WE UNITE TO ADVANCE FOOD SAFETY FORWARD
Meet Our Team
OUR TEAM IS AT THE HEART OF OUR SUCCESS
The Agri-Neo team is made up of food safety experts, microbiologists, engineers, and marketers who are committed to make advancements in food safety. With extensive industry experience, we apply scientific innovation and precision engineering to set new food safety standards.
Nick Dillon
CEO
Nick is a co-founder of Agri-Neo and oversees its strategy, organization, and product development. Prior to Agri-Neo, he spent most of his career as a management consultant with Bain and Company in Europe and North America. During that time, he worked mainly with global food companies to improve their product innovation and marketing. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University.
Nick Dillon
CEO
Rob Wong
President
Rob is a co-founder of Agri-Neo and leads its commercial activities focused on sales and marketing. Prior to joining Agri-Neo, he was a management consultant at Bain and Company, where he focused on working with companies to create strategies to launch products into new markets. He also worked at a start-up where he advised enterprises on maximizing their social and financial impact. Rob holds an Honours in Business Administration from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario.
Rob Wong
President
Fadi Dagher
Biochemistry Director
Fadi is a co-founder of Agri-Neo and manages the chemistry formulation, regulatory, and intellectual property. He has over 15 years of experience working in chemicals, both as a successful entrepreneur and with a multinational corporation. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Concordia University, a Masters in Applied Microbiology from INRS, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Concordia University.
Fadi Dagher
Biochemistry Director
Imad Ansari
Systems Engineer
Imad is directly engaged with product development and testing of the continuous system (Food Safety System). Prior to joining Agri-Neo, Imad is a recent graduate from Ryerson University and holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering specialized in Mechatronics. He has a strong background in design, quality control, and streamlining processes. Imad holds a certificate in Lean Six Sigma Green Belt where his prior experiences extensively required applying Lean Six Sigma methodology to come up with an optimized solution for better efficiency.
Imad Ansari
Systems Engineer
Lorena Bernal
Senior Operations Manager
Lorena is our Supply Chain Manager and manages the overall supply chain at Agri-Neo, responsible for pilot food plant scheduling, safety, inventory management, and operational project management. Prior to joining Agri-Neo, Lorena held a few positions where she gained valuable experience in procurement, supervision and managing equipment and supply projects. Lorena holds a master’s in science from University of Calgary.
Lorena Bernal
Senior Operations Manager
Meghan Brennan
Senior Account Manager
Meghan is our Account Manager, leading relationship development and solution sales with our Partners. Prior to joining Agri-Neo, Meghan spent her carrier in various Sales Leadership roles at a Tier-One CPG. She has extensive experience in strategic selling, relationship building, customer engagement and team management. Meghan graduated from McMaster University with a Bachelor of Commerce and is also certified in lean Six Sigma.
Meghan Brennan
Senior Account Manager
Ashley Cloutier
Lab Technician
Ashley is involved in the day-to-day operations and best practices for in-house laboratory activities. She is also responsible for the general laboratory support for testing of new foods at Agri-Neo. Ashley holds an Honours Bachelor of Science in Food Science and Nutrition, with a minor in chemistry. She has experience working on reducing food wastage caused by food spoilage microorganisms.
Ashley Cloutier
Lab Technician
Goze Demircioglu
Senior Lab Technician
Goze is responsible for the general laboratory support for testing of new foods at Agri-Neo. She is also involved in the day-to-day operations and best practices for in-house laboratory activities. Goze holds Bachelor of Science in Biology as well as Advanced Diploma in Biotechnology from Centennial College, Toronto.
Goze Demircioglu
Senior Lab Technician
Rebecca Hylton
Food Safety Science Manager
Rebecca is responsible for the laboratory testing of new foods at Agri-Neo, including efficacy and sensory testing. She is also involved in the development and publication of external papers, presenting findings under various projects. Prior to joining Agri-Neo, Rebecca was involved in numerous research studies specific to the prevention of food borne diseases. Rebecca holds a M. Sc., Food Safety and Quality Assurance from the University of Guelph.
Rebecca Hylton
Food Safety Science Manager
Devin Michaud
Engineering Director
Devin leads the design of equipment (Food Safety System), focused specifically on the Dryer. Prior to joining Agri-Neo, he was a product development engineer for Rapid Micro Biosystems, a pharmaceutical device company based out of Boston, MA. During his time there he designed the consumable product line for sterility microbial quality control testing, of which he holds the patent. Devin holds a Master of Science (Mechanical Engineering) degree and a Bachelor of Science (Mechanical Engineering) degree from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.
Devin Michaud
Engineering Director
Jay Pandya
Lab Technician
Jay is responsible for the general laboratory support for testing of new foods at Agri-Neo. He is also involved in the day-to-day operations and best practices for in-house laboratory activities. Jay holds an Advanced Diploma in Biotechnology from Seneca College, Toronto. He joins Agri-Neo with a chemistry background attained through two internships, one focused on chemical engineering research and the other being in biopharmaceutical vaccine-water testing.
