June 2004




ORION Senior IP Engineer earns Cisco stripes
ORION's Senior IP Engineer, Shahid Ajaz recently obtained his Cisco CCIE certification in Routing and Switching. The certification process, which involves written exams and eight hours of hands-on lab work, is generally recognized as among the most challenging in the industry. "I am very glad to achieve the CCIE routing and switching certification status. This status is considered as one of the highest industry certification which will help me to solve complex connectivity problems and apply the latest available technology solutions to improve the productivity of ORION", said Shahid, who is responsible for the IP Network design and implementation. Prior to joining ORION, Shahid was the Network Core Engineer at Group Telecom where he was responsible for the data network routing design. At GT, he successfully coordinated the re-engineering of the entire GT routing layer to accommodate national expansion plans and new technologies such as MPLS. A graduate of Electronics Engineering, Shahid has worked in data communication engineering for AT&T Canada and Metronet Communications.

U. of Buffalo's Russ Miller keynote at SHARCNET AGM
Dr. Russ Miller, Director of the Center for Computational Research at The University of Buffalo is keynote speaker at SHARCNET Annual General Meeting, later this month. The meeting takes place on June 24 at the University of Waterloo. The AGM is open to all interested parties. Research groups from across the SHARCNET community are invited to submit posters for display, under the general theme of "HPC and Innovation". Two best poster prizes will be awarded. Details and a draft AGM agenda are available at www.sharcnet.ca.

Sabia addresses Contact North
Michael J. Sabia, Chief Executive Officer of Bell Canada, will deliver the 2004 Contact North/Contact Nord Technology Address in Sudbury, June 10. As the chief executive of Canada's largest telecommunications company, Mr. Sabia will deliver a national address entitled A Moment Of Opportunity: Delivering For Northern Communities In An Internet World. This is Sabia's first major address outside of a large metropolitan area and first official visit to Northern Ontario. "Bell Canada is pleased to have Contact North/Contact Nord, Canada's Largest Distance Education & Training Network, as one of our strategic partners in Northern Ontario", stated Sabia, adding that the two organizations facilitate access to education and training for residents in more than 100 communities across Northern Ontario. "As Canada's leader in communications, Bell Canada plays an important role in fostering economic development in small, remote and Northern communities across Canada." said Maxim Jean-Louis, President & Chief Executive Officer of Contact North/Contact Nord. "Mr. Sabia will challenge Canadians to not just be part of the Internet revolution that is upon us but to lead it," he said. ORION is among the sponsors of the event.

Petersen to leave Western for new post
Nils Petersen, VP of Research at London's University of Western Ontario, has been appointed Director General of Canada's flagship National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) in Edmonton, Alberta. "Nils has done a wonderful job in his role as Western's Vice-President (Research)," says University President Paul Davenport. "His vision, skills, and experience have helped make Western a national leader in research." Petersen is also Chair of the Board of SHARCNET (Shared Hierarchical Academic Research Computing Network), a network of high-performance computer clusters in Southwestern Ontario, a member of the College of Reviewers for the Canada Research Chair Program, and a former member of the Board of Trustees for the Canadian Institute of Synchrotron Radiation. Petersen was educated at Western and the California Institute of Technology. Petersen starts in his position in November, 2004. The National Institute for Nanotechnology, established in 2001, is an integrated, multidisciplinary research institution involving researchers in physics, chemistry, engineering, biology, informatics, pharmacy and medicine that conducts advanced research and fosters innovation in support of a new generation of nanotechnology-based firms. NINT is operated as a partnership between the National Research Council and the University of Alberta.

Randy Neals moves on to Trent University
Randy Neals, ORION's Senior Manager of Strategic Partnerships, and one of ORION's earliest staff members, has accepted a position at Peterborough's Trent University as Manager of Network and Security, Information Technology Services. Randy was of ORION's most familiar faces throughout the first 18 months of the network build and operations. With an almost encyclopedic knowledge of advanced network technology and installations throughout Canada, "Randy has made a tremendous contribution to the network and to our organization," said President and CEO Phil Baker. Randy says he is looking forward to the challenge of the new job at Trent, a rapidly growing, research-intensive university, requiring more advanced computing and network services. Prior to joining ORION, Randy was manager of network engineering at Group Telecom where he led the technical development of GT's national Internet backbone. A graduate of Sir Sanford Fleming College, he has worked in data and radio communications engineering for over 12 years with such companies as Shaw Communications, EDS Canada, and Motorola Canada. He was recently nominated for a 2003 Premier's Award, presented to college graduates who have excelled in their careers and made a significant contribution to society.


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