VTW 2026 Climate Tech Day: Panel discussion at Swans Pub - Commercializing Circular Materials

​Circular building materials are passing lab tests across Canada. Very few of them reach a project. They stall on the path in between: standards written for conventional products, producers who carry the risk of anything new, and capital that moves slower than a pilot.

​This panel follows a material along that path, from lab validation through standards and approval, into manufacture, to the funding decision that determines whether it scales. Each speaker owns one stage, and the conversation stays on where each stage breaks and what moves it forward.

​The last 25 minutes are open floor. Bring the question your last pilot left you with.

​Speakers

• ​Prof. Rishi Gupta (Civil Engineering, University of Victoria, and Director, CAMTEC): what performance and durability testing has to show before industry acts on a new material.

• ​Mike Jain (National Research Council of Canada): how new materials get evaluated, validated and cleared for use in Canada.

• ​Trevor Harmon (President, Szolyd Concrete): what a manufacturer needs to see before a new material goes into production and into a project.

• ​Shantanu Mehta (Investment Associate, Spring): which signals move a materials company from interesting to investable.

​Moderated by Chris Fernando.

​Part of Climate Tech Day at Victoria Tech Week 2026.