Balloons to Broadband: Centuries of Innovation Enabling Canada’s Future NetworksAbstract:Lighter-than-air (LTA) and communications technologies have evolved side-by-side for centuries. From 19th century balloon-borne airmail and telegraph-enabled spotter balloons, to stratospheric mesh networks and tethered “flying towers,” these platforms have repeatedly extended the reach of terrestrial communications networks. Each generation of LTA technology has supported operational communications while enabling the early deployment of new network <a href="http://technologies.This" target="_blank" title="technologies.This">technologies.This presentation traces the historical arc of LTA communications and situates them within current research on high-speed connectivity. It then introduces a demonstration project supported through collaboration between Lux Aerobot, the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), and McMaster University. The project leverages Lux's high-altitude platforms (HAPs) for early deployment and characterization of next-generation optical communication technologies for resilient, high-throughput connectivity tailored to Canada’s unique constraints and network <a href="http://needs..------------------------------------------------------------------------Des" target="_blank" title="needs..------------------------------------------------------------------------Des">needs..------------------------------------------------------------------------Des ballons au haut débit : des siècles d’innovation au service des futurs réseaux du CanadaRésumé:Les technologies des plus légers que l'air (PLA) et des communications ont évolué parallèlement au cours des siècles. Des ballons de courrier aérien et de télégraphie du XIXe siècle aux réseaux maillés stratosphériques et aux « tours volantes » captives, ces plateformes ont constamment étendu la portée des réseaux de communication terrestres. Chaque génération de technologie PLA a soutenu les communications opérationnelles tout en permettant le déploiement précoce de nouvelles technologies ré<a href="http://seau.Cette" target="_blank" title="seau.Cette">seau.Cette présentation retrace l'histoire des communications PLA et les situe dans le contexte des recherches actuelles sur la connectivité haut débit. Elle présente ensuite un projet de démonstration soutenu par la collaboration entre Lux Aerobot, le Conseil national de recherches du Canada (CNRC) et l'Université McMaster. Ce projet s'appuie sur les plateformes haute altitude (HAP) de Lux pour le déploiement et la caractérisation précoces de technologies de communication optique de nouvelle génération, afin d'offrir une connectivité résiliente et haut débit adaptée aux contraintes et aux besoins réseau uniques du <a href="http://Canada.Liam" target="_blank" title="Canada.Liam">Canada.Liam Graham, Systems & Montreal Team Lead, Lux AerobotAbout / A proposThe High Throughput and Secure Networks (HTSN) Challenge program is hosting regular virtual seminar series to promote scientific information sharing, discussions, and interactions between <a href="http://researchers.https://nrc.canada.ca/en/research-development/research-collaboration/programs/high-throughput-secure-networks-challenge-programLe" target="_blank" title="researchers.https://nrc.canada.ca/en/research-development/research-collaboration/programs/high-throughput-secure-networks-challenge-programLe">researchers.https://nrc.canada.ca/en/research-development/research-collaboration/programs/high-throughput-secure-networks-challenge-programLe programme Réseaux Sécurisés à Haut Débit (RSHD) organise régulièrement des séries de séminaires virtuels pour promouvoir le partage d’informations scientifiques, les discussions et les interactions entre <a href="http://chercheurs.https://nrc.canada.ca/fr/recherche-developpement/recherche-collaboration/programmes/programme-defi-reseaux-securises-haut-debitNEW:" target="_blank" title="chercheurs.https://nrc.canada.ca/fr/recherche-developpement/recherche-collaboration/programmes/programme-defi-reseaux-securises-haut-debitNEW:">chercheurs.https://nrc.canada.ca/fr/recherche-developpement/recherche-collaboration/programmes/programme-defi-reseaux-securises-haut-debitNEW: In order to promote more open discussions/interactions, at the end of the presentation and Q/A, we will allow other experts in this field (quantum comm) to present very briefly their work (1 slide, 2 min max) or their company. / Afin de favoriser des discussions/interactions plus ouvertes, à la fin de la présentation et des questions/réponses, nous permettrons aux experts de ce domaine (communications quantiques) de présenter très brièvement leurs travaux (1 diapositive, 2 min max) ou leur <a href="http://compagnie.Co-sponsored" target="_blank" title="compagnie.Co-sponsored">compagnie.Co-sponsored by: National Research Council, Canada. <a href="http://Optonique.Speaker(s):" target="_blank" title="Optonique.Speaker(s):">Optonique.Speaker(s): Liam Graham, Virtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/499915

