As part of its celebrated mantra of “listen, learn, build, measure, repeat” NORCAT has become a leader in on-line training and development to complement its diverse in-person programs and services. The educational and training curriculums have been developed on customer feedback, government regulations, and proven pedagogy models to enhance desired learning outcomes.

In 2009 NORCAT moved to its new home on Maley Drive in Sudbury, Ontario. The NORCAT Centre, a marvel of architectural ingenuity, stands at approximately 70,000 square feet and is home to NORCAT’s training and development centre, entrepreneurial and innovation services, and our incubator and event centre.

In 2014, given growing demand for NORCAT’s training and development / health and safety services, an office was opened in Timmins, Ontario to further meet the needs of our clients.

NORCAT

New Row

Contact expert @[Full Name](fullname), @[Job Title](job_title) at @[Organization](organization) for media, speaking, professional opportunities and more.

@[Full Name](fullname) at @[Organization](organization) | Contact Form

Expert Inquiry

Open Sans

The Young Innovator Awards Program was established by the National Centres of Excellence in 2004 to celebrate outstanding work by scientists who, while still in the early days of their careers, are already making waves. Award recipients are selected by a panel of judges on the basis of the overall excellence, leadership and vision of the nominee.

Governor General of Canada's Young Innovator Award

Young Presidents Organization

University of Ontario Institute of Technology

Queen's University Alumni Association

Don has spent more than two decades leading, growing and transforming organizations and businesses. A career innovator, he consistently identifies opportunities and addresses challenges to achieve meaningful and tangible results. Among Canada’s foremost thinkers on innovation, work and learning, and entrepreneurship, he works with multinational companies, tech start-ups, academic/research institutions governments and clients the world over.

Currently, Don defines the strategy and directs operations of NORCAT, a global, multi-faceted enterprise dedicated to advancing the dynamic and evolving needs of the new world of work and the innovation economy. In his role, he has transformed NORCAT to become a global leader for training and development, transformed NORCAT’s underground operating mine into the global one-stop shop for all that is the future of mining technology and innovation, pioneered the “Platform Effect” business model to support sustainable innovation in small to mid-sized cities, and continues to define the future of learning with NORCAT’s integrated experiential and simulation learning technologies. These achievements have generated community engagement and business partnerships, accelerated start-up tech firms and improved the operations of major clients across a myriad of industries.

Previously, Don served as VP of Strategy/Operations for the MaRS Discovery District, the world’s pre-eminent urban innovation hub that supports the growth of tech ventures in Canada. Prior to that, he was Senior Manager, Strategy & Operations Consulting, at Deloitte.

A former tech entrepreneur and engineering adjunct professor, Don is an active angel investor, serves on the board of several organizations and is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization. He was a Top 40 under 40 recipient, two-time TEDx speaker, and founding member of a non-profit theatre company in Toronto.

He holds an undergraduate degree in Chemistry from Queen’s University and a Master of Applied Science and Engineering from the University of Toronto.

This keynote presentation was given at the  Community Innovation Forum: Knowledge in Action on May 24th, 2011 in Peterborough, Ontario.  The presentation highlighted how city-regions less that 250,000 can actively contribute to the economic and social prosperity of a country.  Smaller regions have different structural, business, and cultural nuances and it is essential to understand how to leverage those assets and drive forward the innovation agenda.


How City-Regions less that 250,000 can Contribute to the Economic and Social Prosperity of the Country

This presentation was given at the 2011 OCE Discovery Conference in Toronto, Ontario on May 18th 2011.  The presentation discussed the top five most common needs of entrepreneurs across all sectors and followed up by outlining the services offered by regional innovation centres in the ONE network.



Collaborate to Compete - The Role of MaRS in Ontario&rsquo;s Innovation Ecosystem

This keynote presentation was given at the Association of University Research Parks (AURP) International Conference in New Orleans, USA on December 1st, 2011.  The presentation focused on the importance and methodology to engage your community business leaders, corporations, service providers, government, academic institutions, and regional assets to support and expedite the growth of early stage entrepreneurial ventures being served by an innovation centre.


