Compliments of Direct Leap Technologies, Inc.

Simon Rowland, Founder and CEO of Direct Leap Technologies, has lectured internationally on a variety of topics. He is available to speak about entrepreneurship, technology commercialization and innovation, space exploration and space technologies, and a variety of Canadian and international political issues.

He has presented to Federal Government policy bodies, debated politics for live broadcast audiences, and lectured as a motivational speaker to assembled groups of high school students. For bookings, please use our interactive Speaking Engagement Request Form.

Here is a sample of his public speaking background with some recent engagements.

Federal Policy Development

• Traveller Information Summit. Lectured on the strategic possibilities of open-source technologies to provide on-demand route planning information, to encourage use of mass transit. Answered questions from the leadership of Via Rail, GO Transit, TTC, York Transit and other selected agencies from around the world.
• Industry Canada. Invited as a technology entrepreneur for a process which developed recommendations for a national policy to support innovation in Canada.
• Canadian Space Agency. Participated or presented submissions at three Canadian Space Exploration Workshops events, representing TransOrbital, Inc. and the Board of Directors of the Canadian Space Society. One workshop was charged with setting spending priorities for a Canadian Mars science spacecraft.
• Federal Political Party. Spoken at a variety of venues concerning policy change and strategic direction, including forums on Platform Development, Post-Mortem Election Results Analysis, and at routine Federal and Provincial Council events.
• Event Organizing. Participated and organized a variety of conferences and summits for professional and political audiences. At these events, Rowland has chaired many policy development working groups and creative brainstorming workshops.

Political Issues

• All Candidates Meetings. While campaigning for Federal Parliament, Rowland lectured on and debated policies to crowds of up to several hundred people at a series of All Candidate's Meetings. His remarks at one event made it into the National Post after a verbal exchange with the incumbent Member of Parliament which elicited cheers from the crowd. The incumbent later issued a media release to clarify his statements.
• Radio Debates. One year, did seven hours of live broadcast radio debates on political policies and issues, including discussions with the Executive Directors of the Canadian Taxpayer's Federation and the Frasier Institute.
• Television Panel. A live interview on TalkTV constituted an episode on "hactivism" and emerging Internet activism issues. This interview was followed by a televised panel discussion with Judy Rebick and others on the effect of electronic communications on activism and political organizing.
• Grassroots Political Forums. Occassionally serves as a featured speaker for panel discussions and lecture series hosted by political and civil society groups. Lecture topics have included post-election analysis and innovative strategies for achieving incremental change.
• Print Coverage. Provides quoted commentary on a variety of business, technology and political issues in newspapers, magazines and for broadcast media across North America. Provided detailed interviews for pieces with a biographical focus in the National Post, the Toronto Star, and in community newspapers.

Space Exploration

• Broadcast. Interviewed on CBC Radio One to discuss TransOrbital, Inc, as one of the original founders, concerning their recent successful launch of a test vehicle into orbit.
• Scientific Panel. Served on a scientific panel at a popular science convention following the discovery of frozen water on the Moon.
• Public Education. Hosted frequent public seminars to promote the Moon Society, an international research and educational foundation, at industry associations, conferences and conventions.
• Documentaries. Occasionally interviewed as an expert source for television documentaries. X-Files fans might be interested that Gillian Anderson was the host of Future Fantastic, a 1995 multi-part television documentary which aired on BBC-1 after a three hour interview.
• Original Research. Presented in-depth engineering design study for an innovative cislunar transportation system to industry associations and at major international engineering conferences including the International Space Development Conference in Michigan and the Lunar Development Conference in Nevada.