Canadian IWA YWP Conference
Leading from the Future
June 23-25, 2021
Hosted across the country and virtually
Canadian IWA YWP Conference was held on 23-25 June 2021 virtually across Canada!
Below you can see the conference organizational details and news.
Thank you for your interest and participation to the 1st Canadian IWA YWP Conference!
Conference Organizing Committee
À propos de la Conférence
Canadian IWA Young Water Professionals Conference est un évènement qui rassemble des Jeunes Professionnels de l’Eau (JPE) passionnés et enthousiastes (sous l’âge de 35 ans) de tout le Canada qui sont présents physiquement ou virtuellement.
Organisée par et pour les jeunes professionnels et étudiants, cette conférence met en valeur les principes de leadership et les capacités techniques des JP à travers le Canada. «Leading from the Future» aidera également les YWP à développer leurs compétences et leur réseau professionnel via des sessions techniques, des concours d’affiches, des ateliers et des sessions de réseautage.
Nous espérons offrir des opportunités de réseautage en personne via des hubs locaux avec de petits groupes uniquement. En raison de l’incertitude actuelle autour du COVID-19, nous prévoyons également une programmation virtuelle. Où que vous soyez au Canada, vous pouvez participer.
About the Conference
IWA Young Water Professionals Canadian National Conference is a hybrid (in-person and virtual) event gathering passionate and enthusiastic young water professionals (under age 35) from across Canada.
Hosted by and for young professionals and students, this conference showcase the leadership and technical abilities of YWPs across Canada. “Leading from the Future” will also help YWPs build skills and their professional network via technical sessions, poster competition, workshops and networking sessions.
We hope to offer in-person networking opportunities via local hubs with small groups only. Due to current uncertainty around COVID-19, we are also planning for virtual programming. No matter where you are in Canada, you can participate.
Timeline
November 1, 2020
Accepting submissions for presentations and workshops
May 11, 2021
Early bird registration deadline
February 9, 2021
Technical presentations and workshop submission deadline
June 15, 2021
Registration deadline and paper submission deadline
March 15, 2021
Notification of acceptance and registration is open
June 23, 2021
Conference begins!
| Name | Role | Organization |
|---|---|---|
| Farokh Laka Kakar | Chair | IWA YWP Canada/Ryerson University |
| Sylvie Spraakman | Co-chair | IWA YWP Canada/University of Toronto |
| Elsayed Elbeshbishy | Joint Organizing Committee | CAWQ |
| Robert Haller | Joint Organizing Committee | CWWA |
| Andrew Macklin & Simran Chattha | Joint Organizing Committee | Water Canada |
| Laura White | Joint Organizing Committee | IWA HQ |
Local Organizing Committee
| Name | Role | Organization |
|---|---|---|
| Chris DeGroot | Treasurer | Western University |
| Gamze Kirim | Communication co-lead | Université Laval |
| Paul Cabling | Communication co-lead | University of Alberta |
| Frances Okoye | Virtual Platform co- lead | Ryerson University |
| Logan Koeth | Virtual Platform co- lead | University of Toronto |
| Nathan Moore | Local hubs co-lead | University of Toronto |
| Robyn Conway | Local hubs co-lead | RV Anderson |
| Abdullahi Hassan Hussein | Social Lead | |
| Hasan Tavani | Social Lead | |
| Amr Ismail | Outreach Lead | Western University |
Program Committee
| Name | Affiliation | Organization |
|---|---|---|
| Maricor Arlos | Academia | University of Alberta |
| Younggy Kim | Academia | McMaster University |
| Wayne Parker | Academia | University of Waterloo |
| Peter A. Vanrolleghem | Academia | Université Laval |
| Banu Ormeci | Academia | Carleton University |
| Bipro Dhar | Academia | University of Alberta |
| Zoe Li | Academia | McMaster University |
| Shaghayegh Goudrazi | Academia | Ryerson University |
| Jeffrey Farner | Academia | University of Alberta |
| Darko Joksimovic | Academia | Ryerson University |
| Domenico Santoro | Industry | USP |
| Mehran Andalib | Industry | Stantec |
| Hayat Raza | Industry | Continental Carbon Group |
| Hadi Hussaini | Industry | MH2O |
| Anum Khan | Academia | Ryerson University |
Conference News!
Meet some of our participants and see what they are expecting from the Canadian IWA YWP Conference!
Conference Opening and Keynote 1:
Our invited speaker Tasha Beeds gave very inspiring talk to YWPs and highlighted the active care and protection of the land and waters and all of Creation based on carrying the Indigenous ancestral legacies forward for the generations to come. As Tasha says “YWPs are the water protector of the future!”. Thank you Tasha for joining and inspiring all of us!
Workshop 1: Conference started with an excellent workshop about modelling of wastewater treatment systems! YWPs investigated different modelling goals in the guided breakout groups and carried out simulations with different operational conditions. At the end of the workshop all YWPs definitely learned something new! We all saw that modelling of WRRFs is not an easy task, but it has many advantageous to operate and optimize the systems.
Session 1 Drinking Water, Basins and Water Resources and Session 2 Wastewater I: Large scale are just started with the presentations from our invited speakers Benoit Barbeau and Rasha Maal-Bared! We would like to thank both of our invited speakers to join us today and share their valuable experiences.
Workshop 2: Day 2 of the Canadian IWA YWP Conference! Thank you Dr. Elsayed Elbeshbishy, Indra Maharjan, Dr. Bipro Ranjan Dhar, Basem Zakaria, David Ellis, and Hisham H. for leading our workshop on the Fundamentals and Practical Experience on Anaerobic Digestion! We had engaging breakout sessions discussing the technical, regulatory, financial, and operational risks of anaerobic digestion projects, enjoyed a Kahoot quiz with our participants, and gained insights from industry leaders!
Another successful day for the 2021 Canadian IWA YWP Conference! This post features technical sessions from Kia Barrow (University of Alberta) on the impacts of OSPW to receiving aquatic environments using in vitro bioassays, and Frances Okoye (Ryerson University) on vacuum application during fermentation of primary sludge.
Special thanks to MP Francis Scarpaleggia for being our Day 2 Keynote speaker on Canadian Environment and Sustainable Development Goals on water policy and wastewater issues! It was valuable to hear directly from a policy maker! Participants thoroughly enjoyed our “H2OMG: Water Trivia Night” and “Water you Working On?! Speed Networking!” events!
Thanks to the Day 3 invited speakers Graham Gagnon and Xing-Fang Li for their informative presentations to start the Session 5:Sustainability, Leadership and Management and Session 6:Water, Health and Technology!
Wrapping up the day and the conference with panel Discussion 2. Thanks to our valuable panelists from YWP Canada: Emma Wattie, Ian Lake-Thompson, Zoe Li and Rahul Hampaul P.Eng for sharing their perspectives about the pandemic and beyond in water sector!
See the Conference Award Winners!
Special thanks to our sponsors!
