FOUNDERS & PHYSICISTS

Founders & Physicists is a unique series of fireside chats that brings together world-class researchers and entrepreneurs from Waterloo Region and beyond. Each evening will feature a remarkable Palestinian dinner and a founder’s story with opportunities to meet amazing leaders and have fun conversations. It is also a chance to create space for founders and physicists to learn from each other and discuss the future of Canadian innovation.

Rahul Goel

Founder & CEO, NordSpace

Rahul Goel is a Canadian aerospace engineer, serial entrepreneur, and visionary founder on a mission to give Canada sovereign access to space. He is the Founder and CEO of NordSpace, a next-generation rocket company building Canadian-designed launch vehicles, engines, and spaceport infrastructure to enable domestic orbital launches for the first time in the nation’s history.

Founded in 2022, NordSpace is developing a vertically integrated launch system—including the Taiga and Tundra rockets and a commercial spaceport in Newfoundland and Labrador—to support satellite deployment, national security, scientific research, and Canada’s long-term leadership in the global space economy. Rahul’s bold goal: deliver Canada’s long-awaited “Apollo moment.”

Beyond NordSpace, Rahul is a repeat founder who has built and scaled multiple technology companies while pursuing a PhD in aerospace engineering at the University of Toronto. His journey blends deep technical excellence with entrepreneurial grit—making him a powerful role model for Canadian youth, ambition, and world-class innovation.

Dr. Katie Mack

Hawking Chair of Cosmology and Science Communication

Dr. Katie Mack is a theoretical cosmologist whose work sits at the intersection of fundamental physics, cosmic ambition, and public imagination. She currently holds the Stephen Hawking Chair of Cosmology and Science Communication at Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, one of the world’s leading centres for foundational physics. Her research explores some of the biggest questions in science: dark matter, the early universe, and the long-term fate of the cosmos.

Beyond her academic contributions, Mack is globally recognized as one of the most compelling science communicators of her generation. She is the author of the bestselling book The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking), which examines, with clarity and wit, how the universe might ultimately end—and why those ideas matter today.

For audiences interested in space, rockets, and national ambition, Mack brings essential perspective: the deep scientific “why” that underpins humanity’s drive to explore, build, and reach beyond Earth.

FOUNDERS & PHYSICISTS

February 24, 2026, 5:30 PM
Kitchener-Waterloo

Founders & Physicists is a unique series of fireside chats that brings together world-class researchers and entrepreneurs from Waterloo Region and beyond. Each evening will feature a remarkable Palestinian dinner and a founder’s story with opportunities to meet amazing leaders and have fun conversations. It is also a chance to create space for founders and physicists to learn from each other and discuss the future of Canadian innovation.

Schedule

5:30 p.m.

Drinks, Dinner and mingle

Check in, grab a drink and take in the ambiance of this iconic space before enjoying a Palestinian-inspired Mediterranean buffet — a curated spread of new and returning favourites designed for guests to fill a plate and connect with local leaders.

7:10 p.m.

Founder's welcome

Founder's welcome and opening remarks by Nabil G. Fahel, who will introduce the series, thank the sponsors and sit down for a conversation with our special guest speakers.

7:15 p.m.

Fireside chat begins

A discussion about Canadian ambition at the frontier of space and science. We will explore how bold entrepreneurship, rocket science and deep physics come together to give Canada sovereign access to space and what it takes to build world-class aerospace companies from scratch.

7:45 p.m.

Ask them anything

A chance to ask speakers anything about their work, their leadership journey, building world-class aerospace companies or the most pressing scientific and entrepreneurial challenges facing Canada as it works toward sovereign access to space.

8:15 p.m.

Dessert and hangout

Final course of food is served and a last call with another opportunity to chat amongst fellow guests and friends in the room, all of whom are leaders in the community.