NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario — The Refrigeration Service Engineers Society of Canada is in transition. After 64 years of holding an annual educational conference and trade show, RSES Canada has decided to go to an every-other-year format with the conference and exhibit event in odd-numbered years.

Because the organization is required by its bylaws to hold annual board and business meetings, those aspects of the society will continue on an annual basis, with the meetings taking place during the conferences in odd-numbered years and during the CMX Expo that takes place in Toronto in even-numbered years.

During the recent RSES Canada conference, officials said the move was made to encourage a stronger turnout of exhibitors and attendees, some of whom voiced concern about having to commit to two high-profile trade shows in the even-numbered years.

(RSES Canada is part of RSES International but holds its own conferences, board meetings, and business meetings. RSES International will continue to hold annual educational conferences that will include board and business meetings on an international level.)

In a related development, RSES Canada announced plans to hold its 2005 conference in Saint John, New Brunswick, and the 2007 conference in Edmonton, Alberta.

Business Matters

At the Niagara Falls conference, the board continued to look at its dues structure in light of the varying exchange rate of U.S. and Canadian dollars. All members of RSES Canada are also members of RSES International, with dues paid in U.S. dollars.

RSES Canada noted that its own Web site, www.rsescanada.com, has information geared to its members.

After a number of years of declining members, officials said the trend appears to have leveled off. They are looking for the return to a steady increase in memberships.

The society continues to be involved in various environmental matters. This includes the requirement that technicians in Ontario secure an Ozone Depletion Prevention (ODP) card in order to purchase refrigerants. The society’s CFC coordinator, Gary Struhar, noted, “With the implementation of an Ontario upgrade, wholesalers are turning down people without an ODP card in their possession. This has resulted in an increase in ODP training.”

The board also reported on continuing efforts to translate the RSES Certificate Member exam into French. Representatives said a copy of the exam is being sent to a translation service in Toronto. Then an RSES member who speaks English and French plans to take the CM exam in English. Once he passes the exam, he would look at the French translation from a technical standpoint.

Awards

Among awards presented during the Niagara Falls conference was a Certificate Member Specialist in Electrical to Garth Dennison, making him the first Canadian to earn all six CMS honors awarded by RSES International. (The others are in General Refrigeration, Domestic Refrigeration, Air-Conditioning, Controls, and Heating.) He was also given the HRAI Award for highest CMS grade in Canada.

Dennison has been in the industry for 40 years, including tenure as a college teacher and as a representative of a number of manufacturers. He has also served on numerous industry committees and has been president of both RSES International and RSES Canada.

Andre Patenaude of Emerson Climate Technologies was recognized as speaker of the year. The Central Ontario Chapter in Kitchener, Ontario, was cited for outstanding chapter achievement with the W.J.A. Marshall Award. Two members — Albert Hellier of Calgary, Alberta, and John Derraugh of Ottawa — were each recognized for 55 years of membership. Derraugh was also awarded an honorary lifetime membership.

The H.T. McDermott Award for Outstanding RSES Canada Member went to Dennis Larson of Vancouver. The Mary Syer Award for outstanding secretary went to Perry Maxfield of the Southern Interior Chapter, Kelowna, British Columbia. The Irvin M. Bodine Award for highest CM grade was presented by Madok Manufacturing, to Neill Arnold of Calgary, Alberta. Spirit of RSES Award for those in the society for less than five years was given to Allen Myers of Kelowna.

Outstanding Exhibitor at the conference was Ontor Ltd. of Toronto.

Sidebar: Sporlan Canada To Launch Monthly E-Mail Tech Notes

NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario — Sporlan Canada is taking training to the e-mail route. During the RSES Canada Conference, officials announced plans to start a free e-mail service in June.

A one-time registration with Canada.cold@sporlan.com will result in monthly e-mailing of technical materials, most of which are of a generic nature. Some 30 items have been prepared so far for a monthly release. These will include ARI Standard 550, cap tube sizing, alternative refrigerants, fault finders, torque specs, cascade systems, and the ups and downs of servicing.

The title of the program is Cold W.A.R. (Whether Heating or Air Conditioning) and is “an information network program designed to provide the service technician with an ongoing collection of technical information topic papers.”

The program is an e-mail program only, meaning those receiving the documents will have to print them out or download them into their own database for use outside of e-mail.

It was also noted that a wide range of inventoried information other than Cold W.A.R. materials will continue to be available at www.sporlan.com.

Publication date: 07/14/2003