Wednesday, September 23, 2026
12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Swans Pub, 1601 Store St, Victoria, BC V8W 1N6 (open in Google Maps)
Free Event
25 Registered, as of Sep 19 12:00
Organizer(s): Slate Strategies
Hosts: Chris Fernando on LinkedIn, Aaron Nelson on LinkedIn
Featuring: Rishi Gupta, Mike Jain, Trevor Harmon
Circular materials rarely fail on chemistry. They stall on everything around the product: codes written before these materials existed, procurement that defaults to the incumbent, and specification pathways where unproven reads as disqualifying. The panel follows one material from the lab, through standards and validation, into manufacture, and on to the developer deciding whether to put it in a building. Rishi Gupta tests the structural performance of new and sustainable construction materials at UVic and directs CAMTEC. Mike Jain brings the National Research Council view on how a new material gets evaluated, validated and cleared for use. Trevor Harmon makes ultra-high-performance concrete components on Vancouver Island and knows what it takes to get a circular material through spec review and into projects. More speakers are still to be named. A Community Action Bus runs from downtown Victoria for both afternoon panels, boarding at 12:00 and returning by 4:30.
Anu's Take
As a tenth generation farm boy from Ontario, the circular economy is very dear to my heart. Dear enough that I took the circular economy micro-credentials course at BCIT a few years back. The premise here is the one that matters: circular materials do not fail on chemistry, they stall on everything around the product.
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Published Saturday, September 19, 2026 by Anu Jolliffe on LinkedIn