CANADIAN AERONAUTICS AND SPACE INSTITUTE

CASI TORONTO FLYERMAY 2019, Volume 26 #5

Toronto Branch Membership Newsletter

THE FLYER WILL BE PUBLISHED ON A BI-MONTHLY BASIS UNTIL A NEW EDITOR VOLUNTEERS

NEWSLETTER LINKS

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Newsletter

Local NewsIndustry News

Academic NewsMuseum News

UPCOMING CASI EVENTSThe next season of CASI TorontoBranch meetings will start inSeptember. See you then!

Watch our Facebook page forinformation about CASI Toronto

Branch meetings. THERE IS A $5 CHARGE FOR

NON-MEMBERS

CASI ASTRO

Click for more information.

PRIOR CASI BRANCHEVENTS

The Toronto Branch AnnualDinner Meeting was held on May4, 2019. The wine was generouslysponsored by long-standingmember Tony Burgess and hiscompany TDM TechnicalServices. In addition, ten studentswere able to attend for free, thanksto the very generous sponsorshipof Gary Elfstrom (FCASI), who iseager to increase studentparticipation in CASI.

Our guest speaker, Dr. Hugh Liu,discussed some of the researchbeing done on drone navigationand control at UTIAS. One of thechallenges is to enable a drone tonavigate by visual references, sothat it can find its way home againif it loses its primary GPSnavigation function. Two casestudies were presented, showinghow drones can identify hot spotsin wildfire detection, and how theycan monitor the growth of toxicalgae in bodies of water.

The CASI Toronto BranchStudent Awards were alsopresented to the top graduatingstudents in the local aerospaceprograms. Students arerecognized for academicexcellence, leadership skillsamong their peers, and activeparticipation in extracurricular andcommunity activities. The 2019award recipients were:

• Uswah Zahid (RyersonUniversity);

• Adam Tetzlaff (SenecaCollege);

• Bennett Leong (University ofToronto);

• and Tetiana Sitiugina (YorkUniversity).

CASI Toronto Branch wishes themall the best in their futureendeavours.

CONTACT US

Get in touch with CASI TorontoBranch Executive with questions,comments or suggestions:casitorontobranch@gmail.com oron Facebook (“CASI Toronto”).

Contact information for specificExecutive members and additionalevent information is also availableon the CASI website.

Our current Executives are:

Chairman Chris Hayball

Vice Chair & Flyer Editor Gillian Clinton

Councillor Alex Tsoulis

Treasurer Bhavik Mody

Education Chair Amir Masoud Tahvilian

Secretary Fatemeh Mousavilar

YOUR NEWSLETTER

The CASI Toronto Flyer brings you l o c a l a e r o s p a c e n e w s . Suggestions and/or contributionsare always welcome. If you’vebeen to an interesting lecture orwant to see coverage of anaerospace business in southernOntario, let us know.

Contact the Editor at:casitorontobranch@gmail.com

SPREAD THE WORD

Help us to publicize our TorontoBranch meetings. Share yourmeeting notice with friends andcolleagues, and post them aroundyour school or workplace.

LOCAL NEWS

Registration for AirsideTours is Open!

Registration for our public AirsideTour program is now open. OurAirside Tour program is free andallows our neighbours to get asneak peek at what goes onbehind-the-scenes at Canada'sbusiest airport!

Please note that all participantsmust be 10 years of age or olderand everyone must have a validgovernment-issued photo ID.

REGISTER

Beyond HorizonsCWIA 2019 Conference,

June 19-22, Ottawa

The 2019 Canadian Women in

Aviation Conference is shaping

up to be an exciting event withmany speakers already confirmed.The conference opening keynotespeaker is Dee Brasseur, one ofthe first two female RCAF CF-18fighter pilots in the world, alongwith Jane Foster.

Karen McCrimmon, Member ofParliament for Kanata-Carleton,will be the gala keynote speaker.She was the first female Navigatorin the RCAF, and the first womanto command a CF Air ForceSquadron: 429 TransportSquadron in Trenton, Ontario.Currently, Karen is ParliamentarySecretary to the Minister of PublicS a f e t y a n d E m e r g e n c yPreparedness.

Ashley Barker, Search and RescueTechnician, was one of two womenamong the eight graduates thisyear from the Canadian ForcesSchool of Search and Rescue,CFB Comox. The Air Force Para-Rescue specialists are responsiblefor saving lives of Canadianscaught in a variety of situationsover land and sea. Since she wasyoung, Ashley had a passion foradventure and medicine and nowshe is in a position to rendermedical care to casualties.

El izabeth Cameron, VicePresident, Labour Relations, NAVCanada, will be giving a seminaron negotiating for women. She isresponsible for developing labourrelations strategies and mandatesfor collective bargaining.

