DECADE for a renewable planet

Solar King And Queen

Two students will be crowned Solar King and Queen prior to DECADE. Applicants must be in secondary school, college or university, from any country in the world. Each much have demonstrable renewable, sustainable innovations under their belt. All will be judged according to their relative level of education and age group.

The process:

An illustrious Judging Panel will review all applications and select twenty candidates, ten for King, ten for Queen
These finalists will be judged on-line by the world. The young man and young woman with the most votes will be crowned.

What will DECADE Solar King and Queen receive?

they will be seated on their thrones on the final float of the DECADE Parade
all travel expenses will be paid from whichever country they spring
they will be treated as Royalty throughout the weekend with the best seats and access to all events.
a scholarship toward a renewable/sustainable educational institution of their choice
they will wear their Solar Crowns and get to keep them
if an interpreter is required, this will be supplied
valuable renewable gifts and a gift bag
a speaking engagement to present their work at DECADE
lots of media attention and fun

CONTEST DIRECTORS

Volker Thomsen

Volker Thomsen
Volker Thomsen assumed his duties as President and CEO of St. Lawrence College on October 1, 2000. In September 2004 St. Lawrence College Board of Governors appointed Volker Thomsen for a second five-year term.
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Dale Dolan

Dale Dolan
Dale Dolan is the chair and president of the board of directors of Windy Hills Caledon Renewable Energy. He is an executive Chair of the 7th World Wind Energy Conference 2008 (WWEC 2008).
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STUDENT CONTEST ENTRY FORM
Click here to enter to win the Solar King or Queen Contest

Volker Thomsen

President and CEO
St. Lawrence College

Volker Thomsen assumed his duties as President and CEO of St. Lawrence College on October 1, 2000. In September 2004 St. Lawrence College Board of Governors appointed Volker Thomsen for a second five-year term, from 2005 to 2010.

Thomsen has more than 30 years experience as a successful founder, shareholder and CEO of a group of companies in the food, natural health products, pharmaceutical manufacturing and marketing sectors. He has, furthermore, during the same period been involved in renewable energy, particularly in Denmark and Germany. He participated in planning wind parks in conjunction with biomass reactors, enabling rural communities to combine energy in a meaningful way and be independent of outside supplies. September 2001, St. Lawrence established its first wind generator at the Cornwall Campus. Presently there are plans for a big wind generator on the Kingston Campus, and the College is engaged in a large-scale community plan for renewable energy. The solar, heat pump and wind fueled SLC Energy House is demonstrator in partnership with the local school boards. Thomsen is one of the visionaries behind the first $410 million wind park in Kingston that will be launched on Wolfe Island 2008/9.

May of 2006, Thomsen spearheaded the foundation of the World Wind Energy Institute; participants from institutes spanning five continents met on St. Lawrence College’s Kingston campus to activate this global network of educational and renewable energy institutes dedicated to student exchange and learning in the field of renewable and sustainable energies.

Thomsen has also been actively engaged in music and in the arts, both in Europe and in Canada. In this capacity he is also the founder of “Festivals on the St. Lawrence.” This international festival in Northern New York and Eastern Ontario is focused on music, art and heritage on both sides of the river.

Volker Thomsen has worked most of his life in his international businesses located in over 20 countries, including Canada. In addition to founding numerous successful international companies, Thomsen has participated on the boards of these companies as a director and as a shareholder. He was also a leading director of a small co-operative bank in his hometown Flensburg, an old Danish city on the German/Danish border, and remained on its supervisory board for fifteen years.

Thomsen's interest in education, adult learning and training began early in his career. Having experienced apprenticeship training first-hand, Thomsen is a strong advocate for apprenticeship programs, vocational programs and community colleges in Canada. He was a member of the Ministers Action Table and of the Ontario MTCU (Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities) Training Branch Steering Committee for Reforming Apprenticeships, where he has participated in reforming apprenticeships and in creating a Co-op Diploma Apprenticeship program, an innovative approach which is expanding rapidly. During his membership of the steering committee the annual funding for Training and Apprenticeships in Ontario was increased from annually $ 500 million to $1.2 billion dollar and the intake was almost doubled to 26.000 apprentices annually. He was also the driving force behind SLC creating its first three bachelor degrees, and initiating the first two CITO funded applied research projects.

Thomsen has received numerous awards. Latest examples:

In 2003 the Greater Kingston Area Chamber of Commerce “Business Person of the Year”.

In 2006 he received two MTCU Apprenticeships awards.

In February 2007 He was honoured with the Kingston Technology Council Champion Award.

March 2007 “Klaus Woerner Skilled Trades Hall of Fame“ by Skills Canada in Kitchener.

In the future Volker Thomsen is dedicating his energy to leading and finalizing the World Wind Energy Conference 2008 in Kingston, supporting his wife in building the Thomsen Foundation for a Sustainable Future with the focus on economic development in clean energy, environment and supporting students in needs with training and learning. He is a board member of the World Wind Energy Association, of the World Wind Energy Institute and of the World Council for Renewable Energy and as an advisor for various governments he is involved locally and globally in policy preparation and advancement of energy efficiency as well as clean and sustainable energies and the resulting economic development.

His last book “Canada Enroute to Prosperity” an Inspiration for Innovation and Job Creation was a great success and has been used extensively by policy makers across the country. His next book “The One House Revolution” is an outcome of the conversion of his home to a fully self-contained unit including year round in door and outdoor vegetable growing.

“Winds of Change” the documentary film he has helped to create is in the final editing process and will in September start its virtual presentation tour in Eastern Ontario School boards via the educational program link hosted by local cable stations and from there continue on to the rest of Canada and USA.

Dale Dolan

Dale Dolan

Dale Dolan is the chair and president of the board of directors of Windy Hills Caledon Renewable Energy. He is an executive Chair of the 7th World Wind Energy Conference 2008 (WWEC 2008). He is a member of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and Town of Caledon Wind Committee and has served on the OPA Transmission Constraints and Generation Options Working Group. He has earned BASc. and MASc. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Toronto, and an Honours BSc. in Zoology and Environmental Science and a BEd from the University of Western Ontario. His research interests include wind power generation, electromagnetics and power electronic applications for distributed generation. He will be completing his PhD in Electrical Engineering at the University of Toronto shortly and joining the electrical engineering faculty of California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo in early 2009 where he will continue his renewable energy research. He is committed to making renewable energy a strong component of the world's supply mix and to this end is currently involved in developing a Standard Offer Program Wind Power project in the local community.