Biography of the Panelists

A Look into Research from the Lens of Development

Mr. Bill Porochnuk Mr. Bill (William) Porochnuk grew up in rural Canada where his father worked as a coal miner and his Czech mother was a cook. He completed a Technical Diploma before obtaining a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree. After working in electrical engineering companies for some number of years, Mr. Porochnuk entered into Access TV where he became Technical Director of Educational Television Programming. Subsequently, he joined Northern Albert Institute of Technology (NAIT) as the Head of the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering. Then he moved to Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) and was Director of Operations for 11 years. It was at this time he became involved with Nepal Engineering Education Project and the other partnering agency – the United Nations. The latter part of his career became heavily involved with Nepal and UN, through which he did much of technical assessment for four engineering colleges in Nepal – Pulchowk Campus, Thapathali Campus, Purvanchal Campus, and Paschimanchal Campus. Through Nepal became almost like his second home and he became known as Bill Kaka in the Nepalese community. However, since the death of his wife Alice Kaki some three and a half years ago he has taken full retirement from his technical work. He lives in Cocharne near Calgary Alberta.

Prof. Dave Irvine-Halliday A professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Calgary, Dr. Dave Irvine-Halliday started his endeavors of helping Nepal some 20 years ago and has mentored many researchers of Nepalese origin. During a trek to Annapurna Circuit after setting-up a laboratory at Tribhuvan University, Nepal, in 1997, Dr. Irvine-Halliday was struck by an idea of illuminating homes in the remote mountains with low-energy White Light Emitting Diodes (WLEDs). After series of research and technological quest, he was able to develop a technology with human-powered battery charger, lead-acid battery, and WLEDs. He then founded Nepal Light Project in 1999 along with his wife Jenny using their own personal income and loan and distributed the first sets of lighting systems in May 1999 in Nepal. After seeing the transformative effect of this project, he came back with an idea of "Light Up the WOrld (LUTW)" and, thus LUTW.org was born in year 2000. By introducing a safe, efficient and affordable form of home lighting consuming less than a watt and lasting more than ten years to the poor rural people of Nepal and subsequently of the world, LUTW brought the ability to read and write in the night to the children of rural Nepal. He believes it is the birthright of every man, woman and child on Earth to read and write. He therefore hopes to provide reading and writing materials along with one WLED reading lamp for each home and local school in Nepal.
In 1970, after earning Ph.D. degree from University of Aberdeen, Scotland, Dr. Irvine-Halliday moved to Canada, where he worked with Bell-Northern Research in Ottawa, Alberta Government Telephones, Victoria University of Technology in Melbourne, and finally at University of Calgary in Alberta where is Professor of Electrical Engineering. Dr. Irvine-Halliday participated in "Team Everest 2000", which reached the summit of Everest in May 2000. Recipient of many awards Dr. Irvine-Halliday and his wife Jenny’s lives are devoted to Light Up the World Foundation (www.lutv.org) and are one of the finest friends of the educational and humanitarian causes of the poor and marginalized people of rural Nepal. LUTW is the first humanitarian organization to utilize renewable energy and solid-state lighting technologies to bring affordable, safe, healthy, efficient, and environmentally responsible illumination to people who do not have access to power for adequate lighting. LUTW remains the world’s leader in this endeavor: globally active and setting standards in the field.

Dr. Binod KC Dr. Binod KC holds a PhD degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from University of Calgary, MSc in Electrical Engineering from University of Kent, UK and Bachelor of Engineering from University of Rajasthan, India. He also came First Class First in Intermediate in Science program at Tribhuvan University. He is working for General Dynamics Canada, a premier Canadian institution in high end research and development, for the last 8 years. Beyond his exemplary academic and professional credentials, he is also actively involved with the Nepalese community in Calgary during the last 12 years in various roles. He is also the current president of Calgary Nepalese Community Association. Prior to coming to Canada Dr. KC was a Lecturer of Electrical Engineering at Tribhuvan University.

Dr. Drona P Rasali Dr. Drona Prakash Rasali is one of the brightest scholars to emerge from the traditionally neglected communities of Nepal. He was declared Board First in Nepal's School Leaving Certificate Examinations held in 1972. After completing Bachelor of Veterinary Science in 1980 he worked as a Veterinary Doctor with Government of Nepal for 14 years and completed his M.Sc. degree from University of Philippines during that tenure. Then he moved to Nepal Agriculture Research Council where he worked a Senior Scientist until 1999. After leading a successful research career in Nepal, he came to Canada and completed his Ph.D. in Animal Genetics in 2004. He worked in Manitoba as a provincial coordinator of a national pilot study of Canadian Pork Council for one year in 2003/04. Currently, he is working in the area of population health as a Chronic Disease Epidemiologist with the Government of Saskatchewan, Canada. To his credits, he has more than 70 peer-reviewed publications in the wide ranging areas of animal health and productivity as well as public health and well-being.
Along with his successful professional career, Dr. Rasali also involves himself extensively in social causes of the Nepalese, especially in espousing consciousness in the common causes of the society and of the people in the margin. He is also Advisor of NRN-Canada and Research Chair of Canada Foundation for Nepal.

