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Background on our Guest Speakers
Dr. John Boyd, Golder Associates, Mississauga, Ontario
At the annual meeting of FIDIC (the International Federation of Consulting Engineers) in Beijing, China, Dr. John M Boyd (a past President of Golder Associates Ltd. and past Vice President of Golder Associates Corporation) was elected Vice President of FIDIC. John, a current member of the Executive Committee (Board) of FIDIC will serve one year as Vice President, a further year as President-Elect and two years as President
Current President of FIDIC
Dr. David Sanborn Scott, Victoria, BC
David is Vice-President (for the Americas) of the International Association for Hydrogen Energy. He earned his doctorate in mechanical engineering and astronautical sciences from Northwestern University.
David spent 22 years at the University of Toronto where he served as chair of Mechanical Engineering and founded the university’s Institute for Hydrogen Systems. In 1989 he joined the University of Victoria to establish the Institute for Integrated Energy Systems which continues today with more than 60 faculty, staff and graduate students.
In 2006, he received the internationally prestigious Jules Verne award, for “outstanding contributions to hydrogen physics, hydrogen energy, sociology and philosophy.”
In 2007, David was given several more honours. The University of Ontario Institute of Technology awarded him an honorary doctor of science, the Canadian Hydrogen Association made him their inaugural honorary life-time member, and he became the first person placed on Albert College’s Alumni Wall of Honour.
David is the author of Smelling Land: The Hydrogen Defense Against Climate Catastrophe (2007) – which was the subject of three, one-hour programs on CBC IDEAS in October, 2007. The book’s new enhanced edition was released in the spring of 2008.
David and his wife, the nautical writer Marianne Scott, enjoy living near the ocean in Victoria. They sailed their sailboat Starkindred to the Tahitian Islands and back – to learn the Pacific is a big ocean. More recently, they voyaged in their new sailboat, Beyond the Stars, round the Baltic and North Seas. They report the South Pacific had more palm trees and better swimming, but the Baltic offered more interesting history.
Dr. David Layzell, FRSC, Executive Director - Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy, Calgary, Alberta
After more than 25 years at Queen’s University (Kingston, Ontario), David Layzell joined the University of Calgary in July 2008 as the Executive Director of the Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy (ISEEE, www.iseee.ca). ISEEE is a multidisciplinary, cross-faculty initiative that is focused on developing cost-effective solutions to the environmental challenges associated with energy production and use. Dr. Layzell is a well-known and respected expert on biological-based strategies to improve energy security and mitigate climate change. From 1998 to 2008, Dr. Layzell served as President and CEO of BIOCAP Canada (www.biocap.ca), a national university research foundation that coordinated, funded and communicated multi-disciplinary research on bioenergy and greenhouse gas emission offsets from agriculture and forestry at over 35 universities across Canada. His work as a professor of Plant Science at Queen’s University led to more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, 7 US patents, an NSERC Steacie Fellowship, selection as a Fellow in the Royal Society of Canada and the creation of Qubit Systems Inc (www.qubitsystems.com), a biological instrumentation company that designs, builds and markets instruments for research and teaching in the biological sciences.
Samuel Rosenbloom, US DOE
Mr. Rosenbloom earned the degrees of Bachelor of Science in Biophysics and Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Maryland. He has extensive training in electrical instrumentation for nuclear control systems. He is currently a senior Department of Energy (DOE) policy analyst in the Office of Nuclear Safety Policy and Assistance and is responsible for the Department’s nuclear training program. Mr. Rosenbloom has managed the Department's nuclear criticality safety program and has also served the DOE’s hydrogen power program as a safety engineer to develop its safety policy. Past US government responsibilities include the management of instrumentation and sensor development programs for the Departments of the Navy, Defense and Energy. Mr. Rosenbloom has worked in the submarine instrumentation programs at the Newport News and Norfolk U.S. naval shipyards.
Mr. Rosenbloom has participated in a number of international activities including service in the Office of Technology and International Cooperation where the research goals were in the area of plant efficiency and the mitigation of the effects of aging. Additionally, Mr. Rosenbloom has participated in the US/China Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Technologies (PUNT) Agreement. These activities include the joint development of safety standards for advanced high temperature reactors. He has also represented the DOE with the Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration’s U.S.-China Standards and Testing Program to establish a private-sector standards office in China and to increase market access and compliance.
