S UMMER 2006 WWW. ENGINEERING. UALBERTA. CA

Keeping in Touch with Alumni

Mechanical PettingZoo

K-One is a K-Win Double Dare Top Jockey at Colt The Forbes 500 Entrepreneurs Greetings from the Assistant Dean

elcome to the Summer 2006 issue of your U of A Engineer alumni magazine. This magazine is W created and issued by the External Relations office in the Faculty of Engineering. Our mission is the advancement of the Faculty—informing, engaging, and involving our alumni and friends of the Faculty. Over the past six years, we have vigorously pursued our goal of encouraging alumni to collaborate with us, building on the strong tradition of excellence in engineering. This partnership, along with a spirit of optimism and growth, has helped build the pride we share for the Faculty of Engineering. The ongoing involvement of Engineering alumni has been the foundation for our success. Our desire to involve alumni with Faculty initiatives has led us to develop different opportunities for your participation. Whether providing design engineering cases for fourth-year design project teams, or arranging “engineer-in-residence” visits, alumni continue to shape our present and our future. Your impact is felt in our classrooms, labs, and lecture halls and around the world, as U of A engineers continue to influence the engineering profession. Our commitment is to foster a lasting relationship with our alumni and to serve our engineering community in all its diversity. Please visit our website, contact us to find out how you can become involved, or come to one of our many alumni receptions held throughout the year. Don't forget to mark your calendar for our biggest alumni gathering of the year, Reunion 2006, held on the U of A campus from September 29 to October 1. On behalf of the Faculty of Engineering, I thank all alumni, corporate partners, and professors emeriti for continuing to strengthen and improve your Faculty of Engineering for future generations.

David M. Petis Assistant Dean, External Relations

Faculty of ENGINEERING University of Alberta

Vision To be one of the largest Mission To prepare top Values Dedication, integrity, and most accomplished engineering quality engineering professionals, professionalism, and excellence in teaching and research centres, to conduct world-leading research, teaching, research, and service to the a leader in North America. and to celebrate the first-class global economy and community. reputation and outstanding accomplishments of alumni.

2 U of A Engineer Table Summer 2006 of Contents

FEATURES 6 K-One is a K-Win In 2001, Beng Fook Lim (MSc Mechanical ’99) started the K-One Group, a one-stop shop in Malaysia that designs, develops, and manufactures high-end electronic products. Lim has nurtured the s c i

company from its inception to m a n a sales figure of $4 million US y D

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in 2004. Last year it was t 10 s o

ranked by Deloitte B International as one of the 500 fastest growing DEPARTMENTS technology companies in Asia 21 Nova’s Supernova Pacific. And K-One’s key clients Walentin (Val) Mirosh (Chemical ’68) was 5 Letter to the Editor include all the “big boys” of elec- technically born into slavery, less than a tronics—Sony Ericsson, Nokia, Logitech, 27 Virtual Engineer month before the conclusion of the Second and Hitachi, to name only a few. Meet Pedro Gluecksmann World War. Now he’s the Calgary-based (Civil ’67). vice president of Nova Chemicals Corp. and COVER STORY the company’s senior officer in Canada. 34 Cross Hairs on History— 10 Mechanical Petting Zoo 24 Top Jockey at Colt From Parched Earth to Aaron Saunders (Mechanical ’00) runs a An entrepreneurial aptitude and a Fertile Field: The Story mechanical petting zoo. Saunders, a lifelong love of making things led Larry of the Brooks Aqueduct project manager with Boston Dynamics, is Benke (Electrical ’73) through a series An enormous engineering working on some of the coolest robots on of career-building milestones and, challenge at the beginning of the planet—robots that swim underwater ultimately, to the leadership of Colt the last century led to the and climb walls. Many of their ideas come Engineering, one of the busiest building of what was then the from studying the diverse motions of hydrocarbon process and industrial facility world’s greatest irrigation living creatures, including geckoes, engineering companies in the country. system, largest human-made cockroaches, and horses. lake, second largest dam (after 28 The Forbes 500 14 Double Dare Entrepreneurs the Aswan Dam in Egypt), and USA Today reported late last year that Gambling on a single web page paid off largest raised aqueduct since Len Forbes (Engineering Physics ’62) was Roman times. for Sam and Andy Prochazka (both 10th on a list of the top utility patent- Computer ’01). Now, roughly 2,000 real holders in the United States. By his own 36 engineer.alum@ estate sales agents and brokers in western estimate, Forbes has about 500 patents, ualberta.ca Canada subscribe to RealPageMaker, many shared with colleagues from indus- 37 In memoriam software support for realtors. try and academia, and all held by RealPageMaker has agreements with a companies for which he has done con- 37 Reunion 2006 growing number of real estate boards tract work during his 40-year career. including Edmonton, Calgary, and 38 Kudos Vancouver. 30 Green Building—A Child of the 60s Helps Change the 18 Marilyn’s Loss, World Engineering’s Gain A champion of the cause, Ian Theaker Marilyn Monroe might have changed (Mechanical ’86) advocated for green everything for T.W. Fraser Russell building since his high school days in the (Chemical ’56, MSc Chemical ’58). 1970s. Now program manager for Although he may have missed out on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental delights of Hollywood, he has done very Design (LEED) for the Canada Green well as an engineer. Dr. Russell is a Building Council, Theaker has plans for renowned teacher, consultant for the 112 building projects across Canada that chemical process industry, and chief are seeking LEED certification as green engineer for a major research program on buildings. thin film photovoltaic cells. 18

U of A Engineer 3 EngineerUofA Summer 2006 Issue 20

U of A Engineer is the Faculty Message of Engineering alumni magazine. It is published three times from a year by the Dean’s Office and the is distributed to Faculty of Engineering alumni, friends, Editor and staff. Dean of Engineering David T. Lynch It is my pleasure to introduce a new colleague, Matt (PhD Chemical ’82), PEng Ferguson, who is development and communications coordinator Assistant Dean, External Relations for Mechanical Engineering. Ferguson has put together a four- David M. Petis

page discipline-specific insert for this magazine. If you are a External Relations Team Melanie Bailey, Mandi Cronin, graduate of Mechanical Engineering you have received a special Matt Ferguson, Peggy Hansen, Allyson Haug, Ana Herrera, issue of U of A Engineer with this insert. Katherine Irwin, Leanne Nickel, and Laurie Shinkaruk. This insert features Dr. Peter Flynn’s imagi- native response to global warming. His Publisher/Managing Editor Sherrell Steele research involves mobilizing 8,000 barges Copy Editor moving into the northern ocean in the fall, to Scott Rollans

pump sea water. It’s a bold proposal but not Art Direction Halkier + Dutton Strategic an inexpensive one. Intrigued? Design The insert also introduces grad student Contributing writers Erin Searcy who is spinning straw not into and photographers Bluefish Studios, Boston gold but into alternative fuels sources. These environmentally Dynamics, Connie Bryson, Andrea Collins, Phoebe Dey, friendly sources of electricity result in fewer greenhouse gas E.I.D. Archives & Library, Don Hammond Photography emissions than traditional fuels. Ltd., Tom Keyser, K-One, Debby Waldman, and You will also become familiar with a new combustion Bruce White.

concept that has potential to reduce the fuel consumption of Send your comments to: Sherrell Steele vehicle engines while significantly lowering some of the exhaust Faculty of Engineering emissions. E6-050 Engineering Teaching & Learning Complex If you are a graduate of a discipline other than Mechanical University of Alberta Edmonton, AB T6G 2V4 Engineering and if you are interested in this insert, please Tel: 780.492.4514 or 1.800.407.8354 contact me at [email protected] Fax: 780.492.0500 E-mail: I hope you enjoy this special insert. In fact, I hope you enjoy [email protected] Website: all the content in summer issue of the magazine. Feedback is http://www.engineering.ualberta.ca

always welcome. Contact me at 780.492.4514 or at Cover photo: LittleDog from Boston Dynamics. [email protected].