Bill Tibbo, a corporate clinicalc o n s u l t an t and d i s a s t e rmanagement specialist, will alsobe giving a seminar on criticalincident stress management. Hisunique approach to crisis responseemphasizes the human element ofl e a d e r s h i p a n d g u i d e sorganizations to put people first.

Earlybird registration, includingstudent rates, is available untilApril 1. Click here for furtherdetails on conference registrationand accommodations.

Many thanks to Victor Ujimoto,Ph.D, Professor Emeritus at theUniversity of Guelph for this notice.

Editor’s Note: If you attend an

interesting lecture or hear about

upcoming events, please share

with the CASI membership.

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INDUSTRY NEWS

Bombardier Celebrates

Donation of a CRJ200

Aircraft to Centennial

College

TORONTO – April 25, 2019 – In

parallel to the opening ofCentennial College DownsviewCampus Centre for Aerospace andAviation, Bombardier CommercialAircraft announced today thedonation of a CRJ200 aircraft tothe Centennial College AviationProgram at its new campus basedin Downsview, to be used in theeducation and training of the futuregenerat ion of aerospaceprofessionals.

The CRJ200 is the first one of itskind to grace the CentennialCollege’s Downsview facilityhangar, it is also the biggest planeas well as the first ever commercialaircraft to be received at the site.The aircraft will allow students notonly to have a hands onexperience with CRJ Seriestechnology, but also to learn on abigger scale, furthering the level ofexpertise made available throughthe Centennial College AviationProgram.

“Advancement and innovationhave always been at the forefrontof Bombardier’s values, says FredCromer, President, BombardierCommercial Aircraft, which is whywe are honored to presentCentennial College with thisCRJ200 aircraft. This donationrepresents not only an opportunityfor the Toronto aerospace sectorto grow but rather for the whole of

Canadian Aerospace, which willsurely benefit from it today. Weare at a crucial moment in Canadawhere the aerospace industry isbuilding up steady growth and thedemand for skilled workers is alsorising. At Bombardier, we want todo anything we can to help andimprove present and futuregenerations of aerospace workersin Canada.”

This donation will further reinforcethe collaboration of CentennialCollege and the DownsviewAerospace Innovation andResearch Consortium (DAIR)aimed at servicing the GreaterToronto Area. The DAIR Hubprojects to strengthen the Toronto,Ontario, and Canada aerospacesector by increasing collaborativeresearch and development,accelerating technology adoption,helping small and medium sizedenterprises scale-up, andaddressing the projected skillsshortage in the industry throughtraining and re-training.

The DAIR Hub is expected to helpCanada stay compet i t ivedefending its leadership positionon the world stage and propelCanadian aerospace forward. Thisinitiative will also continueDownsview’s t rad i t ion o fworld-class aerospace andaviation, a legacy that began withDe Havilland nearly a hundredyears ago.

About DAIR

The Downsview AerospaceInnovat ion and ResearchConsortium (DAIR) is anassociation of all of the largeaerospace companies and leadingpos t -secondary educat ioninstitutions from the GreaterToronto Area (GTA), who havecome together with the joint

mandate of developing anAerospace Hub at DownsviewPark in Toronto, Ontario.

DAIR news and information isavailable at dairhub.com and ourTwitter @DAIR_Hub.

The CSA Awards Funding to

Prepare Canadian

Companies, Universities and

Students for Future

Missions to the Moon

April 17, 2019 – The Canadian

Space Agency (CSA) has awardedfunding worth $700,000 to aCanadian firm and two universitiesfor projects that will enableCanadian firms to advance keytechnologies and develop theirown potential, while offeringtraining opportunit ies andhands-on experience for studentsand young professionals.

These projects will be part of theCSA's Lunar Exploration AnalogueDeployment (LEAD), which willposition Canada for potentialfuture contributions to lunar rovermissions.

Grants awarded under the Flightsa n d F i e l d w o r k f o r t h eAdvancement of Science andTechnology (FAST) - LEADAnnouncement of Opportunity

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University of Western Ontario:

• CanLunar - A Canadian LunarSample Return AnalogueMission $135, 275

• Field Deployment of in situLearning Algorithms forClassifying Planetary Materials$153,670

Contribution awarded under theSpace Technology DevelopmentProgram - LEAD Announcement ofOpportunity

Canadensys:

• LEAD Capability Demonstration$249,963

Maritime Microsatellite

ESAIL to Test the Waters as

Launch Contract Is Signed

CAMBRIDGE, ON – May 9, 2019

– T he f i rs t commerc ia lmicrosatellite developed underESA’s SAT-AIS programme fortracking ships, called ESAIL, haspassed another milestone. On 9May its Canadian operatorexactEarth signed the launchs e r v i c e a g r e e m e n t w i t hArianespace.

