Events

Status of the Internet in Canada and the importance of Canadian IXP’s

Jacques Latour

Chief Technology Officer, CIRA/.CA

A quick overview of the Canadian Internet exchange landscape from coast to coast to coast. Canada has its share of challenges and opportunities in building and growing the IXP infrastructure near the Canadian border, and also to support the need of the rural communities.

As an expert in developing innovative, leading-edge IT solutions, Jacques has established CIRA as a global leader among ccTLD registries. He has 25+ years of experience in the private and not-for-profit sectors and as CIRA’s CTO,is currently leading CIRA Labs, CIRA’s innovation hub and providing leadership and direction for the management and security of the .CA registry and its underlying DNS.

A visionary in the Internet community, Jacques led the development of CIRA’s Internet Performance Test, is an outspoken advocate for the adoption of IPv6 and represents the .CA registry internationally as a member of a variety of working groups and advisory groups, including being a member of ICANN’s Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC), TLDOPS standing committees and TechDay and DNSSEC Planning Program Committee.

Jacques is committed to the development of a new Canadian Internet architecture. He has served as the catalyst for the creation of a national Canadian IXP association, CA-IX, and is a member of the Manitoba Internet Exchange’s (MBIX) and the DNS-OARC Board of Directors.

Jacques holds an Electronics Engineering Technologist diploma from Algonquin College in Ottawa, is ITIL v3 Foundation certified and is a certified Agile ScrumMaster.

Agenda

11:30 – 12:00  Lite Lunch, Networking, and Welcoming Remarks
12:00 – 13:00  Seminar

The role of Internet and Communication Technology (ICT) in
bringing about a revolution in almost all aspects of human life needs no
introduction. It is indeed a well-known fact that the transmission of
information at a rapid pace has transformed all spheres of human life such as
education, health, and economy to name a few. In addition, with the advent in
Electronics and Photonics Technology (EPT), we have observed sustained growth
and expansion in computation and display technology. From user demography
perspective, urbanized population are the major beneficiary of such advances.
Therefore, the benefits of ICT and EPT are yet to be experienced by almost 4
billion people in the world who are still “unconnected or under-connected” and
suffer as such from the “digital divide,” a term coined in order to emphasize
the lack of ICT infrastructure in many parts of the world.

Major challenges for widespread adoption of ICT and EPT in
these areas are related to cost, lack of power supply, and complexities
associated with learning and usage. However, if we can categorically overcome
these challenges, then these technologies can be used for food, water, shelter,
energy, environment, education, healthcare, and security. In addition, the
wide-spread availability of these technologies, will lead to smart suburbs,
smart towns, smart villages, etc., without the need to necessarily live in
smart cities. This would reverse the trend and allow a more sustainable world
with a more balanced distribution of the population density. In this context,
this talk will present recently proposed solutions to provide high speed
connectivity in rural areas along progress in affordable electronics to serve
and contribute to the development of far-flung regions.

In particular, new solutions for both: (i) integrated
satellite-airborne-ground networks providing global coverage and connectivity
and (ii) terrestrial mesh/multi-hop directive networks connecting underserved
areas will be discussed.

Moreover, some examples of democratized wearable
electronics using Do-It-Yourself (DIY) assembly of paper along Android DIY
applications capturing and displaying vital health signs over connected
smartphones for real-time diagnosis will be presented.

Abstract – Application of power electronics is widespread in everyday
life. Some applications are considered as “nice to have it;” in other cases,
they are essential. This presentation discusses a wide variety of daily-used
applications around the world. Also covered is an advanced topic, such as SMART
Controller that today’s grid requires for voltage regulation, power factor
regulation, unbalance voltage/current regulation, harmonic elimination and so
on. A SMART Controller that is based on functional requirements and
cost-effective solutions is derived from utilizing the best features of all the
technical concepts that are developed until now. Final year students of
electrical engineering undergraduate curriculum, post graduate students,
researchers, academicians and utility engineers will benefit from attending
this course. The participants will hear from an expert who actually designed
and commissioned a few utility-grade SMART controllers since their inception in
the 1990s.