UBC IEEE ExCom meeting to discuss hiring, next year plan and upcoming events, as well as the new UBC IEEE AESS <a href="http://Chapter.Room:" target="_blank" title="Chapter.Room:">Chapter.Room: 3009, Bldg: MCLD, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Free Registration (with a Zoom account; you can get one for free if you don't already have it. This requirement is to avoid Zoom bombing. Please sign in using the email address tied to your Zoom account — not necessarily the one you used to register for the <a href="http://event.):https://sjsu.zoom.us/meeting/register/i6n2sgjLQFelwXCNz4-YGQSynopsis:As" target="_blank" title="event.):https://sjsu.zoom.us/meeting/register/i6n2sgjLQFelwXCNz4-YGQSynopsis:As">event.):https://sjsu.zoom.us/meeting/register/i6n2sgjLQFelwXCNz4-YGQSynopsis:As large language models (LLMs) evolve from static, prompt-based tools into autonomous, agentic systems capable of reasoning, planning, and acting with minimal human oversight, organizations face an exciting yet complex frontier. These advanced systems hold the potential to revolutionize enterprise workflows, developer tools, and customer-facing applications—but realizing that potential requires navigating a host of technical and ethical <a href="http://challenges.This" target="_blank" title="challenges.This">challenges.This panel brings together leading voices from AI research, infrastructure engineering, and real-world application domains to discuss how agentic LLM systems are moving from lab experiments to production-grade deployments. Panelists will explore critical topics such as orchestration, safety, observability, and evaluation, while offering hard-earned lessons from deploying these systems at <a href="http://scale.Whether" target="_blank" title="scale.Whether">scale.Whether you're building tools for developers, integrating LLM agents into enterprise pipelines, or shaping the next wave of intelligent products, this discussion will equip you with the strategic and technical know-how to bring agentic AI into impactful, everyday use. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn what it truly takes to operationalize the future of <a href="http://AI.---------------------------------------------------------------By" target="_blank" title="AI.---------------------------------------------------------------By">AI.---------------------------------------------------------------By registering for this event, you agree that IEEE and the organizers are not liable to you for any loss, damage, injury, or any incidental, indirect, special, consequential, or economic loss or damage (including loss of opportunity, exemplary or punitive damages). The event will be recorded and will be made available for public <a href="http://viewing.Speaker(s):" target="_blank" title="viewing.Speaker(s):">viewing.Speaker(s): Yubin Kim, Gautam Solaimalai, Shaleen Kumar Gupta, Vishal Jain, Abhay Khosla, Rahul Raja, Harsh VarshneyVirtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/494702

Time & Date: 6 p.m., Wednesday, August 17th, 2025Location: ZoomDraft Agenda: <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xVNFswJQ8IxuzbxFiIWpNN1aPPpCv53Vvbxpw5XZuAs/edit?usp=drive_linkRoom:" target="_blank" title="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xVNFswJQ8IxuzbxFiIWpNN1aPPpCv53Vvbxpw5XZuAs/edit?usp=drive_linkRoom:">https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xVNFswJQ8IxuzbxFiIWpNN1aPPpCv53Vvbxpw5XZuAs/edit?usp=drive_linkRoom: TBA, Bldg: TBA, 1000 KLO Rd. , Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, V1Y 4X8, Virtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/501283

Electric vehicles first appeared in the mid-19th century. EVs held the land speed record until around 1900. The high cost, low speed, and short-range of battery electric vehicles, compared to 20th century internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, led to a worldwide decline in their use as private motor vehicles, although electric vehicles have continued to be used in the form of loading and freight equipment and public transport – especially rail <a href="http://vehicles.Now" target="_blank" title="vehicles.Now">vehicles.Now in the 21st century, interest in electric vehicles has increased due to growing concern over the problems associated with fossil fuel vehicles, including damage to the environment caused by their emissions, and the sustainability of the current hydrocarbon-based transportation infrastructure as well as improvements in EV <a href="http://technology.We" target="_blank" title="technology.We">technology.We will explore all of these aspects and a quick glimpse in the current state of the art, as well as developments around the <a href="http://corner.Speaker(s):" target="_blank" title="corner.Speaker(s):">corner.Speaker(s): , Sharan KalwaniVirtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/498207

We are pleased to announce a special presentation introducing QV Studio, a quantum startup builder funded by the Québec Government. The presentation will be given by Bouraoui Ilahi, Scientist-in-Residence, and will be followed by an open <a href="http://discussion.Whether" target="_blank" title="discussion.Whether">discussion.Whether you are a quantum scientist, an expert in a quantum enabling technology, or a specialist in another field who may benefit from a collaboration with quantum specialists, this talk is for <a href="http://you.Your" target="_blank" title="you.Your">you.Your Expertise + Quantum + QV Studio = the path to build a Quantum unicornQV Studio’s mission is to build and launch the next generation of startups by applying quantum and enabling technologies to solve real-world <a href="http://challenges.Why" target="_blank" title="challenges.Why">challenges.Why QV Studio?QV Studio bridges the gap between research and real-world applications. It offers innovators over 1,000 hours of coaching, training, and consulting from an experienced business and technology team, millions of dollars in funding, and strategic support to help transform breakthrough technologies into thriving <a href="http://companies.Co-sponsored" target="_blank" title="companies.Co-sponsored">companies.Co-sponsored by: OPTICA-SPIE Student Chapter at INRSRoom: 214, 1650 Boulevard Lionel-Boulet, Varennes, Quebec, Canada, J3X 1P7

