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Yvonne Pilon
Aaron Mavrinac
James Loaring
Lori Gray
Derek Chiu
Ali Al-Aasm
OUTSTANDING YOUNG ALUMNI CELEBRATED
The Alumni Association honoured seven graduates with the Odyssey Award at its Annual General Meeting in
November. The award recognizes alumni who are in the early years of their career path, having distinguished
themselves through significant or innovative achievement in their professional or personal lives.
ALI AL-AASMBCS ’03
A
l-Aasm is a co-founder of Red Piston
Inc.The Windsor company, which
started up nearly four years ago, develops
applications for mobile devices and
interactive websites with clients ranging
from Lowe’s Canada to Dodge. Red Piston
has launched more than 65 high-quality,
mobile medical and gaming applications
that have achieved significant downloads
around the world.
DEREK CHIU BMT ’01
P
ianist Derek Chiu opened the Derek
Chiu Music Studio in Calgary, Alta., in
2008 and also serves as director of Cantabile
Wedding Music. He is an active guest
teacher, clinician and lecturer. Chiu began
his formal training in Calgary at the age
of three. At the University of Windsor, he
studied under Dr. Gregory Butler and Joel
Hastings. Following his 2001 graduation,
he went on to earn a Master of Music
from the Manhattan School of Music in
2003.The UWindsor graduate has played
with notable chamber musician Daniel
Epstein of the Raphael Trio and performed
in master classes with Janina Fialkowska,
Robin Harrison, James Howsmon, Lorrin
Hollander, Ramzi Yassa, Cecilio Tieles and
Jesus Angel Rodriquez.
LORI GRAYMA ’04, PhD ’08
D
r. Lori Gray has dedicated her
professional life to helping people
who have experienced trauma. She provides
psychological assessment, psychotherapy,
and crisis intervention to first responders,
trauma survivors and their families. In
2013, she received the Future Pioneer of
Psychology Award from the American
Psychological Association for her trauma
work with victims, perpetrators and
emergency services providers.
JAMES LOARING BComm ’02
J
ames Loaring is the owner of Loaring
Personal in-person coaching and
consultation services for endurance athletes
of all levels and abilities.The alumnus has
participated in more than 500 local, provincial,
national and international triathlons, swim
meets, cycling and running races. He received
the Ontario Quest for Gold Scholarship
from Sport Canada in 2006 and was honored
with the “Mr. Triathlete” award from the
Ontario Association of Triathletes in 2008.
In 2004, Loaring established the Elena
Loaring Memorial Fund for Breast Cancer
Research in honour of his mother who
passed away from the disease. As part of this
project, he runs the Loaring Triathlon, which
has raised more than $100,000 to support
breast cancer research.
AARONMAVRINAC
BASc ’05, MASc ’08, PhD ’12
A
aron Mavrinac works at the Robert
Bosch LLS Research and Technology
Center in Palo Alto, Calif., where he is
responsible for research and development
for advanced driver assistance and highly
automated driving. At present, he is working
on the perception system for an automated
vehicle. He is also an open source software
developer and has been widely published.
He says his goal is to contribute to a better
understanding of the interplay between the
physical world and electronic perception
and sensing.
YVONNE PILON BComm ’07
P
ilon is the vice president of WEtech
Alliance, one of 14 Regional Innovation
Centres in Ontario focused on driving the
growth and success of technology-focused
companies and entrepreneurs in Windsor-
Essex. She has served as the Promotions
& Marketing Services Committee chair
for the 2013 Windsor Essex International
Children’s Games and as a member of the
Games Organizing Team. She was the lead
co-ordinator for Startup Canada’s National
Tour visit to Windsor and the committee
chair for the Windsor-Essex Regional
Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence
Awards.
DEEPTI VERMA BComm ’03
D
eepti Verma is manager, Forensic
Investigation & Dispute Services,
with Ernst & Young LLP in Chicago, Ill.
She is a certified public accountant, internal
auditor and fraud examiner. Her work
focuses on “white collar crime”, and includes
investigating companies for a wide range of
fraudulent activities.
Deepti Verma