 

Speaker’s
Bio

Kalyan Sen, a
Fulbright Scholar, is the Chief Technology Officer of Sen Engineering
Solutions, Inc. (www.sentransformer.com) that specializes in
developing SMART power flow controllers—a functional requirements-based and
cost-effective solution. He received
BEE,
MSEE, and PhD degrees, all in Electrical Engineering, from Jadavpur University,
India, Tuskegee University, USA, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, USA,
respectively. He also received an MBA from Robert Morris University, USA.

 

Dr.
Sen spent more than 30 years in academia and industry and became a Westinghouse
Fellow Engineer. He was a key member of the Flexible Alternating Current
Transmission Systems (FACTS) development team at the Westinghouse Science &
Technology Center in Pittsburgh. He contributed in all aspects (conception,
simulation, design, and commissioning) of FACTS projects at Westinghouse. He
conceived some of the basic concepts in FACTS technology. He has authored or
coauthored more than 25 peer-reviewed publications, 8 issued patents, a book
and 4 book chapters in the areas of FACTS and power electronics. He is the
coauthor of the book titled, Introduction
to FACTS Controllers: Theory, Modeling, and Applications, IEEE Press and
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2009, which is also published in Chinese and Indian
paperback editions. He is the co-inventor of Sen Transformer.

Date: October 7th 2020

Time: 5:00 – 6:30 pm EDT

Venue: Online – http://bit.ly/DJKYPAAS

Event Contact: Daniel J King (danieljamesking3@gmail.com)

IEEE Ottawa Young Professional Affinity Group presents an Antenna Arrays Seminar by MASc. Daniel J. King. Feel free to register and join us in this exciting event. Some of the topics covered are:

• A basic introduction to the theory and practice of antenna arrays;
• Information about current research opportunities and applications;
• Specific examples in mm-Wave applications!

Register today to this virtual event!

More info here: https://www.ieeeottawa.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/antennas.pdf

IEEE Canada Technology Leadership Monthly Webinar

Speaker: Alan R. Emery, Founder, The Stable Climate Group

Topic: Net Zero 2050? Canada’s Options in a Human-Caused Hot World

Registration Link: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/249205

Flyer/PDF: The-2020-IEEE-Canada-Technology-Leadership-Webinar-Series-VII

Summary

The sources of human-caused global warming will be presented briefly followed by overwhelming evidence that global warming is real and dangerous.  The speaker will position Canada in a global hot world context. Next, a synopsis of the scale required to get to net zero 2050 and the psychology of global fossil fuel “addiction” will be discussed.   A broad series of what could be excellent options for an innovative future Canada to lead the world by example with a focus on engineering opportunities combined with social and economic requirements will be outlined. Finally, the more probable trajectory for Canada and the world given the current Canadian and world governance in a predatory capitalistic world will be presented.  Even in this dangerous future probability, Canada has many favourable options, if it plans carefully.

Biography

Alan received his BSc. from the University of Toronto; MSc. from McGill University; and PhD from Cornell University and University of Miami.  His scientific specialty is ecology and evolution with a focus on marine sciences. He pioneered in direct observation
underwater at night on coral reefs and in fresh water. He was among the first to dive under the ice in the Arctic. He has led expeditions to the Arctic, Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. He was a research scientist with the Fisheries Research Board of Canada, the Ministry of Natural Resources in Ontario, professor at the University of Toronto, Curator and Sciences Coordinator at the Royal Ontario Museum, President of the Canadian Museum of Nature, and has been the governor, president, or director of many scientific organizations. When his brother fell terminally ill, Alan brought his engineering company back to a profitable position to be sold by his brother’s family.

He has published nearly 100 scientific, technical, and popular articles and books spanning subjects from marine biology to the management of academic organizations. He has appeared on hundreds of radio and television interviews and has been the subject of, technical advisor for, or written over 150 television shows for CTV, Discovery, and the CBC.

As part of his work with indigenous people, he prepared policy papers for Canada, the World Bank and the UN. In addition, he has worked as a consultant with the Canadian Nuclear Waste Management Organization almost since its inception.

Recently, Alan has moved his primary attention from global biodiversity loss to the solution of human-caused global warming. In 2015, he initiated and is now leading an international group of scientists and engineers to help solve the global warming problems: The Stable Climate Group.