Aurora, Ontario, Canada
Stephen Sutherland is a technology visionary, inventor, and patent holder with extensive business and global standards experience, having repeatedly designed & commercialized innovations over three decades. Delivering daunting breakthroughs to mass markets - cost effectively, and on a timely basis - where few others are willing to risk failure: that's his passion. Steve creates and propels uniquely qualified teams to drive disruptions shaping new markets in their formative stages – including electronic publishing, document management, the World Wide Web, wireless imaging, energy storage, robotics and most recently, autonomous micro-rail transit where he serves as President & CEO of Trellis Transit Technologies, Inc. He delivers technical inventions through to the key business and research partnerships vital to their success – including, for example, the establishment of numerous collaborative research projects between CrossWing and globally-recognized academic robotics teams. Firms Founded/Co-Founded (Current) - Trellis Transit Technologies, Inc.: ultra-efficient, autonomous micro-rail transit for people, goods, and services CrossWing, Inc.: service robotics sharing common advanced holonomic platform for security, healthcare/disinfection, retail greeter, and home (telepresence) markets Kelvin Thermal Energy Inc.: environmentally responsible off-peak electrical to Thermal Energy storage for process, district heat, and grid-scale energy storage Pursang Corporation: holding company Firms Founded/Co-Founded (Exits) - OpenGraphics Corporation: large-scale photo e-commerce and Internet imaging platform pioneer, including first fully-automated end-to-end North American order-online/pickup at store system. Acquired by Best Buy & Co. -> then Kodak (customers and digital assets) & Fujifilm (fulfilment & logistics technology platform). TrueSpectra Inc.: leading edge object-oriented render engine technologies powering web e-commerce infrastructure, high performance image servers. Acquired by Scene7 -> then Adobe Systems Inc. (Adobe Experience Manager.) Imara Research Inc.: large-scale document management systems spearheading the launch of client-server computing platforms within insurance, military, and commercial operations Acquired by Infologistics GMBH. Software Channels Inc.: communications & desktop publishing technology leader. Engine acquired by [NDA] global software powerhouse as the architectural foundation of a series of mainframe, mini-computer and desktop print-production products.
Smart Mobility - Inclusive 24x7 Transportation - the lifeblood of society. Our planet critically needs a Disruptive Transportation Solution which citizens worldwide will finally PREFER over tarmac-centric vehicles. Trellis meets this challenge. "Cheaper, Faster, Greener." Trellis is an unprecedented breakthrough in sustainable, green, and time efficient transportation of people, goods, and services. All Trellis Pods, including 4-passenger, cargo, and fire response Pods, ride up in the sky on elevated microrail networks. Trellis' autonomous, congestion-free, inclusive 24x7 non-stop operation appeals to urban dwellers now able to eliminate cars/noise/pollution/traffic – and most urban transport firms leveraging Trellis to embrace a green microrail transit transformation. Despite endless taxpayer burdens, unsustainable legacy ‘mass transit corridors’ and tarmac-based transportation systems destroy nature while consuming more and more precious land in a hopeless battle with congestion and stress, as they fail to expeditiously connect people throughout their communities. 'Business-as-usual' in the transportation space, globally contributing 25% of GHG's, must immediately be curtailed. Trellis has been designed to dramatically reduce transit stress; recovering precious personal time (often one month every year, when comparing with legacy multi-modal corridor transit journeys) and excels in energy efficiency by delivering a 400x disruptive improvement in operating power draw because we dare to design a system where all pieces are highly optimized for weight reduction, sustainability, and lifespan. Trellis also vastly reduces legacy tarmac-based transportation construction and operating emissions, while massively reducing material consumption including eliminating all tarmac and concrete. Trellis empowers cities to finally tear up devastating ground coverings, releasing nature to restore our planet with green foliage and sustainable paths for walking and cycling.
CrossWing's virtualME(R) interactive personal robotics platform is deployed in exciting research projects at Universities including McGill, Toronto, York, Waterloo and UOIT where next-generation robotics algorithms are well underway. The plan is to bring the platform to mass markets when capital is available for manufacturing and support in conjunction with the completion of key applications in healthcare, security and digital living markets. We are very fortunate to have an unparalleled research team working with our innovative platform!
A very compelling, cybernetic approach to the prediction of financial markets - especially effective for shorter-term currency trading, although also proven for the management of longer-term equity positions. Steve has provided funding and guidance to Entarea.
Exciting energy storage operation currently prototyping their advanced Thermal Energy Matrix Storage (TEMS) systems which employ surplus electricity to provide on-demand clean thermal energy for process, district heating, and peak electricity generation. Steve is one of the original three contributors to Kelvin's IP portfolio and continues innovating with Toronto and San Diego teams.
FOSS Factory was one of the first Open Source bounty systems fostering collaborative software development. Steve provided funding and periodic strategic assistance to the FOSS Factory team.