Publications Mail Agreement No. 40051128 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Faculty of Engineering, University of Alberta E6-050 Engineering Teaching & Learning Complex Edmonton, AB T6G 2V4 e-mail: [email protected] 4 U of A Engineer Dear Editor: am writing in reference to the article and now NA 337 which will be the only tech- I“Restoring NA337 A Labour of Love,” by nically correct Mark 7 aircraft in the world.” Lois Hammond, in the summer 2005 issue of Anyone following the progress of this U of A Engineer. mammoth task managed by Mr. Tytula over The article contains errors in three places, the past ten years will be aware that on more as noted below, which are misleading and can than one occasion there have been exchanges confuse the real circumstances. The opening between the Yorkshire Air Museum in sentence of the article states, “… the Halifax Elvington and the restoration team in Bomber Command Memorial bomber was raised out of its watery grave…” Trenton, openly mentioned in restoration This statement is incorrect because the air- progress reports from the restoration team. groups in the occupied countries (what NA337 craft referred to is NA337, which, technical- The Halifax Aircraft Association's web was performing when shot down), and as glider ly, is not a bomber. page (www.halibag.com) has a link, “Other tugs. This type did not have the mid-upper tur- Halifax,” which contains a write-up ret installed to provide more room for person- (although some information is incorrect) on nel, or the H2S radar installed on the underside. Halifax LV 907, Friday the 13, which is The hole in the floor for the H2S was modified located at the Yorkshire Air Museum, Allied for dropping supplies or to function as the exit Air Forces Memorial in Elvington, Yorkshire, for paratroops. This is the type of Halifax pic- just outside the City of York. This aircraft is tured across pages 38 and 39 in the article. a Halifax BMk I11 bomber fully restored to The type “B” bomber is self-explanatory. WWII condition. It is housed in the Canadian The majority of Halifaxes built were this Memorial T-2 Hangar, a wartime Bomber type, serving with 4 Group and 6 (RCAF) Halifax LV 907, Friday the 13th Command hangar, the purchase and erection Group in RAF Bomber Command. at the Yorkshire Air Museum of which was funded by the Canada Branch Type “C”, a post-war designation, is The first two sentences of paragraph eight of the Yorkshire Air Museum. basically a cargo aircraft and used in the of the article state, “The only other Halifax in The writer also makes reference to Mr. Berlin airlift. the world sits unrestored in the Royal Air Force Tytula's restoration progress report in “The Type “GR” is a Coastal Command version. Museum in Britain. ‘None exist intact today ‘Halibag’ Newsletter,” summer 2000 issue. Regardless of these criticisms, the restora- and this makes NA337 very, very special’.” Here is a selection for background, ‘The final tion of Halifax NA 337 is a monumental and says Tytula. configuration of the restoration is not ‘cut magnificent achievement, of which Mr. There are in fact three Halifax aircraft in and dried.’ NA337 is a MK VII A Halifax Tytula, the gifted members of the restoration the world today—a reconstructed BMk III configured for special operations executive team, and the Halifax Aircraft Association bomber at Elvington, Yorkshire, the unrestored activities. Most Canadians flew MK 111 B and members can be justly proud. It will remains of a BMk II bomber, W1048, in the (Bomber) Halifaxes and many members stand as an outstanding tribute to all the RAF Museum, Hendon, and the fully restored would like to see this aircraft presented as a Canadian men and women who served in the NA337 in the RCAF Museum at Trenton, MK 111. Some of the best examples of our Allied Air Forces during WWII, and a memo- Ontario. Yes, NA337 is special, but the real indecisiveness are … do we want HZS, a mid- rial to all who gave their lives on our behalf. reason is obscured. upper turret, etc. For the present we intend to Ms. Hammond's article and its publication Consider the following. The writer refers leave all options open.” in the U of A Engineer are most commendable, to the R.C.A.F. Museum, Trenton, Ontario The author may be excused for perhaps and I thank you for it. We in Canada have a (www.rcafmuseum.on.ca) and the article quoting Mr. Tytula out of context due to the tendency to belittle our military participation under the heading “The Move of The technical nuances of the subject matter. On the in WWII, but we should be very proud of the Halifax.” The article states,“After the Second other hand, some due diligence investigation of part played by Canadians, particularly by 6 World War all of the remaining Halifax air- the two mentioned websites should have trig- (RCAF) Group of Bomber Command. craft were scrapped. Today, from a total of gered questions that suggested clarification Memorials such as NA337, right here in over 6,000 which were built, only three may be necessary before publishing the article. Canada, will enable the next generations to remain, two of which are in England: the first For general information, and to clarify the better see and understand the role our country a composite rebuild which incorporates parts difference between “B” and “A” types, the performed and the sacrifice paid by those men from other Halifaxes and another type of air- following is a brief explanation of the some and women who served on our behalf. craft [the Elvington Mk I11 bomber, my of the “types” of Halifaxes produced: Sincerely, addition], the second preserved as a crashed Type “A” carried paratroops and supplies KEN F. T OWNEND aircraft [in the RAF Museum, my addition], and/or special agents to be dropped to resistance (Electrical ’55)

U of A Engineer 5 BY PHOEBE DEY K-One is a

K-WinBeng Fook Lim (MSc Mechanical ’99) had unfinished business with the U of A. In 1981 he was a Master’s student in engi- neering management when he learned his e n O -

K father had passed away in Malaysia. As the eldest son, it was his duty to return home and tend to the household. But when he left campus, he was one class short of completing K-One’s mobile phone gameboard. his degree. Since his thesis was done and

6 U of A Engineer e e n O - K

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U of A Engineer 7 knowing the course could be completed from things and returning them to their original anywhere, Lim left with the intention of fin- form. With six older sisters, the eldest boy ishing it from Malaysia. He just didn’t know often followed his father to work and watched it would take so long. as the seasoned mechanic performed his trade. Seventeen years later, after he was becom- Lim left Malaysia for Sheffield, England ing known as an emerging entrepreneur in his where he completed his engineering degree in country, he wrote a letter to the university. He 1981. When he decided to pursue a Master’s explained he was one course short of his degree in engineering management, he con- Master’s degree, which was “way, way over- sidered a university in Oklahoma and the due.” By that point, Lim likely didn’t need the U of A. Edmonton won out and Lim settled letters on his CV to further his career. He had into Hub Mall, where he became accustomed already proved his mettle with such interna- to the smell of cooking food wafting up to his tional companies as Mobil and Tyco small apartment. Electronics. But Lim recognized that a gradu- Then came the news about his father. ate degree might set him apart even more. After taking care of things at home, Lim took Given the go-ahead, he did the required read- a job with Mobil Oil Malaysia and ended up ing and assignments and earned his degree 18 in various sales departments for eight years. years after he started. With retail sales, he was in charge of looking An emergency portable car battery charger. His interest in engineering began when he after service stations. In industrial sales, he was a young boy. He was born in Ipoh, a town advised engineers about which lubricants His next stop, at the age of 32, was 200 kilometres north of Kuala Lumpur, to a would work best at different factories. Right national general manager for the engineering family of 10 children. He took his early edu- before he left that company, he did a turn in group Renold, a U.K.-based company. From cation in an Anglo-Chinese school in the corporate planning, which would serve him there he joined AMP Products, now known region and remembers often dismantling well in the years ahead. as Tyco Electronics, again as its national gen-

A scanner that can read and translate sentences.

