Corporate leaders, professionals, and researchers from UCalgary inspired to create change

The Top 40 Under 40 is often recognized as a who’s who of corporate Calgary. Among this year’s honourees were many researchers, doctors, lawyers and tech entrepreneurs with University of Calgary connections. In fact, nearly half of this year’s recipients have ties to UCalgary. 

• Read all the profiles of 2021 Top 40 Under 40 honourees from UCalgary. With files from Avenue Magazine

Read on to meet more of this year’s crop of unstoppable professionals from the 2021 cohort of Avenue Magazine’s Top 40 Under 40, who were eager to reminisce about their times on campus, as well as share advice and wisdom. Watch UToday for more profiles this week.

Sarah Sinclair

• Lawyer for Sahwoo mohkaak tsi ma taas (Blackfoot for “Before Being Judged”), the Indigenous justice program at Calgary Legal Guidance 

Not seeking fame or glory, Sarah Sinclair, BA’10, wants only a more fair and honourable relationship between Canada and its Indigenous people. The 38-year-old lawyer is a trusted ally and tireless advocate for justice who is driven to create systemic change within our legal system. Read the Q&A

Dr. Devon Livingstone

• Otolaryngologist (head and neck surgeon); clinical lecturer, University of Calgary; chief medical officer, Alethea (medical diagnostics and eConsult company focusing on delivering specialist-level care)

While training to become an ear, nose and throat surgeon, Dr. Devon Livingstone, BHSc’10, MD’13, remembers becoming frustrated with an antiquated communication system in health care. Wanting to replace faxes, pagers and paper files, he began to study machine learning, which eventually led him to create Alethea. This Calgary-based company produces diagnostic medical devices powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and also doubles as an e-consultation platform that connects family physicians and specialists. Read the Q&A

Carmen Morin

• Studied music (2014-2016), UCalgary; owner and executive director, Morin Music Studio Ltd.

Certain people can read a room and look forward with remarkable timing and precision. Like 37-year-old Carmen Morin. After establishing Morin Music Studio in 2013, she launched a virtual music school, Morin Music Online, in 2018, which contributed to an 80-per cent growth in revenue from 2020 to 2021. To date, Morin Music has sold online teaching videos to more than 1,000 students in 20 countries. In fact, the brick-and-mortar school’s revenues are currently in the seven-figure range, with the online school’s revenues also projected to top seven figures by the end of this year. Read the Q&A

Dr. Nils Daniel Forkert

• Associate professor, departments of Radiology, Clinical Neurosciences, and Electrical and Software Engineering, University of Calgary; program director, Child Health Data Science Program, Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute

In a nutshell, the research conducted by Dr. Nils Daniel Forkert, PhD, lies at the intersection of computer science and medicine. By developing new software, computer algorithms and machine-learning models, the 37-year-old’s findings help doctors select treatments with more precision, diagnose with more accuracy and predict diseases before they develop. Read the Q&A

Dr. Alicia Nahmad Vazquez

• Assistant professor of robotics and AI, School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, University of Calgary 

Dr. Alicia Nahmad Vazquez, PhD, 39, is an architect who wants to invite people into her world where robotics and humans co-exist  ...  in the construction industry. She sees a future where people and robots relate, collaborate and, ultimately, improve the planet — embodied in the startup she created in 2012 dubbed Architecture Extrapolated (R-Ex). Read the Q&A

Sherri (Gursharan) Shergill

• Clinical supervisor, Centre for Refugee Resilience; co-founder, Mata Jai Kaur Maternal and Child Health Centre, Rajasthan, India

Toggling between two continents, Sherri (Gursharan) Shergill, BA’09, a 36-year-old double major (English and Communications) acts both locally and globally to deliver health services to women and racialized populations who have been marginalized by society. A fan of study abroad programs and international exchanges, Shergill’s work in India is transforming prenatal health care in a clinic she helped create with other family members. Read the Q&A