Articles

Some of my favourite pieces from over the years:

2011

2010

  • SiGe Semiconductor targets one of the largest IPOs in Ottawa history. (CTV Ottawa)
  • The entrepreneurship program that keeps on rolling in Ottawa, and which also gets support from alumni who have been through the ranks 30 years ago. (Ottawa Business Journal)
  • Soon bereft of a Nortel pension, a retired couple is talking about selling their house — which has been in the family for several generations. (Ottawa Business Journal)
  • I watched two more shuttle launches from the press site of the Kennedy Space Center, playing out before people aware of the consequences for local workers when the program finishes. See STS-130 and STS-131. (SpaceRef)
  • Ottawa was a beacon of stability during the recession as the government spun out stimulus funding for local firms. With budget freezes looming, public servants worry about their jobs — and the effect on the economy. (CTV Ottawa)
  • Canadian organic farmers fight to reconcile their own standards with regulations originally crafted for the traditional food industry — a challenge for consumers figuring out which products to buy in the grocery store. (The Globe and Mail)
  • How one man’s MBA and his musical training mesh to bring new life to Canada’s most famous ballet school. (The Globe and Mail)
  • When a young Belleville, Ont. woman went missing after the infamous disappearance and death of Jessica Elizabeth Lloyd, some in the community wondered if the two were linked. Police said definitively not. (CTV Ottawa)

2009

  • One exhilarating day in Orlando, Fla. brought me in contact with dozens of ordinary people hanging out on the NASA press site to watch a shuttle launch. NASA personally invited me to attend. This was the first launch “tweetup” the agency held. (CTV Ottawa and SpaceRef Canada)
  • A Carleton University student watched people’s fascination with food morph into fear. Her research asks: How to turn the tide back to understanding? (Research Works)
  • In Sudbury, Ottawa companies go deep underground in a copper mine to help figure out the secrets of the universe. (Ottawa Business Journal)
  • There’s a place at Carleton University where you pilot an airplane from underground. Perhaps in a rainstorm. Of course, this is done through computer simulation for search-and-rescue crews. (Research Works)
  • Driving school, meet Mario Kart. A new generation is used to video games, and instructors are coming to realize that’s the best way to teach today’s teens about the rules of the road. (The Globe and Mail)
  • I spent a week in the Persian Gulf tracking down the Ottawa business connections there, learning about how firms bridge the cultural gap to bring in new ideas. Includes a daily blog. (Ottawa Business Journal)
  • Canadian boarding schools look to bring their students forward in the global marketplace with diverse programs encouraging multicultural students from countries around the world. (The Globe and Mail)
  • During the dying days of Nortel, a few dozen former engineers and scientists shared their stories about the former telecommunications company for the first detailed look back on what made the giant fall. See Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of the three-week series. (Ottawa Business Journal)
  • Hours after spacewalker Randy Bresnik finished several hours of work on the International Space Station, his wife gave birth — only the second time this has happened to an orbiting astronaut. (CTV Ottawa)
  • Double the schools, double the experience? MBA programs look to double up their student programs to give their graduates a cutting edge in a competitive industry. (The Globe and Mail)
  • After a banner year for the Canadian space program, including three spaceflights and two new astronauts, the Canadian Space Agency looks for an encore. (CTV Ottawa)

2008

  • A gas station comes close to blowing up in a computer game. A close call for the player, but in a real-life situation the consequences wouldn’t be as easy to deal with — showing the need for training for disaster management. (Ottawa Business Journal)
  • As the shuttle program winds down, so too will a special opportunity for flight controllers in Ottawa who prepare to clear the airspace in case something goes awry during launch. (The Globe and Mail)
  • This cell phone reads barcodes and makes phone calls — all from a wristwatch strap. Science fiction? No, soon to be science fact. (Ottawa Citizen)
  • It’s tough to get funding for a startup — but what if the payoff is in medical advances that are years in the future? Ottawa companies talk about bridging the gap for investors. (Ottawa Business Journal)
  • Protecting private information is a necessity. But at the same time, it can be a barrier if banks are looking to collaborate against identity theft. How to reconcile? (Research Works)
  • A special visit to NASA’s Johnson Space Center yields new information about an Ottawa company looking to launch an experiment on the International Space Station. (Ottawa Business Journal)
  • Language learning online brings foreign tones to many ears — but how effective is it compared with a classroom? (Ottawa Citizen)
  • Astronaut Scott Parazynski talks about how his medical training helped him manage the danger while repairing a torn solar panel on the International Space Station — using only his hands, some simple tools and guidance from his crewmates. (Canadian Medical Association Journal)

2004-07

  • The Canadian astronaut program hasn’t hired an astronaut in 12 years. As their astronauts age, how does this shift our expectations about older works? (Ottawa Citizen)
  • Orange guck on one of Saturn’s moons may be a harbour of life — although there’s still a lot of debate about the matter. (Catalyst)
  • The magnetic north pole is on the move — and it’s possible scientists won’t be able to map its location as climate change grips the north. (Capital News Online)
  • Monitoring your heart from afar is something doctors could only dream of doing in the past. Today, wearable wristwatch sensors like one created at Carleton University are turning the tide. (Research Works)
  • Norman Mailer attended the launch leading up to the first moon landing. Was he impressed? The answer might surprise you. (The Space Review)
  • Canadian environmentalists and the ruling federal Tories war over the amount of regulation needed for non-stick products that contain perfluorocarbons — substances that could pose a serious risk to human health, some say. (Capital News Online)
  • On the 20th anniversary of his first spaceflight, Carleton chancellor Marc Garneau reflects upon what he learned in orbit, and where the Canadian space program will go next. (The Charlatan)