Research Advisory Committee (RAC)

For administrative matters relating to Research Advisory Committee, see the RAC admin area.

The Research Advisory Committee is comprised of the UNENE Industrial Research Chairs, as well as representatives from UNENE’s nuclear industry and government membership. The RAC members bring a wealth of expertise and knowledge, as well as many diverse perspectives on Canada’s nuclear research agenda and its execution. The committee’s accountabilities include identification of evolving needs and priorities of the nuclear sector that will inform future research; serving as a liaison between universities and industry to select research areas and programs of mutual interest; and, on behalf of the UNENE board, providing general oversight and direction of UNENE’s research program.

Mandate

Composition

The Research Advisory Committee (RAC) consists of one member from each of the participating universities and one from each of the funding organizations. A Chair and a Vice Chair are selected from the Committee, one from industry and the other from the universities.

Chair: Paul Spekkens, senior industry consultant

Current members:

Dan Brady, NRCan
Stephen Bushby, AECL
Willy Cook, University of New Brunswick
Emily Corcoran, Royal Military College of Canada
Cathy Cottrell, SNC-Lavalin
Mark Daymond, Queen’s University
John de Grosbois, CANDU Owners Group
Dan Gleeson, OPG
Cora Silvera, OPG
Robert Gaspar, University of Windsor
Paul Gierszewski, NWMO
Jason Goldberg, Bruce Power
Jin Jiang, Western University

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Liette Lemieux, CANDU Owners Group
John Luxat, McMaster University
Roger Newman, University of Toronto
Eleodor Nichita, Ontario Tech
Dave Novog, McMaster University
Mahesh Pandey, University of Waterloo
Dan Pun-Quach, Kinectrics
Dan Tello, CNSC
Peter Tremaine, University of Guelph
Ed Waller, Ontario Tech
Christina van Drunen, CNL

Responsibility

The RAC reports to the Board, with the RAC Chair attending Board meetings.

Duties

The RAC advises the UNENE Board and, where empowered by the Board, carries out its research program in the following areas:

  1. Forms the liaison between the universities and industry concerning the identification of research areas and programs of mutual interest;
  2. Acts as liaison between the universities and the CANDU Owners Group (COG) to promote mutually beneficial collaboration;
  3. Assesses the research expertise and facilities that exist in both universities and industry and identify the gaps that exist;
  4. Pursues opportunities for collaborative programs between industry and the universities including possibilities for university professors and students to work in industry and for industry people to work at the universities;
  5. Identifies cooperative and collaborative research projects and programs for inclusion in joint applications for leveraging funds to bodies such as the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and, in the case of the Ontario universities, to the Ontario Research and Development Challenge Fund (ORDCF), by the UNENE universities;
  6. The selection of thesis graduate students, M.A.Sc. and PhD, for the UNENE graduate scholarship programs;
  7. Promotes adjunct professor appointments in the universities for industrial researchers;
  8. Assists in the development and review of UNENE Chair proposals; and
  9. Aids in maintaining existing nuclear facilities in universities and expanding them if appropriate.