Charlotte Savage
FOUNDER
Charlotte Savage is the founder of HaiLa Technologies and a sustainable technology advocate. She has been featured in the Forbes 30 under 30 Energy division in 2021 and currently serves on the Forbes Under 30 Board. With experience in IoT, low power semiconductor, radio communications and medtech industries, Charlotte has built technology from concept to prototype finding product market fit and fundraising from academic institutions, sustainability funds, government grants, and strategic investors. Charlotte launched HaiLa with TandemLaunch, a deep tech incubator, where she and her team demonstrated the commercial viability of ultra low power backscatter communication over Wi-Fi. Under her leadership, HaiLa received the prestigious Nokia Open Innovation Challenge award in 2019. Before founding HaiLa, Charlotte worked as a product developer and manager at NXTSENS Microsystems. She studied mechanical engineering, specializing in biomedical applications, at Concordia University.
Derek Kuhn
PRESIDENT & CEO
Derek Kuhn is President & CEO of HaiLa Technologies. Derek is a high-tech executive with more than twenty years of international experience. Before joining HaiLa he worked as a strategic advisor and consultant to companies in Canada and abroad, including ML for IoT focused Acerta, embedded computing focused Arcane Software and he was advisor to the CTO of Panasonic. Prior to this he was the president of Sciemetric Instruments, an IIOT company (sold in 2018), as well as Senior Vice President of Blackberry’s IOT business unit, and VP of sales and marketing for QNX Software Systems and for Blackberry Technology Solutions. Prior to Blackberry Derek held multiple senior roles at Alcatel-Lucent, including VP Emerging Technology in the office of the CTO where he received the company's 2010 CEO Award. Derek also conceived and led the ng Connect Program, a multi-industry initiative dedicated to the development and rapid deployment of next-generation broadband services based on Long Term Evolution (LTE). From 2003 to 2006, Derek served as Chair of the Broadband Content Delivery Forum, which focused on content streaming over broadband for the content community. He also sat as a board member of the University of Southern California’s Entertainment Technology Center from 2008 to 2010 and was on the Board of Directors for the Automotive Parts Manufacturer’s Association from 2012 to 2016 and again from 2019 to 2020. In 2005, Derek was granted a Top Forty Under 40 award by the Ottawa Business Journal. Derek holds a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.
Ramzy Metwalli
CFO
Mr. Metwalli brings over 25 years of financial executive experience to HaiLa. He is a board-certified CPA, CMA with experience in a wide range of technical industries from biocosmetics to lighting and videoconferencing equipment manufacturing. He has served as Chief Financial Officer to both private and public companies, assisting in numerous key milestones including fundraising and M&A transactions. Prior to joining HaiLa, Mr. Metwalli held the position of CFO and GM at Zorah Biocosmetics. Mr. Metwalli received his BAC in accounting from HEC Montreal.
Vytas Kezys
CHief scientist
Vytas Kezys is a seasoned technical strategist and recognized leader in mobile wireless. His career focuses on leveraging a broad technical background and concept-to-product experience to develop leading wireless solutions. He pioneered work in array signal processing including early development of MU-MIMO and has demonstrated expertise in a wide range of fields including Wi-Fi, RF propagation, statistical signal processing, indoor navigation and sensor fusion/SLAM. Prior to working with HaiLa as Chief Scientist, he was Director of Advanced Connectivity at Blackberry where he developed and launched their first Wi-Fi enabled handhelds and drove the adoption of various connectivity technologies. Vytas was the Founder and President of TalariCom where he led the development of cost effective smart antenna technologies. He was Principal Research Engineer at the Communications Research Laboratory, McMaster University, focusing on array signal processing, radar and smart antennas. Vytas has held numerous consulting positions and is an inventor on over 30 patents. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering from McMaster University.