8 U of A Engineer eral manager for Malaysia. He was instru- A car cradle for mobile phones. mental in growing Tyco Electronics Malaysia from a sales operation of about $7 million US in 1992 to $50 million US in 1999. As if that wasn’t enough, at the same time he also held the position of director, automotive industry for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for two years. Near the end of his time with Tyco, Lim hit the books again. He finished his graduate degree and began looking into starting his own company. In February 2001, along with a Norwegian partner, Bjorn Braten, he started the K-One Group, a one-stop shop that designs, develops, and manufactures high-end electronic products. Lim has nurtured the company from its inception to a sales figure of $4 million US in 2004. Last year it was ranked by Deloitte International as one of the 500 fastest growing technology companies in Asia Pacific. And K-One’s key clients include all the “giants” of electronics—Sony Ericsson, three years, they have big plans: they are look- Award. And in the fall of 2005 Lim returned Nokia, Logitech, and Hitachi, to name a few. ing to open a manufacturing and R&D plant to the U of A to pick up an alumni award of K-One differentiates itself by streamlining in China, a manufacturing base in eastern excellence handed out by the Faculty at the the process from start to finish. Other compa- Europe, and more sales offices in Europe and university’s annual reunion weekend. nies in the region focus on either manufactur- North America. Lim, who speaks Malay, Although the campus blueprint has ing or designing, but not both. English, and four Chinese languages and changed since Lim’s days as a student, his As Lim explains, “Design and development dialects, wants to turn the mid-sized company impressions remain strong. He easily recalls is the engine that drives our business.” into an international global business operat- Dr. J.C. Sprague (professor emeritus) and Dr. That puts Lim behind the wheel, setting the ing on five continents. John Whittaker (Civil ’62), two engineering vision and the strategy of the company. With his combination of engineering and professors who specialized in management. He admits when he first started the com- business background, Lim is capable of “They were mentors to me and I’m pany, he had to make cold calls and knock on making that happen. always grateful to them for coaching me and many doors. It helped that Lim built up an “It certainly helps that I can understand for being patient with me.” extensive network while making deals with the engineering side, and that the engineers in Running a company like K-One has multinationals when he was at Tyco. the company know that I understand what always been a dream for the father of two. “It gave me the opportunity to go back to they are working on. Because I have a team Although he was the top man at Tyco my old customer base to try to win some of design and development engineers I can Electronics Malaysia, he was still an employ- deals,” he says. count on, I am able to focus more on the ee drawing a salary. “We had to start small and we won people business side.” “You can be very independent and over—I think mostly we won their hearts.” His work has paid off—not only in dollar allowed to make major decisions and set the K-One got its first break when Sony figures but also in national recognition. direction of the company, but it doesn’t Ericsson asked it to design and develop a car K-One has won a slew of awards in its short belong to you. It is so satisfying to grow a cradle for mobile phones. existence, including five honours given to small company that you own. I am very “It took us a couple of months and then Malaysian small- to medium-sized industries proud to be associated with all these big com- they told us, ‘since you’ve designed it, you that have excelled in such things as sales panies. Whenever I travel and look at what is might as well manufacture it.’ It was a natur- performance, profit growth, technology written behind the Sony Ericsson package, I al progression.” usage, and innovation. see, ‘Made in Malaysia,’ and know it is being Since then the company has also created and Individually, Lim was accorded the made by us—K-One. It’s very rewarding.” built such items as a web camera, a pen that Entrepreneur of the Year Award by the can scan, read, and then translate a sentence as Malaysia Canada Business Council in 2004. Phoebe Dey is an Edmonton-based freelance writer. well as home-care products like vacuums. In 2005 he was named a finalist for Ernst & Currently, K-One’s base is in Malaysia Young’s Emerging Entrepreneur category in with four sales offices in Europe. In the next that company’s Entrepreneur of the Year

U of A Engineer 9 MECHANICAL Mechanical Petting Zoo by Bruce White s c i m a n y D

n o t s o B : y r o t s

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The RiSE robot uses o h p

its compliant legs to l l

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10 U of A Engineer NICAL petting The RiSE robot climbs a tree.

by Bruce White

It’sZOO a sight that amazes many a traveller to the tropics, often while they are laid up in bed with a stomach bug, staring at the ceiling. A little green lizard, eight or ten centimeters from head to tail—a gecko—effortlessly climbs the wall, and just as effortlessly begins to walk across the ceiling. Then, just as the viewer’s amazement is wearing off, the gecko twists to one side and in a lightning-fast, upside-down dash snatches a housefly off the ceiling for dinner.

uch a small dramatic event would of how things move, how things fit LittleDog is a robotic puppy that seems prompt Aaron Saunders (Mechanical together, what the pieces are that make hesitant and unsure of its balance as it walks S ’00) to reach for a camera and note- devices work. A good engineer is one who across a room. BigDog likes the outdoors, book to record the event. has that catalogue and can use it to build where it runs on four flexible limbs the size of Saunders is a 28-year-old project manag- devices,” says Saunders. human legs, carrying on its broad back a load er, working with 20 designers on some of the “Great engineers, and I’ve worked with a of supplies to a disaster scene. coolest robots on the planet—robots that few, are able to search through their catalogue Feisty RHex has the exuberance of a swim underwater and climb walls. They get in a creative way that nobody else is able to.” Labrador retriever as it bounds on its six many of their ideas by studying the diverse Saunders and the robo-engineers at semicircular legs over rough terrain and motions of living creatures, including geckoes, Boston Dynamics, located halfway between through water and mud. (But unlike any dog cockroaches and horses. Harvard and MIT, have learned a lot about we know, RHex can swim underwater.) RiSE “What makes a good engineer is someone kinetics by studying the natural world. It is a slow-motion Meccano cockroach that spending their life building up a catalogue shows in their robots. can climb a tree or a brick wall.

U of A Engineer 11 Most of the work at Boston Dynamics is In a sense, Saunders began his personal financed by the U.S. military through research and development as a preschooler DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research playing with Lego. And like most of his Projects Agency. Robots like BigDog and young colleagues in the robotics industry, RiSE have obvious potential applications for Star Wars robots R2-D2 and C-3PO were his the military, such as carrying payloads onto a early inspiration. battlefield or performing reconnaissance mis- Later at the University of Alberta, mechan- sions without risking soldiers’ lives. ical engineering was his only interest. In his “Current methods are you either rush in first year, he joined a student group called the with guns or blow up the building with bombs Autonomous Robotic Vehicle Project (ARVP), and people get killed,” elaborates Saunders. which was designing a robot that would be “You send in a robot and it gets shot, well, a able to navigate an obstacle course. robot got shot. It’s just equipment.” Aaron Saunders “If there was one defining moment in my He adds that robots are ideally suited for (Mechanical ’00) education, it was my involvement with student some kinds of reconnaissance. poses with RiSE. engineering projects, because I got to start “The more information that police or applying my knowledge,” Saunders recalls. the military or rescue people can gather from “And I got to do it early. I didn’t have the environment, the better prepared they are Yet for Saunders, the robot age is barely to study four years and then go into a job. to go in with the right equipment and the getting started. As I was learning, I got to apply what I right strategy.” “Pretty much every major university in was learning.” Military-nurtured technology can also the world has some work going on in robot- At the time he joined ARVP, the group turn out to have substantial civilian uses. For ics. As for companies, our industry doesn’t had produced a 23 kilogram electric robot, example, the Internet and GPS started out as quite exist yet. We’re at the forefront of what but Saunders dreamt of bigger things. military secrets. will become an industry just like computers. Robots are finding their way into our We’re not quite there yet. We’re living off gadget culture. A flying saucer-like iRobot research and development type projects.” retails for less than $150 and will vacuum the floor while you’re out at the movies. Sony’s QRIO is a humanoid robot that can dance and play soccer. Toyota has developed robotic technology that allows a Prius to parallel park itself. Robots are exploring Mars, and helped search for survivors in New Orleans and at the World Trade Center.

