Adam CHOWANIEC

CHOWANIEC, Adam, PhD
Adam passed away peacefully at home holding our hands on Friday the 13th – his last bit of dry humour. Making sure we'd never forget his death date.
Adam is survived by Claudia, his beloved wife of 41 years, and his dearest daughters, Christina and Alexandra; his brother Zenon and wife Anne and their daughters, Helen and Jennifer; his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Johannes Hill and Inez Kettles, and their sons, Thomas and Peter, Peter's wife Kelly and Ethan, his first great-nephew; and many wonderful cousins.
He will be greatly missed by family, friends, and colleagues. He was a trusted and respected mentor and advisor in his community and business world. He was a champion of young people and entrepreneurs in all walks of life.
Adam was born in Leeds, U.K., on February 20, 1950. He completed his B.Sc. at the University of Sheffield. He came to Queen's University in 1971 on a Commonwealth scholarship to do his Masters in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. He and Claudia met on campus and returned together to the U.K. to do their PhDs. In 1975 Adam returned to Canada as Professor of Electrical Engineering at Acadia University. In 1976 he joined the scientific staff at Bell Northern Research, which became Nortel Networks. He made the switch to the engineering management stream and began his long career of leadership in the high tech community. In 1983 he moved to Westchester, PA, to become Commodore's V.P., World Product Development. In 1984 he encouraged the Amiga team to become part of Commodore and was responsible for the development of the Amiga computer, the finest graphic machine of its time. The Amiga computer was launched on July 25, 1985, at the Lincoln Centre with Andy Warhol manipulating the Amiga's graphic design tools to 'paint' Debbie Harry on the Amiga screen. He returned to Ottawa in 1986 as CEO of CALMOS Systems. The company later became Newbridge Microsystems. Of all his achievements he was most proud of TUNDRA Semiconductor, the company he founded in December 1995 and later he became its Founding Chair. He chaired the boards of Zarlink, BelAir Networks and, most recently, Solantro Semiconductor. He served on the boards of numerous other Canadian and U.S. companies, including POET Technologies, SiberCore Technologies, Liquid Computing, Microbridge, GEAC Computer Corporation, Futurecom, and OSI Technologies. In 2010 Adam was recognized by the Computer History Museum in California as one of the founding fathers of the PC.
In 2005 Adam was appointed to the National Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada and was a member of the Public Sector Advisory Board. He was Chair of the Information Technology Association. He served on the Board of NRC's Industrial Research Assistance Program. He chaired the Ontario Research and Innovation Council from 2006 to 2009. In 2009 he was appointed to the Board of the Export Development Corporation by the Privy Council of Canada and served as the Chair of the Risk Committee. He brought a wealth of knowledge, practical experience and leadership to DFATD in his role as Global Practice Lead for ICT.
He cared deeply about his community. He was involved in a number of local business and community initiatives. His commitment and participation enabled him to be a key champion and spokesperson for the high tech community. He helped develop OCEDCO, which is now Invest Ottawa. He was a member of the Ottawa Partnership from 1999-2001 and the Ottawa Health Research Institute. He chaired the national fundraising campaign for the Museum of Nature.
In January, 2012, he became the founding Chair of StartUp Canada, a national, entrepreneur-led grassroots organization with whom he worked passionately to inspire, network, and encourage entrepreneurs in all sectors and to ensure their successes are recognized. He spoke out with great conviction about the value of building a more risk-taking and entrepreneurial culture in Canada. StartUp Canada's website says, "We have lost a great Canadian and a dear friend and mentor."
Adam became Canada's leading champion of entrepreneurship and high-growth companies. He was recognized for his leadership, business excellence and innovation on numerous occasions. In 1998 the Ottawa-Carleton Research Institute honoured him with its prestigious Chairman's Award. In 1999 he received the Gold Business Person of the Year Award from the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce.
Adam was a man of many interests and diverse talents. He's remembered chopping wood and building docks at the cottage. He built a wonderful collection of antiquarian books on science, engineering, war history, and the diaries and maps of explorers and adventurers. Adam loved to entertain and was always a gregarious host with an open door. His spaghetti sauce was famous.
A private funeral service will be held. In the spring there will be a public celebration of Adam's business and community accomplishments.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation: cancer coaching.