The Canadian Space Summit Returns to Ottawa

Canadian Space Summit 2017. Credit: Canadian Space Society.

There’s something about Ottawa and the Canadian Space Summit. Each year the Canadian Space Society holds their annual summit in a different city.  However, as the Summit returns to Ottawa this year, there’s an expectation that the conference will deliver more, and it usually does.

A lot of the attraction for the Summit in Ottawa has to do with the political and military roots the city has which adds another level of interest.

The invited gala keynote speaker this year will be Nicole Verkindt, CEO of OMX and a Dragon on the CBC’s Next Gen Den. It should be noted that Nicole also just won Woman Entrepreneur of the Year award at the Startup Canada Awards.

Nicole Verkindt of OMX receiving her Startup Canada award.
Nicole Verkindt of OMX receiving her Startup Canada award. Credit: OMX.

The two day summit will offer a mix of keynotes, panels and topical sessions.

Keynote speakers include;

  • Sylvain Laporte, President Canadian Space Agency
  • Mike Gold, Vice President of Washington Operations and Business Development for SSL, a business unit within Maxar Techbologies
  • Brigadier General Kevin Whale, Director General Space, Canadian Armed Forces

The Innovation keynote speaker will be Dr. Kazuya Yoshida, Chief Technology Officer of ispace inc., and a member of Team HAKUTO, Google Lunar XPRIZE.

The rest of the summit will feature panels and topical sessions. They include an; Innovation panel,  Journalists panel, which I’ll be on, and sessions covering these topics, Start-ups, Life Sciences, Space Exploration,  Education and Outreach, Space Law and Policy, Space Art and Culture, Women in Space, Critical Infrastructure, and an Arm Chair sessions.

Registration is limited, so to guarantee a ticket it is suggested you register as soon as possible.

Here’s the list of other current confirmed speakers which looks really good.

  • Dr. Marie Lucy Stojak, Chair of the Space Advisory Board
  • Francois Chopard, Founder and CEO, Starburst Accelerator
  • Stephane Germain, CEO, GHGSat
  • Peter Mabson, President, exactEarth Ltd.
  • Michelle Mendes, Executive Director, Canadian Space Commerce Association
  • Larry Reeves, President, Canadian Satellite Design Challenge Management Society
  • James Costa , Founder and CEO, Phuse
  • Jessica West, Program Officer, Project Ploughshare
  • Isabel Deslauriers, Manager, Let’s Talk Science Outreach
  • Dr. Zoe Szajnfarber, Associate Professor of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering and of Space Policy, the George Washington University
  • Dr. Al Scott, Honeywell
  • Dr. Marianne Mader, Managing Director of Earth & Space/Fossils & Evolution at the Royal Ontario Museum
  • Chris Kitzan,  Director General of the Canada Aviation and Space Museum
  • Andrej Litvinjenko, Vice President, Public Policy and Global Affairs, Canadian Space Commerce Association
  • Dr. Odette Laneuville,  Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Ottawa & Co-Investigator, MARROW Project
  • BGen Kevin Whale, Director General Space, CAF
  • Iain Christie, Executive VP, AIAC
  • Lt-Col Catherine Marchetti, Director Space Strategy and Plans, CAF
  • Ewan Reid, CEO, Mission Control Space Services
  • Dr. Nadeem Ghafoor, VP Space Exploration, Canadensys
  • Monsi Roman, Centennial Challenges Program Manager, NASA
  • Dan King, Director of Business Development, MDA
  • Nicole Mortillaro, Senior Writer: Science and Technology, CBC
  • Adam Keith, Managing Director (former), Euroconsult Canada
  • Lorene Shyba, RumbleSat
  • Steve Bellingham,  Nav Canada
  • Paul Harrison, Magellan Aerospace
  • Nicole Mortillaro, CBC
  • Elizabeth Howell, freelance journalist
  • Jose Ocasio-Christian, Caelus

SpaceQ is the media sponsor and will have a team of three people attending.

About Marc Boucher

Boucher is an entrepreneur, writer, editor & publisher. He is the founder of SpaceQ Media Inc. and CEO and co-founder of SpaceRef Interactive LLC. Boucher has 20+ years working in various roles in the space industry and a total of 30 years as a technology entrepreneur including creating Maple Square, Canada's first internet directory and search engine.

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