About Us
Who we are
Vera Inkjet is scientific research and experimental development company specializing in inkjet inks and fluids. For close to a decade, Vera Inkjet has accumulated an extensive knowledge base about inkjet inks and technology which helps us find new solutions to any inkjet challenges. We recently expanded our headquarters to make space for our new equipment and additional team members, but we’ve kept the same values and passion that we had when first starting out.
Guided by our core values, Vera aspires to be an important innovator and contributor in green digital fluids/inks engineering.
Our Core Values
Sustainability
Our decisions are based on our value of sustainability. We work towards being sustainable both on:
The environment front: development of green products, commitment to waste reduction and responsible use of natural resources.
Compared to conventional printing methods that use dye-sublimations inks and solvent inks, digital printing with water-based inks is more environmentally friendly due to reduced waste, less energy consumed, and less water consumed.
Our continuous efforts toward social and environmental responsibility include ensuring that our water-based inks are:
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regulated by standards including REACH, California’s Proposition 65, the Swiss Ordinance, and OEKO-TEX®.
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free of heavy metals, formaldehyde and alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEO)
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vegan; do not contain animal products
OEKO-TEX® is a registered trademark of ÖTI - Institut Für Ökologie, Technik und Innovation GmbH
The cooperative front: open collaboration with all our stakeholders, for example, employees, suppliers, and customers.
Sustainability for our people means supportive work environment. We provide all team members with the opportunity to have a strong voice and make a difference. Our decision-making process encourages innovative thinking and recognizes the best ideas, with no micromanagement. Work-life balance is fully supported with flexible hours, vacations, and a positive atmosphere.
Sustainability for our people also means diversity and equality. Our team members have diverse cultural and educational backgrounds, and all members of our team are treated equally.
Sustainability for our customers means taking the time to understand what our customers need to ensure that we exceed their expectations. Whatever we do, we do well. We use outstanding quality control on both the inks and the incoming raw materials they are made from to meet high production standards for our inks/fluids.
Innovation
We are a research-based company and the ability to innovate is our lifeline. Our passion is to contribute towards innovative and transformative inkjet technology.
Courage
We define ourselves by courage – courage to have no fear or limit to our dreams and aspirations. Courage to change the employee-employer relationship. Courage to build open collaborations.
Discipline
To remain focused on our journey, we need discipline. We are true, honest and work with discipline for all our goals.
Our Collaborations & Partnerships
Scientific innovation is about collaboration, not competition. We work with Tier-1 OEM companies in the industry and academic leaders including McGill University, University of Toronto (UofT), The University of British Columbia (UBC), École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS), University of Québec (UQAM), and the Université de Montréal (UdeM).
Our Team
In alignment with our core values, we recruit team members with diverse cultural and educational backgrounds. We value the unique contributions that each person makes to the team. Although we each have roles, we aren’t hierarchical; decision-making is a team effort.
Glen Pearson - President and CEO
Glen is a serial entrepreneur, with more than 35 years of business management experience in finance, manufacturing, ITC, systems development, logistics and process design. His business development approach is to maximize stakeholder value by creating a business structure designed for continued expansion and long-term success. Glen has successfully created numerous revenue models and business strategies and multiple productive teams.
Outside of the office, Glen loves to go fishing and spend time with his family. He is one of the rare businessmen who possesses a scientific spirit and is determined to establish new frontiers of research in inkjet industry.
Dr. Madhu Kaushik - Senior Vice President and CTO
As vice-president of the company, Madhu is responsible for business management and strategy, operations, risk management, research and development, team building and team management. Madhu received her Ph.D. in Chemistry from McGill University with numerous high impact publications. Her research experience includes inkjet technology, drug discovery, nanotechnology, material sciences and sustainability. Researching problems systematically and finding creative and innovative solutions is her passion.
When she isn’t juggling her roles of being a researcher and a businesswoman, Madhu loves to cook, dance, and play with her toddler son.
Katharina Rieder - Director Administration and Finance
Katharina is dedicating her career on having a positive impact. After getting her bachelor’s degree in finance, economics and applied mathematics at HEC Montreal she worked for several years in the NGO sector as a Finance Officer.
With the aim of finding a better way to have a positive impact, she decided to leave the NGO sector to go back to studies at HEC Paris where she graduated from a Master in Sustainability and Social Innovation. She loves contributing to the growth of organizations from the management side, by constantly looking for ways to innovate and improve current processes.