The RHex robot climbs a curb.

12 U of A Engineer “Aaron and his Mechanical Engineering There have been plenty of those. In his home as new capabilities are added. He friends suggested to the rest of us (mostly in first year or so at Boston Dynamics, a com- already has cameras and laser rangefinders. Electrical and Computer Engineering) that pany started by a former MIT professor, The on-board global positioning system we build a 362 kilogram, gas-driven, Saunders worked on the teams that designed enables its handlers to plot out his route from hydraulically actuated monster of a robot four robots of ever-increasing capabilities. A to B to C.” called Polar Bear,” recalls James Smith “We’re building mechanisms today that BigDog and RiSE rely heavily on tactile (Electrical ’98, MSc Electrical ’01), another are extremely complex in an amazingly short feedback—in effect, a sense of touch—that student on the project who does robot time, primarily because we can build them allows it to measure the force its paws are research at McGill University. and move them around in the computer applying to the ground, detect slippage, and “Within weeks everyone had bought into before we produce one,” says Saunders. to adjust its speed and posture from one Aaron’s vision for the project. Six months “There was a day when you had to build suitable to walking on level pavement, for later we had the first version of Polar Bear something five or six times before you could example, to one suitable for climbing over a driving inside the Mechanical Engineering get it the point where it worked. More often mound of sand. machine shop.” than not, with a little bit of fitting, our pro- If you put a tree in the middle, Saunders’ Polar Bear competed in the totypes work the first time that we build BigDog should be able to “see” its way Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition in them. We can model every little bit and every around. But it isn’t yet sophisticated enough Detroit, winning the tug-of-war portion of the little feature.” to map its way around a more difficult obsta- contest so decisively that it has never been held The designers are driven by constant pres- cle without a human at the controls. As the since. Polar Bear, built for $25,000 in parts sure from DARPA. Annual grants are contin- mobility problems get solved, BigDog will plus abundant free labour, also won second gent on producing robots capable of add autonomy. prize in the design category two years in a row. performing on a test course. Like a proud parent, Saunders has a hard “Student projects like Polar Bear are a “If they’re not excited about what we are time saying which robot is his favourite. great learning experience for students,” says doing then we get dropped, so we’re always “RiSE is amazing because it climbs better Leonard Swanson, an assistant dean at the pushing the edge, pushing the envelope,” says than anything I’ve ever seen. BigDog is the Faculty of Engineering. Saunders. most advanced quadruped in the world—it’s “These competitions provide tremendous “We want to do the hard things, like mak- capable of running and balancing over rough networking and career opportunities and ing running robots, things that are dynamic.” ground almost at the level of a human. RHex teach students how to manage projects and So far, cockroaches are still better is amazing; it’s conceptually the simplest work as teams.” climbers than robots and much smarter; robot that we have at our company. It has six Saunders credits Swanson, the adviser for roaches manage to find their way around legs and one motor on each of those legs and student engineering projects, for helping to quite nicely without anyone pulling toggles the legs just rotate. I can’t say that one of inspire him to pursue his passion for robotics. or writing code. RHex needs human con- them is my favourite—I love them all.” After completing his degree at the U of A, trollers within a few hundred metres to help Saunders earned his Master’s in mechanical it find its way around a large obstacle, aided engineering from the University of Victoria. by an on-board camera and limited telemetry Bruce White ([email protected]) is an Edmonton-based business writer His thesis was on underwater propulsion for such as orientation and compass heading. and editor. robots. He spent time at Memorial University, “That will change quickly,” says where there are facilities for testing underwater Saunders. “BigDog will roam farther from vehicles. Later, he became a research associate with Smith at McGill, where his work with Professor Martin Buehler led him to join some of the top robot designers at Boston Dynamics. “Aaron eats, breathes and sleeps robots,” Geckoes, Cockroaches, and Crabs Inspire Research says Smith. Robotics engineers like Saunders study the biomechanics of geckoes, “When the two of us get together, our those little green wonders. Engineers try to understand the compliance wives roll their eyes and leave the room and flexibility of their limbs, the dynamics of how geckoes climb— because they know the conversation always pulling up and pulling in towards a wall, while loading their turns to robots and the next cool project to muscles with energy to push upwards—and how they work on.” sense the correct amount of force to use. Geckoes’ ability to stick to walls and ceilings also inspires adhesives chemists looking to develop the ultimate Post-It note. Geckoes use four legs and a tail to move around. Compare this to the movement of a cockroach, whose six legs act together as a pair of tripods. Or consider how some crabs climb out of the water onto wet rocks, propelled by little hairs on their limbs.

U of A Engineer 13 Double Dare Entrepreneursby Debby Waldman

Sam Prochazka (Computer ’01)

14 U of A Engineer Sam Prochazka (Computer ’01) was at loose ends. After spending a year in Kentucky and Calgary, working on control systems for Honeywell refineries in Fort McMurray, he realized that corporate engineering wasn’t for him. Curious, energetic, and entre- preneurial, he was eager to generate his own projects. Prochazka handed in his letter of resignation and headed to Europe with his

identical twin, Andy (Computer ’01).

heir plan was to take a brief holiday Canada now subscribe to RealPageMaker. before returning to Edmonton, where The company is in talks with real estate they’d start a company to develop an boards in Toronto and Ottawa in hopes of orthodic device designed by their father. expanding to those regions. TBut before they had a chance to get their RealPageMaker allows real estate agents start-up company off the ground, their poten- and brokers to offer their services over the tial investors backed out. Andy took a job Internet, which is where most people now with a local company, Eleven Engineering. start their search for property. Potential Sam wasn’t sure what to do. buyers can go to their agent’s or broker’s Then his friend John Carter, a real estate website, request information about the type agent, asked him to design a web page. of property they’re interested in, and get an “I wanted an all-in-one software package, immediate response. something that would Potential buyers can automate my business and The Prochazka’s also track price changes, work as a client manage- software is designed search for foreclosures, ment and front-end mar- conduct rolling home eval- keting system, all the while to immediately notify uations, and find helping me sell property,” subscribers by comparable properties to says Carter, who had met e-mail, PDA, phone, help them determine what the twins a few years earli- will meet their needs. or pager when a er and knew about their Because RealPageMaker programming prowess. property becomes has agreements with a With little else to occu- available. growing number of real py his time, Sam threw estate boards including himself into designing a page that would Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver, buyers meet Carter’s needs. His twin brother helped interested in those areas can access informa- on nights and weekends. They got such a tion as soon as a property is listed. charge out of the challenge that they decided “We plug into the real estate data from to keep at it and create a product that could various boards we work with, and we can pipe be used on a wider basis. it through to the realtors’ site,” Sam explains. Late in 2002, about a month before they “The main benefit of that is that the Andy Prochazka were ready to unveil their software, another realtors no longer have to refer their clients (Computer ’01) local company introduced a similar product. out to mls.ca [the multiple listing services But the Prochazkas forged ahead. As Sam website] or any of the other real estate says, “We had something special to offer, and board-built MLS systems.” we weren’t about to give up.” The Prochazka’s software is designed to The gamble paid off. Roughly 2,000 real immediately notify subscribers by e-mail, PDA, estate sales agents and brokers in western phone, or pager when a property becomes

