Meet The Team
Co-Founder & CEO
Behnam worked in the Financial Industry for seven and half years. During this time, he assumed various quant and risk management roles in Capital Markets, built and led teams of quant developers, and delivered impactful solutions. Behnam holds a PhD in Condensed Matter Physics from University of Waterloo.
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Financial Markets and Economics Consultant
Vajiheh is a recent graduate with Ph.D. in financial and behavioral economics from York University. The main focus of her dissertation was to develop models for out-
of-sample forecasting in exchange rate markets. She has studied other topics, such as portfolio construction methods, derivatives, and machine learning techniques.
At yiyaniQ, Vajiheh will focus on markets and methodologies research.
Co-Founder & CTO
Estelle is a Quantum Matter research scientist at the Perimeter Institute, and a former postdoctoral affiliate at the Vector Institute. She works at the intersection of quantum computing and artificial intelligence. Estelle holds a PhD degree in Statistical Physics from ICTP and SISSA.
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Our Advisors
Scientific Advisor
Juan Felipe Carrasquilla
Juan is a Research Scientist at the Vector Institute, and holds Adjunct Assistant Professorships at the University of Waterloo and University of Toronto. He is a Canada CIFAR AI Chair. His research interests are at the intersection of condensed matter physics, quantum computing, and machine learning.
Business and Strategy Advisor
Harbir Chhina
Harbir is an executive vice president and chief technology officer at Cenovus Energy. With 40 years of experience in the oil industry, Harbir is a strategic business thinker, and a passionate advocate of technology and innovation. He has developed the IP strategy of his company with more than dozen patents in oil sands. Harbir developed the first successful commercial SAGD operation in the world which led to the birth of a $200 billion industry. Harbir's leadership in focusing his company's technology efforts has created great value for Cenovus shareholders. He believes deeply in the value of fundamental research, in funding excellence, and models for collaboration.
Business Advisor
Cameron Schuler
Cameron Schuler is the Chief Commercialization Officer & Vice President, Industry Innovation at the Vector Institute. He has founded numerous start-up companies and he is Chair & Co-founder of PFM Scheduling Services. Cameron spent 8 years in investment sales & trading. He attained an MBA from Queen’s University and completed numerous investment management programs. Cameron is working with yiyaniQ on a volunteer basis.
Our Alumni
Siddharth (Sid) Selva Mohan
Prior to joining yiyaniQ, Sid managed his own business for four years, digitally transforming his company’s workflow. He holds a MSc in Structural Engineering and a MBA from Rotman School of Business in Finance and Entrepreneurship. At yiyaniQ, Sid conducted experiments and research to validate the launch hypothesis and to gain market insights. He also developed various technology strategies to assess building and launching the product effectively.
Mahmoud El Mabrouk
Mahmoud is pursuing a BSc in Mathematical Physics at the University of Waterloo. He is passionate about research and hopes to obtain a PhD in Physics and continue in academia. Mahmoud joined yiyaniQ after collaborating with Estelle at the Perimeter Institute Quantum Intelligence Lab (PIQUIL), where he worked on benchmarking and designing physics-inspired algorithms using artificial neural networks.
Hanna Martins Morilhas
Hanna is currently pursuing her Master's degree in Condensed Matter Physics at Universidade de São Paulo. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics. Hanna joined yiyaniQ as a Research Intern through a partnership with the Perimeter Institute Quantum Intelligence Lab (PIQuIL). She investigated the applications of yiyaniQ's quantum intelligent algorithms in Finance.