2015 Medal Winners | francais

PRESS RELEASE / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The 2015 CAP Award for Excellence in Teaching High School/CEGEP Physics (Quebec and Nunavut)

is awarded to

Raynald Richer

"I am happy, as well as surprised and honoured, to receive this award. I would like to thank the Canadian Association of Physicists and its partners for their generosity. This award is a great opportunity to go further in the popularization activities of physics conducted by the Centre de démonstration scientifique, and to promote them." winner quote

The Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) is pleased to announce that the 2015 CAP Award for Excellence in Teaching High School/CEGEP Physics (Quebec and Nunavut) is awarded to Raynald Richer, Cégep de Chicoutimi, in recognition of for his excellent working at popularizing physics for students. A founder of the Science demonstration Centre in Saguenay Lac- St-Jean, M. Richer has led the fight against students dropping out of science at a regional level. His innovative use of demonstrations communicating physical phenomena of sound, air, light, electricity, and more, have pushed many students to pursue science at higher levels of education. announcement

Raynald Richer has been teaching physics for more than 20 years at Cégep de Chicoutimi. Passionate for that discipline since his childhood, he managed to share his interest for physical sciences with many generations of students.

In addition to his teaching activities, he has been involved in many extra-curricular activities, such as the "Science on tourne" contest, and the CAP High School/Cégep Prize Exam. He also seized a chance during the World Year of Physics to organize a Week of Physics, which involved all academic institutions of Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region. Mr. Richer was involved at the table for the promotion of sciences, and contributed to organize "Fous de la science", the regional scientific festival. He still remains active in the festival by hosting two stands in collaboration with the Department of Physics, and giving a series of conferences to promote physical sciences.

Finally, he created a mobile centre of scientific demonstration, which has been promoting physical sciences in high schools and public events for more than five years. His conferences in the region have attracted more than 20,000 students so far, and they are greatly enjoyed by students and teachers. To conclude, let’s note that, in 2013, Mr. Richer received the Alphonse-Huard award for the promotion of sciences and technologies last year in recognition of his involvement in the promotion of sciences in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region. nominator citation

The CAP Award for Excellence in Teaching High School/CEGEP Physics, which was introduced in 2010, is intended to recognize excellence in teaching physics in Canadian high schools or CEGEPs and to encourage and promote physics at the high school/CEGEP level in Canada. The award is sponsored by the CAP, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, TRIUMF, Nelson Education, and the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC. medal description

The Canadian Association of Physicists, founded in 1945, is a professional association representing over 1600 individual physicists and physics students in Canada, the U.S. and overseas, as well as a number of Corporate, Institutional, and Departmental Members. In addition to its learned activities, the CAP also undertakes a number of activities intended to encourage students to pursue a career in physics. cap description

joint description

- 30 -

For more information, please contact: Canadian Association of Physicists Tel: 613-562-5614 Fax: 613-562-5615 E-mail: cap@uottawa.ca