Rob Pickels Email and Phone Number

At the Apeiron Research Center we are investigated ways to bring autologous stem-cell treatment of Parkinson's Disease to the outpatient clinical setting to improve the lives of countless Parkinson's Patients.

AGNCY Innovation is committed to improving the usability of outdoors and sporting electronics by changing how they are powered. We believe that athletes should be focused on the enjoyment of their sport and not the status of their batteries.

Fast Talk is a Sports Science podcast for Endurance Athletes. We discuss all aspects of improving performance through physiology, biomechanics, sports psychology, coaching, and other aspects with Top Coaches, Top Researchers, and experts from all fields.

Fast Talk Labs is the leading sport science knowledgebase and podcast which brings together a growing international community of experts in endurance sports. In addition to writing and co-hosting the internally-known podcast, I successfully guided the company through its start-up and early-stage phases by:•Empowering our Organization – I established a unified vision and singular source of truth by thoughtfully creating Mission, Vision, and Values, improving our internal communication, and rallying our team around a clearly defined central purpose. This created a cohesion that improved productivity and reduced turn-over. •Focusing on our Consumer— I successfully navigated “FTL” from a founder’s dream to a company driven by our consumer’s needs. I created consumer and brand personas to drive needed improvements to content strategy, rede-sign our website UX, and create an MRR / ARR revenue model. This resulted in a significant improvement in both revenue and brand-love. •Streamlining our Product Strategy— After an objective review of product offerings and consumer insights, I focused our efforts on a product strategy that emphasized the largest return for our team’s bandwidth. This improved the quality and impact of our product and increased traffic to our knowledge base. •Improving Efficiency— Through process improvement, tool utilization, and organizational realignment I was able to create efficiencies that resulted in significantly higher output with lower burden to our staff. •Creating Strategic Partnerships— Moving away from the fight for individual customers, I worked tireless to identify, court, and on-board strategic partners who supported both our current business and opportunities for market expan-sion.

Sterkte - Dutch for "Strength / The Strength to Persevere" - is my avenue to share my passion for evidence based decision making as well as Mentoring individuals and organizations regarding any 2 of my 3 areas of expertise.Sport scienceInnovationPeopleThis journey is fueled by this singular sentiment: The only thing better than finding the perfect solution is trying something new.

The holy grail of skiing is a boot that has it all: performance at the highest level in any terrain. Comfort and warmth from start to finish. The ability to walk easily and safely. A boot that doesn’t limit your ski day, but actually optimizes the actual performace of today's modern skis, enhances your skiing ability and overall skiing experience. Apex will exceed your expectations in every way. Demand it all!

Key projects included our award-winning Levitate Chamois line, human-subjects testing of water-proof breathable solutions, design and validation of our “BIOVIZ” visibility program, creation of lighted and heated outerwear prototypes, as well as research and product validation with industry leader Woolmark. I achieved success by focusing on the following actions:•Creating User Centric Solutions— I dedicated myself to deeply understanding the needs of both our consumers and retailers by observing users core to the cycling space, traveling to new markets, and participating in key events. •Effective Product Management— I utilized a deep understand of consumer, product, materials, and use-cases to cre-ate highly-compelling product briefs appropriate for our capabilities. I collaborated with Pattern, Materials, Design, and Development to align product with brand objectives. I planned strategies with marketing, sales, and supply-chain teams to ensure effective go-to-market execution. •Launching Research Initiatives— I instituted an objective decision-making process by introducing human-subjects testing of our materials, designs, and product strategy. This included multiple sessions in the University of Ontario’s Environmental Wind tunnel to directly test solutions on riders in a controlled environment as well as many smaller pro-jects conducted in our local facilities and trails. •Educating Staff and Reps— Drawing on my sports science, materials knowledge, and my education background, I enjoyed being the de-facto subject matter expert for our internal staff as well as generating excitement and educating sales representatives at National and International sales meetings. •Finding Innovative Solutions— I leveraged my wide knowledge of science, engineering, and deep experience in sports to bring non-traditional solutions that pushed our product forward in meaningful ways. This included hand-creating proof of concepts and inventing new internal tests and metrics.

At BJC we strive to create not only terrific cyclists, but also outstanding individuals. We guide young athletes toward personal growth and stewardship. For some athletes there is an emphasis on high-level UCI competition, but for others we foster skills and enjoyment of a life-long sport.

While my role at BCSM centered primarily around physiological and biomechanical assessment of athletes as well as diagnostic testing of patients, I continually expanded my role leading me to concurrently served as the center’s Marketing and Research Coordinator. I supported the organization by:•Providing Exceptional Patient Care— I oversaw and directed all client and patient operations and ensured performance standards across our staff to achieve the highest level of patient care and safety. Our clinic worked directly with a range of athletes and patients, from weekend warrior to elite athlete as well as pulmonary and cardiac diagnostics. •Ensuring JCAHO Compliance— By training staff and personally overseeing our wet-lab processes, as well as maintaining accurate and complete documentation I was able to ensure that our department continued use of bench-top analyzers not typically found in out-patient clinics. •Increasing Brand Awareness— Leveraged marketing channels and social-media I was responsible for increasing awareness of our clinic’s offerings and involvement; driving increased patient visits. •Creating new Revenue-Generating Programs— To drive additional revenue, I created a contract-based product validation program for companies (including Specialized Bicycle Corporation) to vet their products via 3rd party, independent, laboratory testing.

I utilized my education and experience to deeply engage higher education students by utilizing a practical approach to learning complex topics.

Facilitate Exercise in three areas:• Medical Wellness• Sports Performance• Post- Cardiac Rehabilitation / Physical TherapyPhase II and III Cardiac Rehabilitation Implement Lactate Threshold TestingEndurance Coaching

My role is the assure the integrity of the anti-doping process. This is essential to protect the athlete and the fairness of competition.

At Fleet Feet Sports I focused on proper evaluation of a customer's needs / goals and how appropriate footwear could aid them. Secondarily, I managed a small staff of dedicated employees, including training in a highly competitive market.

Instructed anatomy to multiple sections of approximately 30 students. By integrating lecture, models and cadavers, students were taught gross anatomy, organ systems, and other anatomy-based topics.

• Hydration Status- Urine Specific Gravity• Weekly power development testing of weightlifters• Kinematic analysis of bobsled and skeleton athletes• EMG analysis of archery• Kinematic analysis of figure skaters• New product validation

Kinematic analysis of pairs figure skating using Vicon Motus analysis software.