He has served as Editor-in-Chief of the Nuclear Effects Manual Chapter on Damage to Space Systems and he has served as guest editor of the Journal of Defense Research.
Mr. Rosenbloom’s current interests are in the use of nuclear process energy for biofuel production. With publications in Nuclear News, Nuclear Engineering International, Ethanol Producer the Cambridge Energy Research Association and the Biofuels Business journal as well as presentations at the Fuel Ethanol Workshop, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the American Nuclear Society addressing varied topics such as ethanol production, ammonia and urea production, desalination and the regulatory environment, Mr. Rosenbloom is considered a national expert in the use of sustainable nuclear energy in the production of renewable fuels.
Darrel Danyluk
Darrel is a distinguished civil engineer with over 30 years of consulting experience with Reid Crowther, eventually becoming the Chairman of the Board and Chief Operating Officer. In 2001, he joined the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Calgary as a Distinguished Industrial Visitor and subsequently an advisor to the office of the Vice-President of Research and International, leading several high profile projects and alliances with municipal and non-government organizations.
He is a Past President of the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers (now called Engineers Canada), the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta (APEGGA) and the Consulting Engineers of Alberta. Darrel is a Fellow of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers and the Engineering Institute of Canada as well as a Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
His current leadership on environmental issues includes Chair of the Public Infrastructure Engineering Vulnerability Committee examining the vulnerability of Canadian infrastructure to the impacts of a changing climate. Internationally he serves as Chair of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) Committee on Engineering and the Environment, which includes participation in the UN Commission on Sustainable Development as well as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
He has been recognized by APEGGA with the Honorary Life Membership Award, and by the Schulich School of Engineering as a Champion.
Lawson Oates
Lawson began his position as Director of the Toronto Environment Office in February 2007. Prior to accepting that job he was the Acting Director of Policy and Planning with the City’s Solid Waste Management Services.
His key focus from the onset of his new job has been the development and establishment of a climate change action plan for the Toronto urban area. The product of that effort – “Change is in the Air” – was unanimously adopted by Toronto City Council in July 2007. Lawson and the Toronto Environment Office are now busy with the implementation of that Action Plan including a climate change adaptation strategy – “Ahead of the Storm” – that was adopted by City Council in July 2008.
He has worked for the new City of Toronto since its inception in 1998 and prior to that with the former Metro Toronto. Among his achievements in the public sector are the successful class environmental assessment of the deep lake water cooling project to cool office buildings in the downtown core, and participation in the City’s Task Force 2010, which established community and Council support for a curbside organics management program – now known as the successful Green Bin program.
Lawson is a graduate of York University’s Faculty of Environmental Studies. His studies focused on the social, economic and environmental impacts of oil and natural gas resource development in Canada’s far north. His thesis research was undertaken in the Arctic and the Mackenzie River Valley in such locations as Inuvik, Tuktoyuktuk, Norman Wells and Yellowknife.
He has several published articles and papers on solid waste management and environmental subjects. Lawson lives in the High Park area of west-end Toronto with his wife and two children. When not saving the planet he coaches minor hockey and soccer.
The Rt. Hon. Edward Richard SCHREYER, P.C., C.C., C.M.M., O.M., C.D. B.A. B.Ed., M.A., D.S.S., L.L.D. (h.c.)
Ed Schreyer was born in the Beausejour district, the grandson of pioneers of Brokenhead Rural Municipality. The family farm was settled 110 years ago.
He was first elected to the Manitoba Legislature in 1958 at age 22 and reelected twice. He lectured on International relations at St. Paul's College, then was elected Member of Parliament for Selkirk 1965 and reelected in 1968. He became NDP leader 1969 and Premier of Manitoba 1969-77. The ensuing government enacted, in addition to public auto insurance and Unicity, law and regulations requiring environmental impact assessment. He served concurrently as Minister Responsible for Manitoba Hydro precisely at the time major expansion was required, which in turn required decisions between constructing major hydro works or a series of coal and gas burning generating stations.
His government introduced legislation that replaced provincial Medicare premiums by graduated income tax, thereby assuring all Manitobans of equal and affordable access to quality Health Care and introduced Home Care and Pharmaceuticals programs. Federal and other provincial governments developed similar programs soon after.
Dr. Marc A. Rosen, P. Eng
Dr. Marc A. Rosen, P. Eng. is a Professor in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Oshawa, Canada, and served as founding Dean of the Faculty from 2002-08. He is also President of the Engineering Institute of Canada and has served as President of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering.
