Media
Vigilant Futures partners with Montreal’s BIXI™ public bike system
June 3, 2010
MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Montreal’s public bike system BIXI™ and Vigilant Futures, a leader in the design and implementation of high-performance systems and innovative software solutions for the world of electronic finance, have partnered to offer BIXI™ users a sponsored station in the city’s downtown core on René Lévesque Blvd. and Mansfield Street.
“Many of our employees use the BIXI™ system to get to and from work every day. Sponsoring the program is our way to thank employees for being socially responsible citizens and a way for Vigilant Futures to support our city’s entrepreneurial spirit and eco-friendly initiatives,” said Arvind Ramanathan, managing director and co-founder, Vigilant Futures.
The award-winning alternative transportation program was launched in Montreal in 2009, with other international cities quickly following suit. BIXI™ stations were recently launched in Melbourne, Australia, with upcoming launches in Minneapolis, Washington D.C. and London.
In 2009, the public bike system’s 10, 775 members took 1.1 million unique trips across the island of Montreal. Only one month into the 2010 BIXI™ season, the program already has 24,000 subscribers. (www.bixi.com)
As a socially responsible member of the city’s business community, Vigilant Futures offers a transportation allowance that includes train/metro/bus passes and BIXI™ subscriptions as part of its employee benefits. The BIXI™ partnership is another effort that supports its corporate philosophy of enriching the experience of working and living in Montreal.
About BIXI™
BIXI™ is the City of Montreal’s public bike system. With this service, launched in spring 2009, Montrealers can pick up a bike from one station, travel to their destination, and return the bike to any other station in the network. The system now comprises 400 stations and 5,000 bikes deployed throughout Montreal.
About Vigilant Futures
Vigilant Futures is a Montreal-based research and development firm, a leader in the design and implementation of high-performance systems and innovative software solutions applied to the world of finance. The Company fosters active engagement with the community, believing community involvement enriches the experience of working and living in Montreal and offers a collaborative and rewarding work environment. For more information, please visit www.vigilantfutures.com
Original Release:
Vigilant Futures partners with Montreal’s BIXI™ public bike system
Alumnus helps education reach soaring heights
April 28, 2010
By MIKE BOONE, The Gazette
Not many Beach Boys hits spring to mind when it's snowing in late April, but Be True to Your School was playing on the jukebox in my head during a conversation with Arvind Ramanathan.
The 32-year-old Montrealer is the managing director of Vigilant Futures, a five-year-old company that does research and development to create software for the financial industry. Ramanathan is an alumnus of LaSalle Catholic High School, which has become LaSalle Community Comprehensive.
Last autumn, I met Paul Wasacz, who teaches at LaSalle Comprehensive. He was trying to raise $45,000 for an ambitious educational project: Wasacz wanted to take a group of Secondary IV students to Ecuador, where they would work as volunteers on a construction project in a disadvantaged community.
This was no class trip to Upper Canada Village. Raising enough money to elevate social consciousness in the high Andes was a steep hill to climb for a public high school in a lower-middle/working-class community.
Wasacz pulled it off. And Ramanathan did much to help.
On a Friday in early March, Vigilant Futures rented the Imax theatre at the Scotia Bank complex for a 3-D screening of Alice in Wonderland. Tickets cost $20, the event sold out and proceeds for the LCCHS Ecuador Experience were a cool $4,500.
Ramanathan went to LaSalle Catholic from 1990 to '94. One of his teachers was Paul Wasacz's father.
"I had a great time in high school," Ramanathan says, differentiating himself from what he estimates are the 50 per cent of enrolment for whom secondary education is unrelenting misery.
"I wasn't one of the cool kids," Ramanathan admits. "I didn't play football or sleep with all the cheerleaders.
"But I went on all the trips: Washington, New York, all the ski trips, a trip to Europe. The teachers were excellent, and it was a great experience for me."
Ramanathan is never far from the source of those warm memories. He still lives in LaSalle and helps out at the school.
Ramanathan keeps in touch with his former teachers. At Christmas, he volunteers to drive LaSalle Comprehensive students around to collect non-perishables for the school's food drive.
Vigilant Futures is involved in educational initiatives, including Youth Futures, a non-profit organization set up to combat Quebec's high dropout rate. At Ramanathan's initiative, the company rented the Imax theatre for a matinée screening and the graphics staff designed a cool-looking ticket for the event.
"A lot of the onus was on the kids going on the trip," Ramanathan says. "They had to sell the tickets, and they did a great job."
Ramanathan will be on the guest list for the Ecuador Evening Wasacz is planning. He and the 10 students who made the trip, from March 31 to April 10, want to thank donors.
Students did 19 fundraising projects, including a spare-change drive, several bake sales and pub nights for parents. Wasacz was especially grateful to Central Audio in Ville St. Pierre for ponying up video equipment and to Vigilant Futures for "stepping up to the plate" with the movie screening.
He's hoping for more at-bats next fall and in years to come.
"I think this can be an annual event," Wasacz says, "if we can get the community behind us. Some people didn't think we could raise $10,000 in LaSalle. For fundraising to have done as well as it did, I think more people will get involved."