Peter Mabson of exactEarth (left) and

Geoffroy Legros of Arianespace signthe launch contract for ESAIL

ESAIL is part of ESA’s PartnershipProjects and has been developedto enhance the next generation ofspace-based services for themaritime sector. The spacecraftwill track ship movements over theentire globe as it orbits the planet.

Satellite coverage is essential asabout 90% of global trade takesplace on the oceans. It opens thedoor to enhanced safety, trackingships and route provisions forindustry, government and maritimeauthorities.

Ships of 300 tonnes or more ininternational voyages, cargo shipsof 500 tonnes or more in localwaters and all passenger shipsirrespective of size are mandatedby the International MaritimeOrganization to carry AutomaticIdentification System (AIS)equipment

Terrestrial AIS antennas needsdirect line of sight with the vessels,however, so the system is limitedby the curvature of the Earth.Satellite automatic identificationsystems, or SAT-AIS, have nosuch restrictions and can receivemessages from ships on the openocean, enabling authorities tofollow vessels’ movementsthroughout their entire voyage.

The ESAIL satellite is built byLuxSpace for the exactEarthconstellation of AIS satellites,through an ESA’s PartnershipProject together with theLuxembourg Space Agency andother ESA member states.

ESAIL’s AIS receiver providesadvanced antenna beamformingand ground signal processingcapabilities. The satellite needsrigorous testing before launch toensure it can provide thisalways-on service.

The satellite flight model has

completed its environmental testsin Centre Spatial de Liège inBelgium, where it was exposed tomechanical vibration testing,simulating the violence of a rocketlaunch, as well as to the extremetemperatures and vacuumsimulating the near Earth orbitalenvironment.

The satellite is going through thefinal steps to be ready for launch inAugust.

Peter Mabson, chief executive ofexactEarth, said: “We are lookingforward to adding ESAIL to ourindustry-leading global maritimesatellite constellation, which nowconsists of more than 60 in-orbithigh performance satellite assets.The capabilities on ESAIL willallow us to continue to advancethe state-of-the-art in maritimevessel tracking and data services,and will pave the way for futurecapabilities. I would like to thankESA and LuxSpace and theirsatellite manufacturing team fortheir accomplishments inproducing this leading-edgemicrosatellite.”

Stephane Lascar, Head ofTelecommunication SatelliteProgrammes at ESA, said: “ESA’sPartnership Projects offer the mostappropriate scheme for private andpublic ent it ies to de-riskinvestments and answer marketneeds. They maximise benefits toindustry, thanks to ESA’s efficientco-management tailored tocommercial practices. ESAILdemonstrates once again ESA’scapacity to federate operator,indus t ry and smal l andmedium-sized enterprises aroundcha l leng ing p rog ram mes ,achieving competitive leapsforward and economic impact. Ishould like to thank our partnersand participating states for their

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trust and close cooperation.”

Marc Serres, Chief Executive ofthe Luxembourg Space Agency,said: “This maritime microsatellitebuilt in Luxembourg by LuxSpace,in partnership with ESA andexactEarth, demonstrates how aprivate company and the EuropeanSpace Agency can closely worktogether to develop a newcommercial product. ESA hasbeen a key partner in developingthe technical skills needed tocompete in a highly demandingcommercial space market. As aEuropean leader in commercialspace, Luxembourg is following aunique space strategy focused oncreating an attractive ecosystemfor NewSpace companies andinnovative space entrepreneurs.”

ESAIL is a pioneering project forLuxSpace, who are alsodeveloping a multi-purpose,modular platform called Triton-X.Triton-X will build on themanufacturing and testing heritagegained by LuxSpace throughESAIL, using New Space-styleoff-the-shelf components to delivera fully fledged satellite withinmonths.

Thomas Görlach, Chief of theExecutive Board at LuxSpace,said: “ESAIL is a major milestonefor us as a microsatellite solutionprovider. It enabled us to build andintegrate a sophist icatedmicrosatell i te whi le usingcommercial off the shelfcomponents and thus reducingtime for testing and launchqualif ication. The emergedsynergies paved our way towardscommercial space. We havegained very valuable experiencesand knowledge through ESAILwhich serve as inputs for our nextmilestone: the Triton-X platform.”

Kepler Hires Former

Inmarsat Chief Strategy

Officer Patrick McDougal

TORONTO – April 30, 2019 –

K e p l e r C o m m u n i c a t i o n sannounces today that former ChiefStrategy Officer at Inmarsat,Patrick McDougal, joined thecompany this month as a strategyadvisor to support its businessunits. McDougal is a veteranbusiness strategist within thesatellite telecommunicationsindustry with over 30 years ofsenior experience working forglobal leaders in the sector suchas Inmarsat (29 years) and Intelsat(4 years).