CubeSat VIOLET was approximately 10 cm by 10 cm by 20 cm or roughly the size of a two-litre milk carton. It was designed, built, and tested, by the students in our research group called CubeSat NB, a first-of-its-kind partnership among the New Brunswick Community College, the Université de Moncton and the University of New Brunswick. The purpose of the project was student education and 274 students were part of this project. CubeSat NB was one the 15 teams in the Canadian CubeSat Project, inspired by the Canadian Space Agency. VIOLET's mission was to study space weather. It was deployed in a low earth orbit from the International Space Station in 2024 and, as planned, burned up on entry to the atmosphere. Despite over a million radio messages being sent to VIOLET, it did not answer. As they say, space is hard. Some lessons learned will be presented for groups who are considering building a nanosatellite in a university <a href="http://environment.Speaker(s):" target="_blank" title="environment.Speaker(s):">environment.Speaker(s): Brent, Room: SS1071, Bldg: Sidney Smith Hall, 100 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 3G3

Abstract: In this talk, we will discuss two recent observations from our group that have challenged widespread assumptions held (by us included!) about the optical response of commonly used optical materials: that material polarization can safely be considered to respond locally to the electric field and that the second-order nonlinear response of amorphous films should vanish due to centrosymmetry. In the first part of the talk, we will describe our proposal for a new type of optical antenna dubbed a “photonic gap antenna”, and our realization of its extreme version using an epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) material. Such antennas can provide electric field enhancements of >100 and large Purcell factors without requiring stringent nanofabrication. To our surprise, when measuring third harmonic generation as a proxy for field enhancement, sharp peaks emerge in the response that are completely absent in our full wave electromagnetic calculations. We find that the appearance of these peaks can only be explained when including nonlocality in the dielectric response of the ENZ material. Nonlocal simulations show that the volume averaged field enhancement can be 4–6 greater than that predicted by the local model, which becomes an important consideration when designing optical devices. In the second part of the talk, we will describe our recent discovery that amorphous thermally evaporated organic thin films of small molecules can have second-order optical nonlinearities on par with those of state-of-the-art nonlinear materials (c(2)31, c(2)33 >50 pm/V), with the important advantage that they can be deposited on arbitrary photonic platforms. We will show that by harnessing the interplay between dipole-dipole interactions and surface energy minimization, it is possible to spontaneously break centrosymmetry during thermal evaporation, without the need for special alignment procedures. In addition to its applications in photonics, this observation has allowed us to better understand molecular alignment beyond the mean molecular orientation <a href="http://angle..Co-sponsored" target="_blank" title="angle..Co-sponsored">angle..Co-sponsored by: Prof. Nicolas QuesadaSpeaker(s): Stéphane Kéna-CohenJ. Armand Bombardier J-1035, Polytechnique Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada, H3T 1J4

[]The University of Waterloo APS/MTTS Branches, in collaboration with the IEEE Waterloo Young Professional Affinity Group and Ottawa Section joint APS/MTTS chapter, invite you to join a free virtual Think-Cell <a href="http://workshop.Think-cell" target="_blank" title="workshop.Think-cell">workshop.Think-cell is a powerful PowerPoint add-in used by top consulting firms and global companies to create professional charts and slides with ease. In this hands-on session, you’ll learn how to:Build complex charts in minutes Link charts directly to Excel for seamless updatesStreamline slide design to save time and communicate insights clearlyThis workshop is open to all members and is a great opportunity to gain a skill highly valued in both academia and <a href="http://industry.📅" target="_blank" title="industry.📅">industry.📅 Date: Thursday, September 18th🕒 Time:12:00pm - 1:00pm EST📍 Location: Online TEAMS InviteSpeaker(s): JoshVirtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/500192

London Hydro and the City of London invites the chapters and affinity groups of the IEEE London Section to attend the Powershift Expo hosted onsite at Stronach Arena & Community Centre in London, <a href="http://Ontario.See" target="_blank" title="Ontario.See">Ontario.See the website for more info: <a href="https://www.powershiftexpo.ca/The" target="_blank" title="https://www.powershiftexpo.ca/The">https://www.powershiftexpo.ca/The event will include the option to:- test drive Electric vehicles- Learn about conservation and demand management- Gather information on heat pumps, electric bike, solar generation and energy storage and moreThis is an in person event. In order to attend please register on the IEEE Vtools portal. Parking is available on <a href="http://site.Co-sponsored" target="_blank" title="site.Co-sponsored">site.Co-sponsored by: London Hydro and the City of LondonAgenda: Attendees can visit the Expo anytime between 12:00pm and 8:00pm at their convenience on September 18th, 2025.1221 Sandford Street, London , Ontario, Canada, N5V 2J8

