Policy Engagement Series

OCEPP’s Policy Engagement Series (PES) is designed to educate and provide unbiased insight into key engineering issues. As well, it provides an opportunity for industry experts to communicate their findings to a distinguished audience of decision-makers and government officials. Presentations are held three times a year.

Upcoming Presentations
Please check back in the summer or early fall for details on the next Policy Engagement Series seminar.

Past Presentations
Canada: Winning as a sustainable energy superpower
March 7, 2013 (noon to 2 p.m.), Toronto
Guest speaker Richard Marceau, P.Eng., provost of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology and president of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, discussed how Canada is uniquely positioned to become a sustainable energy superpower and outlined nine potential 21st century mega projects. Details. PowerPoint presentation. Recording (Adobe Connect). Read Dan Ilika's article about the seminar on canadianmanufacturing.com.

Fast-neutron reactors: A wiser solution to spent nuclear fuel?
October 18, 2012 (noon to 2 p.m.) Toronto
Guest  speaker Peter Ottensmeyer, professor emeritus at the University of Toronto and a retired senior scientist at the Ontario Cancer Institute, examined fast-neutron reactors and their ability to greatly lower the long-term toxicity of used nuclear fuel waste while generating considerable non-carbon electricity. To read his article on this topic, published in OCEPP’s Policy Engagement section of July/August issue of Engineering Dimensions, please click here. Details. PowerPoint presentation. Recording (Adobe Connect).

If you would like to be part of a working group to advance the idea of fast-neutron reactors, please send your name, title and organzation in an email with "OCEPP FNR working group" as the subject line.

Narrowing the commercialization gap
April 4, 2012 (noon to 2 p.m.), Toronto, Ontario 
Guest speaker Sorin Cohn, chief program officer at i-Canada, examined the issues of innovation and commercialization and their impact on the success of Canadian businesses. His presentation  included recommendations from a major study conducted by industry associations, government agencies, NGOs and universities. The event was held at Hart House, University of Toronto. Details. PowerPoint presentation. AdobeConnect recording.

The future of professional engineering regulation in Canada in a global trade environment
December 8, 2011 (noon to 2 p.m.), Toronto, Ontario
Michelle Cooper, director, services trade policy division, at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, will be the guest speaker. Issues to be discussed include the impact of trade policies on the provision of engineering services in Ontario, whether Canadian engineering firms are positioned to maintain a leading position, and some of the  regulatory hurdles Canadian firms can face when contracting engineering services abroad. Details. PowerPoint presentation.

The role of regulation in the engineering and design of the electronic health record system
Wednesday, November 2, 2011 (noon to 2 p.m.), Toronto, Ontario
Guest speakers will be Alice Keung, chief operating officer, eHealth Ontario, and Lynne Zucker, P.Eng., vice president, clinical systems integration, Canada Health Infoway. Details. Lynne Zucker's PowerPoint presentation.

Adapting civil infrastructure to a changing climate: From policy to practice
February 10, 2011 (noon to 2 p.m.), Toronto
David Lapp, P.Eng., manager, professional practice at Engineers Canada, examined the need for, and nature of, policies to help encourage the adaptation of infrastructure over its life cycle. The presentation was held at Hart House (Great Hall), University of Toronto. Details. PowerPoint presentation.

Cyber security: Protecting digital infrastructure with communications infrastructureengineering
November 25, 2010 (noon to 2 p.m.), Toronto
Featured speaker George Comrie, P.Eng., a software engineer and management consultant, discussed the risks of being dependent on digital infrastructure and how communications infrastructure engineers are helping manage these risks. Details. PowerPoint presentation. Interim (Phase 1) Report: Emerging Disciplines Task Force and Communications Infrastructure Engineering, Professional Engineers Ontario, July 2010.

Nanotechnology: From microscopic science to health-care phenomenon
October 20, 2010 (noon to 2 p.m.), Toronto
John Yeow, P.Eng., an associate professor at the University of Waterloo and a Canada Research Chair in Micro/Nanodevices, discussed advances in nanotechnology and their application to health care. Details. PowerPoint presentation. 

