2004 COPA Recipients

Alexandre was born in Montreal in1979. From a very early age, Alexandre da Costa showed an uncommon interest for both the violin and piano. By the age of nine, he had the astounding ability to perform his first concerts with stunning virtuosity on both instruments, which brought him recogni- tion as a musical prodigy. At the age of 18, Alexandre received a Master’s degree in violin, Premier Prix Concours, from the Quebec Conservatory of Music where he studied with Johanne Arel. Over the past ten years, Alexandre has appeared as soloist in over five hundred recitals and concerts throughout Canada, U.S.A., Mexico, France, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Romania, Japan and Taiwan. He has participated in national and international music competitions where he won several first prizes, as well as appearances at prestigious music festivals, television and radio programs. Recently, Alexandre da Costa was awarded the ‘Prix Silva Gelber’, the prize for most talented Canadian artist of the year under 30.

Mike Ribeiro was born in Montreal in 1980. He was drafted by the Montreal Canadians as their 2nd round choice (45th selection overall) in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, Ribeiro made his NHL debut Oct. 2, 1999 against Toronto Maple Leafs at the age of 19.  Twenty-one days later, he scored his first NHL goal against Toronto. In 2001-02, Ribeiro played more than half his team’s games for the first time, scoring eight goals and adding 10 assists in 43 games.  In the 2003-04 season his experience within the league was displayed by leading his team in points (65) and goals (20). Before joining the NHL, the centre scored 292 points during two seasons (1997-98 and 1998-99) with Rouyn-Noranda and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.  In his first season, he won Offensive  Rookie of the Year.  In his second, he led the league in points with 67 goals and 100 assists.

Elvino Sousa was born in Graciosa, Açores and immigrated to Canada in 1970 at the age of 13. With a “quarta-classe” from Portugal and unable to speak English, he found himself starting grade 7 in a class for new Canadians. By grade 13, Elvino rose to the top of his class with an overall average of 94%. He was accepted by the highly prestigious program of Engineering Science at the University of Toronto where he received a B.A.Sc. in Engineering Science in 1980 and M.A.Sc. in Electrical Engineering in 1982. He then went to the University of Southern California and received his Ph.D. in 1985. Elvino Sousa was hired by U of T as an assistant professor under the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Univerisity Research Fellowship program. He later received tenure and promotion to Associate Professor and then to Full Professor (Professor Catedratico). He now holds the prestigious Bell University Labs (BUL) Endowed Chair in Computer Engineering. Elvino’s international reputation has grown rapidly and he has been invited to give lectures, seminars and courses on wireless technologies and CDMA in Canada and all over the world, including USA, Japan, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Australia, Finland, Netherlands, U.K., Germany, France, Brazil, and Portugal.

Dr. Kim J. Vicente grew up in Toronto after emigrating with his parents from Portugal at the age of three. He  received a B.A.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Toronto in 1985,   an M.S. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1987, and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1991. He is presently a Professor of Engineering at the University of Toronto, and Founding Director of U of T’s Cognitive Engineering Laboratory. During 2002-2003, he was Distinguished Visiting Professor of Aerospace Information Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the author of  “The Human Factor: Revolutionizing the Way People Live with Technology”,  for which he was awarded the 2003 National Business Book Award. He was chosen by TIME Magazine as one of 25 Canadians under the age of 40 who is a “Leader for the 21st Century who will shape Canada’s future”. In 2002, he became the first engineering professor ever to receive the $100,000 McLean Award. In 2003, he received the E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship. Dr. Vicente has spoken in nine countries on four continents, and has also advised scores of industries and government agencies including NASA, NATO, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, Microsoft and Nortel.

Arlindo Vieira was born at Serra de S. António, Portugal in 1951. He immigrated to Canada, settling in Montreal, Quebec. In 1978, he was the first Portuguese-Canadian to be admitted to the Quebec Bar. Later he worked as a civil servant for Quebec’s Ministry of Culture and Immigration. In 1995, Arlindo was appointed by the Government of Quebec as President, Conseil des Relations Interculturelles, an autonomous organization created by the Quebec government to assist immigrants settling in Quebec and to ease their integration into Quebec society. He served as Founding President of l’Alliance des Professionnels et Entrepreneurs Portugais du Québec from 1990-1992 and as President, de la Caisse d’économie des Portugais from 1987-1989. He was also an administrator at the Centre Portugais de Référence et de Promotion Sociale from 1978-1980. Arlindo was the official candidate for the Parti Québéçois in the provincial elections, 1985, for the riding of Saint-Louis.