Before joining Kepler, McDougalwas a member of the executivemanagement team at Inmarsatwhere he led a number ofinitiatives including the acquisitionof various companies, securingEU-wide spectrum licenses thatadvanced Inmarsat’s marketstrength, and global oversight ofthe company’s overall corporatebusiness development efforts.

“We are very happy to welcomePatrick to our team. Theexperience he has within thesatellite industry is of great valueto a company the age and size ofKepler, so we are excited to bringhim on board,” said Mina Mitry,CEO of Kepler Communications.“With his substantial network andexpertise, along with Kepler’stechnology and talented team, wewill further reinforce and grow ourmarket position as we continue todevelop new and exciting

partnerships together.”

‘’As a Canadian who has workedoverseas all my professional life, itis a pleasure to have theopportunity to work with theToronto-based Kepler team –smart, highly motivated andambitious,’’ said Patrick McDougal.‘’I am delighted to contribute myexperiences as I believe that theyhave what it takes for long-termsuccess. I’m happy to be with themfor the next stage of the journey.’’

Kepler Communications and

Magellan Aerospace Sign

Letter of Intention to Fly

Innovative Smart Radiator

Device on Satellite Mission

TORONTO – April 16, 2019 –

Kepler Communications, aC a n a d i a n s a t e l l i t etelecommunications provider, andMagellan Aerospace Corporationhave signed a Letter of Intention tofly an innovative Smart RadiatorDevice (SRD) on Kepler’s thirdsatellite, scheduled for launch laterthis year. The unique SRD,designed to significantly improvetempera tu re m anag ementon-board future satellites, is beingd e v e l o p e d b y M P BCommunications (“MPB”) inpartnership with MagellanAerospace.

This innovative SRD technology isbeing developed as part of atechnology development programwith the goal to improve itstechnology readiness level byeventually operating in the spaceenvironment. Kepler intends to bethe first to use this technology aspart of their satellite’s thermalcontrol hardware suite before the

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end of 2019.

The SRD radiator design has aunique property in which itseffectiveness in emitting orretaining heat (its “emissivity”)changes with temperature. Heatdissipation increases at elevatedtemperatures and reduces at lowertemperatures. The tunable radiatorkeeps the spacecraft within tightertemperature bounds and reducesthe need for survival heaters whenthe spacecraft is cold. The SRD’sproperties are highly desirable forspace applications, especially forcommunication satellites where thepayloads tend to rapidly heat up atthe time of transmitting signals (upto 80°C) and quickly get colder(down to -20°C) when dormant.

Jeffrey Osborne, Kepler; Eric Choi,

Magellan; Jared Bottoms, Kepler;Corey Mack, Magellan

With the SRD, Kepler will be ableto keep the spacecraft in the“Goldilocks Zone”: not too hot, nottoo cold. “We are looking forwardto seeing this new technology inaction and how it will benefitnext-gen satellite platforms movingforward,” says Jared Bottoms,Kepler’s Lead Systems Engineer.

“Magellan is looking forward tocontinuing the development of theSRD with MPB, and is excitedabout the upcoming flightopportunity with Kepler” saysCorey Mack, Space Business UnitLeader at Magellan.

MHI Canada Aerospace, Inc.Announces New President

and CEO

TORONTO – April 1, 2019 – MHICanada Aerospace, Inc., arecognized Tier 1 heavyaerostructures (Wing / Centerfuse)group company of MitsubishiHeavy Industries, announcedtoday that Janet Wardle has beenpromoted to the position ofPresident and Chief ExecutiveOfficer, effective immediately.

Ms Wardle has nearly 25 years’experience in aerospace, bothCommercial and Defense. Aftergraduating Queens University, withan Honours Degree in MechanicalEngineering, she joined an OEM intheir Finance Department as anIndustrial Engineer. She has heldSenior Management roles inChange Management, Planningand Supply Chain, whilesimultaneously earning her MBAfrom the Rotman School ofBusiness.

Her depth of industry knowledgeand her proven ability to build high-performance teams will be key ingrowing MHICA’s customer base.“Janet is a very enthusiastic andpassionate leader who shares mycore values and I am confidentthat she has the experience, skillsand ability to lead us to the nextlevel of operational excellence,”said Chairman Mike McCarthy.“I’m excited to add that not onlyhas Janet broken the glass ceilingat MHI Canada, but she becomesthe first ever female president inany of the MHI Group Industrycompanies! A feat well earned.Congratulations, Janet.”