Jay Pandya
Lab Technician
Pooneh Peyvandi
Senior Lab Technician
Pooneh is responsible for the general laboratory support for testing of new foods at Agri-Neo. She is also involved in the day-to-day operations and best practices for in-house laboratory activities. Pooneh holds a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Science and Postgraduate Diploma in Food Safety Quality Control.
Pooneh Peyvandi
Senior Lab Technician
Geoffrey Quan
Account Manager
Geoff is our Account Manager focused on Neo-Pure food safety system sales/relationship development with our Partners. Prior to joining Agri-Neo, Geoff held various analytical and business development roles at the University of Guelph’s Agriculture & Food Laboratory. He has many years of experience collaborating with a wide array of companies in the food, agriculture, and pharmaceutical industries. Geoff holds a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and an MBA, both obtained from the University of Guelph.
Geoffrey Quan
Account Manager
Gianni Salluzzo
Operations Supervisor
Gianni is responsible for the safe, timely and effective operations of our facility and more specifically our pilot food plant. Prior to joining Agri-Neo, Gianni was working in a global Inventory and data collection company where he gained experience in Inventory management. Gianni holds a BA (Honors) in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems from Trent University.
Gianni Salluzzo
Operations Supervisor
Daniel Soerensen
Senior Operations Supervisor
Daniel is part of our external operations at Agri-Neo, responsible for setting up and supporting the customer sites with the new system, customer and operational project management. Prior to joining Agri-Neo, Daniel held several positions where he gained valuable experience supervising plant facilities and managing equipment and supply projects. Daniel holds a Biotechnology Industrial Microbiology advanced diploma from Centennial College.
Daniel Soerensen
Senior Operations Supervisor
Ali Sohani
Technical Program Manager
Ali is our Junior Engineer and works in designing the equipment (Food Safety System), focused specifically on the Dryer. Prior to joining Agri-Neo, he was a Product developer for KMS Telematics focusing on development of a consumer-facing telematics product. He has a strong technical background in equipment design and development and co-founded a venture in East Africa previously which focused on the development of an Ultra-heat treatment plant. Ali holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree from McMaster University.
Ali Sohani
Technical Program Manager
Julie Williams
Office Manager
Julie is our office manager. She is the “go-to” person for all office needs at Agri-Neo. She is the first point of contact for all visitors/inquires, provides senior-level administrative support, and organizes all office-related functions. Julie joins us from the retail & customer service industry and brings a wealth of knowledge from 20+ years of experience in administrative leadership.
Julie Williams
Office Manager
Matthew You
Senior Marketing Manager
Matthew is our Senior Marketing Manager who leads marketing activities for Neo-Pure™. Prior to joining Agri-Neo, he spent most of his career as a product and channel marketing manager with global CPG companies including Stanley Black & Decker, LG Electronics and Canon, among others. He has an extensive background in product development, new product launch, pricing & promotion and retail strategies. Matthew graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Commerce and is also certified in Lean Six Sigma.
Matthew You
Senior Marketing Manager
MEET OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS
GUIDED BY THE BEST IN THE INDUSTRY
Our Board of Directors is a team of diverse and experienced leaders who share our commitment to setting new food safety standards.
Neil Murdoch
Director
Neil was most recently the COO at Aston Hill. Prior to joining Aston Hill, he was President & CEO of Connor, Clark & Lunn Capital Markets Inc. from 2003 to 2013, when the firm was acquired by Aston Hill. Prior thereto, Neil was EVP and Portfolio Manager at AIC Group of Funds. Neil joined AIC in 1994 when the firm managed only $150 million in assets and was instrumental in the growth of AIC to over $15 billion as one of the three principals of the business. Neil received his Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University, Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Toronto, Master of Management degree from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
Neil Murdoch
Director
Rocco Piccolo
Director
Rocco has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. He spent the majority of his career advising clients on foreign exchange transactions. Rocco is the founder and owner of Denarius Financial Group, one of the pre-eminent corporate foreign exchange companies in the province of Quebec.
Rocco Piccolo
Director
P. David Simcox
Director
Trained as a biochemist, David has over 20 years of experience in developing agricultural products. He was the head of global R&D for agricultural products for FMC, a large multinational crop protection company. He also has held various senior posts in business development, including head of FMC’s global pharmaceutical division.
P. David Simcox
Director
Neal Lee
Director
Neal has over 30 years of experience in the Food Processing industry. He has spent the past 13 years as President of Wing’s Food Products, providing leadership in Operations, Logistics and Research and Development Under Neal’s leadership the company experienced annualized double digit growth and added two additional operating facilities. In 2015 Neal lead the divesture of Wing’s Liquid Products Business to a US based Strategic Buyer. Neal has a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto and a Master’s of Food Engineering from the University of Alberta.
Neal Lee
Director
