts as a consultant to the athletic footwear and sports equipment industry. Dr. Cole has received three internationally recognized awards for his research in lower extremity biomechanics, the most recent being the 2004 Academic Challenge Award for contributions to sports equipment innovation.

Dr. Stephen R. Norris, PhD., PACE Product Advisor

PhD in applied physiology from the University of Alberta. Dr. Norris currently holds the appointment of Adjunct Associate Professor in the Human Performance Lab at the University of Calgary. He is internationally recognized as an expert in the study of altitude training. Dr. Norris has an appointment with the National Sport Centre at the University of Calgary, where he works with athletes and coaches to develop the training programs for the "glide and slide" national teams: cross-country skiing, speed skating and snowboarding. He is also actively involved as an instructor for the National Coaching Institute in Calgary.

Erik Anderson, P.Eng. Location Entertainment Platform Technology Advisor

Erik is a serial entrepreneur; he has been involved at the start-up stage with at least four business ventures in the past 10 years.  Erik is an aeronautical engineer with specialized skills in design and development and IT network deployment and management.