In addition to her promotion, Janetis appointed as a Board Director tothe MHICA Board of Directors. Mr.Satoshi Sawaguchi, GeneralManager and Program Manager,Bombardier, who has been alongtime proponent and supporterof MHICA, also will become aDirector on the Board. Janet andSawaguchi-san will be joiningexisting Board Directors Hirose-san, Executive Vice President ofCommercial Aviation Systems,Senior General Manager,Commercial Airplanes Division,and Head of Nagoya AerospaceSystems Work and Hisano-san,Senior Executive Vice Presidenta n d G e n e r a l M a n a g e r ,Washington Office, MHI America.

Prior to her promotion, Janet wasVice President and GeneralManager at MHICA overseeingmanufacturing, process andindustrial engineering, quality,sourcing, procurement andlogistics. She was responsible forimplementing a massive, rapid andsuccessful transfer of our supplychain for the wing and fuselagemajor assemblies from MHI Japanto MHI Canada.

“In the three years since joiningMHI Canada, I have not onlychanged positions, I have grownas a leader. The team at MHICAhas been remarkable. Together,we have on-boarded over 60 newsuppliers, we have brought on 4Major assembly packages,including Center fuse andCenterwing box. We continue tolook forward to a bright future aswe prepare to occupy a second,new building in October. I amlooking forward to workingtogether with MHI Japan and MHIAmerica to build a better andbrighter future.”

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Robert Deluce AppointedExecutive Chairman at

Porter Airlines as Part ofLeadership Reorganization

TORONTO – April 10, 2019 – Theexecutive team of Porter Airlines isreorganizing to ensure continuityfor its immediate and futuredevelopment.

Effective immediately, RobertDeluce, Porter ’s foundingpresident and CEO, assumes thenew role of executive chairman,e n h a n c i n g h i s e x i s t i n gresponsibilities as a member of theboard of directors, while stayingengaged in Porter’s core businessstrategies. He also remains as thecompany’s accountable executivefor Transport Canada.

This change is supported by aseries of realigned executiveresponsibilities. Michael Delucenow takes on president and CEOduties. As a founding teammember at Porter, Michael wasinstrumental in defining Porter’ssuccessful business plan,commercial and brand strategies,and has been a key part ofrealizing that vision in the role ofexecutive vice president and chiefcommercial officer.

Don Carty has been Porter’schairman of the board of directorssince the company’s founding andwill continue in this role.

“A principle responsibility for aboard of directors is ensuringorderly succession planning,” saidCarty. “This transition sees Robert

become further involved at theboard level, while allowing Michaeland other senior leaders tooversee daily business activities. Itis a combination of diverseexperience and expertise that willserve Porter well in meeting ourneeds today.”

“My focus as executive chairman ison supporting our reorganizedexecutive team, while still beingactive in certain key businessareas,” said Robert Deluce. “It’simportant for me to be proactive ingiving our leadership team evenmore direct responsibility forsetting Porter’s course and I’mconfident that the changesannounced today are consistentwith the vision we created whenthe airline launched in 2006.”

Michael Deluce has also beenappointed as a member of Porter’sboard of directors.

“It is a rare opportunity to be partof the development of a companyfrom the outset and now take onthe president and CEO positionmore than a decade later,” saidMichael Deluce. “We have anexceptional team in place, from ourseasoned management group toour dedicated team members, whobelieve in what we’re doing todistinguish Porter as a specialairline. We’ll work hard to build onthis strength.”

Leadership Structure

With Michael’s appointment, KevinJackson moves to the position ofexecutive vice president and chiefcommercial officer. Kevin hasworked closely with Michael, mostrecently as senior vice presidentand chief marketing officer. Inadd i t i on t o h i s cu r ren tresponsibilities of marketing,communications, sales, packagedproducts and informat iontechnology, Kevin will also overseerevenue management, airportoperations, catering, learning and

development, call centre andcustomer relations. He continuesreporting directly to Michael.

Paul Moreira remains Porter’schief operating officer and alsobecomes executive vice president.Paul’s responsibilities focus closelyon enhancing overall operationalreliability in the critical areas ofsafety, flight operations andmaintenance. He oversees safety,pilots, cabin crew, SOCC,technical operations, includingmaintenance, Porter FBO, andfacilities, while reporting directly toMichael.

Additional roles on Porter’sexecutive team are unchanged.

Jeff Brown remains executive vicepresident and chief financialofficer, with responsibilities forfinance, people and culture,government relations and legal.Jeff also now reports directly toMichael.

Lawrence Hughes remains seniorvice president, people and culture,shaping Porter’s culture andleading strategies that enhanceteam member training andengagement. Lawrence reportsdirectly to Jeff Brown, with indirectreporting to the president andCEO.

