Ramon Kagan
Director, Operational Excellence and Institutional Applications
Ramon "Evil Mastermind" Kagan is our overseer with a vision. Known for executing big ideas, Ramon loves bringing folks together to solve problems and deliver solutions. He has a wonderful wife and two brilliant children, and when he's not championing change at work or training for triathlons in the gym, he's mastercheffing it up in the kitchen to keep everyone full and happy.
Gurdeep Virdee
Manager, Projects and Portfolio
Gurdeep "No Nonsense" Virdee leads the PMO, juggles our project portfolio, and wayfinds our path ahead. She's known for keeping her team motivated and moving forward. Gurdeep loves working with others and sharing the benefits of successful projects. You can catch her spending her free time with family and friends over good meals and great wine. She has a particular fondness for high tea and steak dinners. Even though she's always cold, Gurdeep spends as much time outdoors as possible. She loves walking local trails and travelling internationally.
Rose Orlando
Project Manager
Rose "The Foodie" Orlando calls the shots for our student-related projects. Even with 39 years of York under her belt, she still manages to work with and meet new people. Known for closing out her projects with her famous homemade veal sandwiches, Rose takes care of her teams like she takes care of business, and business has never tasted so good. When she's not in the office, she's globetrotting her way to the nearest elephant sanctuary to spend time with her floppy-eared friends. With retirement on the horizon, Rose is making sure her passport is ready for a thousand new stamps.
Carmina Moroie
Project Manager
Carmina "Can Do" Moroie tackles some of the University's most complex IT software projects. She's known for rallying teams around her and powering through problems to reach solutions. She loves marking tasks as "complete." if there's something that needs to be done and no one to do it, Carmina is the one who will roll up her sleeves and get it done.
While her husband may be immune to her humour, her jokes light up the office and make every day at the office better. When she's not cracking the whip or cracking jokes, she's talking with friends about everything and nothing and planning her next trip somewhere sunny.
Tracy Wechsler
Project Administrator
Tracy "The Fixer" Wechsler makes sure our buildings get put up and stay up. Tracy is known for untangling everyone's crossed wires and loves working with the Network, Telecom, and Facilities & Planning teams to transform a plan into a reality. She never backs down from a challenge, and if laughter really is the best medicine, she'd be a doctor. When she's not at work, she's putting on her bedazzled tool belt and heading to her craft room for her next project.
Luke Gagliardi
Senior Digital Experience Specialist
Luke "Wildcard" Gagliardi crafts engaging user experiences for our community. From content to strategy, Luke is always looking for opportunities to enhance UIT's digital presence. He loves collaborating with other teams and thrives in the chaos of creativity. As a semi-professional nerd, he spends his free time reading epic fantasy, playing D&D, and finding new places to eat with old friends.
Rob Jefferson
Project Manager
Rob "Zen" Jefferson manages migrations, upgrades and implementations for our network and infrastructure, applications and systems. He loves the challenge of helping teams deliver complex solutions and has become the go-to guy for cloud-related initiatives. Known for his monk-like patience, Rob keeps his cool while he juggles subject-matter experts and vendors and never drops the ball. Rob is the office guru on sports, tech and anything crypto. He's also one of the rare people who specializes in both BBQing and baking.
Hetal Baldha
Application Quality Assurance Specialist
Hetal "All-Rounder" Baldha designs the automation framework architecture and develops test scripts to automate application testing. She loves working with teams to brainstorm new ways to perfect development. She keeps the pressure on to keep the project progressing and would rather bug you now than debug the system later. Hetal is an explorer at heart and loves to visit new places and learn new things. She's always the first to dance at any party.
Nigel D'Souza
Project Manager
Nigel "Jet-Setter" D'Souza, leads strategic organization and business transformation initiatives and takes projects from brainstorming to realization. His past involvement with the airline industry taught him a bird's-eye view of project management, and now his flight plans are his roadmaps. Known for empowering his project teams to collaborate and consult, Nigel is the kind of captain who makes his whole team better.
When he's not calling the shots at work, he's watching the Leafs miss shots in the living room or trying out a new recipe in the kitchen. Nigel is a lifelong learner who never stops at what he knows, and you can always find him studying for his next technical learning certification.
Ann Mary Thomas
Project Manager
Ann Mary "Trailblazer" Thomas pulls the strings on our network and infrastructure projects. Known for weathering the storm and smiling through the stress, Ann never leaves a teammate behind. She loves leading her people across the finish line and is beside them for each step. When Ann's away from work, she stays active and adventurous. For now, she keeps busy kayaking and dune bashing, but before long, she'll add bungee-jumping and zip-lining to her list of thrills.
Jeff Kinch
Project Manager
Jeff "The Captain" Kinch navigates financial and reporting systems projects. Known for staying objective and looking at all sides of an issue, Jeff loves helping people see beyond their tasks to the goals on the horizon. When he's not steering the ship on his projects, he's cruising the high seas of Georgian Bay, or the Caribbean. Jeff has earned his indomitable attitude as a die-hard Toronto Maple Leafs fan, but he might have some room for growth when it comes to lessons learned…
Jose Alfonso
Project Manager
Jose "The Chaser" Alfonso always keeps his eye on the finish line. Known for knocking down roadblocks and bringing teams together, he works tirelessly to find the best solution to every problem. When he's not working to open up siloed teams and information, he's on the pitch playing footy or rugby. Always the life of the barbecue, Jose is a family-first straight shooter with trophies in double trap and sporting clays (aka. golf with a shotgun); so, it's not an exaggeration to say he always keeps things on target.
Gary Taylor
Manager, Operational Excellence
Gary "The Tailor" Taylor analyzes our business and designs custom solutions to the many challenges we face. He's known for creating efficiencies and improving processes. He's the kind of guy who comes to you with a solution to a problem you didn't even realize you had. He loves saving our precious time by automating the tedious tasks that keep us from getting ahead.
When he's not fixing our problems, he's at home finding other things to tinker on. From car motors to high-end sound systems, Gary is always fixing something up to work like new.
Milan Padukka
Business Analyst & Process Engineer
Milan "Datamind" Padukka automates and improves processes while analyzing as much data as he can get his hands on. Known for making people's lives easier, Milan is the kind of guy who will solve a problem you didn't even know you had. He loves taking a bird's eye view of things and always helping others. When he's not automating processes, he's running laps and training to compete in triathlons.
Mikki Marte
Business Analyst & Process Engineer
Mikki "Wonder Woman-In-Training" Marte is constantly working to uncover the dark mysteries of undocumented legacy systems. Known for gathering and analyzing requirements and optimizing processes, Mikki is our sleuth and savant. She loves learning about the University's different processes and getting to the root cause of any inefficiencies. In a nutshell, Mikki excels at saving people from doing the wrong things or doing things wrong. She's also one of those weirdos who actually enjoys documentation. If she's not in the kitchen making and eating sweets, she's in the gym working them off or on the couch catching up on her favourite shows.
Samira Salhan
Senior Systems Administrator, ESM Application
Samira "Solution Maestro" is our go-to for everything Halo. Known for administering our ticketing system, Samira handles design, training, and report generation to ensure we get the most out of Halo. Samira thrives on bringing people together and sharing knowledge, and—as a champion for workplace transparency—slays nonsense to keep things clear and effective
Outside of work, Samira enjoys family gatherings and quality time with loved ones, never missing a chance to enjoy a good meal together. She is a movie and TV series enthusiast and a passionate traveller—albeit with fewer recent adventures than she’d like…
