About Us
Dark Matter Materials Inc. was incorporated in July 2022, and founded with proprietary technologies for energy-efficient carbonization and catalytic gasification of industrial process waters, producing carbon-free dry tailings and hydrogen. The processes can be operated independently or in tandem.
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​DMM is being accelerated by Applied Quantum Materials Inc., a global leader in silicon nanomaterials.
Team Members
Dr. David Antoniuk, CEO
Dr. Antoniuk holds a Ph.D. in Engineering Physics from the University of Alberta and brings 30 years of business development, product marketing and executive management experience. David has extensive experience in technology commercialization and building strategic business relationships. Prior to forming DMM, he was Director of Business Development for TRLabs, Canada’s largest IT consortium; and Director, Nanotechnology where he formulated the strategy for creating a nanotechnology initiative for the Government of Alberta. David has co-founded several technology start-ups including Applied Quantum Materials Inc. where he serves as CEO.
Dr. Jeffrey Stryker, CSO
Dr. Stryker is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Alberta. He earned his BA with honours in chemistry from Harvard University and a Ph.D. from Columbia, training in organic synthesis. He subsequently moved to an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship at UC Berkeley working to develop the first well-characterized transition metal complexes to mediate selective C–H activation of alkanes, including methane. Dr. Stryker began his academic career at Indiana University and in 1992 emigrated with his family to Canada and the University of Alberta.
Early support from NIH, NFS, DuPont, and Union Carbide led to the creation of “Stryker’s reagents and catalysts” (International Fluka Prize, 1988), introducing homogeneous copper hydride catalysis to organic synthesis. Modern variants of this work continue to resonate in both academia and the pharmaceutical industry. After considerable time in the trenches of fundamental transition metal chemistry and mechanism, the group turned to addressing real world problems, introducing new concepts in heterogeneous and electrochemical catalysis for the petroleum and biomass industries. This effort has culminated in the demonstration of hydrogen-free electrocatalytic upcycling of bitumen asphaltenes, producing sweet crude petroleum or, under other conditions, high-value carbon materials.
His applied chemistry has been generously supported by CFREF/Future Energy Systems, Institute for Oil Sands Innovation (IOSI/Imperial Oil), Alberta Innovates, Biorefining Conversions Network (BCN), Canadian Resources Innovation Network (CRIN), Japan Petroleum Energy Center (JPEC), and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science (AIST, Japan).
Dr. Robin Hamilton, CTO
Dr. Hamilton obtained his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from Lakehead University, and a Ph.D. from Prof. Steve Bergens at the University of Alberta investigating asymmetric olefin and ketone hydrogenation. After an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship, he became a Senior Research Associate and Co-director of the Stryker group at the University of Alberta managing the bitumen upcycling programs. Dr. Hamilton was the creative center for work in electro-catalytic conversion of bitumen asphaltenes and lignin biomass to value added carbon materials.
He joined DMM in September 2023 and has been the innovation nucleus for the company’s breakthrough technologies. Dr. Hamilton’s expertise extends over a range of subdisciplines: inorganic, organometallic, synthesis and mechanism, homogeneous, heterogeneous, and electrochemical catalysis.
Dr. Jonathan Veinot
Dr. Jonathon Veinot is the
Associate Dean - STEM Research,
College of Natural and Applied Sciences
and professor at the University of Alberta, Department of Chemistry. He is the co-author on over 180 peer-reviewed papers and been awarded 19 patents. Jonathan is one of the world’s leaders in silicon nanomaterials, focusing on developing non-toxic Group 14 nanomaterials while establishing a fundamental understanding of their unique optical and chemical properties.
Dr. Veinot was an invited OECD Expert for the Environmental Impact of Nanomaterials, Berlin 2013. Dr. Veinot is also the Director of the Alberta/ Technical University of Munich International Graduate School for Hybrid Functional Materials. He received the prestigious 2017 Award for Excellence in Materials Chemistry from the Canadian Chemical Society as one of “Canada’s shining scientific lights” in the field of silicon nanocrystals and the 2016 Burghausen Chemistry Award, recognized by the chemical industry of Bavaria, Germany for his impressive contributions to the field of silicon nanomaterials. Jonathan also serves as Scientific Advisor for DMM and President and CTO of Applied Quantum Materials Inc.
Dr. Mariana Arpini Vieira
Mariana joined DMM in December 2023 as a Research Scientist and Mitacs Post Doctoral Fellow. She holds a Ph.D. in Materials Chemistry from the Federal University of Espirito Santo, Brazil. Previously, she was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Alberta/National Research Council, where she performed in-depth studies of graphene quantum dots and contributed to the development of optoelectronic devices. Mariana is skilled in various material characterization techniques and has a strong background in synthesizing and analyzing carbon-based materials.
Dr. Munashe Chizema
Munashe was born in Zimbabwe where he did his primary and high school. He got a presidential scholarship to study in South Africa at the University of Johannesburg. In his undergraduate, he did a B.Sc. in Biochemistry and Chemistry, then B.Sc. Honors in Chemistry. He also did his M.Sc. in Chemistry with Prof H.H. Kinfe working on the synthesis of carbohydrate based thiochromans analogues as potential anti-malarial drugs. He graduated cum laude in 2018.
He then moved to the University of Alberta to pursue his Ph.D. studies in 2019 and joined the Tykwinski/Stryker groups where he worked on the synthesis of porphyrin as an asphaltene model compound.
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Munashe joined DMM in June 2025 working on the valorization of used cooking oil, conversion of waste plastics to hydrocarbons, COâ‚‚ utilization, and methane decarbonization. Recently, he has been working on the synthesis of ammonia at room temperature.
Melissa Barendregt
Melissa initially had a student internship with DMM in 2024 and then began working full time in January 2025 as a Research Chemist. She graduated with a B.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Alberta in June 2025. Melissa has research experience in battery development and catalyst synthesis for clean energy.
Dominique Hebert
Dominique joined DMM in September 2023 as a Research Chemist. She has a B.Sc. in Chemistry form the University of Alberta. Previously she was a Research Assistant at the University of Alberta, Department of Chemistry. While there, she developed methods of synthesis for metal oxide catalysts for chemically assisted production of hydrogen from water.
Evan Taylor-Fontaine
Evan Taylor-Fontaine joined DMM in 2025, following a successful internship that led to his transition into a full-time role as an Research Chemist. He earned a bilingual B.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Alberta’s Campus Saint-Jean, where he contributed to research on lignin depolymerization into value-added compounds and HSQ-based materials development. At DMM, Evan is passionate about driving change and solving complex challenges, working collaboratively to deliver innovative solutions that advance the company’s mission of progress through innovation.