Catalyst 2011 - Keynote Speakers

Phil Nuytten

Inventor, entrepreneur, explorer, President and founder of Nuytco Research Ltd and Can-Dive Services Ltd

An internationally recognised pioneer in the diving industry, Phil Nuytten has spent 40 years creating deepwater dive products that have opened the ocean’s depths to exploration and industry.

Through his companies, Nuytco and Can-Dive, he has developed the technology to allow longer-length diving expeditions with increased safety. Nuytten’s one-atmosphere systems – the hard-suits ‘Newtsuit’ and ‘Exosuit’, and his deep-diving “DeepWorker” submersibles – are renowned internationally. This deep diving equipment, along with Nuytten’s military submarine rescue system (designated ‘Remora’ by the Royal Australian Navy and ‘PRMS’ by the US Navy), is standard in nearly a dozen of the world’s navies. Contract work has taken him to oilfields, submarine construction sites and sunken wrecks around the world, including the Breadalbane, the northern-most known shipwreck, where his record dives through icy Arctic waters earned him a place on the cover of National Geographic Magazine in 1984. Nuytten was one of the forces behind the ‘Sustainable Seas Expeditions’ in the 1990’s, a five-year initiative by the National Geographic Society and NOAA to study deep ocean environmental impact. During this project, DeepWorker micro-subs were used to explore and monitor National marine sanctuaries. The findings from this expedition have contributed significantly to scientists’ understanding of underwater ecology, habitats, and biodiversity.

 Nuytten and his team are currently training astronauts from NASA and the Canadian Space Agency to pilot the DeepWorker Submersibles for the Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP), a multi-year research project. The PLRP presents an opportunity to advance the long-term objective of human exploration of the Moon and Mars by combining research on life in extreme environments with high fidelity training in an underwater, remote field setting. The information gained from this analogue project will help to improve the knowledge base, tools and techniques of future human missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond.

Phil Nuytten has spent nearly forty years developing undersea systems that have the safety of the diving technician as their common theme.  His goal has been to provide scientific, technical, military, and sport divers full access to continental shelf depths without the hazards of decompression, so that humans can explore, learn about, and - ultimately - protect the world’s oceans.

 

Sandy Eix

“Everyday Physics Everywhere”
An exploration, with lots of demos and audience participation, of how fun and fascinating physical science can be found all around us.

Sandy Eix has a BSc in Physics from Waterloo, a BEd from Queen’s, and an MSc and PhD in Physics from SFU. Despite all of this, she is a relatively normal human being who has been inventing shows, programs, and exhibits at Science World for about 15 years. 

Her work as Science World’s Science Learning Lead lets her play with all sorts of science and share her discoveries with kids of all ages. Some highlights so far have included developing a great big physics gallery, running a summer camp for teachers,  creating science resources for preschoolers, being interviewed on national radio, and project-managing Body Worlds.

 When she’s not thinking about science education, she applies her curious mind to Cape Breton fiddle music, navigating East Vancouver by bicycle, and learning to speak French. She finds a great deal of joy in exploring the world with her young daughter, who calls her “la fée des experiences” (the experiment fairy).

 

Chris Hadfield (Via Live Video Link)
Canadian Space Agency Astronaut

Raised on a corn farm in southern Ontario, Chris Hadfield became interested in flying from a young age. As an Air Cadet, he won a glider pilot scholarship at age 15 and a powered pilot scholarship at age 16. He also taught skiing and ski racing part- and full-time for 10 years.

Hadfield joined the Canadian Armed Forces in May 1978. He spent two years at Royal Roads Military College, in Victoria, British Columbia, followed by two years at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario, where he received a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering (with honours) in 1982. Hadfield underwent basic flight training in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, for which he was named top pilot in 1980. In 1983, he took honours as the overall top graduate from Basic Jet Training in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and in 1984-1985, he trained as a fighter pilot in Cold Lake, Alberta on CF-5s and CF-18s.

For the next three years Hadfield flew CF-18s for the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) with 425 Squadron, during which time he flew the first CF-18 intercept of a Soviet "Bear" aircraft. He attended the United States Air Force (USAF) Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, in California, and upon graduation, served as an exchange officer with the U. S. Navy at Strike Test Directorate at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station. His accomplishments from 1989 to 1992 included testing the F/A-18 and A-7 aircraft; performing research work with NASA on pitch control margin simulation and flight; completing the first military flight of F/A-18 enhanced performance engines; piloting the first flight test of the National Aerospace Plane external burning hydrogen propulsion engine; developing a new handling qualities rating scale for high angle-of-attack test; and participating in the F/A-18 out-of-control recovery test program. In total, Hadfield has flown over 70 different types of aircraft.

In June 1992 Chris Hadfield was selected to become one of four new Canadian astronauts from a field of 5330 applicants. He was assigned by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas in August of the same year, where he addressed technical and safety issues for Shuttle Operations Development, contributed to the development of the glass shuttle cockpit, and supported shuttle launches at the Kennedy Space Center, in Florida. In addition, Hadfield was NASA's Chief CapCom, the voice of mission control to astronauts in orbit, for 25 space shuttle missions. From 1996 to 2000, he represented CSA astronauts and coordinated their activities as the Chief Astronaut for the CSA.

From 2001-2003, Hadfield was the Director of Operations for NASA at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre (GCTC) in Star City, Russia. His work included coordination and direction of all International Space Station crew activities in Russia, oversight of training and crew support staff, as well as policy negotiation with the Russian Space Program and other International Partners. He also trained and became fully qualified to be a flight engineer cosmonaut in the Soyuz TMA spacecraft, and to perform spacewalks in the Russian Orlan spacesuit.

Hadfield is a civilian CSA astronaut, having retired as a Colonel from the Canadian Air Force in 2003 after 25 years of military service. He was Chief of Robotics for the NASA Astronaut Office at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas from 2003-2006, and was Chief of International Space Station Operations there from 2006-2008.