Canada's #1 Community for Entrepreneurs Canada's #1 Community for Entrepreneurs

Anselm Viswasam headshot

From Engineer to Entrepreneur: The Leap That Changed Everything

Philip Bliss |

Anslem’s insights for engineering entrepreneurs are terrific. What it takes to step out of multi-national engineering companies to start up your own venture… so interesting.

Anselm Viswasam graduated from McGill University (Montreal, Canada) with a degree in Electrical Engineering and is a professional engineer licensed in the province of Ontario. He also holds an MBA in Technology Management and New Ventures Development, from Queens University, in Canada.

Anselm co-founded Hyperion in July 2015 – with the intention of developing the first implementation of a distributed sensing solution for the electric grid. Essentially, Hyperion brings assets to life by taking each of the elements that comprise a high voltage asset and adding intelligence to it. In essence, a smart grid is smart because it is made up of smart assets.

Prior to this, Anselm successfully led ABB’s Substation Automation Products Division for North America and in this role, he was responsible for sales of Transmission and Sub-transmission products to Utilities in Canada, the US, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Anselm spent over 14 years at General Electric (Multilin – substation protection and control products) holding positions in engineering, operations, marketing and in new product development. He was an integral part of the team that developed the world’s first microprocessor protection relays – which are now ubiquitous across the power grid globally. He also worked in GE’s Wire & Cable group and developed cables for niche applications such as mineshaft power cable, cable buses and high performance fluid filled cable systems.

Anselm prides himself on being a true “international” Canadian. Born in Sierra Leone, West Africa to parents of ethnic Sri Lankan origin, his first ten years were spent growing up in Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Tanzania. After a short stint in boarding school in the United Kingdom, his father retired from the United Nations and moved back to Sri Lanka. The ensuing civil war in Sri Lanka forced Anselm and his parents to immigrate to Canada in 1989 – 35 years and counting as a Canadian!


Stay Connected with #CanadasEntrepreneur!

Join our growing community of entrepreneurs across Canada! Don’t miss out on inspiring interviews, expert insights, and the latest business trends from the people shaping the future of our economy.

👉 Subscribe to our YouTube channel for full episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@CanadasEntrepreneur
🌐 Explore more on our website: https://canadasentrepreneur.com
💼 Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/canadas-entrepreneur
📸 Follow behind-the-scenes on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/canadasentrepreneur
👍 Stay in the loop on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/canadasentrepreneur
🐦 Join the conversation on X: https://x.com/CanadasPreneur

💡 Want exclusive updates on the latest #entrepreneur podcasts and news?

Make sure to subscribe and never miss a beat! Your support helps us continue bringing you the best stories from Canada’s top business leaders.

Related Podcasts

This Mindset Shift Turned Him Into a CEO

Dan Pantaleo, is President/ CEO of CanGuard Security & Investigations Inc. Dan founded CanGuard in 2005. The company is...

Read More

Driving Innovation Where Tech Meets Strategy

Dan Swayze is a seasoned executive leader with over 20 years of experience driving growth, innovation, and transformation in...

Read More

From Colleagues to Co-Founders: The Bridge Medical Communications Story

Lorie Spence and Carolyn Pritchard founded Bridge Medical Communications, which was built to fill the patient and healthcare provider...

Read More

Join Our Newsletter

Subscribe to receive info on our latest news and episodes

Subscribe