2023 Ron Potts Award

In 2022 IEEE Canada introduced an award for the best Life Member Affinity Group (LMAG) of the year, equivalent to the Affinity Group awards for Women In Engineering and Young Professionals. It is named after the first chair of the Canada Life Members Committee, the “Ron Potts Award”.

This year, the Vancouver Section Life Members Affinity Group, (LMAG) was named as the recipient of the Ron Potts Award on April 1, 2023 at the IEEE Canada Spring Board Meeting in Toronto, Ontario.  Section Chair Jacqueline Nichols accepted the award on behalf of Carl Zanon, the Vancouver Section LMAG Chair.

Section Chair Jacqueline Nichols accepting the Ron Potts award on behalf of Vancouver Section Life Members Affinity Group Chair Carl Zanon.

In the spring of 2020,restrictions arising from the global pandemic meant that the LMAG had to shift to an online meeting format for their members. They arrived at a speaker series wherein  life members could gather to hear a technical topic from guest speakers. The first took place in November 2021, for Talk #1. As the technology was new to many members, Carl Zanon recalls that “there was confusion, lots of laughter, and fewer than 10 registered”. Eventually though, they mastered the technology thanks to support from Conrad Guelke, and the talk series hit its stride, with dozens of attendees regularly convening for the talks. This created a way for members to keep in contact and make new connections, and resulted in the formation of a tight-knit community. This speaker series has continued through 2023, hosted by Carl Zanon and Conrad Guelke.

Each talk has also brought in one or two speakers on different subjects, ranging from nuclear power developments, envisioning a pasture of cows near a 240kV transmission line, methane mitigation & electric technology, and risk management to name just a few. Despite the breadth of topics, each talk has the commonality of keeping engaged, creating connections, and developing friendships across Canada.

Further information on the Life Members and Ron Potts Award are available on the IEEE Canada Life Members page.