Board of Directors


Dr. Brian Desbiens – Board Chair

Dr. Desbiens served as President of Sir Sandford Fleming College (with campuses in Peterborough, Lindsay, Haliburton, and Cobourg, Ontario, from May 1988 until August 2004, when he retired with more than 35 years of experience in the field of education. Dr. Desbiens holds a Master of Arts in Education, and a Doctorate in Counselling Psychology, from Michigan State University.

Dr. Desbiens served on several national and provincial organizations. He served on the Prime Minister's National Advisory Board on Science and Technology, and is Past President of the national College President's Network (CPN). He served as Chair of the Ontario Committee of Presidents (CoP), Chair of the CoP Executive and the Association of Colleges of Applied Arts & Technology of Ontario (ACAATO) Executive Committee, the Ontario College Application Service (OCAS) Management Board, and was past- Chair of the Human Resource Development (HRD) Task Force. Provincially, Dr. Desbiens was a member of the Advisory Committee on Secondary School Reform and the Ontario Colleges’ Human Resources Steering Committee.

In April 1998, Dr. Desbiens was appointed to the National Advisory Council on Energy Efficiency (NACEE), and completed his term in 2001. With the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), he was appointed, in September 1998, as an advisor to the Ph.D./Ed.D. Program in Higher Education for Community College Leaders. The Governor General in Council appointed Dr. Desbiens to serve as a member of the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation, commencing in September 1998 for a six year term.

In 2001, Dr. Desbiens received the Canadian College Presidents’ Network Distinguished Service Award. He was named to the Board of the Optical Regional Advanced Network of Ontario (ORANO) in September 2001 and presently serves as Treasurer. In February 2002, he accepted a one-year appointment to the Central Ontario Smart Growth Panel, one of five panels launched by the Premier and the Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister, to promote and manage future growth of the Province. In 2005 he was appointed by the Minister of Education as a member of the Education Quality and Accountability Board. In 2006 he was honoured by the Minister Training Colleges and Universities as the recipient of the Minister’s Life Time Achievement Award for his contributions to the Ontario College system.

In May 2006 he was appointed to the Board of Directors of FisherCast Global Corporation and selected as Chair of the Board.

Jim Fisher, Director & Corporate Secretary

Jim has been with FisherCast for 35 years. Following his technical training as a tool & die maker, he has held management positions in manufacturing, human resources, marketing and community relations.

Jim has been on the Board of Directors of the corporation since 1992.

Steve Bower, Director

Steve Bower became a Director of FisherCast Global in 2003.

As CFO of SiGe Semiconductor, Inc. from 1999 to 2005, he was responsible for all areas of finance, and helped that firm raise a total of US$94M of private equity, complete two acquisitions and one divestiture and set up and operate financial processes for the Company’s operations in Canada, the U.S., UK and Hong Kong. He also led the Human Resources and I/T functions for part of that time, and was acting COO for a period between the “A” and “B” rounds of financing.

Steve has more than 25 years of experience in all areas of finance. Through senior financial and operating positions, he has contributed to the success of four other leading Canadian firms: Petro-Canada, BCE, Nortel and Deloitte & Touche. He has held leadership roles in all areas of financial management, including mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, business process re-engineering and controllership, as well as manufacturing and internal audit.

He is active in professional affairs, and serves on the national Board of Financial Executives International – Canada (FEI), is Chair of the FEI national Issues and Policy Advisory Committee, and is President of the Ottawa Chapter of FEI. Previously, he served on the Accounting Standards Board of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) and held the position of vice chair of the Committee on Corporate Reporting of FEI. Steve is a Chartered Accountant, holds a bachelor of commerce from McGill University, and is certified in production and inventory management. Steven was appointed as a fellow (FCA) to the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants in 2006.

David Bignell, Director

Dave is currently President and CEO of Siemens Milltronics, formerly known as Milltronics Ltd. Milltronics was acquired by Siemens in March 2000. He joined Milltronics in 1990 from its former holding company ENSIS Corporation Inc., and held several progressively senior management positions in sales, business development and finance before being appointed President and CEO in 1995.

Previous experience includes Vice President of Planning for Federal Industries Ltd., Executive Vice President of DynAir Tech Inc., and Senior Director of Standard Aero (Western) Ltd.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from Waterloo University in Waterloo, Ontario, and a Master of Business Administration degree from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. He was born in 1953 in Windsor, Ontario.

He is a Director of the Greater Peterborough Area Economic Development Council (GPA EDC) which actively promotes economic development of the area. He is a trustee of Lakefield College, and Director of the Peterborough YMCA. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Siemens Milltronics. Dave joined the Board of Directors of FisherCast Global in 2006.

David Paterson, Director

David is a Certified Management Accountant, a graduate of McMaster University, and was employed by Johnson & Johnson during the period 1973-2002 in various senior leadership positions in both Canada and the USA. While with the various Johnson & Johnson organizations, David held senior positions in Finance, Manufacturing Operations, Sales/Marketing and Process Re-Engineering. He now provides management consulting services to a variety of businesses specializing in process management assessment and change orientation.

David joined the Board of Directors of the corporation in 2006.

Jane Ulrich, Director

Jane is currently Managing Director for William F. Fisher Investments and serves on the Board of FisherCast Global Corporation. In addition to these roles, Jane has served as President and Past President of the Women’s Business Network of Peterborough. Jane has been a member of the Network for 14 years.

In keeping with the founding philosophy of FisherCast Global, Jane has been an active volunteer in the Peterborough Community over the years. This includes serving on the James Fund Advisory Council, raising funds and awareness to fight childhood cancer Neuroblastoma.

Jane re-joined the Board of Directors of the corporation in 2006.