Mr. Naresh Koirala A Senior Geotechnical Engineer with Golder Associates Ltd, a leading international company in its area, Mr. Naresh Koirala is a graduate of Civil Engineering from IIT-Roorkee in India and holds Master's degree in Soil Engineering from AIT Bangkok. He has been working in the field of geotechnical engineering for the past 40 years in Canada, Hong Kong, and Nepal. His special areas of interests have been municipal infrastructure upgrades and developments involving trenchless technology such as tunneling, pipe jacking and horizontal directional drilling. He carries end to end knowledge in the investigation, desgn, tendering, construction, inspection, and post development engineering works.
Besides his works in the field of engineering, he is also strongly interested in philanthropy, political studies, philosophy, and independent thinking. He is the founder of a reading club in the lower mainland of BC and also the founder of Nepal Library Foundation, which has created a number of libraries in Nepal and the pursuit is only intensifying as he gears up to retire from his usual work. An ardent supporter of NRN movement, he has been strongly involved in the movement from the time of its inception and is the Regional Coordinator for the Americas in the current NRNA-ICC.

Dr. Pramod Dhakal Dr Pramod Dhakal is the International Affairs Coordinator of NRN-Canada, Executive Director of Canada Foundation for Nepal, Senior Scientist and Architect at EION Inc, and Research Associate at Carleton University. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from IIT-Roorkee, India, M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. He carries varied experience from the industry and academia through his successfully executed roles as a teacher, developer, analyst, architect, consultant, department head, and a manager mostly in teaching, software, telecommunication systems, and engineering research. In these roles, he has carried out exclusive research and development endeavors for organizations known to lead the world in the field of research and innovation. There are two patented scientific inventions in fields of computing and communication to his credit. After being entrenched in electrical and telecommunications engineering for more than two decades, he has emerged into broader social scene in the least four years. Subsequently, his research interests have shifted to application of telecommunication technology for the economic transformation of developing countries. Also expanded are his social horizons - expressed in his well received writings on socio-economic issues that appear in the news media on a regular basis, and his increasing interests in cognition, thoughts, and philosophical domains. Currently he has embarked Project Usha dedicated to producing educational content in view of bringing the light of education among rural children in Nepal.

Dr. Raju Tuladhar Dr. Raju Tuladhar holds B.E. from IIT Bombay, M.Sc. from AIT Bangkok, and PhD from University of Calgary in Structural Engineering. An avid scholar he was awarded Silver Medal for academic achievement by IIT-Bombay. He is serving Alberta Canada in the field of structural engineering for the last two decades. He is also a Professional Engineer working in Thyssen Krupp, a German Subsidery, as a Senior Structural Engineer. He has successfully completed a number of projects of significance in mining and oil sand industries and is a Lead Engineer of a major project. Most importantly Dr Tuladhar makes substantial contributions in community activities and is the founding member and past President of the Calgary Nepalese Community Association. He is a long time practitioner of Buddhist meditation.
Prior to coming to Canada, Dr Tuladhar was a Lecturer and Head of the Department of Civil Engineering at Western Region Campus of Tribhuvan University in Nepal. He also worked in a number of major engineering projects in Nepal and was regarded as one of the prized academics.

Dr. Upendra Mahato Dr. Upendra Mahato holds a PhD and DSc degrees in Information Technology from International Academy of Information Technology of Minsk, Belarus. He is the Honorary Consul General of Nepal in the Republic of Belarus and President of Russia-Nepal Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He is the president of Non Resident Nepalese Association, International Coordination Council (NRNA, ICC).
A person of academic achievement, he entered into the world of entrepreneurship in the late 1980s with modest beginning but quickly showed his business talents. Subsequently, Dr. Mahato emerged as one of the most successful entrepreneur and businessman in Russia and then in Belarus, Cyprus, Nepal and India. He was the first foreign national to receive the prestigious 'Manager of the Year-2007' award by Free Economic Society of Russia and International Academy of Management in Russia. As much as his business acumen are refined and strong, he is equally skillful in social entrepreneurship and charity. He is the key people behind the establishment of NRNA and its world-wide expansion.