Original Release:
Montreal Gazette interviews Arvind Ramanathan of Vigilant Futures
Montreal Youth Shine at the FIRST International Robotics Competition in Toronto
April 7, 2010
MONTREAL, April 7 /CNW Telbec/ - Youth Fusion is pleased to announce that, during the FIRST International Robotics Competition held in Toronto last weekend, Pierre-Dupuy High School received the Judges Award for Perseverance. While Saint-Henri High School made it all the way to the semi-finals.
Since the launch of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science Technology) in the United States, no Montreal public high school had ever participated in this important international competition. This year, 45 students from 4 Montreal high schools: Honoré-Mercier (CSDM), Pierre-Dupuy (CSDM), Saint-Henri (CSDM) and Henri-Bourassa (CSPI), built 4 robots capable of playing soccer and evaluated at $100,000. Their participation was made possible thanks to the involvement of the following partners: BMO Financial Group-Quebec, Bell, Bombardier Inc., CAE, Hydro-Québec and Vigilant Futures.
These four robots will be presented to the Montreal public during the CSDM's Symposium de science et technologie to be held at the Montreal Science Centre located at 333, rue de la Commune ouest:
Thursday, April 8, 2010 from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm
Robots: Henri-Bourassa and Pierre-Dupuy high schools
Friday, April 9, 2010 from 9:00 am to 2 :00 pm
Robots: Saint Henri and Honoré Mercier high schools
For more information, go to: http://www.youthfusionquebec.org/en/robotics.php
For further information: Gabriel Bran Lopez, Executive Director - Youth Fusion, (514) 662-2183, gbl@youthfusionquebec.org
Original Release:
Montreal Youth Shine at the FIRST International Robotics Competition in Toronto
Building robots to counter drop out rates: BMO Financial Group, Bell, Bombardier Inc., CAE, Hydro-Québec and Vigilant Futures join forces to send 45 students to an international robotics competition
February 17, 2010
MONTREAL, Feb. 17 /CNW Telbec/ - Youth Fusion is thrilled to announce that BMO Financial Group-Quebec, Bell, Bombardier Inc., CAE, Hydro-Québec and Vigilant Futures have joined forces to send 45 Montreal students to FIRST, an international robotics competition.
FIRST is a competition designed to offer young people an exciting and hands-on experience in science and technology. The objective is precise: students have six weeks to build a highly functional robot, capable of playing soccer, and worth $25,000. During this period, the students work with university experts and engineers, enabling them to expand their scientific knowledge. The robots will be under construction in Montreal until February 23rd, and the competition will take place in Toronto in April.
In its long history, FIRST has never hosted Montreal public high school students. Thanks to the support of the official partners: Mr. L. Jacques Ménard, President of BMO Financial Group-Quebec, Mr. Laurent Beaudoin, Chair of the Board of Bombardier Inc., Mr. Thierry Vandal, President and CEO of Hydro-Québec, Mr. Stéphane Boisvert, President of Bell Business Markets, Mr. Marc Parent, President and CEO of CAE, and Mr. Arvind Ramanathan, Director of Vigilant Futures, four robots are currently under construction by 45 youth from four different high schools: Honoré-Mercier (CSDM), Pierre-Dupuy (CSDM), Saint-Henri (CSDM), and Henri-Bourassa (CSPI). Moreover, Mr. François Michaud, Canada Research Chairholder in Mobile Robotics and Intelligent Autonomous Systems, and Mr. John Charlton, Special Projects Manager at Loyola High School, are part of an extensive group of mentors who support the teams.
Mr. Ménard, Chair of Youth Fusion's board since November 2009, is pleased to realize that the business community "responded positively to this opportunity, as this competition is an ideal platform to promote technological innovation, scientific fields and the educational success of youth."
Youth Fusion is a non-profit organization that mobilizes universities to counter drop out rates. Last September, Youth Fusion announced that all of Montreal's universities had agreed to join forces to encourage kids to stay in school. Their formula is simple: Youth Fusion sends university students, working as project coordinators, into high schools to implement projects that motivate teenagers to stay in school, and strengthen their school spirit and sense of belonging.
For this robotics project, Youth Fusion hired four university students - two from l'École Polytechnique and two from l'École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS) - each student is assigned to one high school.
For further information, please visit:
www.youthfusionquebec.org/en/robotics.php
For further information: Gabriel Bran Lopez, Founder and Executive Director, Youth Fusion, (514) 657-7630,
gbl@youthfusionquebec.org
Original Release:
Building robots to counter drop out rates: BMO Financial Group, Bell, Bombardier Inc., CAE, Hydro-Québec and Vigilant Futures join forces to send 45 students to an international robotics competition
Vigilant Futures announces $20,000 donation for CSE grad scholarships
December 6, 2009
On December 1, ENCS happily hosted members of Montreal-based financial company, Vigilant Futures, for a very special event: the announcement of a $20,000 donation in support of international graduate scholarships.
On-hand to express their thanks and welcome the Vigilant Futures team were ENCS Dean Robin Drew, CSE Department Chair Sudhir Mudur, who both expressed their deep gratitude for the gift. Said Dean Drew, ""The gift will help increase our credibility and help us attract high calibre students." Dr. Mudur supported this statement, warmly noting that, "our students come from all around the world and these new scholarships will help ease the financial burden of graduate studies."
