User:Parv Canada/sandbox

=Josipa Petrunic= Josipa Petrunic is a Canadian corporate leader, scholar, educator, and journalist based in Toronto, Canada. Petrunic is the C.E.O and executive director of the Canadian Urban Transit Research and Innovation Consortium. She is an active advocate of low- and zero-emission transportation technology innovation and leads the formulation of of several national transportation technology trials. She has built up a national consortium of more than 100 private and public sector companies including original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), automotive industry corporations, research organizations, and academic institutions across Canada to understand and innovatively address the political, social, infrastructural, and manufacturing/supply chain barriers to alternative propulsion technology powered transportation. Currently, she is leading the formulation of several national transportation technology trials related to zero-emissions transportation and “smart vehicles” innovation, including the Pan-Canadian Electric Bus Demonstration & Integration Trial, the Pan-Canadian Hydrogen Fuel Cell Demonstration & Integration Trial and the Canadian National Smart Vehicle Demonstration Project.

Early Life and Education
Petrunic was born and raised in a middle class Croatian immigrant family in Calgary. She attended St. Martha’s school in Marlborough Park before heading downtown to study at St. Mary’s high school in Calgary. She did her undergraduate degree in Political Science and Journalism from Carleton University and pursued graduate training in Political Theory from London School of Economics and Political Science. She embarked on a another master's degree in Science and Technology Studies (Sociology of Scientific Knowledge) and did her doctoral studies in Science and Technology Studies (Sociology of Scientific Knowledge) at the University of Edinburgh. She did post-doctoral research fellowships at the Department of Science and Technology Studies, University College London (UK) and Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology (IHPST), University of Toronto.

Journalist (1999-2002)
While completing her degree in political science and journalism at Carleton University, Petrunic undertook a short yet remarkable career as a journalist. She worked as a full-time journalist for the Edmonton Journal, the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star during the period of 1999-2002. She won a national journalism award from the Canadian Association of Journalists for an article on science and art that was published in the Globe and Mail.

Educator (2008-Present)
Petrunic has served multiple functions in her role as an educator since 2008. She worked as the director of operations and senior manager for Prepskills during the period of 2008-2011, wherein she led the design and development of innovative curriculum products focusing on English literature, writing, algebra, calculus, and logic for students entering the private schooling system in Canada and the USA. Since 2012, Petrunic has been leading the design, research, and on-going development of the MA-IS graduate program’s core course in interdisciplinary research methodologies, including statistical and quantitative methods as well as interview-, focus group, and observational analyses at Athabasca University. During her career, she has designed and taught multiple graduate and undergraduate courses in Europe and Canada, and have supervised several successful graduate students.

Politician (2011-2012)
Petrunic ran for federal election in Calgary, Alberta in 2011, and then again for provincial election in Edmonton, Alberta in 2012. She functioned as the head of policy research and constituency manager during 2011-2012, leading policy research into energy and infrastructure policies related to Alberta’s oil and gas pipeline systems and royalty structures, as well as the province’s deregulated electricity system (including “behind the fence” production at Fort McMurray), and energy infrastructure expansion efforts (specifically, transmission line expansion). Additionally, she developed internal policy papers on the temporary foreign workers (TFW) program, seniors’ care in Edmonton, and regionalized health care funding mechanisms across the province. Although she wasn't successful as a candidate in the last elections, she plans to run again in Ontario with the goal of becoming a leading federal Minister in the near future.

Transportation Policy and Technology Researcher (2013-2015)
Petrunic led the research framework, including design and development, for a MacAUTO-sponsored Electric Vehicle Technology Roadmap at the McMaster Automotive Resource Centre (MARC), McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. She provided normative recommendations for targeted federal, provincial, and municipal public policies aimed at increasing regional investments in sustainable transportation and automotive manufacturing, focusing on the comparative benefits of electrified transportation incentives (including rebates, subsidies, HOV lanes) for hybrid, plug in hybrid, and battery electric vehicles, fleets, and buses across Canada. She led the collaborative operation involving provincial, national, and international organisations – such as Electric Mobility Canada (EMC), Plug n’ Drive, the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA), and the Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA) – in formulating best practices for sustainable transportation policies and investments. During the 2014-2015 period, she functioned as the Executive Director of the McMaster Institute for Transportation and Logistics (MITL), McMaster University, leading the Social Costs and Benefits of Electric Mobility in Canada project. In this role, she led a research team in the design and collection of consumer, dealership, and transit fleet manager survey data related to electric mobility in Canada and coordinated and engaged industrial and public stakeholders across Canada to generate in-depth methodological feedback to improve data outputs.

