Dr. V.I. Lakshmanan is an internationally renowned scientist, innovator, entrepreneur and teacher in the area of technologies for sustainable development. He has more than 40 years of hands-on experience in technology development and commercialization, having successfully guided process technologies from concept through development and demonstration to commercialization for energy (including renewable energy), resources and chemical (including specialty chemical) industries. Dr. Lakshmanan has consistently identified and developed innovative applications in technology commercialization.

Born and educated in India, Dr. Lakshmanan obtained his Ph.D in Chemistry from Bombay University and moved to Canada in 1974 after serving as Lecturer in Minerals Engineering at the University of Birmingham, UK. His corporate experience includes roles in Noranda, Eldorado Nuclear, ORTECH Corporation and Process Research ORTECH, the last of which he founded and guided to become a global leader in sustainable process technologies through its laboratory and pilot plant. He has extensive client contacts and relationships at senior levels with major international corporations, as well as academic and government sectors globally. He is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto. Dr. Lakshmanan is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and Fellow, Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum and holds numerous patents.

Dr. Sankar is an award-winning scientist with over 75 US patents who is passionate on the urgency to reduce the effects of Climate Change. He has been a member of many committees including the White House Committee on Energy & Environment, chaired by then Vice- President Al Gore. Recently he was an Advisor to the Indian PM on Climate Change and Energy Transformation. A founder charter member of TIE-Toronto and is a frequently invited speaker at conferences and universities worldwide. Sankar received his doctorate from Imperial College, London and is a graduate of Presidency College, Calcutta. He serves as an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Toronto.