Innovation for a Sustainable Future
OUR TEAM
Dr. Victor Lo
Co-founder/Board Chair/Director
Dr. Lo is Professor Emeritus at UBC Civil Engineering and the principal investigator and co-inventor of the MW-AOP. He is one of the leading researchers in biological waste treatment and nutrient recovery from waste organic slurries. With over 40 years of experience, he has developed several new technologies to treat sewage sludge, food and agricultural wastes. The current research team under his supervision, has pioneered the innovative, MW-AOP for application as a commercial technology.
Dr. Don Mavinic
President/CEO/Director
Dr. Mavinic is Professor Emeritus at UBC Civil Engineering. He has extensive research and consulting experience in sludge and biosolids treatment and has headed the nutrient removal and biosolids research team at UBC for decades. He has also been the principal investigator and co-inventor of the struvite recovery technology patented by UBC which has subsequently been adopted by cities across the world. He is the recipient of numerous awards and professional distinctions including, Engineers Canada Gold Medal (2016), Manning Foundation Laureate (2010), NSERC Synergy Awardee (2011) and the Order of Canada (2019).
Dr. Ping H. Liao
Co-founder/Advisor
Co-founder/co-inventor and Director of the MW-AOP. Dr. Liao’s expertise is anaerobic digestion, nutrient recovery and pilot-scale system design, including 40+ years of experience in R&D, process design, and consulting for agricultural and waste treatment industries. He has been involved in the development of the MW-AOP technology, and the design of an efficient pilot-scale continuous-flow microwave treatment system.
Laurie Fretz
COO/Executive Strategist
Laurie Fretz is an accomplished Senior Manager with over 30 years of domestic and international experience with Provincial and Regional Governments, NGO’s and International Organizations. Prior to joining the Boost team, she spent 20 years at Metro Vancouver leading the regional government organization in resource management, land base planning and the development of the Annacis Wastewater Centre creating an integrated approach to wastewater systems and resource recovery. Laurie received her BSc in resource management and subsequently focused her Master’s work on developing global partnerships in the area of innovation and technology development.
Dr. Asha Srinivasan
Chief Technology Officer
As the Co-Founder and CTO of Boost Environmental Systems, Dr. Asha Srinivasan leads efforts to make wastewater management more sustainable. With 15 years of R&D experience, she bridges the gap between academic research and industrial application. She has driven the commercial development of the company’s MW-AOP technology, which achieves zero sludge and enables resource recovery, with successful pilots across British Columbia.
Recognized by CBC News as a top Canadian environmental innovator and featured in Smithsonian Magazine, Dr. Srinivasan is a recipient of the 2016 Mitacs Global Impact Entrepreneur Award. She holds a PhD in Environmental Engineering from the University of Regina and has authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications. Her work is central to Boost’s mission of advancing Canada’s clean-tech sector toward a more sustainable future.
Raymond Vesely
Director
Raymond Vesely is a seasoned developer and executive with over 25 years of experience delivering high-value projects across British Columbia. As Founder and CEO of Apex Western Homes Ltd., he leads custom and large-scale residential developments. Raymond specializes in navigating complex regulatory environments and entitlement strategies, drawing from multiple governance and advisory roles with the City of North Vancouver—including the Advisory Planning Commission and Board of Variance. His commitment to transparent business practices is reinforced by his service on the Better Business Bureau’s Board of Directors. Additionally, as a Board Member of Boost Environmental, Raymond leverages his expertise in investor relations and capital structuring to bridge innovation with commercial deployment, helping the company scale and position its technologies for real-world adoption.
