Invited Speakers

Dr. Mehran Anvari Director, Center for Minimal Access Surgery Keynote Speaker Opening Ceremony - Monday, May 17

The members of the Organizing Committee are proud to welcome as a keynote speaker Dr. Mehran Anvari as part of the opening ceremony. Dr. Mehran Anvari received a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne in 1983 and a PhD from the University of Adelaide, Australia, in 1996. Dr. Anvari has a Fellowship in General Surgery from the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He is currently a professor in the department of surgery at McMaster and, since 1999, is also the Director of the Center for Minimal Access Surgery. Dr. Anvari is a pioneer in telerobotic surgery and he will share with us the results of his work and his experiences.

Colonel Richard L. Reaser, Jr. Chief Engineer of the Navstar GPS Joint Program Office Keynote Speaker Opening Ceremony - Monday, May 17

Colonel Richard L. Reaser, Jr. is Chief Engineer of the Navstar GPS Joint Program Office. Colonel Reaser will provide an overview on the evolution of GPS that includes a historical perspective, the current status and challenges as well as plans and future prospects for GPS. He is a 1978 graduate of the Air Force Academy and holds Masters Degrees from the Naval Postgraduate School and the National Defense University. Colonel Reaser has had a wide variety of assignments in space system acquisition program offices, Air Force Space Command, United States Space Command, the Air Staff, Office of the Secretary of Defense, State Department and the White House. To date, he has spent nine years in the GPS Joint Program Office in three separate tours. He is currently the US Co-Chair of the US/EU GPS/Galileo Experts Working Group and US Co-Chair of the US/Japan GPS/Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) Technical Working Group.