2010 GALA DINNER, INDUCTION OF NEW FELLOWS, ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND SYMPOSIUM ON "LOW EMISSION ELECTRICITY GENERATION, DISTRIBUTION, AND USE IN TRANSPORTATION"

The 2010 Annual Meeting of the Academy was held in Toronto on June 3 and 4. It brought Fellows and guests together for the Gala Dinner on the evening of June 3 and for the Symposium on June 4.  The Annual General Meeting was held prior to the Symposium on June 4.

The Gala Dinner took place in Stop 33, Sutton Place Hotel, a fine location on Bay Street overlooking the City.  The highlight of the dinner was the induction and welcome of the new Fellows.

The MaRS Discovery District was the location of the Symposium and Annual General Meeting.  MaRS is a major asset of Toronto designed to promote and facilitate the commercialization of research conducted in the University of Toronto and its associated hospitals. It provides outstanding conference facilities.

The Academy has in recent years focused on energy issues through, for example, its Energy Pathways Project and more recently the work of the Power Grid Task Force.  Continuing this theme, the Symposium focused on "Low Emission Electricity Generation, Distribution, and Use in Transportation", reflecting the view that electricity generated with low emissions, especially in terms of carbon dioxide derived from fossil sources, will increasingly become the preferred form of energy in many sectors, including transportation.  Because electricity can be generated in a variety of ways and because its end uses take us into exciting new technologies, the program appealed to engineers from all disciplines as well as other professionals engaged in high level business and public policy decision making.

The Symposium Program was developed by a committee consisting of Michael A. Ball (Executive Director of the Academy), Robert Evans (Professor, Clean Energy Research Centre, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of British Columbia), Peter Frise (Scientific Director and Chief Executive Officer, AUTO21), Richard Marceau (Provost, University of Ontario Institute of Technology), Douglas Reeve (Chair, Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto), Bert Wasmund (Executive Director, Hatch Associates Ltd.) and chaired by Michael Charles, President-Elect of the Academy.

The Symposium Program featured prominent speakers drawn from across Canada.  In the context of electricity generation, it  compared the Alberta approach using coal with carbon dioxide capture and storage with that of Ontario which is phasing out coal-fired stations.  Major power projects depend not only on technology and cost; they also require intergovernmental cooperation and the recognition of environmental concerns.  These issues were featured along with the findings of the Academy's Power Grid Task Force Study: “Electricity: Interconnecting Canada – A Strategic Advantage”. The use of electricity in powering vehicles and high speed trains will highlight its growing potential. The program closed with a futuristic outlook for electricity from nuclear fusion, based on recent developments in major laboratories abroad.

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