U of A Engineer 15 available. Potential buyers can log onto their mind when they started studying at the U of A we could not sing in tune,” Andy says. agent’s or broker’s website and arrange to be in the late 1990s. It was the era of dot.com It’s hard to tell if he’s kidding. According to notified about new listings as well. millionaires, and they both figured they’d Sam, who is older by six minutes, Andy’s the However, because the real estate board’s wind up with lucrative careers in Silicon one who inherited the musical talent from information is proprietary, agents or brokers Valley, complete with signing bonuses that their mother, cellist and U of A music profes- have to give permission for clients to gain included new cars and house down payments. sor Tanya Prochazka, herself an identical twin. access to it. RealPageMaker has also simplified “I posted my resume on Monster.com Their father, Arthur Prochazka, is a neuro- that process with a patent-pending invention. during the height of the boom and within one scientist and professor in the Faculty of The software is set up so that if a potential day 15 recruiters had called and they were Medicine. One grandfather was an engineer buyer wants access, the agent or broker making offers,” recalls Sam, who switched and the other was a businessperson, receives a phone call, and with the press of a his major from electrical to computer engi- which could explain why the Prochazka broth- button can grant the client’s request remotely. neering because of the opportunities. ers opted to study engineering and become “From the realtor’s perspective what it Andy, a self-described dot com era nostal- entrepreneurs. comes down to is time-saving and automa- gist, was attracted to computer engineering Their entrepreneurial spirit first manifest- tion for me,” says Carter, who used to spend from the start. ed itself at Edmonton’s Old Scona Academic three or four hours a day manually searching High School, where they set up a discount for properties for potential clients and then RealPageMaker has convenience store to help students save forwarding that information, in separate e- money on lunch snacks. provided them with a mails, to each one. “I’d ride my bike in with ice on my back, Because RealPageMaker allows buyers to different kind of success, and Andy would have the soda,” Sam recalls. find and weed out properties on their own a foundation on which to “We sold everything out of our lockers. time, Carter shows only half as many homes “We could have continued on,” Sam as he used to. build their own future admits, “but we were adversely impacting the “I had one client from the United businesses. The nine- school store and decided to shut down.” Kingdom who found me over the Internet,” employee company has Two years later, when the school store he recalls. ceased operation, the boys were given a second “We e-mailed back and forth over a cou- a main office on Whyte chance—this time, legit. In fact, the teachers ple of months. He was doing all his research Avenue in Edmonton, and read their daily specials along with the on-line. He came here on a Friday and satellite operations in announcements every morning. The brothers bought a place with cash on Saturday. Now made enough money to finance a subwoofer he’s in a high-rise condo downtown.” Calgary and Vancouver. system for their lockers which, as Andy puts it, In November, Carter made a date with buy- “rumbled the foundations of the school.” ers from Nunavut who were coming to “As I recall, it was the highest-demand RealPageMaker has provided them with a Edmonton on a house-hunting mission in engineering discipline in the Faculty. I envi- different kind of success, a foundation on January with plans to move to town in sioned a world of limitless opportunity after which to build their own future businesses. February. graduation.” The nine-employee company has a main “Without an interactive site, it’s hard to The brothers decided to stay in school office on Whyte Avenue in Edmonton, and do that,” he says. rather than enter the job force early. They satellite operations in Calgary and Vancouver. RealPageMaker is one of between 15 and assumed the market would be even more Sam travels between the three cities. Andy, 20 software companies to have contracts friendly to those with university degrees. But who left Eleven Engineering in April 2005, with the residential sections of both the their timing was off. Not long before they was in Beijing from August 2005 to February Edmonton and Calgary Real Estate Boards. graduated, the dot.com boom went bust. 2006. There, he studied Chinese and laid the “Those boards don’t sign contracts with “A lot of my friends who had lined up all groundwork for Sam and Andy Inc.’s next every company that comes along,” says Keith these prestigious jobs lost them even before venture, a company that will manufacture Morrissey, the member service manager for they started,” Sam recalls. medical devices. The brothers kept in touch the Edmonton Real Estate Board. “They had severance packages even before daily, with Andy offering moral support and Morrissey says he respects the Prochazkas. they began. It was pretty dramatic, and graphics expertise for RealPageMaker. “They’re smart and they’re ethical. They people were just struggling to find work.” “We’ve got a fairness thing going,” Sam keep us informed with regards to upgrades to Sam and Andy gave up their California says. their program and they clarify that their dot.com dreams and started a “boy band” “Sam & Andy Inc., our corporation oper- upgrades remain compliant with our wishes. with a U of A music student. They rented ating RealPageMaker, will be the holder of And they ensure that their product develop- thousands of dollars of recording equipment most of these companies regardless of who is ment is compliant with our rules.” to make a CD. The venture lasted two months. actually operating them, and that’s because Designing technology to sell real estate “Once we put down the vocal tracks, after we were raised having everything equal. I wasn’t what the Prochazka brothers had in putting in all this time and money, we realized don’t know whether that’s to our detriment

16 U of A Engineer or not, but to maintain good relations, things Or, as Sam puts it, “We discovered in our “There are the type who resent each other, have to stay equal, and that’s one of the ways late teens that rather than squabbling con- who are constantly compared to each other and we’ve discovered we can make that possible.” stantly, it was much more effective if we pitted against each other and grow up not real- The brothers haven’t always been so actually worked together. It was very simple: ly speaking to each other. There are the twins cooperative. two minds were better than one and we that finish each other’s sentences and have a dif- “When we were young, there was a lot of could out-compete most people if we worked ficult time making outside friends. And there yelling and hitting,” Andy recalls. together.” are the twins who get along, work well togeth- “As we got older, there was more verbal It’s a philosophy that drives their current er, and are friends, and we are that type.” taunting. Whoever would react first was the business and it is likely to play a role in each loser, but it got to a point where neither of us successive venture the brothers undertake. Debby Waldman is an would respond, and so the verbal torment “There are three types of twins I’m aware Edmonton-based freelance journalist. became fruitless.” of,” Andy explains.

3. The realtor receives a phone call from the website with information about the client’s request.

4. The realtor presses “1” on the phone keypad to approve the request. 2. The website powered by RPM Professional™ processes the request and dials out to the realtor’s phone to ask for permission to display results.

UNLEASH THE POWER OF VOICE OVER WEB

5. The website processes A client submits a search request the response, and then 1. for MLS™ information directly from delivers the information the real estate board (normally to the client. restricted to Realtors™).

Clients

U of A Engineer 17 Marilyn’sLoss, Engineering’s Gain by Connie Bryson

T.W. Fraser Russell (Chemical ’56, MSc Chemical ’58)

18 U of A Engineer Marilyn Monroe might have changed everything for U of A engineering student T.W. Fraser Russell (Chemical ’56, MSc Chemical ’58). In the 1950s, Russell was putting himself through school by working summers at the British American refinery (now Imperial Oil) in Edmonton. In the summer between third and fourth year, he was offered a job as a lifeguard at the Banff Springs Hotel.

