Activities Manager VE3KI Richard 'Rich' Ferch Richmond, ON, Canada QCWA # 33456 Chapter 70

Ferch was born in Fort William, Ontario (now Thunder Bay) in 1947. His interests in electronics, kit building and SWLing began in high school, but he did not become a radio amateur until 1978 while working in Pinawa Manitoba, thanks to his Elmer, Jim Barrie VE4FK (SK). His first call sign was VE4AEO, which he exchanged for VE3IAY upon moving to Ottawa in 1980. He got his present call sign, VE3KI, in 2006, and in 2009 was able to re-obtain his original VE4AEO call sign, which he uses while visiting with family in Manitoba.

Although he does not consider himself to be a serious DXer, Ferch has always had an interest in DXing. He has achieved DXCC on each of the eight HF bands and is working towards 160m DXCC. However, his main amateur radio activity is contesting. He is an active contester, mainly in CW and RTTY. He is also a member of the development and documentation team for the N1MM Logger contesting software.

He is a Life Member of QCWA and a current member of ARRL, RAC, the CW Operators Club, Contest Club Ontario and the North American QRP CW Club. He served as Radio Amateurs of Canada's Vice President, Regulatory Affairs during 2006-2011 and is the trustee for all of RAC's 19 club call signs. He joined QCWA as a Life Member in 2006 and has been on the executive of QCWA Chapter 70 since 2008, first as a Director, later Vice-President and now President of the Chapter.

Ferch has degrees in Applied Mathematics from the University of Waterloo and Cornell University. He has developed and used computational models to study problems in astrophysics, plasma physics and nuclear reactor safety. After working at the Cornell Laboratory for Plasma Physics and at Atomic Energy of Canada's Whiteshell Nuclear Research Establishment, he joined the Canadian nuclear regulatory agency (formerly the AECB, now the CNSC) in 1980, where he worked in a variety of capacities until his retirement in 2006. During that time, he served as a Canadian representative on a number of international committees and working groups in the area of nuclear waste safety, and he continues to do contract work on related topics. He is married with two adult children.

July 29, 2014