About
The Office of Commercialization and Industry Engagement (OCIE) is the university’s gateway for collaboration between industry and our talented research teams.
With a mandate to support the university’s researchers and economic development in the region and beyond, OCIE provides strategic access to the university’s intellectual property and expertise for the creation of startups and to support the R&D needs of organizations.
OCIE is a unit within the Office of the Vice-President, Research & Innovation (OVPRI), the central unit overseeing research interests at Dalhousie.
Services
Industry partnerships and business development
University-industry collaborations address real-world problems, drive innovation and economic growth, and train the next generation of leaders.
Technology transfer and commercialization
Helping to get leading Dalhousie innovations into the market and put to impactful use via technology transfer and commercialization.
Resources and support
Connecting Dalhousie faculty and students with education, tools, support, and mentorship opportunities via university-led accelerators and programs through Dal Innovates.
Contact our team
Assistant vice-president, industry relations
Stephen Hartlen, MBA, B.Comm
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Stephen Hartlen (MBA, B.Comm) has been leading the OCIE team since 2011. As the university’s assistant vice-president, industry relations his mandate is growing the research enterprise by partnering with the private sector and providing excellent customer service to our research community.
Managing director, industry engagement and customer experience
Ben Goldberg, MBA
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Ben Goldberg (MBA) joined OCIE with 10 years of experience in post-secondary education, focused on commercializing science and technology. Ben was instrumental in the establishment and growth of the Creative Destruction Lab, both at Dalhousie University and at the University of Oxford. Ben holds a BA from Mount Allison University, and an MBA from Dalhousie.
Manager, engineering and science
Michelle Gurrola-Gal, (MSc, BSc, LVT, RLATg)
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Michelle Gurrola-Gal is an experienced biomedical research and management professional with a focus on clinical trials, zebrafish research programs, and training in preclinical safety. She joined the OCIE team in 2020. Michelle received her MSc in Biology from Villanova University and her bachelor's degree in veterinary technology (minor in Management) from Quinnipiac University. She is also a licensed Veterinary Technician and Laboratory Animal Technologist.
Adam Haller draws on a career spent at the intersection of science, business, and law to help Dalhousie researchers bring their world-leading innovations to market and put them to impactful use. Adam joined Dalhousie after ten years practicing intellectual property law at a global law firm in Toronto.
Manager, agriculture and aquaculture
Brennan Gillis, MBA
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Brennan Gillis (MBA) brings a wealth of economic development experience, including time spent working in the Mitacs program supporting industry and academic collaborative research. His tenure as CEO of the Truro & Colchester Partnership was marked by the development programming designed to assist businesses in Truro and Colchester in starting, growing, and navigating challenges. He is also a founding director of Truro Cannabis Inc. With a robust background in business and community economic development, Brennan is a valued member of the research support team. Brennan has an undergraduate Commerce degree and obtained his MBA from Saint Mary’s University in 2011.
Manager, health and life sciences
Annette Rushton, PhD
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Annette Rushton (PhD) is a research scientist with industrial, academic and governmental experience in life and health sciences. Her role at OCIE is to engage industry and commercialize intellectual property developed by faculty, students, and staff within the life and health science faculties at Dalhousie. Prior to joining OCIE in 2018, Annette led the biology program at DeNovaMed Inc., a local antibacterial start-up company, where she was involved in drug discovery, business development and translational research. Annette received both her PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and BSc in Biochemistry and Microbiology from Dalhousie University and pursued a postdoctoral fellowship in yeast genetics at Columbia University.
Matthew Doyle (PhD, PEng) is a research project manager who joined OCIE after 9 years in an academic research environment at the University of Toronto and the University Health Network. He previously led a multidisciplinary research team working on engineering and clinical research projects in cardiology and cardiovascular surgery. He has extensive experience in writing research grant proposals, developing partnerships, and negotiating contracts. Matthew holds a BEng in Biological Engineering from Dalhousie and an MASc and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Ottawa. He is a licenced Professional Engineer.
Ayodeji Arowolo (LLM) is an international lawyer with experience in contract, corporate and commercial law, and labour and employment law. He holds an LLM degree in International Trade and Commercial Law from Durham University in the UK. Ayodeji’s resourcefulness, in-depth understanding of legal principles and distinctive ability to simplify and resolve complex legal issues draws roots from a combined experience of 14 years of dispute resolution practice in top law firms and from occupying roles as in-house commercial and regulatory and compliance counsel in multinational companies within the FMCG and telecommunications sectors.
Christine Reid has been with OCIE since 2006. Her role as Office Manager includes being:
prime administrator for the IP management database
IP docketing manager
annuities management
Maintaining the patent, technology and agreement files,
Assisting with administration on various programs and general office related duties.
Business development specialist (Mitacs-Dalhousie University)
Aishwarya Mohan
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Aishwarya Mohan completed a dual degree (B.Sc. in Agriculture & and B.Tech. in Environmental Landscape Horticulture) and a master’s degree in agriculture with a focus on bioproduct development from byproducts and waste streams. She has over eight years of experience in conducting research and five years of experience in managing and facilitating research as research manager in bioproducts. She has managed several multistakeholder projects and collaborations, particularly working with industry partners and start-ups.
Shivani Dave (MBA) is the the Finance Manager at OCIE, overseeing financial operations, including Patents & Royalty Accounts. She brings over 15 years of experience in financial management within both the service and manufacturing sectors. Since joining Dalhousie in 2019, she has demonstrated exceptional proficiency in managing budgets and financial administration.
Aishwarya Shrestha specializes in building industry relations and addressing academic needs, with over six years of experience working in post-secondary environments. She holds a bachelor's degree in Sociology from Saint Mary’s University and has a strong focus on bridging the gap between academia and industry. Her post university career began at Digital Nova Scotia as a Project Coordinator, where she worked with key players in the tech ecosystem. She later served as an Alumni and Industry Engagement Manager for the Faculty of Computer Science at Dalhousie University for 2 years.
Aishwarya’s expertise lies in relationship building, business development, industry engagement, project management and event planning.
At OCIE, her primary focus is driving connections between researchers and industry partners, while securing government funding, such as the Invest NS Voucher Program and NRC IRAP Program, to address real world industry challenges