Executive Profile: Douglas Grosfield
Douglas Grosfield is the President and CEO of Xylotek Solutions Inc.™ As a co-founder of the company, which is ranked #40 on the PROFIT HOT 50 - the definitive ranking of Canada's Emerging Growth Companies - he is responsible for managing business activities, new business development, and finance. He works with a wide variety of customers from such sectors as aerospace, manufacturing, healthcare, insurance, and high-tech.
Prior to establishing Xylotek™, he was a Senior Technical Consultant with CedarCreek Networking in Kitchener, an IT Support Specialist and Operations Team Leader with Gore Mutual Insurance Company in Cambridge, and a Technical Team Leader with Karis Remote Access Systems Inc. in Mississauga. Mr. Grosfield earned his Microsoft Certification at Conestoga College, and spends considerable time each year in such vendor-specific training facilities as IBM, HP, Cisco, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, FortiNet, and Barracuda in order to gain and maintain industry-specific skills and certifications.
Mr. Grosfield lives in Kitchener with his family, is an avid motorcycle enthusiast, and a competitive martial arts practitioner.
Executive Profile: Chris Pickard
Chris Pickard is the Chief Operating Officer of Xylotek Solutions Inc.™ He joined the company in 2006, which was one year after its founding. As COO of Xylotek, Mr. Pickard is responsible for managing business activity, business development, and internal operations. Mr. Pickard is a Senior Technical Consultant, Systems Engineer, and Design/Implementation Support Specialist.
Prior to joining Xylotek™, he spent several years at Karis Remote Access Systems in Mississauga where he was promoted from System Administrator to Director of Operations, and then to General Manager in charge of sales and service.
Mr. Pickard has a B. Sc. from the University of Waterloo, and was the recipient of the Imperial Oil Scholarship. He also obtained a Diploma in Information Technology from the DeVry Institute of Technology. He lives in Binbrook, Ontario with his family, is an avid motorcycle enthusiast, and enjoys listening to live music.
Executive Profile: Michael Topp
Michael Topp is the Chief Technology Officer of Xylotek Solutions Inc.™ He is a co-founder of the company, and is responsible for the design, implementation, management and support of customer IT solutions. In addition, he reviews and recommends new product offerings from technology partners.
Prior to co-founding Xylotek™ with Douglas Grosfield in 2005, Mr. Topp spent three years as a Senior Technical Consultant with CedarCreek Networking Inc. in Kitchener, and five years as a Network Administrator and Senior Systems Engineer with Ontario College Application Services in Guelph. He has also worked in the technology skills area with Dofasco, Mohawk College, and AECL.
Mr. Topp has a Computer Systems Technology Diploma from Mohawk College in Hamilton. He is a Nortel BCM Sales Specialist, a Nortel BCM Design Specialist, and a Nortel BCM Support Specialist, and has extensive professional training expertise. Mr. Topp lives in Kitchener with his family, and is a student of history and modern science.