About Us >> Team
Robert Hoffman
Robert Hoffman was co-founder of whatIf? Technologies in 1989. As president, he has management responsibility for corporate finance, business development, and research and development activities. For clients, he has professional responsibility for project management, workshop facilitation, and model design.
He began his career in socio-economic analysis and modelling at Statistics Canada where he held a number of research and management positions including Director of the Structural Analysis Division, Director of Science and Technology Statistics Division and Associate Director General, Analytic Studies.
He was appointed Research Associate Professor in the Faculty of Environmental Studies, University of Waterloo, where he was a senior project manager, Waterloo Simulation Research Facility.
Robert holds the degrees of B.A. and M.A. in economics from the University of Western Ontario, and is the author of several published works on socio-economic modelling. He has extensive knowledge of data sources, surveys and data collection methodology. He has extensive experience in modelling and quantitative techniques and in research management.
Bert McInnis
Bert McInnis was co-founder of whatIf? Technologies in 1989. As Vice President of Consulting, he has primary responsibility for the development of custom models for clients including their design, implementation and calibration.
He holds the degrees of B.Sc. in engineering physics, M.Sc. in experimental physics, both from the University of Alberta, and Ph.D. in theoretical physics from McGill University. He did post-doctoral research at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories and lectured in physics at Monmouth College and the University of Lethbridge.
Bert began his work in socio-economic analysis and modelling at Statistics Canada in the mid 1970's. There he was the principal architect of the Socio-Economic Resource Framework (SERF) Model - the first large-scale simulation model of the Canadian economy.
He was appointed Research Associate Professor in the Faculty of Environmental Studies, University of Waterloo, where he was a senior project manager, Waterloo Simulation Research Facility.
Bert's research papers are published in major journals, and with thirty years of modelling experience, he has been the source of inspiration for the whatIf? modelling software.
Michael Hoffman
Michael Hoffman was co-founder of whatIf? Technologies in 1989. As Vice President of Technology, Michael currently has responsibility for business development and exploring new markets for the whatIf? software technology.
He has extensive experience in the management and development of large-scale software projects. He was the principal architect of the whatIf? software, and led its implementation.
He holds an Honours B. Math degree in applied mathematics and computer science from the University of Waterloo. With more than ten years of modelling experience and an intimate knowledge of the underlying software, Michael is ideally suited to exploring and growing new markets for the whatIf? software.
Joe Collins
Joe Collins has a comprehensive background in marketing, business development and organizational development. As the firm's Director of Business Development, he leads the growth of custom modelling and market-specific applications.
With over twenty-five years experience working with small and medium-sized organizations, his strength is building teams and coaching individuals in the context of fulfilling strategic commitments. He has completed specialized training in coaching, communication, facilitation and participatory management methodologies.
Marcus Williams
Marcus Williams joined whatIf? Technologies in 2005, taking on key roles in model implementation, product management and business development - with a focus on the urban and regional planning application area.
He brings strong technical and project management experience from the print and electronic imaging industries, having led several projects for large North-American and multinational clients. In addition, he has industry experience in software development and financial cost modelling applications.
He holds a degree in Computer Engineering from Queen's University.
Paul Steenhof
Paul Steenhof joined whatIf? Technologies as a Research Fellow in 2006.
He holds degrees from Carleton University (PhD), University of Toronto (M.Sc.) and the University of Waterloo (Hon. B.E.S).
Paul brings 10 years of research and consulting experience in the area of energy and environmental modeling and analysis to the firm. He has consulted for both industry and government on a number of issues, including: greenhouse gas emission baseline analysis, construction of energy scenarios, the development of tools for environmental analysis, and financial risk assessment. His current research program is focused upon developing and applying system-scale modeling to help inform energy and environmental policy, particularly as it concerns prospects for sustainable development within the energy sector in Canada.
He has been published in journals that include: Transportation Research, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Chinese Journal of Population, Resources and Environment, Energy Policy, Climate Policy, and Energy Economics.