Canadian Aerospace Summit to bring sector players together in Ottawa

The Aerospace Industries Association of Canada will be staging the Canadian Aerospace Summit to be held at the Shaw Centre in Ottawa on November 15-16, presenting a speaker line-up to discuss current trends and the future of Canada’s aerospace sector, and to offer its more than 1,000 participants access to industry decision-makers through two days of networking.
The annual conference and trade show attracts an audience primarily made up of C-suite executives, government officials and aerospace industry stakeholders.
“The Canadian Aerospace Summit is proud to bring world industry leaders to Ottawa to take part in this unique event, featuring exciting presentations and panel discussions focused on the trends and strategies that are shaping the future of the aerospace industry,” said AIAC President and CEO Jim Quick. “The presence of these prestigious speakers shows that our event has become a must-attend event for anyone in the industry.”
The conference’s keynote speaker will be federal Minister of Public Services and Procurement, Judy Foote.
Other talks worth keeping an eye on will be a speech by Boeing Military Aircraft president Shelley Lavender, called “Innovating for Today, Investing in Tomorrow”, and also the Innovation Panel, featuring UBC Professor of Computer Science Arvind Gupta, CAE CTO Marc St-Hilaire, Rockwell Collins Canada managing director Lee Obst, MHI Canada president Mike McCarthy, L-3 Wescam president Mike Greenley, and President & CEO of the Consortium for Aerospace Research and Innovation in Canada, Denis Faubert.
That panel will discuss the importance of innovation for positioning Canada’s aerospace industry to compete on a global stage, and CARIC’s role in that process, now and into the future.
Export Development Canada (EDC) Vice President & Chief Economist, Peter Hall, will be presenting a talk with a provocative title, called “Have We Lost Our Nerve?”, which although it addresses challenges specific to the aerospace industry in an increasingly volatile global political and economic climate, sounds like it may be relevant to the Canadian tech and innovation sector as a whole.
“Momentum continues to build in the US economy, and in spite of a very divisive election, consumers are still positive,” says his talk’s synopsis. “The EU economies are also picking up. But at the same time, Brexit and the US election are raising serious questions about the future of international trade. What will all this lead to, and how is it all affecting the world economy, and demand conditions for the aerospace sector?”
The B2B trade show component of the Canadian Aerospace Summit allows exhibitors to network directly with specific procurement representatives from over 20 major aerospace sector companies, along with other suppliers and potential business partners, and also provides special OEM meeting spaces for meeting with supply chain representatives from major Canadian OEMs.
Featured speakers include:

• Alain Bellemare, President and CEO, Bombardier
• Marillyn A. Hewson, Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer, Lockheed Martin Corporation
• Phil Jasper, EVP & COO, Rockwell Collins Government Systems
• Howard L. Lance, President & Chief Executive Officer, MDA
• Vice Admiral William Landay, (USN.Ret), Senior Advisor, Avascent Global Advisors
• Shelley Lavender, President, Boeing Military Aircraft
• Mitch Snyder, President, Bell Helicopter

Other government ministers and expert speakers include:

• Hon. Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development
• Hon. Judy Foote, Minister of Public Services and Procurement
• Manfred Hader, Senior Partner, Roland Berger
• Peter Hall, Vice President & Chief Economist, Export Development Canada (EDC)