Honouring the veterans of Springboard
From the left, Peggy Crawford, Doris Grant and Chris Mathis.
From the Springboard Content Lab
Springboard honoured some of the individuals in Nova Scotia who have contributed to our mission of growing the economy and making lives better through innovation.
Over the past 20 years, these former Springboard members grew the innovation ecosystem through research commercialization and industry engagement.
They have worked to bridge our 19 post-secondary institutions with industry and communities and have helped move brilliant ideas from the laboratory and into the market economy.
Congratulations and thank you for your contributions:
Dr. James Robar, Co-Founder Adaptiiv Medical Technologies, Professor & Chief of Medial Physics, Dalhousie University
Dalhousie Professor James Robar co-founded Adaptiiv Medical Technologies to make radiation treatment more comfortable for patients. The company 3-D prints body covers to protect health tissues during radiation. Springboard was there at the very early stages of his entrepreneurial journey, helping him commercialize his ideas. The company Adaptiiv now has 30 highly skilled employees, and his technology has been exported to 18 countries. Dr. Robar’s commercialization journey has made him one of Springboard’s superstars.
Doris Grant , CEO Life Sciences Nova Scotia, former Industry Engagement Professional Dalhousie University
When she was an Industry Engagement Professional at the Dalhousie, Doris Grant guided Dr. James Robar through the commercialization process which helped him access Springboard support for his startup Adaptiiv Medical Technologies. This was just one of Doris’ successes at Dalhousie and Springboard. She supported hundreds of researchers and facilitated the distribution of more than 600 grants. She continues to deploy that knowledge and enthusiasm in leadership roles in the life sciences innovation ecosystem.
Chris Mathis, first full-time President and CEO of Springboard Atlantic in 2011
Chris Mathis became the first full-time President and CEO of Springboard Atlantic in 2011. During his tenure, he transformed the governance and operations at Springboard, adding the voices of industry to the board of directors and helping Springboard bridge the gap between academia and industry. Under his leadership, Springboard evolved into a dynamic Network of post-secondary institutions working collaboratively to help industry solve real-world problems with research. He remained in the role until 2017 and is now working as a consultant and investor in the tech ecosystem.
Peggy Crawford, Acadia University, Springboard
Peggy worked in research commercialization and industry engagement Dalhousie and Acadia. In 2020 she retired – for the first time. but then retired to work in the Springboard Central Office to manage Springboard’s flagship Innovation Mobilization fund. She also managed Springboard’s social media and communications roles. Peggy’s deep knowledge of research commercialization and industry engagement – along with her many other talents and her steady hand – has made her the backbone of Springboard. She is widely-respected research commercialization ecosystem in Nova Scotia. She is now off to her second retirement, which is well-deserved.
Bernadette Malone – Financial Manager at Dalhousie Office of Commercialization and Industry Engagement
Bernadette supported financial operations at Dalhousie and Springboard for many years.
Her colleagues at Dal describe her as an “unsung hero who quietly did a lot of the financial heavy lifting.” She has arranged and administered important funding for projects and Dal and in the Springboard Network. She has also been a valuable administrator.
Bernadette has now entered a well-deserved retirement after more than 35 years at Dalhousie and supporting Springboard.