Leveraging the Community to Expedite Job and Wealth Creation

This keynote presentation was given at the global Bio-Connect Conference at the World Trade Centre Morelos in Cuernavaca, Mexico on November 29, 2011.  The presentation highlighted the MaRS Life Sciences / Healthcare portfolio, the EXCITE pre-market assessment initiative in the Ontario healthcare system, and the role that MaRS Innovation plays to expedite the commercial outcomes from the intellectual property out of Canada&rsquo;s leading research and academic institutions.

Driving Innovation and Commercialization in Life Sciences

This presentation was given at the Gearing Up for Growth conference in London, Ontario on March 27th, 2012.  The presentation highlighted and discussed key human resource strategies and policies to enable and foster a culture of innovation in any organization.

Fostering and Managing Innovation in your Organization

This presentation highlighted the important role of immigrants participating in and contributing to the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Canada.  Given the interests of the audience, the focus was on engaging and educating foreign engineers on entrepreneurial opportunities in the cleantech sector in Ontario, specifically those related to alternative energy initiatives enabled by the Ontario government feed-in-tariff program.  The presentation was given at the 2012 Conference for International Engineers in Toronto at the MaRS Discovery District.  

Immigration, Entrepreneurship, and the Cleantech Sector - The Future of Canada

This presentation was made at the Skolkovo Smart Innovation City Global Roundtable in Moscow on April 24, 2012.  The roundtable featured global leaders in business and government discussing strategy and implementation plans for the creation of the Skolkovo Smart City.  The presentation focused on the evolution, strategy, and implementation of the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto, Ontario and the key principles and learning&rsquo;s that could be applied to the roll-out of the Skolkovo Smart Innovation City.

Skolkovo Smart City Strategy - Building an Innovation Smart City in Russia

This presentation focused on the Ontario Network of Excellence (ONE) and explained how Ontario and Canada more broadly, must create &quot;virtual density&quot; and collaborate to compete in order to win in the global economy.  The presentation was made to a group of international media outlets from around the world at OCE Discovery 2012 in Toronto, Ontario.

Creating Virtual Density to Expedite Wealth Creation

Communities around the world are seeking to understand how to foster innovation and drive sustained economic and social prosperity in their region. Don will highlight the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship in driving job and wealth creation and the role regional innovation centres play in ensuring on-going economic competitiveness. In addition to highlighting international examples of vibrant innovation hubs, Don will also discuss two unique examples from Sudbury that not only have made a significant impact in supporting the Cityâs innovation agenda, but can also serve as a model for other communities in identifying and capitalizing on their innovation potential.

Accelerating the Innovation Agenda in Rural and Urban Communities

Keynote presentation made at the 2015 Mine Safety Conference in Cajamarca, Peru.  Focus was on leading trends in training / development and health / safety in the mining industry.


Leading Practices in Training and Development for the Mining Industry

Keynote presentation made at the 2015 XII Congreso Industrial del FederaciÃ³n Nacional de CÃ¡maras de Industrias del Ecuador.  Focus of the presentation was on regional economic development strategy to create a vibrant mining / mining-related industry cluster.


Creating a World-Class Mining / Mining Supply Cluster in Canada

Regional Competitiveness and Economic Development

Mentorship

Leadership

Strategy

Technology

Turnaround Strategies

Entrepreneurship

Academic

Research

Commercialization

Innovation

Innovation Strategy and Policy

Education

Mining

Economic Development

Queen's Players Toronto

JUMP Math

Becoming the World's Leading Urban Innovation Centre - The MaRS Discovery District Experiment

Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Greater Toronto Area

Driving Commercial Outcomes from Research and Academic Institutions

Accelerator Models for Digital Media, Online, and Mobile Ventures

MaRS - Building One of the World's Pre-eminent Urban Innovation Centres

Why is Innovation so Profitable?  Because it's Hard to do!