went back and forth on that one: design a waste treatment plant or “I work at a beautiful hotel in the moun- tains. I ended up choosing the refinery. As it turned out, The River of No Return, a film starring Marilyn Monroe and Robert Mitchum, was filmed in Banff that summer. My replacement was hired to teach Marilyn Monroe to swim. It was the biggest mistake of my life. I still get a lump thinking about it.” Maybe, but even by phone from his office at the University of Delaware, Russell deliv- ers the story with a hint of a smile in his voice. Although he may have missed out on the delights of Hollywood, he’s done very well as an engineer. Dr. Russell is the Allan P. Colburn Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Delaware. He is a renowned teacher, consultant for the chemical process industry, and chief engineer for a major research program on thin film photovoltaic Working at Alberta Research Council in 1957, Russell adjusts the pilot pipeline used to study oil to water flow. EDITOR’S NOTE: This photo is taken from the book Athabasca Oil Sands – From cells. He has been elected to the National Laboratory to Production by Mary Clark Sheppard, published by Geoscience Publishing. Academy of Engineering and is a Fellow in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. education. After graduation, Russell took a After navigating down the Clearwater But engineering wasn’t always on his radar. job with the Alberta Research Council. River to the sampling site, the three men began As a high school student in Lethbridge, Russell “It paid $300 a month, which was a little dynamiting and digging out the oil sand. had planned on becoming a pharmacist. less than the going rate, but you also got a “It was a hot day and I conked about “I had a very wise uncle who pointed out Master’s degree.” noon; Al lasted until 1:00 p.m. Clark, who that pharmacy was a job where you had to Working with his supervisors Dr. George had stripped down to a pair of paisley boxer deal with a somewhat demanding public. He Govier (MSc Chemical ’45) and Dr. Gordon shorts, continued on for the rest of the after- didn’t think that I had the patience to do so Hodgson, Russell studied the flow of oil noon. After completing all the work, he made and suggested I get a part-time job in retail sands crude oil in pipes. This research pro- us supper and set up camp. He ended up service. I found a Saturday job at the meat duced the first papers published on liquid to looking after us two young tenderfeet.” counter at Eatons and quickly learned that liquid flow in pipes. After earning his MSc degree, Russell customer service was indeed not my strong The work also brought him in contact went to work as a design engineer for Union suit. I cast about for what would be closest to with Dr. Karl Clark, the oil sands pioneer. Dr. Carbide in Montreal. pharmacy; I hit upon chemical engineering.” Clark thought that Russell and fellow gradu- “There were only a few engineers work- Russell took the train up to Edmonton in ate student Al Sullivan should get to know ing for Union Carbide Canada at the time, so 1952 and settled into a single room in the oil sands up close. So he took them on a those of us who were there were assigned Assiniboia Hall. trek to gather a “ton of oil sands” for labo- projects that engineers would normally only “Those were a great four years,” he recalls, ratory research. be assigned after they had five or 10 years on “both for the academics and the social life.” “Al and I wondered what we were going the job.” It was at the U of A that Russell met his to do in the bush with this old guy,” Russell was put in charge of the econom- wife Shirley Ann Aldrich, who was studying recalls Russell. ic evaluation, process design, design drafting,

U of A Engineer 19 directorship of the university’s Institute of I’m not going to embarrass them. That’s Energy Conversion (IEC), which specializes in when you can have an effective dialogue. research on photovoltaic cells, used to convert Students will learn a lot more this way, com- sunlight to electricity. pared to classes where they just sit and copy “I recognized that a key issue for the pho- material that the instructor presents from a tovoltaic industry is figuring out how to man- blackboard or from PowerPoint. ufacture large quantities of photovoltaic “And this takes time. You have to engage modules cheaply. Otherwise, the electricity students. You must know them by name. You that comes from these modules is just too must draw them out. At first, you’ll get two or expensive. So we worked on laboratory-scale three of them interested. They’ll get the others experiments to provide essential information interested. It’s greatly satisfying to have a for the commercial-scale manufacture of pho- whole class coming in to actively learn.” tovoltaic modules.” While Russell’s teaching has won numer- As a result of this focus, the IEC made ous awards, his most valued feedback is Dr. Russell poses with the first reactor many significant contributions to thin film e-mails and letters from former students— built to deposit photovoltaic semiconduc- tor continuosly on a moving substrate. photovoltaic technology. In 1992, the labora- and he receives a lot of them. Other treasured tory was designated as a University Center of comments came from his wife, who was also Excellence for Photovoltaic Research and a teacher. She took one of his engineering construction, and start-up of chemical units Education, an award previously given to only courses when she was doing her Master’s to manufacture ethanolamines and glycol two institutions in the U.S. Russell continues degree in education. ethers. as the IEC’s chief engineer. When Shirley Russell died in 1998, “I enjoyed the work and appreciated the He is also involved in the commercializa- Russell wanted to commemorate her in a way experience, but I could see that the corporate tion of new photovoltaic technology as a that acknowledged both their contributions life was not going to give me the freedom and to teaching. He created an endowment for a flexibility that Shirley and I desired. Besides teaching fellowship at the University of “A good teacher can make that, I really wanted to teach. A PhD seemed Delaware—the Fraser and Shirley Russell to be the sensible choice.” a huge difference in their Teaching Fellowship. The award gives a In 1961, Russell enrolled in the PhD pro- students’ lives. Teaching chemical engineering graduate student, usual- gram at the University of Delaware. The fam- can turn someone around ly in the last year of his or her PhD, an oppor- tunity for a supervised teaching experience in ily, now including three young boys (Bruce, so quickly—someone who Brian, and Carey), moved to Newark, the undergraduate program. The student is is struggling or someone Delaware. mentored by an established professor. Although Delaware was supposed to be a who doesn’t know what “I thought that for the 50th anniversary three- to four-year proposition, it presented an they want to do. I’ve of my graduation I’d do that same kind of environment that offered the intellectual free- always loved teaching.” thing at the University of Alberta. The Fraser dom Russell craved, combined with the oppor- and Shirley Russell Teaching Fellowship is tunity to work on practical problems. In his being set up now, and we will have the first last year as a graduate student, he was asked to teaching fellow selected by September 2006. teach the senior-year design course. His success member of the board of directors of “A good teacher can make a huge differ- with that course convinced the administration Colorado-based Ascent Solar Technologies. ence in their students’ lives. Teaching can to hire him as a faculty member. He has been This development-stage company is working turn someone around so quickly—someone with the University of Delaware ever since. on photovoltaic modules for use in satellites who is struggling or someone who doesn’t Russell’s early research efforts focused on and spacecraft. It is planning an initial public know what they want to do. I’ve always multi-phase reactor design problems. This offering sometime this year. loved teaching. I understand there is a great work led to consulting opportunites—first for “It’s exciting to see research move out of deal of pressure on faculty these days to raise Union Carbide Canada and later for many the lab,” says Russell. “I’d like to see this money for research—so much so that teach- companies including the DuPont Company. In technology make a big impact.” ing can take a back seat. It’s a shame. I hope 2005, DuPont presented Russell with its However, Russell considers teaching to be that in a small way this fellowship can do Engineering Excellence Award, recognizing his greatest contribution. something to change that.” his guidance and technical leadership during “Of all the things I’ve done, I think teach- Connie Bryson is an Edmonton- 30 years of service as a consultant. This was ing is where I’ve had the most positive based freelance journalist. the first time the award had been given to an impact. I truly enjoy interacting with stu- engineer from outside the company. dents. My approach is to get each class to a In 1979, Russell was asked to take on the point where they trust me, where they know

20 U of A Engineer U of A Engineer 1 2 U of A Engineer U of A Engineer 3 NOVA’S

SupernoBy Tom Keyserva

ne day during the early 1940s, a Then ear-splitting noise, chaos. Dust, Within another blink of an eye—or so it young Ukrainian student named shrapnel, and flying debris. Before Mirosh’s seemed in retrospect—the same student and OTimothy Mirosh was striding along- blinking, disbelieving eyes, a German his youthful bride, Anna, found themselves side the fast-flowing Dnieper River. Suddenly, bomber had taken out a strategic bridge in being shoved aboard a westbound boxcar, a thrumming sound drifted down through his home district, near the historic city of German soldiers prodding at their backs. For the clouds. Poltava, Ukraine. the next three years, the newlywed couple

Val Mirosh (Chemical ’68)

