Opening session - Section Chair Bob Hanna made a presentation [PPT] to the delegates at the opening session about the Section's centennial and then presented PES President John Estey with a copy of "Electricity - The Magic Medium", a book commemorating the achievements of the electrical industry in Canada, which was produced by the IEEE Canadian Region for the 1984 IEEE centennial.

Lobby display - Chapter Chair Rong-Liang Chen, Secretary Pelle Westlind, Section Chair Bob Hanna, and Life Members Chapter Chair Bob Alden set up a table with information about the Section and its centennial activities.

Chapter volunteers - A number of volunteers from our PES Chapter helped at the conference in various duties, such as distributing registration packages at the registration desk, monitoring technical sessions, being a tour guide, etc. Mr. Constantin Sava (on the left in the photo) said this volunteer experience was a good opportunity for him to know what was happening in the power industry, especially in his field.

Plenary session - addressed the topic "Empowering Ideas...Transforming Leading Edge Thinking into Practical Solutions".

IEEE PES President-Elect Hans Püttgen acted as moderator and gave a lively performance, especially when phrasing the questions based on audience input using forms provided.

Toronto Hydro President Courtney Pratt started with his presentation, entitled "The Dynamic Tension Between Ideas and Solutions" and used three case studies to illustrate the complexity of moving an idea to a sucessful outcome:
- the Noranda Magnola plant - an expensive failure
- Interval metering - a undetermined outcome
- the Toronto Hydro biodiesel fuel project - a great success
He kindly made his presentation [PPT] available.

3M Electrical Products Division Vice President Paul Steece spoke about the 3M philosopy.

He was unable to make his presentation available at the time.

Research in Motion Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer Jim Balsillie spoke about their most sucessful product "The Blackberry". He explained the reasons for its sucess in terms of the basic characteristics of the product, and highlighted a fundamental premise in the wireless data business - "access beats features".
He kindly made his presentation [PPT] available.

Awards luncheon - Two distinguished Canadian power engineers received major awards at the IEEE Power Engineering Society meeting on June 15, 2003 at the Sheraton Centre Hotel in Toronto.

Dr. Sarma P. Maruvada received the Herman Halperin Electric Transmission and Distribution Award from IEEE Past President Ray Findlay "for contributions to the understanding and characterization of electromagnetic fields and corona phenomina associated with high voltage AC/DC overhead transmission lines".

Dr.Maruvada obtained his doctorate at the University of Toronto in 1968 and worked for most of his professional life at the Hydro Quebec Institute of Research. He is currently a consultant.

Dr. M. Azizur Rahman received the Cyril Veinott Electromechanical Energy Conversion Award "for contributions to the design and analys of hysterisis and permanent magnet motors". The photo shows PES President John Estey presenting the award with IEEE Past President Ray Findlay beside Aziz Rahman.

Dr. Rahman obtained his doctorate from Carleton University and has worked in a variety of industrial and academic environments. He is currently University Research Professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland.

John Undrill, Charles Concordia, and Paul deMello were together at the head table on the occasion of the initiation of the "Charles Concordia Power Systems Engineering Award" which was presented to Paul deMello. The citation reads "For major contributions to the development of High Voltage Power Systems worldwide". John represented the General Electric Company who fund the award which consists of a plaque and U.S. $ 5,000. These PES members are three of the finest engineers and researchers who have made seminal contributions to the understanding and practical use of stability analysis and prediction.