Dr. Alan Winter is a member of the Board of Directors of Ontario Genomics and is Chair of Governance, HR and Nominations Committee.
Dr. Winter was appointed as BC’s Innovation Commissioner from 2018 to 2020.
Alan has wide experience at senior levels in the technology sector and in government, including such roles as the President and CEO of Genome BC from 2001 to 2016, the founding President and CEO of the New Media Innovation Centre in Vancouver, the President of the ComDev Space Group in Ontario, and the President and CEO of MPR Teltech Ltd. in Vancouver. During his tenure as CEO, six companies were spun out of MPR, including PMC-Sierra and Sierra Wireless.
Prior to MPR, Alan worked for Telesat Canada, and the federal Communications Research Centre in Ottawa where he was responsible for the satellite search and rescue project (SARSAT). The international COSPAS/SARSAT system operates today and has been instrumental in saving many lives.
Alan is currently a director of the Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy. He has been a director of over 35 organizations. In 2007, he received a Leadership Award from Life Sciences BC, and in 2017 he received the Don Rix Award for Lifetime Achievement. In 2017, he also received the Bill Thompson Lifetime Achievement Award from the BC Technologies Industries Association (BC TIA). In 2023, Alan was inducted into the BC Innovators Hall of Fame.
On the federal side, he was Chair of the board of the Communications Research Centre (CRC), Deputy Chair of the Council of Science and Technology Advisors (CSTA), and a member of the Expert Panel on Research Performance and Science Funding, Council of Canadian Academies.
Alan is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering (FCAE) and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (FAAAS). He is a Fellow of the Canadian Astronautics and Space Institute (FCASI) and received their inaugural Alouette team Award. Alan received his Ph.D. from Queen’s University at Kingston, Ontario and was recognized by the Queen’s alumni Legacy of Achievement. He was awarded the honorary Doctor of Science degree by Queen’s University, Belfast, in 2023.