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ACADEMIC NEWS

Generous Gift Establishes$200,000 Scholarship for

Women in STEM

TORONTO – March 12, 2019 –Ryerson is pleased to announce anew scholarship that will opendoors for women pursuing careersi n s c i e n c e , t e c h n o lo g y ,engineering and math (STEM).The Savitri & Anju VirmaniScholarship for Women in STEMwas created thanks to a generous$100,000 gift from Ms. AnjuVirmani, chief information officer atCargoJet and expert in the field ofinformation technology.

Anju Virmani and Ryerson UniversityPresident and Vice-ChancellorMohamed Lachemi. Photo taken byJae Yang.

A $10,000 scholarship will beawarded each year to four full-timefemale students who are at the topof their class and entering thefourth year of an undergraduateSTEM program. An annualceremony to celebrate recipientswill create an ecosystem ofsupport for women, giving themthe opportunity to meet leaders inthe field, pursue mentorshipopportunities and build theirnetwork.

“When you educate someone, youchange a lot more lives than justthat one person’s,” Anju said. “Youchange their family’s life, theircommunity’s and, hopefully, oneday they pay it forward to keep thecircle going.”

Her generosity will be matched bythe President’s Awards toChampion Excellence (PACE), apriority scholarship programinitiated by President andVice-Chancel lor MohamedLachemi for students fromunderrepresented groups atRyerson University.

"We are grateful to Anju Virmanifor her generous support of theSavitri & Anju Virmani Scholarshipfor Women in STEM," saysPresident Lachemi. "Her vision fora scholarship program thatinc ludes mentorsh ip andnetworking for the recipients willp r o p e l t h e s u c c e s s o fhigh-potential female studentspursuing a career in science,technology, engineering andmath."

Growing up in India, Anju’s familyplaced a strong emphasis oneducation. Her grandparentssupported the education of girls ata time when there were fewprofessional women. Hergrandfather, an educator,homeschooled all eight of hischildren. Her mother, Mrs. SavitriVirmani, became a math teacherand passed the same values on toher children.

Shortly after coming to Canada in1975, Anju started a new career ininformation technology and soonha d t wo s u c c e s s f u l I Tconsultancies. She has served onseveral high-profile boards,including the Toronto TransitCommission (TTC), the TorontoLocal Health Integration Network(LHIN) and, under Prime MinisterStephen Harper, the Advisory

Council for National Security(ACNS). In many of these settings,she noticed she was one of two orthree women, signif icantlyoutnumbered by male colleaguesand counterparts.

After providing her expertise tostartups at the DMZ andwitnessing Ryerson’s work top r o m o t e a c c e s s t ounderrepresented groups insociety, she became convinced theuniversity was the right home forthis new award to support thesuccess of women pursuingcareers in STEM-related fields.

The inaugural recipients of the newSavitri & Anju Virmani Scholarshipfor Women in STEM will beselected this fall.

Innovation Takes Flight withRyerson Helium

TORONTO – March 5, 2019 –Instead of hopping into your carand getting stuck in traffic, imaginepowering up your own personalaircraft and flying right over it.

The Ryerson Helium team has beenworking together for more than a yearto create a VTOL (vertical take off andlanding vehicle) for the GoFlychallenge. Photo: Conceptualrendering by Ryerson Helium.

This is the vision of RyersonHelium, a team of 30+ studentswho have been working togethersince January 2018 to design andbuild a VTOL (vertical take-off andlanding) Personal Aerial Vehicle.

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The vehicle is the team’s entry inthe GoFly, external link challenge,an international Boeing-sponsoredcompetition, which will award $2million in prizes to the winningpersonal flying devices.

“It’s been a great help to haveRyerson and the DesignFabrication Zone on our side. Wedon’t think we would have beenable to do this anywhere else,”said Amin Ismail, mechanicaleng ineer ing s tudent andoperations lead for the team. “TheDFZ has offered us resources,space to build, as well as a lot ofmentorship and guidance. We’vebeen able to talk to them aboutwhatever we need.”

The team has also had a range ofsupport from other areas. The QtCompany provided the team withthe same software tools used byTesla, so the team could create aunique dashboard for the Heliumveh ic le . Other corpora tepartnerships provide the team withsoftware licenses in exchange forlogo representation on theirvehicle.

“Dr. Seyed Hashemi, aerospaceprofessor, Dr. Filippo Salustri,associate chair of the mechanicaldepartment, and Dr. Paul Walsh,aerospace chair, have all beenreally supportive of us from thebeginning,” said team lead KevinKasa, an aerospace engineeringstudent. “When the project firstkicked off, we approached Dr.Hashemi, and from day one hesupported us. And when you thinkabout it, we’re a bunch of secondyears, what do we know, but hewas like, ‘Yes, go ahead, I’mconfident you guys will succeed.’And we probably wouldn’t havedone it without that support, so itwas very important.”

