Who We Are - Meet Our Team
Bob Pepper, CEO
Mr. Pepper has over 30 years of experience in business and finance and has a broad network of contacts. He has been involved in financing and/or administering projects related to technology development, commercialization of new technologies, manufacturing and mining. He was the original investor and co-founder of Yava Technologies Inc. (YTI).
After assuming the role of President of YTI, Mr. Pepper raised new investment funds and changed the direction of the company to create the opportunities it has developed to date. He has long standing relationship with several govt agencies that have assisted YTI’s R&D work.
He also worked with the federal govt and Cape Breton University to assist in creating a state-of-the-art research facility at CBU where Yava conducts its research and piloting work.
Madhav Dahal, Vice President of Technology
Madhav Dahal holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Newcastle, Australia and worked as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Ottawa, Canada. He is highly accomplished in the areas of analytical, physical and environmental chemistry. He has also developed profitable, sustainable technologies for nearly two decades.
Dr. Dahal developed multiple patented, patent pending and proprietary technologies to recover metals and metal products from a diverse set of substrates included, but not limited to, ores, mineral composites, concentrates, industrial waste, etc. He oversees the research and development work of Yava Research Inc. and currently serves as a Director and VP of Technology for Yava Technologies Inc.
Trevor Byrne, Research and Development Program Manager
Trevor Byrne is a MSc graduate of Physics from Dalhousie University. He is a senior research scientist focused on process development and optimization, and has in-depth expertise in the structures and properties of many natural and synthetic inorganic materials.
His keen insight and exceptional research work has produced several proprietary and patented technologies in the areas of materials science and environmentally friendly chemical processing technology.
He is also responsible for managing lab operations, including procuring supplies and equipment, coordinating staff, and supervising quality control on a daily basis.
Daren LeBlanc, Senior Research Scientist, Project Lead
Daren LeBlanc received his PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from McMaster University, Hamilton, ON and has more than 10 years of industrial experience in environmental chemistry. Daren is highly proficient in creating and improving processes and products, examining the interaction of chemical compounds and experimenting with improvements and innovations to products and scientific methods.
Daren joined Yava Technologies as a Green Mining Researcher at Cape Breton University’s Verschuren Centre in May, 2015 and is working towards advancing Yava's metal recovery technologies to the commercialization stage.