The Canadian Airports Electrical Association (CAEA) tells us planning the 2013 Canadian Airports National Electrical Workshop (CANEW) "is proceeding very well". The workshop is being held in Campbell River, B.C., September 22 to 27.
Murray Ames, an airport electrician with Campbell River Airport and a CAEA director, tells us the week starts off (for those arriving early) with a Fun Fishing Derby at Painter's Lodge Fishing Resort. The workshop officially starts Sunday evening with the President's Reception, where delegates complete their registration process and receive their workshop packages.
Work starts early Monday morning: as this is a hands-on workshop—not a conference—delegates are encouraged to take part by sharing their knowledge and experience, problems and solutions with everyone attending. Technical presentations are also starting to fill up, says Murray; these sessions provide delegates with take-home knowledge about electrical equipment and processes, as well as airport projects across Canada.
"Already we have reps from a small remote airport that are giving a presentation on how their airport went from markers to an LED lighting system, as their only power is supplied by generators," says Murray. "We also have presentations from BC Safety Authority on regulatory compliance, and other presentations regarding maintenance and electrical safety."
CANEW will also feature Plenary Sessions, where items for discussion are sent in by professionals from across Canada—even abroad—relating to airport electrical issues. These sessions are discussed by the delegates, and often lead to solutions to problems or a sharing of special techniques. Both the presentations and plenary sessions carry on throughout the week-long workshop.
Tuesday afternoon will feature Hands-on Training sessions taking place at Campbell River Airport. Liberty Airport Systems will be conducting training on "Maintenance and Troubleshooting for Airfield Series Circuit Regulators" while Canada Training Group will be conducting sessions on "Electrical Safety and PPE". These training sessions are set up to run back-to-back so all attending are able to take part in both sessions. Delegates will receive Certificates of Attendance.
There will also be a technical tour for those who do not wish to attend the training sessions.
A major event on Wednesday will be the tradeshow taking place at the City of Campbell River Community Centre, which will be the first CANEW tradeshow using a separate facility. "By doing this, we will have room for over 30 tradeshow booths if needed [...] The tradeshow is looking like it could have a very good turnout this year, with 21 booths already booked and more in the works. There are some new vendors signed up this year, which is nice to see," says Murray. DOWNLOAD the list of sponsors and exhibitors at bottom.
Both the City of Campbell River and the Campbell River Airport and Airport Authority have become Co-Hosts (along with CAEA) to put on this year's CANEW. "With this support, we are able to keep our workshop fee very low [delegate registration for the week is $500], thus allowing small airports to be able to send their electrical staff," says Murray.
"We are also pleased to announce that the new CSA Z463 maintenance guideline that will be out this year will have a section on airport series circuit visual aid maintenance and inspection," Murray says. "We have had four of our people on that committee who have been working with CANEW delegates and CAEA members for many years toward this goal. With this guideline, CSA will have something available to assist the airport electrical staff and their management to help ensure our airports are safe."
Finally, some kind words from Murray about Electrical Business magazine:
"We would also like to thank EB Magazine for their attendance last year and all the support they have supplied. The video they produced last year has been of great assistance to CAEA in showing the type of workshop this is and the benefits of having airport electrical staff attend, as there is very little training available for this specialized electrical work. To our knowledge, CANEW is the only one of its kind in North America."
