Meet the 2025 CONNECT Summit Program Committee
A special thank you to the 2025 CONNECT Summit Program Committee for their leadership and contributions in generating and evaluating sessions proposals. The committee's role is to encourage, support and guide diverse, relevant and engaging program content by engaging with the higher education and research community in B.C.
Ted Pennell, Chief Information Officer, Camosun College
Ted Pennell is the CIO for Camosun College and is passionate about enhancing education through technology. He values innovation as an empowering agent for change and is skilled at building and maintaining productive relationships and developing capable teams that value customer service and collaboration. Ted holds an MBA degree with a specialization in consulting management and has numerous technology and business certifications and designations.
Dave Kubert, Chief Information Security Officer, University of Northern British Columbia
Dave is the Chief Information Security Officer for the University of Northern British Columbia. He’s spent his career in academia working in Unix systems administration, network engineering, and software development before finally surrendering the last vestiges of his soul and moving into information security. Dave’s professional interests include redefining the role of information security in organizational structures, risk governance, walking a fine line, and being in over his head.
Dave Lampron, Chief Information Officer, Vancouver Island University
Dave is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Vancouver Island University. He's worked in academia for over 25 years. Dave is a student of empathetic leadership. He strives to create the organizational conditions that allow for an 'Idea Meritocracy' culture. An Idea Meritocracy is designed to produce the best possible decision under the circumstances by enabling the best thinking by all team members. Dave also has a passion for assisting rural and remote communities in augmenting access to essential services.
David Burkholder, Associate Director, Technical Services, Thompson Rivers University
David oversees the networking, telephony, and media services group at TRU. He started at TRU (then UCC) in 1989, as a technician supporting networking and telephony systems. Over the last 34 years, various higher paid individuals, recognized/decided that he had the skills/aptitude/competence (what were they thinking?), to manage and support these functions. He's honoured to know he's contributing to the support of staff, faculty and most importantly contributing to the learning and teaching of students. David enjoys hiking/walking, biking and IT support for friends and family. He really enjoys working on vehicles for a ministry in Central America (and at home).
Devon Keys, Manager Shared Technology Solutions, BCNET
Devon manages the diverse portfolio of shared IT solutions that are offered by BCNET’s Shared Systems and Technology team. Working collaboratively with our member community, she acts as a liaison between BCNET’s members and service providers in developing and implementing shared services and technology solutions at their institutions. With a career thus far dedicated to higher education IT, she is well versed in the needs of the post-secondary sector.
Elizabeth Kinney, Manager, Research Specialists Advanced Research Computing, The University of British Columbia
Elizabeth Kinney is the Manager of the Research Specialist Team for ARC. She has a Juris Doctor from the University of Victoria, BC, and a Master in Law from the University of British Columbia. With over 14 years of experience in clinical research and health research administration in both Canada and the United States, she has firsthand experience with telemedicine and health technology.
Ellis Herbert, Director, Shared Technology Solutions and ERP, BCNET
Ellis Herbert is an accomplished IT leader with over 25 years of experience in driving technology transformations within the higher education, K12, research, and healthcare sectors. Specializing in enterprise resource planning (ERP) and technology solutions, he consistently aligns digital initiatives with organizational goals to enhance service quality and operational efficiency in both public and private sectors. His strategic vision and expert navigation through complex technology landscapes have led to impactful improvements and the implementation of scalable technology solutions. Ellis has held senior technology roles at Kwantlen Polytechnic University and served as Director of Enterprise Systems and Deputy CIO at Thompson Rivers University.
Ivor MacKay, Director, Cybersecurity Services, BCNET
Ivor is responsible for fulfilling and planning the future of BCNET's internal IT needs. He facilitates cybersecurity collaboration and future service direction through the BCNET Cybersecurity and Identity Management Services Committee. Ivor has 29 years of experience in management and 22 years as an IT professional. He began his IT career working at the world track and field games in Edmonton, where he led the rolling out and support of desktops and servers for the games. Following his work at the games, he worked in IT for CBC in Edmonton for 10 years. He moved from Edmonton to join Coast Mountain College (formerly known as Northwest Community College) as the Director of IT.
James Peltier, Director, IT Services, Research Computing Group, Simon Fraser University
James Peltier is a seasoned professional with over 25 years of experience in supporting research in IT. He has been a valuable member of Simon Fraser University community since 2006, when he started as a Research Associate (R.A.). In 2008, James joined the Network Support Group, became manager in 2010, and the team was later rebranded as the Research Computing Group (RCG) in 2015. During his tenure, James has played a crucial role in the provisioning and support of the Cedar supercomputer from 2016 to 2022 and successfully transitioned from a technical role to become the Director of Research Computing Group, where he currently leads the team.
Jordan Perrey, CIO, IT Services, Okanagan College
Jordan Perrey is an accomplished IT professional with over 20 years of experience. He has spent close to a decade with the BC Government before working in a private technology company. There he worked with a number of NHL, NBA and NFL teams. Over the last 6 years he had been the CIO at Okanagan College.
Keith Webster, Associate Director, Centre for Teaching and Educational Technology, Royal Roads University
Keith manages teams within the Centre for Teaching and Educational Technologies that support both online and classroom technologies at Royal Roads. He has been an educational technologist and instructional designer for close to 20 years and has taught in the K-12 and post-secondary systems. Keith is a past chair of the Educational Technology User’s Group (ETUG) and teaches part time as an Open Learning Faculty member at Thompson Rivers University.
Ken Bigelow, Systems Administrator II at Advanced Research Computing, The University of British Columbia
Ken is a Systems Administrator II with the Advanced Research Computing group at UBC. Ken has over 23 years of experience with assisting researchers, students and fellow administrators to provide access to the latest in hardware / software technology in an easy to understand format.
Kevin Schretlen, Manager, IT Infrastructure and Operations, University of Northern British Columbia
Kevin is the IT Infrastructure and Operations Manager at UNBC. He has spent most of his career in Academia, first at CNC, and now at UNBC. Over the past 17+ years he has gained experience in various domains including cybersecurity, systems and network administration, governance, and management. Kevin encourages collaboration between units, departments, and organizations to enhance the capabilities of all involved.
Reza Khakbaznejad, Chief Information Officer, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
Reza Khakbaznejad is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, where he has been a driving force in the institution's technological evolution since 2018. Reza's experience in IT leadership spans both private and public sectors. Prior to joining KPU Reza spent 8 years at Canadian Tourism Commission and 14 years at the Coca Cola Company.
Ryan Enge, Director, Research Computing Services, University of Victoria
Ryan Enge is the Director of Research Computing Services at the University of Victoria and national site lead for “Arbutus", part of the Digital Research Alliance of Canada's national cloud platform. He started in Advanced Research Computing (ARC) after joining the High-Energy Physics (HEP) group at the university in 2004. When UVic received its first WestGrid system at the end of 2009, Ryan helped deploy Compute Canada’s first infrastructure as a service (IaaS) cloud. The RCS team was formed in April 2017 and Ryan switched from a technical role to a leadership role of this team.
Sunny Jassal, Chief Information Security Officer, British Columbia Institute of Technology
Sunny is an enthusiastic cybersecurity leader with 20+ years of experience driving secure digital transformation. He bridges the gap between business and technology, translating strategy into actionable plans that enable innovation while safeguarding critical assets. As a trusted advisor to executives and boards, Sunny leverages his expertise in cybersecurity and corporate governance to foster a "security by design" culture. His background includes leading high-performing technical teams across diverse industries.