L ior Sapr ik in , aerospaceengineering student and marketingand outreach lead for the team,

agrees.

Leaders of the seven Ryerson Heliumsub-teams: (back row, from left) LiorSaprikin (marketing and outreachlead), Danyal Chaudhry (guidance,navigation and control lead), HaniHakeem (user experience co-lead);(front, from left) Sai Sanketh Poosarla(power lead), Aleeza Hashmi(guidance, navigation and controlspecialist), Amin Ismail (operationslead), Kevin Kasa (overall team lead).Photo: Ryerson Helium.

“It’s been hard for us, we’ve hadmany challenges, but we’ve beenable to go to faculty members andask them for mentorship, space,advice, and they’re so open to it.They love seeing that students canapply what they’re teaching inclass,” said Saprikin. “I thinkRyerson is the best school to reallysupport innovation.”

The team is divided into fivedesign sub-teams – structure,propulsion, power sub, userexperience, and guidance,navigation and control – and twonon-design teams, outreach andbusiness planning, with a specialfocus on safety and the experienceof the user, including musicselection and comfortable,ergonomic seating.

“We want to make something thatpeople actually want to get into,”said Ismail.

The innovative spirit of RyersonH e l i u m e x t e n d s t o i t sinterdisciplinary approach. Five ofthe seven faculties at Ryerson arerepresented on the team, withmembers from the Faculty of

Engineering and ArchitecturalScience (FEAS), Faculty ofCommunication and Design(FCAD), Faculty of Science, TedRogers School of Management,a n d g r a d u a t e s t u d e n t sparticipating.

“That’s one of the things we lovethe most and we try to emphasizeas much as possible. Collaborationand diversity with the differentfaculties and groups withinRyerson,” said Kasa. “We try toalign the work with what they’regood at, what they like doing andwhat they think will benefit them inthe future in terms of theiracademic career and personalgrowth.”

Close up of GPS navigation system ofRyerson Helium flying vehicle

The GoFly competition requiresentries to be safe, quiet,ultra-compact, user-friendly andcapable of carrying a single personfor a distance of 20 miles withoutrefuelling or recharging. TheRyerson Helium design fulfills allthese requirements, and after ayear of hard work, the teamunveiled their half-scale model to amesmerized crowd at the StudentLearning Centre on January 15.

“During the event, a number ofprofessors told us that, ‘Even ifyou guys stop now, you should bev e r y p r o u d o f y o u raccomplishments, it’s been anincredible learning experience forall of you’,” recalled Kasa, “And ithas. Even if operations were tostop today, the whole experience

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would influence our futurecareers.”

“I think every member would beproud of their work,” said Saprikin.“We’ve been able to apply a lot ofthe knowledge we learned in classand, additionally, learn things thatwill never be taught in aclassroom.”

The final GoFly “Fly-off” will takeplace on the U.S. West Coastearly in 2020 and, to prepare, theRyerson Helium team is nowworking on building the full-sizevehicle, which they’ll test inSeptember – by flying it.

“From the days of early sciencefiction, people have thought abouthaving a flying car, but it wasnever possible,” said Saprikin.“And now, maybe, we’reapproaching that.”

Space Flight Laboratory toBuild HawkEye 360

Next-Gen MicrosatelliteCluster for Commercial

Radio FrequencyGeolocation

TORONTO – March 27, 2019 –Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) hasbeen awarded the prime contractto develop the next generationcluster of formation-f lyingmicrosatellites for HawkEye 360Inc. of Herndon, Va. The HawkEyeConstellation, comprised ofmultiple clusters of three satelliteseach, is the first of its kind todetect and geolocate radio

frequency (RF) signals formaritime, emergency response,a n d s p e c t r u m a n a l y s i sapplications.

SFL built the platforms andintegrated the HawkEye 360Pathfinder cluster which waslaunched into low-Earth orbit inD e c e m b e r 2 0 1 8 a n dcommissioned early this year. Thethree formation-flying Pathfindermicrosatellites have successfullydemonstrated geolocation of VHF,emergency position-indicatingradio beacon (EPIRB), automaticidentification system (AIS) andmarine radar signals.

“Through the development, launchand commissioning of ourPa t h f i n d e r c l u s t e r , S F Ldemonstrated exceptional ability todeliver the solution we required,”said HawkEye 360 Founder andChief Technology Officer ChrisDeMay. “Their customer-firstapproach and engineeringprowess resul ted in thefirst-of-its-kind RF analytics we aregenerating today. We are proud tocontinue partnering with SFL onthe development of our next set ofspacecraft as we expand on-orbitcapacity and enhance ourcapability to meet customerdemands.”