U of A Engineer 21 endured a punishing life of Nazi slave labour in hand, he continued on to earn his chemical “I was specifically involved with the engi- near the city of Dresden. engineering degree at the U of A. neering, financial, and environmental areas,” So it happened that Walentin (Val) Like most U of A engineers, Mirosh looks recalls Mirosh. “My engineering training was Mirosh (Chemical ’68) was technically born back with awe when he considers the sheer a great help because I could communicate with into slavery. Fortunately, the infant’s captivi- intensity of the program. our technical experts on technical issues.” ty proved to be brief and temporary. Less “As a youngster, you certainly have your The rising engineer/lawyer also prepared than a month later, the Allies won control of eyes opened. The studies are a shock. I’ll evidence, attended hearings, and conducted what later became East Germany. never forget that first year: 44 hours of class cross-examinations on behalf of CAGP dur- “My mother and father wound up walk- a week, including a half-day on Saturday. ing the federal Berger inquiry, which evaluat- ing for 300 or 400 kilometres, with me bare- There wasn’t a lot of slack time.” ed the potential impacts of such a pipeline. ly a few weeks old, all the way to the Dean Don Robinson and the rest of the After three years of patient investigation, American zone,” explains Mirosh, now the faculty of the day made an indelible impres- Justice Thomas Berger effectively killed the Calgary-based vice president of Nova sion, helping the young gung-ho student project, recommending that no pipeline be Chemicals Corp. and the company’s senior grasp that textbook solutions aren’t always built along the Mackenzie for at least 10 officer in Canada. as important as a firm command of the years. Berger cited environmental concerns, “My parents were among millions of methodology. while suggesting that any economic gains eastern European refugees who became would certainly be offset by the potential vio- known as displaced persons,” says Mirosh. lation of rights of Aboriginal Canadians liv- “After the liberation, my father was smart Technically born in ing along the proposed route enough to realize he could never go back to slavery,Mirosh considers “Looking back, (Berger’s recommenda- what was then Soviet Russia. In Stalin’s view, tions) may not have been such a bad thing. those who’d been apprehended by the himself a citizen of the But I was disappointed at the time,” Mirosh Germans had betrayed their country. It’s like- world. He has done says today. ly my parents would have faced a minimum business throughout “After putting that much time and effort of 20 years in Siberia.” into a project, you like to see it come to a suc- After a year or two in West Germany, Latin America,Asia, cessful conclusion.” the Mirosh family left Europe to join and Europe. Subsequently, Mirosh occupied a number émigré relatives who had long since settled of senior executive chairs at what’s now in Coleman, near southern Alberta’s known as TransCanada Corporation, and Crowsnest Pass. “It was a rigorous program. But to my also put in a productive stint as president of Today, in his early 60s, Mirosh considers mind, it’s one of the best groundings a person Alberta Natural Gas Co. Ltd. himself a citizen of the world, with ample can have. When I went into law, my engineer- Then came Moscow. When Mirosh first reason. An avid amateur historian, fluent in ing methodology was absolutely applicable.” arrived in the U.S.S.R., few in the internation- Russian and Ukrainian, he holds German, After adding an Master’s degree in eastern al community had the slightest clue how Russian, and Canadian citizenships. He has Canada, Mirosh eventually returned to the Gorbachev’s startling plan for economic, polit- done business throughout Latin America, Edmonton campus for his law degree. Thus ical, and social reform would shake down. Asia, and Europe. And, in one of life’s uniquely armed with a double-barrelled CV, In 1987, the Soviets had tentatively piquant twists, he returned to Russia during he set out on a colourful career path that begun to invite foreign commercial interests the late 1980s, and bore witness to the crum- invariably took him where the action was. into the country to explore joint venture bling of the government-controlled, central- As a fledgling lawyer with Macleod opportunities. Canada, a more or less neutral ized Soviet economy under Mikhail Dixon, a prestigious Calgary firm specializ- player in the now-thawing Cold War, Gorbachev’s perestroika. ing in international law, Mirosh helped nego- was welcomed with particular warmth. But Mirosh’s low-key style belies the corpo- tiate the original agreements for the no matter where they came from, visiting rate influence he has wielded over the years. consortium which evolved into Syncrude entrepreneurs never knew quite what to His multi-faceted career has taken him from Canada Ltd. Mirosh’s client was the Alberta expect or how to proceed. the Mackenzie River Valley to the government. He spent several years hammer- Nevertheless, Mirosh soon discovered com- Argentinian pampas, from Taipei to Moscow. ing out organizational details for the project, mon ground. As he puts it, the Russians were An eclectic education equipped Mirosh which initially set out to determine the tech- hungry to access Canadian technology, for his kaleidoscopic professional life. After nical and economic feasibility of extracting Canadian capital, and good old-fashioned his father moved from Coleman to Calgary, bitumen from the Athabasca oil sands. Canuck know-how. Meanwhile, Canadian to take a job as a steam engineer with the During the mid-1970s, Mirosh served as companies saw enormous opportunities in the Canadian Pacific Railroad, young Val counsel for Canadian Arctic Gas Pipeline Ltd. new Russia, although they were hobbled by became a member of the first graduating class (CAGP), one of the companies pushing hard for almost total ignorance of the country’s legal sys- at Henry Wise Wood High School. Diploma the controversial Mackenzie Valley pipeline. tem, business practices, customs, and culture.

22 U of A Engineer “We took a position that said, ‘Let’s away from that approach. We were able to son who “was so spooked he wouldn’t leave invest some time and money and try to see that this opportunity and this commit- his hotel room. understand this thing, to evaluate the busi- ment had to be long-term. We wanted to do “He left town after a single day. He told ness potential,’” Mirosh remembers. things right.” me, ‘I’ve got to get out of here, I can’t take it.’ He started by working his contacts with- Not surprisingly, Macleod Dixon spent I suppose he had bought into the myth that in Gazprom, the state-owned natural energy most of its time fostering relationships the communists were determined to subvert monopoly. He checked in with the Canadian between oil and gas concerns, as well as the world.” embassy, while simultaneously extending forestry and mining companies. Before long, In 2004, Mirosh returned to Calgary to feelers to bureaucrats within the Soviet min- things were rolling smoothly enough to con- join Nova Chemicals. istries of trade and development. vince the Calgary office to open a permanent In the meantime, to bring things full cir- “Until that time, all Russian business had Moscow branch, which they did in 1990. cle, he had made it a personal priority to take been conducted through government min- Meanwhile, Mirosh returned to his Calgary his father home as well. After the Berlin Wall istries,” recalls Mirosh. base, making innumerable Russian trips in crumbled in 1989, the elder Mirosh began to “But they were confused too. They had the years that followed. feel comfortable with the prospect of revisit- no idea what perestroika meant. They under- These were confusing, exciting, stimulat- ing his roots. Three years later, Val and his stood that the economy was to open up, but ing times. And Mirosh clearly relishes the father returned to Ukraine, where the elder nobody had a clue about specifics. It was memories—even of the ubiquitous con Mirosh tearfully reacquainted himself with chaotic. People had no idea and many people artists, who seemed to turn up on every long-lost cousins, nephews, nieces, and in Moscow seemed dead set against it.” dimly-lit street corner. friends. Although much had changed, the old In spite of the negatives and the uncertain- “You’d get two or three people trying to man was overwhelmed to discover that the ty, Macleod Dixon smelled opportunity and, sell you leases to the same resource,” Mirosh house he grew up in, the old house near the in the end, was able to seize and exploit it. laughs. “Each would say, ‘I have the franchise Dnieper, was still intact. As a multilingual lawyer, Mirosh played a to develop this oil field. Sign a contract with “His first visit home was very emotional,” role that now sounds deceptively simple. He me and we’ll both go to heaven together.’ Oh, nods Mirosh. “I still remember his words as and colleagues such as former diplomat Paul there were hucksters all over the place.” we flew back to Alberta. My father said, Drager, recruited from the commercial section During those early days, North American ‘This is like a dream. I still can’t quite believe of Moscow’s Canadian embassy, acted as bro- visitors were typically sequestered in one I’ve really been home.’” kers, commercial matchmakers anxious to bring large hotel in downtown Moscow. It was cor- together business players from east and west. doned off with barbed wire, with KGB agents Tom Keyser is a Calgary-based “Initially it was a slow process,” Mirosh stationed every few feet. freelance journalist. says. “Those who tried to jump in and “It was upsetting for some,” recalls get rich quick didn’t fare so well. We shied Mirosh, citing a particular U.S. businessper-

errors and omissions Thanks for your contributions to the Andrea Collins, writer, would like to 2006 Engineering Perspectives Calendar. acknowledge the valuable research The calendar has been well received and found in Marilu Walters’ book, CKUA: your donations are greatly appreciated. The Mouse that Roared, which assisted If you have not yet made a donation, greatly in the development of her article it is not too late! calendar on page 34 of the winter 2006 issue. If you were missed in the mailing, please There was an error in the photo caption contact [email protected] for on page 24 of the winter 2006 issue. The your copy. ATCO Electric team responsible for the Do you have feedbackcall onfor the Dover to Whitefish transmission line pro- 2006 calendar? Are you interestedimages in ject are from left to right: Ben Korbutiak participating in the 2007 calendar? 2

