Team

Artem is a CFA Charterholder, holds a BA in International Business from the University of Manchester, and an MBA in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from the University of British Columbia.

Born and raised in Russia, Artem built a successful career as a private banker at Barclay’s in London, UK. Eventually, his love for the outdoors brought him to Vancouver, where he continues to pursue his passion for nature, people and technology.

Artem Bocharov

Business Development

& Finance

Artem Bocharov at Barrwelwise-2_Edited_R

Meet The Team

Jason holds a BA in History and Economics from the University of Victoria, as well as an MBA in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from the University of British Columbia.

Born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Jason’s love of hiking, skiing and camping inevitably brought him to the west coast. He began his career in the food equipment industry, working for several years as a Marketing and Business Development manager before deciding to pursue entrepreneurship.

Jason Sparrow

CEO

David Sommer

Engineering

& Technology

BASc. and MASc. Mechanical Engineering from the University of Waterloo, David is currently pursuing his PhD at the University of British Columbia where his research is focused on optical diagnostics and energy systems. David has published in five different journals on topics ranging across medical imaging, biomechanics, engineering education, engine emissions, and chemical reactor design. He has worked as a sales engineer for Toshiba, a space systems engineer for the Canadian Space Agency, and a consultant for RDH Building Engineering. David's focus at BarrelWise is to direct product development and manufacturing, and to ensure our technology portfolio is aligned with the needs of our current and future customers.

David Sommer Barrelwise_Edited_RS_1_edit

BSc. in Physics, MSc. in Physics and Statistics, as well as a MEng. in Mechanical Engineering, all at UBC. Miayan is currently working on his PhD in Mechanical Engineering, specializing in gas detection and emission rate measuring technology.Happily married and a proud father of 4 beautiful girls, Miayan is passionate about understanding how things work. He has worked on the design of big data experiments relating star formation simulations to radio telescope measurements, and has developed a novel tribometer designed for high load friction and wear measurement. His current research involves developing sensors for gaseous phase measurements. Miayan loves any project that has acoustics, magnets, or 3D printing in it, and at BarrelWise he gets to play with all the above, and more.

Miayan Yeremi

Research & Development

Adrien Noble

Mechanical Designer

Adrien is a recent graduate from a BASc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of British Columbia. Born in Switzerland and raised in Ontario, his passion for skiing and the outdoors brought him to Vancouver. Adrien spent several years designing and building off-road cars while in school, which led to a job at Tesla Motors. He has also worked in a carbon sequestration lab and done research in the field of concussion biomechanics. Adrien's focus at BarrelWise is on product development and manufacturing.

Advisors

Tom Urban

Tom Urban mentors early stage ventures as an advisor and investor. He has extensive experience in investment banking, working for Goldman, Sachs & Co. as well as in the agricultural biotechnology industry and forestry genetics.

Tom began his professional career with Goldman, Sachs & Co. in 1988 in the Mergers and Acquisition group in New York and Los Angeles. After spending two years with Goldman, Tom left to join the world leader in agricultural seeds, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, as the Country Manager of Romania based in Bucharest. In 1998, Pioneer was purchased by E.I. DuPont de Nemours and, in 1999, Tom moved to Paris, France to head their worldwide cereals seed business. In 2002, Tom returned to the U.S. as a Director in the DuPont strategic planning group where he focused on DuPont’s agriculture portfolio including seed, crop chemicals and soy protein.

Tom received his undergraduate degree from Middlebury College and a Masters of Business Administration from the Harvard Graduate School of Business.

Dr. Hennie Van Vuuren

Hennie J.J. van Vuuren is currently a Professor in Food Science and holds the Blythe and Violet Eagles Chair in Food Biotechnology. He is the Founding Director of the Wine Research Centre at UBC. He was Associate Dean Research for LFS from 2003-2011. His research focuses on wine yeast genomics and the genetic construction of novel wine yeasts that will benefit the consumer. During the past 15 years he has obtained more than $14 million in research funding. He has trained 24 M.Sc. and 12 Ph.D. students. He has published 89 scientific and holds five patents. He has recently been honoured by the Canada Science and Technology Museum Corporation in Ottawa for major scientific breakthroughs in his laboratory that will prevent the formation of neurotoxins and carcinogens in wine. He served as a member of the Executive Committee and Policy and Finance Committee of the International Society for Yeast Genetics and Molecular Biology and was President of the 18th International Conference on Yeast Genetics and Molecular Biology.

Michele Walcraft

Nanette holds a BA in Political Science and Communication Studies from Carleton University, a Master’s in Marketing from IESA, as well as an MBA from the University of British Columbia.

Born and raised in Venezuela, Nanette is a skilled marketer with years of experience in consumer research, strategic planning and marketing communications. Nanette began her career in marketing by working in market research and advertising for Ipsos and Publicis. She found her passion for building brands in the wine and spirits industry in her role as Market Research and Brand Strategy Manager for Santa Teresa Rum.

Dr. Gabe Kalmar

Dr. Kalmar has been an avid supporter of entrepreneurship in Canada for the past 25 years. He currently holds positions as an Entrepreneur in Residence for entrepreneurship@UBC and Innovation Boulevard, and is also a Mentor in Residence for Venture Connection at Simon Fraser University. During his 12 years at Genome BC he has taken on roles as the Executive Director of Operations, Vice President of Sector Development, and Vice President of Entrepreneurship and Commercialization. He was also the President and CEO of the Pacific Autism Family Network.

Kyle Cheriton

Kyle brings extensive international experience with global brands and start-ups in the areas of consumer marketing, brand management and business development. He has worked in leadership roles in global corporations including Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, The Walt Disney Company and United Airlines. He has also played key strategic roles in startups such as Rakuten LinkShare, Arista Networks and Martiniburger.

Kyle currently lives in Vancouver and serves as a mentor and advisor at The University of British Columbia’s entrepreneurship@UBC program. He was an initial mentor to BarrelWise and is now an Advisor to the company.

Nanette Anzola