“… I joined the EE department at the University of Alberta in 1968; was promoted to full Professor in 1975; took early retirement January 1996 to devote more time to research. In addition to my research and teaching during the 28 years at the U of A, I have served as a consultant to university, industry, and government institutions ( Canada and USA ); served on many research advisory, granting and review committees; and held visiting professorships at Oxford University and UK Atomic Energy Agency, Culham Laboratory. I am currently a consultant to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (University of California).

My research for more than 30 years has been concerned with high power laser development, laser/plasma science relevant to fusion energy and, more recently, high field physics made accessible with terawatt, femtosecond lasers. My laboratory pioneered krypton fluoride (KrF) laser research and development for fusion research and other applications – this became the basis for the Laser Fusion Laboratory Project (for which I served as Director for 7 years).

Professional duties over the years include: Past President of the Canadian Association of Physicists; service on many national scientific advisory and research grant committees and boards (National Research Council, Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., Science Council of Canada, Ontario Laser & Lightwave Research Centre, science journals, conferences); reviewer for scientific journals and university promotions to full professorships (Canada and USA)….”

“It’s 10:00 at night and I’m standing on the sundeck of a ‘C’ class ferry, six stories above the water and the engines far below.  The slighter ‘V’ class tied up in the next berth is bathed in the moon-like glow of the evening welders on our upper car deck, her port windows reflecting showers of red sparks like fireworks.

It’s 10:00 and I’ve been on board since 06:45 this morning, just before the first teams of contractors and shipyard trades arrived to start stripping and refitting this 25-year old workhorse, a 5-week-long project from arc-welding wasted steel to upholstering seats.  My project is just a small part of the big picture, about 5% of the total budget, but even this requires the cooperation of 7 trades and careful coordination so as to avoid interference with the regular refit work.

I’m contracted to upgrade wire-and-pipe bulkhead penetrations on the ‘C’ class vessels.  I’ve spent the last two months counting holes through decks and bulkheads and deckheads like counting sheep, until I dream about them, planning a work party an order of magnitude bigger than anything I’ve done before.  There are hundreds of points to inspect, a thousand decisions to make, ever new options to consider, always a moving target.

All imagined, surveyed and drafted, and nothing happening until the last passenger debarks the 10:45 landing … a short sleep in a motel before riding my motorbike down to the Langdale terminal for the pre-dawn departure … thrumming down the coast, a southerly wind clearing the open decks, I start to tentatively hang coloured barrier tape from the deckhead, pink for insulation removal, blue for welding, green for the refrigeration lines and orange for electrical work, until the ship is festooned like a parade float … stopping to gaze out from the bridge as the captain guides us up the Fraser … the gentle tug as the towboats nudge us into Deas Pond, the lull as the riggers set the lines and the engineers transfer to shore power, and then the first contractors arrive and it all happens at once.

Two days later, the work plan starts to gel just when I was afraid it might all fall apart.  Four contractors’ crews taking turns working alongside shipyard trades, and the ship’s engineers picking up the slack when I run out of steam — finally learning to delegate.  One ship under way and three to go.

The end of the day at last – it’s 10:00 at night and I’m striding up the side of the Highway 99 on-ramp to the bus stop, too tired to drive home, but not too tired to mentally draft an orientation for the ship’s deck crew.

A red-letter day for the new Acting Project Manager, engineer-in-training and wannabe-ship’s-engineer – thanks to some good advice along the way.”

Renee Boileau
Seafaring Project Engineer
“Whatever you do, make it fun” – fortune cookie
(Renee Boileau is a member of the UBC Engineering Physics 2002 Graduating Class.)