A senior advisor to the vice president of research at the U of A, he founded the Edmonton Regional Defence Alliance, building $50 million in partnerships
Age: 39
“How do you go from playing saxophone in the army to being a fundraiser to working at the intersection of the Canadian Armed Forces, industry and universities?” asks Ian Smith. “It’s surprisingly linear.” The path led him to start the Edmonton Region Defence Alliance, a partnership with six founding organizations: Edmonton International Airport, Edmonton Global, Alberta Industrial Heartland Association, U of A, NAIT and Edmonton Unlimited. The goal is to build Edmonton into a defence city, a role it occupied in the early 20th century.
Smith wants to see infrastructure and industry built here. “We want to mobilize innovation and manufacturing in the Edmonton region so what can be done here is done here,” he says. The effort will ameliorate an already burdensome travel schedule among armed forces members.
In research and academia, Smith was part of the U of A’s team that brought the NATO DIANA Test Centre to town, leading to the foundation of the Centre for Applied Research in Defence and Dual-Use Technologies, the first defence-focused research group at a Canadian university, now a major part of ERDA. He says it’s a matter of asking, “What’s next?” and pursuing ambitious goals.
“You can’t force anyone to do anything. It’s sharing what matters, understanding your goals and everyone else’s, and finding a way to win together,” Smith says, paraphrasing his mentor, former dean of engineering Fraser Forbes. This philosophy helps him juggle the agendas of complicated organizations working together. “It’s fun,” he explains. “I went to a defence conference with a colleague and he said, ‘It’s like a family reunion.’ You develop personal relationships. Organizations sign agreements, but people work together to find a way forward.”
This article appears in the November-December 2026 issue of Edify
