Management Team

Senior Management


Larry D’Andrea, P.Eng., CMC
CEO
Mr. D’Andrea has more than 20 years experience in consulting to companies and producing dramatic bottom-line results. Most recently the leader of the Canadian M&A practice for Grant Thornton LLP, Mr. D’Andrea was a co-founder of Alluence Capital Advisors Inc. and a former partner with Ernst & Young. He has international experience leading projects in Canada, US, Mexico, Ireland, Italy, Czech Republic, Japan, Singapore, and China. Mr. D’Andrea’s professional designations include Certified Management Consultant (CMC) and Professional Engineer (P.Eng.).


Mark D. Kershey
President
Mark has prepared Spartan for rapid growth by raising financing and recruiting key members of the executive team. He is now responsible for building out Spartan’s capabilities in sales and marketing and spearheading the globalization of Spartan through strategic partnerships. Mark has 28 years experience in high-technology engineering, sales, marketing, and senior management. Prior to joining Spartan, he was founder of Magnitude Capital Partners, where he provided management consulting and fundraising assistance to early-stage companies. Past positions include Managing Director, Global Sales & Marketing at Nortel Semiconductor and VP Business Development at MOSAID Technologies.
Paul Lem, M.D.
Founder
Paul brings to Spartan his diverse background in clinical medicine, molecular biology research, and biotech entrepreneurship. Prior to joining Spartan, Paul was VP Product Management at DNA Genotek, where he led commercialization of the Oragene™ DNA collection device. Prior to that, he raised venture capital and started up Plexagen Diagnostics to commercialize his invention of a universal multiplex PCR technology. Paul holds a B.Sc. in Human Biology from the University of Toronto and a Medical Degree from the University of Ottawa.

Paul Markell
Chief Operating Officer
Paul is responsible for day-to-day operations at Spartan and for implementing plans and processes for rapid and sustainable growth. He has 25 years of management experience in startups and billion-dollar companies. Past positions include COO at Sciemetric Instruments and Director of Finance & Operations at Gandalf, a division of Mitel.

Mark Houghting, CMA
Chief Financial Officer
Mark serves as Spartan’s virtual CFO and is responsible for financial strategy and planning, and implementing financial reporting and controls. Past positions include Director of Finance at Alarmbridge Security Network and Controller at the Via Group of Companies.

Alan Shayanpour
Principal Engineering Advisor
Alan leads his team of engineers and designers to transform abstract ideas into practical product designs. As VP Operations at JDS Uniphase, Alan supervised a team of more than 4,000 staff delivering more than 400,000 components per quarter in 8 major product groups. Alan holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Carleton University.

Sanjay Belkhode
Director, Channel Management
Sanjay is focused on driving growth for Spartan through ramping sales and market awareness and accelerating the Company’s go-to-market strategies. He brings 22 years of experience in sales, IT and product hardware/software development to Spartan. Prior to Spartan, he has held sales positions at Synopsys, Cadence Design Systems, Intrinsix and MOSAID Technologies.

Jay Rau
Director, Business Development
Jay brings over 25 years of experience in the biotechnology and molecular diagnostics industry serving both established companies as well as start-up ventures. He is responsible for developing and supporting corporate partnerships within an increasing number of market sectors including human diagnostics, food and environmental testing, plus basic research. Most recently, Jay was with Sequenom promoting technology to address genotyping, gene expression, methylation, and pre-natal diagnostics. Prior to Sequenom, Jay served over 13 years in several roles with Gentra Systems including capital equipment sales management and business development management positions.

Steve de Hennin Ph.D.
Director, R&D
Steve holds a B.Eng. (Honours) degree from the University of Queensland, and a Ph.D. in Process Systems Engineering from Imperial College, London. He is a process control engineer with over 15 years of experience. At Spartan, Steve is responsible for managing development engineering activities. Prior to joining Spartan, Steve was Director, Wavelength Selective Switch Development at JDS Uniphase. In 2004, Steve’s autonomous robot placed first in the Trinity Fire Fighting competition. In 2005, he was a member of Autonosys, the only non-American team to reach the semifinals of the DARPA Grand Challenge for autonomous vehicles.

Shelley Mullins
Public Relations & Communications
Shelley is responsible for developing and implementing communication strategies to increase the visibility of Spartan with its target audiences and to ensure a two-way dialogue between the company and its communities. She has more than 17 years experience in public relations and corporate communications in both the public and private sectors, primarily in health care and technology. Shelley graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Carleton University and holds an honours diploma in Public Relations from Algonquin College.