Arvind Ramanathan, co-founder and co-director or Vigilant Futures also addressed the enthusiastic audience, which was mainly made up of international ENCS graduate students eager to hear about the new funding opportunities the scholarship would bring. Ramanathan, himself a Concordia Alum (BComm '01), reported that about 25 percent of the company's employees are Concordia computer science graduates. "Financial markets are looking for people like you," Ramanathan said to the 25 computer science students on hand, who he hoped might one day become Vigilant Futures employees. He said he was proud to be able to give back to the university that helped him launch his career. "I had a great time at Concordia, a wonderful experience," Ramanathan said.
In just four short years, Vigilant Futures has grown from a team of 3 to 50, with a staff dedicated to the company's mission of eliminating market inefficiencies wherever and whenever they exist. To learn more about the company, please visit their webiste www.vigilantfutures.com.
Original Release:
Vigilant Futures announces $20,000 donation for CSE grad scholarships
Vigilant Futures donates $20,000 toward graduate scholarships in Computer Science and Software Engineering
September 22, 2009
Financial technology firm Vigilant Futures has contributed $20,000 to Concordia’s department of Computer Science and Software Engineering. The gift will fund annual graduate scholarships—worth $1,000—for international students in Computer Science.
The Montreal-based company’s donation comes at the time when the Engineering and Computer Science Faculty’s enrollment of international students at the graduate level stands at about 33 percent. “We’re delighted to be the benefactor of this generous gift by a local high-tech company that is on the rise,” said Dr. Sudhir Mudur, chair of Concordia’s department of Computer Science and Software Engineering. “Not only will this funding help boost the credibility of Concordia’s Computer Science program on a global level but it will also help us attract more, high-calibre international students.”
Vigilant Futures was founded in 2005 to capitalize on trends in financial markets towards computer-driven trading. Having recently revamped its headquarters on René-Lévesque Blvd. with state-of-the-art research-and-development facilities, the firm continues to invest heavily in R&D.
It was founded by a group of young entrepreneurs, scientists and technologists, including director and Concordia alumnus Arvind Ramanathan, BComm. “A lot of the top minds in our research and development team have come from Concordia so this is very much an investment in one of our most important talent pools,” Ramanathan said.
For details on the announcement reception attended by Josh Felker, Arvind Ramanathan along with Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering Chair, Sudhir Mudur, and Dean Robin Drew, please visit the link below.
http://alumni.concordia.ca/calendar/news/2009/12/01/015314.php
Original Release:
Vigilant Futures donates $20,000 toward graduate scholarships in Computer Science and Software Engineering
Habitat for Humanity’s 2009 Build Project has begun!
September 11, 2009
Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit organization that builds simple, decent and affordable housing in partnership with people in need. Volunteers and partner families provide most of the labor, and individual and corporate donors provide money and materials to build the houses. Habitat for Humanity houses are sold to partner families at no profit and with no interest charged; mortgage payments are used to build more houses.
Vigilant is contributing 5000$ to the build and sending 15 volunteers to give a full day of hard work on the construction site. Our build day is scheduled for Friday September 11th , from 8am to 4pm. The site is located at 5096 Sainte-Clotilde street in St-Henri. Please come and support our employees and the community at this event.
For more information about Habitat or this event please see their website below.
http://www.habitatmontreal.qc.ca/
Vigilant Futures Expands Montreal Headquarters
January 30, 2009
MONTREAL, Jan. 30 /PRNewswire/ - Vigilant Futures today announces the completion of its headquarters expansion project, including the opening of a new state of the art Research and Development facility. Located in the heart of downtown Montreal, Canada, this center combines an open and innovative working environment with the latest technology and research facilities.
"Our employees are our most valued asset and this new office will help to provide our team with an environment designed to promote well being and foster collaboration," said Erin Sullivan, HR Manager of Vigilant Futures. "Times of economic turbulence bring increased opportunity and this new center provides us with the freedom to expand our team and our research initiatives."
Vigilant Futures partnered with Kiva Design, of Montreal, Canada www.kiva-design.com to develop the 22,000 sq.ft. environment. With a mixture of clean lines, high contrast and transparency, the office setting bodes a unique blend of organic and modern styling.
As Vigilant expands, it is continually on the lookout for the brightest minds and most innovative thinkers. To learn more about the employment opportunities visit www.vigilantfutures.com.
About Vigilant Futures
An active participant in capital markets worldwide, Vigilant Futures combines new and emerging technologies with sound and forward thinking strategies. A strong focus on research and development has allowed the firm to expand in the rapidly changing environment of electronic markets. Vigilant Futures is headquartered in Montreal, Canada. For more information, visit www.vigilantfutures.com, or call 514-940-4040.
About Kiva Design
A leader in the Montreal corporate design community for over 15 years, the Kiva Design team offers creative design solutions to businesses across Canada. Their client focused approach has earned them an enviable reputation and strong client loyalty.
Original Release:
Vigilant Futures Expands Montreal Headquarters
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