Click here to view the PowerPoint presentation, Nanotechnology and Molecular Engineering: Overview, by Professional Engineering Ontario’s Emerging Disciplines Task Force, delivered at OCEPP’s 2010 Public Policy Conference.

Major Opportunities: How to heal Ontario’s health system
March 30, 2010, noon to 2 p.m., Toronto Tom Closson, P.Eng., a professional engineer and president and CEO of the Ontario Hospital Association, provided a survey of recent findings of research on the Ontario and Canadian health-care systems. He also examined the current challenges faced by governments and health-care institutions, including revenues, expenditures, capacity, and human resources, and how these challenges affect the health system. In addition, Closson discussed major opportunities for health system improvement. Details. PowerPoint presentation. 

Engineers and Ontario’s Health-Care System—A perfect partnership
February 4, 2010, noon to 2 p.m., Toronto
Engineers are making significant contributions to health care in Ontario, often in little-known ways. Kimberly Woodhouse, P.Eng., dean of the faculty of applied science at Queen’s University, examined the management of our health-care institutions, the introduction of principles of sustainability to hospitals, and leadership in innovations in biomedical engineering and regenerative medicine. Details.

Woodhouse is an expert in the design of novel elastomeric materials made from synthetics and recombinant proteins and their application as tissue engineering scaffolds, particularly in the cardiac environment. In addition to her post as dean she is a professor in the department of chemical Engineering at Queen’s, a scientist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, and associate director of the Advanced Regenerative Tissue Engineering Centre.

Ontario’s Automotive Future—Getting to here from there
November 24, 2009, Toronto
Presenter Peter Frise, P.Eng., scientific director and CEO of AUTO21 Network of Centres of Excellence, examined a number of issues, including the major technological and business trends and how they affect Ontario's automotive industry; the role of research and development and innovation; and what path Ontario should take to ensure that it continues to contribute to the future auto industry as well as benefit from its involvement.

At AUTO21 Network of Centres of Excellence, Canada’s national automotive research and development program, Frise works with a number of automotive companies. After launching his career as an oil well wire line data logging engineer for a company in Nigeria, he took up a teaching position at Carleton University. He then moved to the University of Windsor, to take up the Chrysler Canada/NSERC/University of Windsor Senior Industrial Research Chair in Mechanical Design. Frise was instrumental in founding Canada’s first university program in automotive engineering in 1998. He participates on numerous boards, including those of the National Research Council of Canada, the Defence Science Advisory Board of Canada, and the Stronach Centre for Innovation. Details.

Shaping Ontario’s Energy Future: Charting a path to sustainable prosperity
October 29, 2009, Toronto
During his two-hour presentation at Hart House, Jatin Nathwani, P.Eng., investigated the key issues and challenges in understanding current global and North American energy sector trends, and how universities can foster innovation to address the complex energy challenges. In addition, Nathwani discussed specific near-term technological innovations in Ontario to transform the energy industry.

Nathwani is executive director of the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy, as well as a professor and the Ontario research chair in public policy and sustainable energy management in the faculties of engineering and environment at the University of Waterloo. He has extensive experience in the energy sector at the corporate level, and recently contributed to the development of the Ontario Power Authority's integrated power system plan. The noon-time presentation was held in the Debates room of Hart House, University of Toronto. Details. PowerPoint presentation. 

Smart ways to spend infrastructure dollars
March 24 and May 14, 2009, Toronto
Chris Kennedy from the department of civil engineering at the University of Toronto engaged an audience of MPPs, deputy ministers, government policy advisors, business leaders and university students on the driving issues in developing infrastructure for the emerging economy. The two-hour noontime presentation was held in partnership with the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto. During his presentation Kennedy addressed the role infrastructure systems can play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants. Using a five‐level hierarchy, he assessed the economic impact of infrastructure investments as possible future directions for Ontario’s infrastructure. The main points of his presentation were: 
• city‐building booms are the cure for deep recessions; 
• additional electricity supply is key to a green and prosperous future; and 
• future infrastructure systems must provide greater connectivity between cities and accelerate the  circulation of goods, people and ideas. 
Details. PowerPoint presentation. 


Contact
info@ocepp.ca
416-224-1100


Page updated March 14, 2013.