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Ottawa Apple executive Sébastian Marineau-Mes is a former key QNX executive who left that company after a lengthy legal battle. Marineau-Mes, whose responsibilities included QNX’s auto software platforms and the BlackBerry 10 operating system, was originally hired by Apple in September 2013, but his departure was delayed after BlackBerry, citing non-compete clauses in his contract, fought the hiring in court.

According to profiles on the online network LinkedIn, several members of Marineau-Mes’s team have since left QNX for Apple. Among them are Payam Moradshahi, now listed as an iOS embedded bring-up engineer at Apple after spending almost six years at QNX, and Wadih Shaib, now a software engineer at Apple who spent close to seven years at QNX/BlackBerry.

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Marineau-Mes did not return requests by the Citizen seeking comment on the new offices or Apple’s intentions in the Ottawa area.

In a statement, QNX described reports of Apple’s arrival in Ottawa, the position now held by Marineau-Mes and the loss of employees to the California company “rumours” and “speculation.”

As its parent company continues to sputter, QNX has proven itself the bright spot within the organization as it continues to gain market share among automotive manufacturers. Over the past 33 years QNX has pioneered software to allow cars to do everything from connecting to cellphones and playing music to autonomous driving. QNX software is installed in more than 50 per cent of all cars sold around the world.

Apple is on a quest to build its own automobile. Its Project Titan has reportedly hired staff from Tesla Motors, Texas Instruments, Volkswagen, Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler.

Apple’s research and development budget jumped to US$8.07 billion U.S. in 2015, a 34-per-cent increase over 2014.