| Canadian universities and Canadian technology companies combine for an assault on Mount Everest
Ottawa , Wednesday, January 19th, 2005: On March 25 th 2005, a party of Canadian climbers and hikers will set off on an assault on the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest .
The expedition will be led by Dr Sean Egan, an accomplished mountaineer and professor in the School of Human Kinetics at University of Ottawa , and Peter Luk, director, School of Business Management , Ryerson University .
Accompanying the climbing expedition for three weeks is a party of hikers that includes senior IT executives from private and public Canadian organizations and leaders from the Ryerson University Business School . They will trek through Nepal to the Everest Base Camp, starting from the exotic city of Kathmandu .
The expedition is sponsored by Kanatek Technologies , an independent storage systems integrator based in Ottawa , specializing in data availability, email archiving, and back up and recovery solutions. Kanatek has a long tradition of hosting innovative events and Kanatek president, Terry Kell says, “We want to put Canadian IT solutions on top of the world. We will be using the latest in communications technology to demonstrate data recovery in a hostile environment.”
The expedition is co-sponsored by ProCurve Networking by HP, a supplier of enterprise networking solutions, and SkyWave Mobile Communications, a world leader in satellite-based asset tracking, monitoring, and control.
Expedition leader, Dr Egan, says, “Two very well-respected Canadian universities are working together on this expedition to complete some vital research. If we can get to the summit it will be an added bonus.”
University of Ottawa and Ryerson University have prepared research plans on coping with hypoxia (an absence of oxygen reaching living tissues) , the relationships between fitness and ageing, and sport tourism in the context of extreme adventure.
This is Dr Egan's third trip to the mountain, and it will be his first summit attempt. If he his successful in his bid, he will be the oldest Canadian to summit Mount Everest . In preparation for his Everest expedition, Dr Egan is currently conditioning by climbing Mount Aconcagua in Argentina (22,841 feet). Mount Everest is 29,028 feet.
It is also planned to play a game of shinny hockey around the Khumbu glacier on Mount Everest , taking the game to new heights.
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More information on the expedition is available at: www.kanatek.com/everest
Kanatek is an independent systems integrator specializing in data availability, networked storage, and back up and recovery solutions. For over 20 years, Kanatek has been designing; implementing and supporting complex solutions for its clients to help them deliver the best returns on their IT investment. For more information please visit www.kanatek.com
The ProCurve Networking business unit of HP is a supplier of enterprise networking solutions comprising wired and wireless enterprise networking products, services and solutions - including Ethernet switches, routing switches, wireless access points and network-management applications - which allow customers to build networks based on open standards that meet current and future needs for security, performance and reliability. For more information please visit http://www.hp.com/rnd/index.htm
SkyWave Mobile Communications is an Inmarsat D+ satellite terminal manufacturer and service provider. SkyWave offers solutions combining Inmarsat D+ satellite terminals, network airtime and low-cost, short-message services (SMS) that enable customers to track, monitor and control assets globally, and to gather asset intelligence and exception reports anytime, anywhere. For more information please visit www.skywave.com For more detailed information on the expedition please contact:
Tim Redpath
Train of Thoughts
Office: (613) 836 9516
Cell: (613) 293 9310
Email: tim@trainofthoughts.ca |