With over 50 research grants and contracts and 400 technical publications, Dr. Rosen is an active teacher and researcher in thermodynamics, energy technology (including hydrogen energy, nuclear energy, cogeneration, district energy, thermal storage and renewable energy), and the environmental impact of energy and industrial systems. Much of his research has been carried out for industry, and Dr. Rosen has also worked for such organizations as Imatra Power Company in Finland, Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago, and the Institute for Hydrogen Systems near Toronto.
He co-authored a 2007 book entitled Exergy. Dr. Rosen has received numerous awards and honours, and is a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada, the Canadian Academy of Engineering, the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the International Energy Foundation.
Alex Sorokine
Alexandre Sorokine received his graduate degree in Physical Geography from Moscow State University and his Ph.D. in Geography from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
His major research interests and experience are in the fields of geospatial visualization, geographic databases and data models, and parallel processing of the geographic data. His industrial expertise is concentrated in the areas of GIS application design and programming.
Alexandre has a working experience in academic, government and private sector organizations in the U.S., Japan, Germany and countries of the former Soviet Union.
He has numerous publication in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings and he has organized and chaired sessions at the annual meetings of the Association of American Geographers and other professional meetings
Dr. Richard Normandin
Dr. Richard Normandin is NRC Vice-President, Physical Sciences. Appointed in May 2003, his current portfolio includes seven NRC research institutes in Astrophysics, Chemical Process and Environmental Technology, Microstructural Sciences, Information Technology, National Measurement Standards, Molecular Sciences and Nanotechnology. As part of his portfolio, Dr. Normandin is leading the development of a National Program on Hydrogen and Fuel Cells.
Dr. Normandin joined NRC in 1981 and became the Director General of the NRC Institute for Microstructural Sciences (NRC-IMS) in 1998. At NRC-IMS he spearheaded the Solid State Optoelectronics Consortium, was Group Leader of the Optoelectronics Devices Group and Director, Component Technologies.
He received a B.Sc. and M.Sc. from the Université de Montréal and a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. The recipient of a Rutherford Memorial Scholarship from the Royal Society of Canada, he conducted postdoctoral work at Stanford University.
He has published over 170 papers in the field of optoelectronics and holds over 25 patents. In 1995, he was elected a 'Fellow' of the Optical Society of America for distinguished service and technological contributions to optoelectronics and nonlinear optics. He received the "Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of Confederation" from the Governor General of Canada. In 2000, the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) and the National Optics Institute (INO) awarded him the CAP-INO Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Applied Photonics.
John Gerretsen, Minister of the Environment for Ontario
John Gerretsen was first elected in 1995 to represent Kingston and The Islands. He was re-elected in 1999, 2003 and 2007.
As former Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, he brought forward the award-winning Greenbelt Plan which permanently protects 1.8 million acres of agricultural and environmentally sensitive land around the Greater Golden Horseshoe Area.
His work and that of the Ministry has been recognized with a national planning award for planning excellence in the category of Environmental Planning from the Canadian Institute of Planners.
While Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, John Gerretsen was responsible for new stronger planning legislation and bringing the Ontario Building Code to the most energy efficient standards in Canada.
His tireless support and personal commitment to brownfield redevelopment earned him a Special Recognition Canadian Urban Institute Brownie Award.
The Canadian Urban Institute’s Brownie Award’s are sponsored by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and are given annually to projects and programs that reflect leadership and innovation in brownfield redevelopment.
He also introduced the New City of Toronto Act, providing Ontario’s capital city with new tools to help it thrive in a global marketplace.
As former Minister Responsible for Seniors, John Gerretsen was involved in improving services and programs for Ontario’s seniors. This included launching the first Elder Abuse Awareness Day, increasing the Comfort Allowance for our long term care residents and increasing tax credits for low and moderate income seniors for the first time in more than 10 years.
Mr. Gerretsen has been a leader in his Kingston community, first as a city councillor, and then as the longest-serving mayor in the city’s history.
He has also been president of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and chair of the Ontario Housing Corporation.
His volunteer and charitable activities include work with Kingcole Homes, Big Brothers, Rotary Club of Kingston and Almost Home. He has been chair of South Eastern Ontario Emergency Health Services Committee and a trustee of Queen’s University.
A graduate of Queen’s, Mr. Gerretsen has practised law in Kingston since 1971. He lives in Kingston with his wife Assunta.