Corporate Leader (2014- Present)
Petrunic currently works as the Executive Director and CEO of the Canadian Urban Transit Research & Innovation Consortium (CUTRIC), wherein she is involved in developing industry-academic collaborations to advance the next generation of technologies for Canadian transit and transportation systems while driving innovation forward in the Canadian transportation sector. She has a strong focus on making Canada a global leader in low-carbon smart mobility technologies across heavy-duty and light-duty platforms, including advanced transit, transportation, and integrated mobility applications, while strengthening Canadian economy by decarbonizing and creating more jobs fostering economic development. Petrunic leads Canadian Urban Transit Research & Innovation Consortium (CUTRIC)'s efforts to support the commercialization of technologies through industry-led collaborative research, development, demonstration/delivery, and integration (RDD&I) projects that bring innovative design to Canada’s low-carbon smart mobility eco-system. Petrunic also acted as a board member and chair for Electric Mobility Canada wherein she supported the development of the second Canadian electric vehicle (EV) Technology Roadmap elucidating the technological and policy milestones related to EV infrastructure, EV supply chain development, and EV commercialization across Canada over the next decade.

Author (2007-Present)
Petrunic is an experienced scholar and author with several publications to her credit. She has authored multiple publications on the electrification of transportation and advancing the automotive system, addressing the opportunities and the political, policy-related and technological challenges involved. Additionally, she has contributed substantially to mathematical scholarship by addressing topics including evolutionary naturalism, continuity, evolutionary mathematics, symbolic algebra,quaternions, colonial mathematics, and vector analysis. She is a well known orator and has done invited talks on low-carbon smart mobility and the need and significance of decoupling Canada's economy from carbon-based fuel sources at multiple locations across the country.

Interviews and Media Appearances
Petrunic makes frequent media appearances as an active advocate of low and zero-emission transportation innovation, research and development. Some of her recent interviews and media appearances are listed below.

Truckers take cautious approach to all-electric vehicles (November 2017) 

'''Could autonomous vehicles solve Millbrook's public transit issue? (September 2017)''' 

CUTRIC Announces Funding for Clean Emissions Technology (October 2017) 

Canada Sets the Course with Zero Emission Demonstration Trial (August 2017) 

'''Should Canada make the switch to electric cars in 20 years? (July 2017)''' 

Brampton Leads in Innovation With Global First (March 2017) 

York Region Transit to Pioneer Electric Bus Trial (March 2017) 

Electric buses to hit Brampton roads by 2018 (March 2017) 

Thunder Bay Transit eyes electric future (February 2017) 

Research group chief touts electric buses for Windsor (January 2017) 

High-tech data systems could speed transit buses, save fuel and time, experts say (November 2016) 

City council considering supporting CUTRIC's electric bus initiative for a second time (September 2016) 

This CEO is trying to get the auto and transit industries to co-operate (August 2016) 

Brampton Transit joins other communities in proposed electric bus trial (April 2016) 

Toyota’s goal to stop selling gas-powered cars by 2050 (October 2015) 

Awards and Recognition
Petrunic has won multiple awards and accolades during her career for merits ranging from academic excellence to leadership environmental sustainability initiatives. The major awards that she won include the Commonwealth Scholarship, Archives Henri Poincare fellowship, Sir James Lougheed Award of Distinction, and Ottawa Citizen Scholarship in Journalism. Petrunic was elected to sit on the Board of Directors for InnovÉÉ (Observer) to ensure cross-pollination and innovation symbiosis in electrified vehicle technology development across Ontario and Quebec. Petrunic was recenlty awarded the Canada Clean50 Award for her leadership in forging and launching the Pan-Canadian Electric Bus Demonstration & Integration Trial integrating 20 electric buses with 7 overhead charging systems across three Canadian municipalities to demonstrate and promote the standardization of charging technologies. She was also elected to sit on the Board of Directors for InnovÉÉ (Observer) to ensure cross-pollination and innovation symbiosis in electrified vehicle technology development across Ontario and Quebec.