SF L i s d e ve l o p i n g t h enext-generation cluster to servicemore sophisticated payloads asHawkEye 360 broadens itsdetection and geolocationcapabilities. The cluster willincorporate SFL technologies thatmake on-orbit formation flyingpossible. Most prominent of theset e c h n o l o g i e s i s t h ehigh-performance attitude controlsystem developed by SFL to keepmicro- and nanosatellites stable inorbit.

“The microsatellite bus selected byHawkEye 360 for the next-gencluster is one we developed

specifically to address theeconomics of commercial spaceactivities,” said SFL Director Dr.Robert E. Zee.

SFL satellite technology wasselected for the HawkEye 360Pathfinder mission due to theimportance of formation flying bymultiple satellites for successfulRF signal geolocation andanalysis. The relative positions ofeach satellite in the constellationmust be known to accuratelygeolocate the transmissionsources of the radio frequencysignals. SFL first demonstratedaffordable on-orbit formationcontrol with smaller satellites in the2014 Canadian CanX-4/CanX-5mission.

“We have developed compact,low-cost format ion f lyingtechnology for commercialexploitation that is unmatched byany other satellite developer,” saidZee.

Established in 1998 as aself-sustaining specialty lab at theUniversity of Toronto Institute forAerospace Studies (UTIAS), SFLhas built 25 nano- andmicrosatellites with nearly 100cumulative years of successfuloperation in orbit to date.

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John Moores AppointedYork Research Chair in

Space Exploration

TORONTO – May 3, 2019 – Nineemerging and establishedresearchers across the Universitywill join the York Research Chairs(YRC) program, York University’sinternal counterpart to the nationalCanada Research Chairs (CRC)program, which recognizesoutstanding researchers.

Included in this prestigious list isLassonde School of EngineeringProfessor John Moores, anin te rnat ional ly recogn izedplanetary scientist and spaceengineer whose research exploresthe atmospheres and surfaces ofother worlds. His research grouphas been a member of the scienceand operations teams of five ESAand NASA space missions to Marsand Titan, and has been awardedthe NASA group achievementaward on 16 occasions. Mooreshas published 63 papers garneringmore than 4,950 citations. He waselected as a Member of theCollege of New Scholars in theRoyal Society of Canada in 2018.

MUSEUM NEWS

CANADIAN WARPLANEHERITAGE

www.warplane.com

Virtual Reality Experience -BBC 1943 Berlin Blitz

Until August 31, 2019

9 am – 5 pm daily

It was one of the most ambitiousand dangerous reports madeduring World War II. In September1943, BBC war correspondentW ynford Vaughan-Thomasboarded Lancaster ‘F for Freddie’with his recording engineer and amicrophone. Their destination:Berlin.

The BBC has created thismasterfully animated VirtualReal i ty Exper ience usingVaughan-Thomas’ or ig ina lrecording, which vividly capturesthe danger of the bombing raid.This unique cinematic experiencetransports visitors inside thebomber as the crew enduresendless flak and a night fighterattack in their journey to the heartof Nazi-occupied Europe.

Presented in immersive VirtualReality, this powerful experience isthe closest that one can get to truly

experienc ing the braverydemonstrated by BomberCommand, the median age ofwhich was only 22 years old. Asdescribed by Vaughan-Thomasupon his return, it was “the mostbeautifully horrible sight I’ve everseen.”

This exhibit is available for thoseaged 13 and up. Click here formore information.

Cipher Decipher

May 25 to September 29, 2019

9 am - 5 pm daily

Pssst...want to know a secret?

One way to safely share secretinformation is through encryption -which means converting yourmessage into something only theintended recipient can understand.For as long as we've had secretinformation, individuals andorganizations have encrypted anda n a l y z e d e n c r y p t e dcommunications. One way peopleencrypt their secrets is throughciphers that replace the originalmessage with other letters,numbers, words or symbols. Fromschoolyard gossip to military plans,ciphers keep secrets out of thewrong hands.

Cipher Decipher is an interactiveexhibition exploring the past andpresent of communicationscryptology - what it is, how it worksand how it affects our lives. See anauthentic Enigma cipher machineor try your hand at logic puzzlesand games to see if you have whatit takes to work in the field ofcryptology!

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NATIONAL AIR FORCEMUSEUM OF CANADA

airforcemuseum.ca

Nothing new to report.

CANADIAN AIR AND SPACECONSERVANCY

[formerly Canadian Air & SpaceMuseum]

www.casmuseum.org

Nothing new to report.

LOCAL CASICORPORATEPARTNERS

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