Driving Innovation and Prosperity through Community Engagement

Almost There -The Last Hurdle in Innovation

Human Resources and Policy Levers to Encourage and Incentivize Employees to Contribute in the Innovation Process

Innovation, Immigration, and Engineering - Entrepreneurial Opportunities in Canada

Business Mentorship in the Creative Industries

NORCAT - The Path Forward

The Value of Mentorship in Entrepreneurship

The Future of Advanced Manufacturing

As the keynote speaker, this presentation highlighted the importance of understanding and engaging your regional assets, from both the public and private sectors, to drive regional competitiveness and economic growth.

Community Innovation - Leveraging your Regional Assets to Drive Economic Growth

This presentation and workshop focused on the importance of place in supporting and driving the growth of entrepreneurial communities and commercial outcomes from research and academic institutions.  In this interactive session, we explored how place, company culture and values, and community engagement are integral components to get aligned and integrated to be maximize success.

This keynote presentation at the OIPMAC Conference focused on creative strategies that companies can deploy to create a culture of innovation and intra-preneurship. A handful of examples were provided to demonstrate new models in collaboration and how technology can be leveraged as a platform to share ideas more quickly, engage a broader audience, and ultimately expedite the process to translate interesting ideas into practice while gathering continuous feedback to make incremental improvements.

Why is Innovation So Profitable?  Because it's Hard to Do!

As the keynote speaker, this presentation focused on new strategies and innovative models to address the cultural challenges and limited incentive mechanisms that often limit researchers motivation to translate their basic and applied research into commercial opportunities.  The development of MaRS Innovation, the MaRS EXCITE program, and the MaRS Life Sciences and Healthcare practice were collectively examined as leading practices globally.

Don Li

Conference Producer

Chief Executive Officer

The NORCAT Innovation Mill is the only non-profit regional innovation centre in the world that has an operating mine designed to enable start-ups, small / medium enterprises, and international companies to develop, test, and showcase new technologies in an operating mine environment.

Discovery Channel - Daily Planet - NORCAT Underground Centre - January 2017

Don is dedicated to empowering clients and community members to drive a culture of productivity, innovation, and life-long learning. As an angel investor, re...

"Extraordinary Potential: Don Duval at TEDxYouth@NickelCity 2013"

Debbi Nicholson, President & CEO of Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce sits with Don Duval, CEO of NORCAT, to talk about NORCAT's role in Sudbury, what it m...

Sudbury Chamber of Commerce - "4 in 4" discussion with Don Duval, CEO of NORCAT

Don Duval released NORCAT's five-year strategic plan at an April 26 Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce luncheon.

NORCAT discusses five-year strategic plan

Jeff Mucci interviews Don Duval of MaRS Discovery District.

Toronto: Interview with MaRS Discovery District.

The 3D printer will have a large impact on the future of the Canadian manufacturing industry.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

Is Canada in manufacturing or not? Don Duval at TEDxChathamKent

Speaker: Don Duval, Vice President, Business Services, MaRS Using a case study example, Don discusses the importance of understanding and refining your business model in order to grow your business and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. Entrepreneurship 101 is presented by CIBC MaRS - Building Canada's next generation of global technology companies. www.marsdd.com

CIBC presents Entrepreneurship 101 2009/10 - Week 6 - Building a Business Model

VP of Business Services at MaRs, Don Duval was invited to speak at our Creative Leadership Mentoring Workshop and provided some great insight into both Mentoring, and Entrepreneurship.

WorkInCulture presents: Don Duval

NORCAT CEO Don Duval sits with Bill White, former President of DuPont Canada, to talk about how small and medium enterprises can sell to corporate partners a...

Hot Topics - Bill White

Presentation made at the XII Congreso Industrial del Federación Nacional de Cámaras de Industrias del Ecuador.  Presentation focused on cluster development in the mining and mining technology industry.

Select Inquiry Type