The science of freshness. 
Built for the real world.

Dr. Mina Mekhail is the founder and CEO of Freshr Technologies, bringing nearly 20 years of experience in biomaterial innovation and commercialization. A bioengineer by training, he completed his PhD from McGill University in 2014 and has since authored 15 peer-reviewed publications, secured multiple patents, and received 37 awards, including the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2024 (Atlantic).

Throughout his career, Dr. Mekhail has raised over $10M in public and private funding and built partnerships with leading food and packaging companies in Canada and abroad.

Dr. Mekhail combines deep scientific expertise with a practical understanding of how innovation can scale. His leadership continues to guide Freshr’s effort to enhance FreshrPack®, a next-generation active packaging technology that helps fresh food last longer and waste less.

Beyond his work at Freshr, Dr.Mekhail is passionate about helping other scientists see entrepreneurship as a viable path to impact. He frequently writes about innovation and his entrepreneurial journey on Medium and is a sought-after speaker and mentor at national conferences, accelerators, and universities across Canada.

Bob MacKinnon has experience leading complex teams, developing and implementing multi-faceted strategies, and navigating key stakeholder relations in both the private and public sectors.  Most relevant to this engagement are that Bob MacKinnon is an experienced financial professional with CPA, CA and EMBA designations.  He has served in key financial roles and helped organizations raise operating and capital funds, including helping a startup company raise $4 million in recent years.

Stephane Turbide is a transformation-driven business leader with over three decades of experience guiding organizations through change, growth, and operational challenges. With a background in engineering and executive leadership, he brings a unique blend of strategic insight and hands-on operational expertise.  Known for building high-performing teams and unlocking untapped capacity, Stephane strives to simplify complexity, drive results, and create lasting impact. His approach is practical, people-focused, and rooted in the belief that disruption and innovation, when guided with purpose, leads to opportunity.

Dr. Castiello started his career as a Chemical Engineer developing research projects within the food industry which involved repurposing waste from industrial processes into high-value commodities. He completed a M.Sc. in Material Science from UNAM and a PhD in Biological and Biomedical Engineering from McGill University in 2019. He has 10+ years of research experience in materials science and biomaterials with 7 publications in top scientific journals. As Director of R&D his goal is to lead the R&D team to bringing our FreshrPack solution closer to commercialization and expand the use of the core technology into a wide range of applications.

Logan obtained his Chemical Engineering degree from Dalhousie University with the highest Engineering Honors and his team were the recipients of the 2020 Engineers Nova Scotia Senior Project Award. At Freshr, Logan is working tirelessly to scale up the manufacturing process of our FreshrPack solution by leading the design and build of our first pilot coating line. 

Harpreet is a seasoned strategic management professional with over 10+ years of experience in driving business growth, and operational efficiencies across global enterprises and high-growth startups. He has held key roles at industry leaders such as Amazon, Sony, and Samsung, as well as emerging ventures in healthcare and IT, where he consistently helped teams to deliver exceptional results through data-driven strategies.

Christine supports Freshr through ongoing strategic and operational HR support. With over 25 years of experience helping emerging, small, and medium-sized organizations across Atlantic Canada, Christine brings practical, trusted guidance through a scalable and flexible service model grounded in common sense and good humour. 

Max is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and holds an Master of Business Administration (MBA) with honours from Queen’s University, with expertise in financial strategy, innovation, and sustainable technology. As Strategy and Business Development Manager at Freshr, Max is focused on scaling partnerships, refining the company’s go-to-market strategy, and securing key growth opportunities.

Meggie acquired her BSc in Environmental Science from Acadia University, with a high honours distinction. Meggie started her career as a microbiologist in the pharmaceutical field. At Freshr, Meggie is involved in testing the antimicrobial properties of our FreshrPack technology to help optimize the response and extend knowledge into other areas of film application.

Cecilia McInnis graduated magna cum laude from Saint Mary’s University with a BSc in Biology, as well as a Certificate in Forensic Sciences. She has a passion for biology and a strong interest in environmental sustainability and how science can help to address that.

Matt completed his PhD in Materials Chemistry at Dalhousie University in 2024, earning the university's PhD Thesis Award. His research, which focused on scaling up sunlight-driven water purification, has been featured in five major publications and covered by national news outlets like CBC. As a research scientist, he will bridge laboratory experiments and pilot plant scale-up for Freshr products.

Alec holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from Dalhousie University and recently completed a Master of Applied Science, where his research focused on applying machine learning to robotics. With a strong passion for hands-on projects and prototyping, Alec is now focused on optimizing and scaling up the FreshrPack manufacturing process. 

Berna holds an Honours degree in Chemistry and a Master’s in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Dalhousie University, where she was recognized with numerous scholarships and academic awards. Berna brings a deep passion for science-driven impact, especially when it comes to tackling environmental challenges head-on. She is focused on multiple R&D projects that will feed into our pipeline of future products.

Janak holds a BSc and MSc in Industrial Chemistry from Sardar Patel University, India, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Petroleum Engineering from Cape Breton University. He began his career in a pharmaceutical API manufacturing company as a Trainee Officer, where he worked with unit operations like drying and filtration and helped troubleshoot impurity issues. He joined Freshr as a Production Technician Lead, where he will work on manufacturing and scale up of our FreshrPack technology.

Nataliia holds a B.Sc. in Cytology and Histology from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, where she was held a prestigious scholarship. She joined Freshr as a Production Technician, where she will work to manufacture and scale up our FreshrPack technology.

Ana holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the State University of Ponta Grossa, Brazil, and recently completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Manitoba. Her research focuses on natural antioxidants, particularly the extraction, characterization, and evaluation of bioactive compounds with potential applications in food and health sciences. Ana will bring a wealth of experience to the R&D team, and will work on conducting experiments needed for successful commercialization of FreshrPack.

Ian Mallov grew up in Truro, NS, and attended Dalhousie University for his B.Sc. After completing a M.Sc. at University of Ottawa and working 3 years in environmental analysis, he returned to school for a Ph.D. in main group chemistry at University of Toronto. He joined Toronto start-up Inkbox Ink as a research scientist to bring new skin-binding dyes from benchtop to consumer products, continuing in this role after Inkbox's acquisition by Bic. Always passionate about applying chemistry-based solutions to real-world sustainability challenges, he joined Freshr in 2026 as a senior scientist and is excited to contribute to bringing their innovative packaging solutions to market.