BCNETwork News

September 2007

Lighting the Path for Research: BCNET's 2007 Annual General Meeting Reception

Mike Hrybyk, CEO & President of BCNET

BCNET celebrated another successful year on September 20, 2007 at the annual AGM reception. Over sixty prominent government representatives, researchers, academics and industry leaders joined BCNET and its board of directors to support the development of British Columbia's advanced research networks, and to share visions for lighting the path for research and education.

Keynote Speaker Brent Sauder, Assistant Deputy Minister, Ministry of Advanced Education

Keynote speaker Brent Sauder, Assistant Deputy Minister for Advanced Education, opened the evening by congratulating BCNET for playing a large role in creating British Columbia as one of the best wired communities in the world. “You put tools in the hands of people so they can dream,” said Sauder, reminding guests that advanced research networks facilitate innovation in ways previously never imagined.

In an age when the academic imagination has never been so limitless, Sauder encouraged BCNET members to ask of their research, “how is this going to change the world, and how can I tell people about it?” The task for advanced networks may be to make connections between the academic sphere and citizens of our province for the purpose of public education in the future.

Keynote Speaker Matthew Watson, CEO of BC Innovation Council

Keynote Matthew Watson, CEO of the BC Innovation Council, reiterated Sauder’s congratulations by naming BCNET a true pioneer in advanced networking that benefits British Columbia’s academic institutions. “It’s the human network, the network of researchers that are enabled by BCNET,” said Watson.

Looking again to the future, Watson suggested that advanced network connections must continue to expand if the province is to reach its potential. According to Watson, at the foundation of our knowledge-based economy is a strong connection between innovation and commercialization. Watson noted that super broadband networks will become increasingly important in the province as every sector of the economy is now using technology to do its work.

Following the speeches, annual award winners were honoured for their incredible dedication and contribution to BCNET.

The BCNET Network Builder Award recognized Patrick Mann, Chief Technology Officer of Cybera (formerly Netera Alliance) and Dr. Jim Reichert, Vice President for Research and International at British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) for their excellent leadership within BCNET as past members of the board of directors.

The BCNET Faculty Recognition Award went to Dr. Michelle Lamberson, Director of Learning Technology at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Dr. Lamberson uses information technology to enhance the academic experience for students, staff, and faculty of UBC with programs like wikis, weblogs, and web-enablement for scientific instrumentation.

The BCNET Staff Recognition Award was awarded to BCNET employee, Douglas Wade – also a Network Operations Analyst at UBC. Wade has been an employee of UBC since 1981 and witnessed the very birth of the Internet from the days of paper punch cards and 8-inch floppy disks to today’s 10 gigabit per second networks. BCNET President Michael Hrybyk remarked that Wade is the kind of employee that will answer the phone at 3:00am regarding a network break, and notably, actually do something about it.

Congratulations to all of the 2007 BCNET award winners, and a special thanks to Brent Sauder and Matthew Watson for addressing the BCNET crowd.