Akpeko Gasonoo, PhD is a first-generation immigrant from Ghana who has resided in Canada for the past three years. He holds a BSc in Computer Engineering from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana. He pursued his MEng and PhD in Electronic Engineering at Hanbat National University in South Korea. Following his PhD, Akpeko worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Research Institute of Printed Electronics & 3D Printing at Hanbat, where he contributed to projects, including collaborations with Samsung Display Corporation. From 2022 to 2023, he continued his work in printed OLED technology as a postdoctoral associate at the University of Calgary.
Currently, Akpeko is an Innovation Catalyst Grant (ICG) fellow and co-founder of PrintedSUN Inc., a startup focused on developing printed OLED technology for wearable health sensing. His entrepreneurial journey includes participation in Innovate Calgary's evolve-to-innovate (e2i) program, NSERC L2M validate, and the BIPOC Foundation's Accelerator program. He also serves as an entrepreneur-in-residence at the University of Calgary's Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial Thinking and is a member of Toronto Metropolitan University’s Innovation Boost Zone (IBZ). Akpeko won first place in the Newcomer Founders in Tech Pitch Competition, the fifth event of the BIPOC and Rural Tech Founders event series organized by the Social Innovation Hub of Innovate Calgary and Platform Calgary. Beyond his professional pursuits, Akpeko enjoys reggae music and is a devoted husband and father.
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Terms and Conditions for the Give The Nod Campaign
1. Eligibility
The contest is open to legal residents of Canada who are 18 years of age or older at the time of entry.
Participants must be entrepreneurs with a registered business in Canada.
Employees of The Nod Inc., its affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies, and suppliers, as well as immediate family members and/or those living in the same household, are not eligible to participate.
2. Contest Entry
To enter the contest, participants must list their business on the campaign webpage by completing the registration form.
Each business can only be entered once per campaign round.
Entries must be received by the specified deadline to be eligible for the current round.
3. Contest Period
The contest consists of successive rounds occurring every two months.
Specific dates for each round will be announced on the campaign webpage.
4. Voting Process
Voting will be open to the public and conducted through the campaign webpage.
Each round will have a specific voting period, announced on the campaign webpage.
The business with the highest number of votes at the end of each round will be declared the winner.
5. Prizes
The winner of each round will receive a cash prize of up to $5,000.
Prizes are non-transferable and no substitution will be made except at the sponsor’s sole discretion.
6. Winner Notification
Winners will be notified via the email address provided during registration.
Winners must respond to the notification within 7 days to claim their prize.
Failure to respond within the specified time period may result in forfeiture of the prize, and an alternate winner may be selected.
7. Publicity
By entering the contest, participants agree to have their business name, logo, and description used for promotional purposes by The Nod Inc. without additional compensation.
