Align yourself with like-minded people.

Perseverance, patience and having faith in one's abilities is what has sustained Greg Baiden.

The 45-year-old visionary who pioneered Inco's revolutionary telemining processes has become well-versed over the years in convincing others about the strength of his ideas, while working with the Sudbury mining giant and now in running his own consulting business.

There were some critical moments in his career when he had to choose "whether to play it safe or take a risk."

As Inco's manager of mines research, Baiden was instrumental in introducing some of the most advanced mining automation and robotics technology in the world.

As chairman and chief technology officer of Penguin ASI (Automated Systems Inc.), a 16-employee teleoperation firm, Baiden supplies mine automation solutions to clients such as Goldcorp, Rio Tinto, Kinross Gold, Placer Dome and Newmont.

Baiden is also a Laurentian University professor and the director of the school of engineering, and holds a prestigious Canadian research chair in robotics and mine automation.

In any industry, there are leaders, fence-sitters and naysayers, "the vast majority" being the latter two, says Baiden.

The trick is identifying like-minded people with unique capabilities and closely aligning yourself with them.

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"You've got to find out who you can work with, and who wants to work with you."

His R & D work, explaining to others the unlimited potential in the applications of robotics and artificial intelligence, has also taught him the value of patience.

"You can't assume that people know what you know. You need to keep the message consistent and explain over and over.

"You can't let the fact that someone can't see it, frustrate you. It's not their fault."

Collaborations are also of critical importance.

By IAN ROSS

Northern Ontario Business