Malcolm Metcalfe LVO, P. Eng
Malcolm Metcalfe is a Professional Engineer with over 30 years experience. Malcolm attended UBC between 1963 and 1970. He received Bachelor and Masters Degrees in Electrical Engineering, the latter specializing in Power Systems. After a short stint in Toronto, Malcolm returned to live in Vancouver and work with BC Hydro.
In 1981, Malcolm left BC Hydro to join Shell Canada in Toronto. Working for Shell he was appointed Executive Director of the Governor General’s First Canadian Study Conference, a legacy project that was initiated by the Rte Hon Ed Schreyer, when he was Governor General of Canada. Following the conference, he returned to Shell, working as a Strategy Manager area for one of the chemical business units.
In 1984, Mr. Metcalfe returned to Vancouver, this time, employed by CP Air. For much of his time at the airline, he was responsible for starting and managing a new Environment department.
In 1999, Malcolm left the airline planning to retire and consult. That same year, he was recognized by Queen Elizabeth, who made him a Lieutenant of the Victorian Order (LVO). This was in recognition of some charitable work.
In 2003, Malcolm and two colleagues started Sempa Power Systems. That company focused on saving money and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, rather than saving energy. This has resulted in some interesting projects. His company now has several patents pending and annual sales of more than $4M.
Robert Tremblay, Director - Insurance Bureau of Canada
Robert Tremblay has been working at Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) – the national trade association representing Canada’s private home, car and business insurers – for the past 11 years.
Mr. Tremblay was appointed to his current position in 2007. In addition to his road safety portfolio, he now has the responsibility of leading the policy development aspect of IBC’s “Adaptation to Climate Change” initiative. Mr. Tremblay is currently representing the insurance industry on a number of boards and committees, including the Advisory Committee to the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy; the Conference Board of Canada’s Leaders Roundtable on Climate Change Adaptation; and the Board of Directors of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction.
He spent his first nine years at IBC in the Public Affairs & Marketing department, developing and leading a number of road safety initiatives on behalf of the insurance industry, such as a national headrest adjustment awareness campaign, campaigns supporting graduated licencing and initiatives to raise awareness about the dangers of distracted driving. In this role, Mr. Tremblay was also responsible for a wide range of research activities, from public opinion and market research to major academic analysis projects related to road safety.
Mr. Tremblay started his career in economic development as General Manager of the Northwest Industrial Commission in Edmundston, New Brunswick. He has also held the position of Director of Government and Public Affairs at Mediacom in Quebec City.
Mr. Tremblay is a native of Quebec’s Magdalen Islands. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in public administration, both from the Université de Moncton in New Brunswick.
In his spare time, Robert Tremblay is an officer in the army reserve and he also enjoys sailing and biking.
David Helliwell
David Helliwell is co-founder of the Small Energy Group and leads its day-to-day operations.
David has been involved in the energy sector since 1994, when he worked as an exploration geophysicist with Amoco Canada in Calgary, Canada. Since then he has lived and worked around the world as a geophysicist, a poorly-paid professional windsurfer, and corporate strategy consultant. From 2002 to 2005 he worked as senior policy adviser to a federal cabinet minister in the Canadian government. While at the department of Public Works and Government Services in 2004, David led a project to green government operations by setting new standards for the government’s 700 million square feet of buildings and $1B/month of procurement.
David has studied geophysics, economics and business at the University of British Columbia, Harvard University and the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees (Paris).
Duncan Hawthorne
Duncan Hawthorne has more than 25 years of experience in the power engineering business and has held senior managerial and engineering positions at major power companies in both the United Kingdom and North America. He has worked extensively in the areas of business improvement and business development and was responsible for several nuclear plant acquisitions in the United States during the late 1990's. Duncan was the executive lead throughout the Bruce Nuclear acquisition, the formation of Bruce Power and the development of the company's current partnership structure.
Duncan participates in a number of provincial, national and international organizations related to the electricity industry. He is Chair of the Canadian Nuclear Association (CNA), a Director of the Energy Council of Canada and a member of the Board of Governors of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO). Duncan is also a member of the Board of Directors of General Hydrogen. Duncan has an Honours Degree in Control Engineering and an MBA from Strathclyde University in Glasgow, Scotland. He is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of both the Institution of Electrical Engineers and the Institution of Mechanical Engineer
Last Update: Mar 4, 2009