This is a joint meeting of Canadian Society of Senior Engineers and IEEE Life Members Affinity <a href="http://Groups.This" target="_blank" title="Groups.This">Groups.This series of presentations has been occurring for more than 20 years and is now being also advertised to the IEEE Northern Canada Section (NCS) Life Members Affinity Group (LMAG) through vTools and other IEEE LMAG's and IEEE members depending upon the topic. At the same time the Canadian Society of Senior Engineers (CSSE) is using their national organization to provide information, the subject and speaker to members across <a href="http://Canada.The" target="_blank" title="Canada.The">Canada.The next meeting will be held on Thursday, September 18, 2025. The meeting will open at 12:30 pm MDT (2:30pm Eastern), with the presentation starting at 12:45 (2:45 pm EDT). The meeting will be held via the Zoom platform with the actual invitations sent the afternoon of Wednesday, September 17. If you plan to attend and be included on the Zoom invite for this meeting please respond to Tom Madsen, [email protected], before noon on Wednesday, September 17.Please note the meeting originates in Alberta which is in the Mountain Time Zone, so if you are in another province you must account any necessary time <a href="http://shift.Title:" target="_blank" title="shift.Title:">shift.Title: The Changing World for New Engineering GraduatesPresenter: Bruce Peachey, BScChE (U of S ‘76), P.Eng. - President of New Paradigm Engineering <a href="http://Ltd.Summary:" target="_blank" title="Ltd.Summary:">Ltd.Summary: The experiences of students graduating from Canadian Universities as engineering BSc graduates are continually changing as the industrial worlds they are entering have many new and continuously changing needs, technological tools and technologies. Global and Regional politics are also creating new, more demanding and often contradictory demands on new grads, while at the same time increasingly destabilizing the year to year demand for new engineering employees. Generally, despite growing demands for employees, many engineers now in the universities are having difficulty obtaining meaningful summer and co-op term employment opportunities, and as a result get less out of their classes and have further difficulties finding permanent positions on graduation. Even if they find a position it is increasingly difficult for them to assess potential career options as the driving forces for projects and economics are highly variable due to political and societal changes that may or may not result in long term opportunities. This presentation will take a high-level look at how employment outlooks have changed for specific cases of Petroleum Engineering roles and how the working environment has been more chaotic for Chemical Engineering design roles for industrial positions when success criteria and design criteria are being influenced by often illogical or unsupported external influences. This changing world can greatly influence career choices for grads and potentially lead them down blind alleys from which they may or may not emerge from as professionals. This will be contrasted to the presenter’s own career progression since his 1976 <a href="http://graduation.Bio:" target="_blank" title="graduation.Bio:">graduation.Bio: Bruce Peachey, BScChE (U of S ‘76), P.Eng. is President of New Paradigm Engineering Ltd. and has over 45 years of experience in the Canadian oil and gas industry. He spent 16 years with Imperial Oil, in conventional and oil sands operations. New Paradigm was formed in 1991 to engineer “new paradigms” or new ways of looking at energy systems. He was a founding director of the Petroleum Technology Alliance of Canada (PTAC) in 1996. He has served as Chief Warden of Camp 6 of the Corporation of the Seven Wardens and is currently the Secretary-Treasurer of the CSSE. Over the past 20 years, he has provided over 50 unique design projects to 4th year Chemical Engineering Students (U of A and U of S) and almost 130 economic property evaluation projects for 4th year Petroleum Engineering Students (U of A). These efforts all include mentoring of students and addressing emerging industry issues which may help students understand potential career <a href="http://opportunities.Virtual:" target="_blank" title="opportunities.Virtual:">opportunities.Virtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/499555

Starlink and alike have attracted a lot of attention recently, however, the inner working of these low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite networks is still largely unknown. This talk presents an ongoing measurement campaign focusing on Starlink, including its satellite access networks, gateway and point-of-presence structures, and backbone and Internet connections, revealing insights applicable to other LEO satellite providers. It also highlights the challenges and research opportunities of the integrated space-air-ground-aqua network envisioned by 6G mobile communication systems and calls for a concerted community effort from practical and experimentation <a href="http://aspects.Speaker(s):" target="_blank" title="aspects.Speaker(s):">aspects.Speaker(s): Prof. Jianping PanSITE-5084, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada