John Gillis has always combined science with entrepreneurship. He was born and raised in Peterborough. After getting his Electrical Engineering degree at Memorial University of Newfoundland, he returned to help his father at Milltronics. He started with Research and Development but switched to International Sales. He took a two year sabbatical in 1995 after the death of his father, and honed his management skills working for Honeywell in South Africa. in 1999, Milltronics was purchased by Siemens. John started Measuremax shortly after the sale of Milltronics. This new company focused on process instrumentation and automation. Some of the projects included designing of a product to remote monitor sewage pump stations and an Ethanol Plant. He also helped start up ACLARUS, a water treatment system that uses ozone to purify water for residential or municipal use. He sold Measuremax in 2015, but came out of retirement in 2017 to work as an advisor, then CEO of the Innovation Cluster. With such a focus on water purification in his career, it is no surprise that the Trent University Water and Science Lab is a cause close to John’s heart. He has also worked to raise money for the YWCA, PRHC and other education-based causes.