Outside of the office, Katharina is always on the move: either enjoying the seasonal sport activities, traveling, or hanging out with her friends. She especially loves hiking and playing volleyball.
Paul Tatham - Founding Research Associate
Paul is one of the founding partners of Vera Inkjet. He joined the ink industry with Borden chemical in 1981 and has held posts in several ink companies including Canadian Fine Color, Sun Chemical, and INX. With over 40 years of experience, Paul brings his unique approach to ink formulating and product development to the inkjet field. At Vera, he helped formulate an inkset for the graphic arts proofing market that successfully outperformed the OEM inkset.
In his time off, Paul enjoys music, reading, shark wrangling, and bare-fisted moose fighting.
Hesam Talebi- Senior Research Associate
Hesam holds a Master’s degree in Materials Engineering from the École de Technologie Supérieure, and he also holds Management and Aerospace CAPE certificates from McGill. Hesam is passionate about finding creative ways to solve scientific problems. His current research areas focus on nanomaterials and water-based dispersions.
In his spare time, Hesam enjoys playing tennis and volleyball with his friends and discovering new outdoor activities.
Nicolae Corbos - Production Associate
Nicolae has a multidisciplinary background. Nicolae has studied in systems automation and protection processes. He holds complementary credits at Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal. He has a large experience in different industry domains and departments primarily in production, logistics and quality control.
A perfectionist and lover of details, he brings to Vera more than 30 years of practical operations experience.
During his time off, Nicolae loves playing soccer, bridge and spend time with his family.
Dr. Hessam Younesi - Research Associate
Hessam received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Saskatchewan. His research experience includes surface chemistry, nanotechnology and polymer sciences. Hessam is fascinated by the role surfactant plays in chemistry and how they can alter the whole game. He has supervised 5 master students and authored more than 14 research papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Hessam loves to explore new topics and learn new skills. He has developed his career in different fields of chemistry from petrochemical industry to pharmaceutical industry and he is ambitious to leave a dent in the universe (in a good way). He is working toward developing new inks formulation with leaning on his background in polymer and surfactant chemistry. He has a great respect for the environment and living beings.
When he’s not working, Hessam likes to spend time with his family.
Dr. Varun Vij - Director of Research and Development
Varun received his Ph.D. in Supramolecular Material chemistry which involved synthesis and development of molecular chemosensors. He worked as a Research Scientist at UNIST, South Korea, to synthesize electrochemical inks for fuel cells. Later, he worked on designing and developing biochemical protein sensors as a postdoc at University of Calgary. He has published several research and review articles in high-impact journals. Varun has acquired a passion for fluid mechanics and development of inkjet inks for different applications at Vera. In addition, he is the in-house polymer expert and takes care of the regulatory affairs of the company.
Outside the work, Varun loves travelling, music, sketching and hanging out with friends.
Alexia Weiler- Research Associate
Alexia has a Materials Engineer degree in addition to a master’s degree in chemistry with a speciality in nanomaterials and state-of-the-art characterization. She is the printhead expert of the company. Alexia’s research experience includes polymer and rubber morpho-rheology, nanotechnology, material characterization and ink formulation. She likes when things are well organized and to work in a green and responsible environment.
Kelly McGrath - Office Manager
With 13 years of experience as an independent owner and operator of large yoga studios, Kelly knows what it means to truly work hard from a place of commitment and passion. A generalist in business management, Kelly is able to adapt quickly and have her hands in each pot – marketing, communications, customer service, administration, accounting and HR.
Kelly has 21 years of experience teaching yoga, meditation, and stress management, and 8 years of experience working in professional healthcare settings. At Vera Inkjet, she thrives on having a multitude of tasks in a fast-paced environment and being the support person for all departments.
Brian Taylor - Production Manager
Brian has over 44 years of experience in the ink industry. His expertise in streamlining the ink manufacturing process has allowed for a quality product to be manufactured in a timely manner in a clean and safe environment. He is a team player and is up for any challenge.
Outside of work Brian likes to play golf and spend time with his family and especially his grandkids.
Mary Bateman - Director of Operations
Mary joins Vera Inkjet as Director of Operations, bringing 5+ years’ experience in a R&D and manufacturing-based company where she led a team overseeing product development and testing in cosmetic applications, launching new and innovative cosmetic ingredients to the personal care market. She is excited to support Vera’s operations as it moves to the next level of growth.
She holds a Master’s in Chemistry from McGill University, specializing in green materials and catalysis. In her spare time, she enjoys gardening, cooking and traveling.