(Electrical ’76), Simon Pang (Civil ’89), 0

Contact [email protected] for 0 Steve Brusselers (Electrical ’84); Tom further information. 6 Bradka (Civil ’96, MSc Civl ’97), Stan perspectives Sladen (Electrical ’93), Sett Policicchio (Electrical ’79), Daryl Park (Electrical ’92), and Sik-On Yu (Civil ’74). engineering

U of A Engineer 23 Top Jockey at

by Tom Keyser

resh out of high school, an aspir- honourColt student climbed aboard as a design neering companies working in the field of ing rock ’n’ roller who grew up engineer. He distinguished himself on his first hydrocarbons,” Benke says. near the banks of the North major assignment, planning and building an “But as the years have gone by, our com- Saskatchewan River was casting Edmonton distribution terminal for Colt cus- petency levels have really picked up. Today, about for career options. He tomer Imperial Oil. I'd match Canadian firms up against anybody Fwondered whether his affinity for hot licks Elected president of the privately held in the world. We have the experience and and power chords might not be his ticket to a company 22 years later, Benke added the title skills to match anyone. And it's all really hap- prosperous future. of chief executive officer in 2006. And, glanc- pened in the course of a single generation.” But in his heart, youthful keyboardist ing in the rear-view mirror, it's fair to say that A casual scan of Colt's job list turns up a Larry Benke (Electrical ’73) was less than he and Colt grew to maturity together. As he truly star-studded roster of clients and high- confident that his Edmonton garage band moved up the ladder, the company evolved profile contracts in the country's most could scale the musical heights. from a start-up operation above a welding dynamic sector, including: Benke considered architecture but, in the shop to the single largest employer of profes- • Genesee 3, the country's most energy-effi- end, chose to advance an interest in the then sionals in the APEGGA register. Total staff cient coal-fired power generator, built for newly emerging field of electronics by apply- (professional and non-professional) recently owner EPCOR; ing to the University of Alberta Engineering topped 3,500. • MacKay River, the $290-million Steam Faculty. At the very least, he reasoned, he Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) in-situ could acquire enough know-how to wire up “Today,I'd match Canadian extraction project, launched by Petro- his own vacuum-tube amplifier, something Canada in September 2002; with enough oomph to coax maximum vol- firms up against anybody • The $1 billion Long Lake SAGD project, ume from his keyboards. in the world.We have the south of Fort McMurray. As of March, Before long, Benke was assembling and experience and skills to match 2006, Colt was winding down engineer- selling homemade amps as rapidly as he could anyone.And it's all really ing for Nexen Inc. at the jobsite, where crank them out, a cottage industry that subsi- Nexen and Opti Canada will operate as dized his studies. As the years passed, howev- happened in the course of a joint-venture partners. er, rock music fell by the wayside. Instead, single generation.” Meanwhile, Colt maintains strong busi- Benke's entrepreneurial aptitude and lifelong ness ties with such major oil sands players as love of building things led him through a series Based in Alberta with offices in Toronto, Syncrude, Shell Canada, and Suncor. of career-building milestones and ultimately to Sarnia, and Anchorage, Colt was among the “Oil sands production projects are very the leadership of the Colt Companies, one of first Canadian firms to stake a claim to facility intensive, requiring a great deal of Canada’s largest hydrocarbon process and Alberta's burgeoning oil and gas develop- engineering,” notes Benke. industrial facility engineering firms. ment in the mid-1970s. Today, Colt contracts “Obviously, we're very much involved A pair of entrepreneurial visionaries for the engineering, design, and construction with a lot of the work going on near named Ben van Zutphen and Jake of projects in heavy oil and oil sands, Fort McMurray.” Halldorson founded Colt in 1973, the same pipelines, refineries, gas plants, petrochemi- It's no accident that the Colt ranks are year young Benke aced his final exams at the cal plants, and power-generating facilities. crowded with U of A engineering alumni. U of A, turning in his last exam an hour early. “When I graduated from U of A, there More than 70 grads work out of the Calgary Hired by Halldorson in 1977, the energetic really weren't any significant Canadian engi- office, with at least another 100 based in the

24 U of A Engineer lt

Larry Benke (Electrical ’73)

U of A Engineer 25 The EPCOR Genesee 3 power generator. all oil sand mining operations. It was a very rewarding part of my career.” Having established a reputation as an entrepreneurial builder, Benke was next asked to establish a Colt Engineering beach- head in Toronto—his toughest assignment. He flew out on his own in 1988, “just me and my suitcases. I remember the whole experi- ence rather vividly. It was a much-prized

R chance to test myself in the way Jake and Ben O C P

E had.” Benke pauses for effect. “I wasn't there terribly long before I real- provincial capital. Beyond that, Colt has “The technology was all the latest thing, ized there was no oil industry in Toronto!” demonstrated its respect for school ties in a except they were using traditional, pre-tran- Today, Colt’s thriving Ontario offices in number of tangible ways, including develop- sistor switching devices known as relays,” Toronto and Sarnia employ 300 people ment of the Certificate in Oil Sands he remembers. apiece. But back then, the company was faced Technology Program and a $125,000 gift to “When I added up all the features they with building a customer base from scratch finance the Engineering Faculty's Colt wanted in the new terminal, I would have while simultaneously attracting fresh recruits. Engineering Design Laboratory. needed a cabinet of relays 2.4 metres tall “It’s not something I think you’d volun- “The number one thing I learned in engi- and about 21.3 metres long.” teer to do twice” says Benke. neering school is that you never give up,” Benke shakes his head. “Today, the chip Restricted by a tight budget, Benke remem- muses Benke, leaning back in a boardroom in your pocket calculator could do that job.” bers sweet-talking his brother, then employed chair at Colt's Calgary headquarters. To Benke's mind, the use of relays wasn't by Edmonton Telephones, to fly east and wire “Just keep at it. You'll figure it out. Even feasible. So he dug in his heels and argued in Colt's new office because he thought the quote things that seem impossible at the time can be favour of programmable controllers, then a from local installers was “highway robbery.” accomplished.” spanking new technological toy. But the cus- After managing to land a couple of key con- With a passion to learn and a low-key tomer balked. So did Halldorson. tracts, Benke was able to breathe somewhat style, Benke has always been a good listener. more easily, particularly after the Toronto Hired out of school by the California- “The number one thing office came in under budget on a job that based company C.F. Braun, Benke soon I learned in engineering included “a substantial risk/reward element” found himself in the thick of the action, for joint venture owners Suncor and Ultramar working on design and construction for school is that you never in the early 1990s. Another high-tech distribu- Imperial Oil's new $300 million Strathcona give up. Just keep at it. tion terminal, the task took 40 new staffers Refinery. Benke now describes that job as an You’ll figure it out. about 18 months to complete. “absolutely wonderful” learning experience. “That's the job that set us seriously rolling Following a stint with SNC, Benke “Within a week, I got a call from Imperial. along in the east,” he says. hooked up with Colt in 1977, quickly finding They sent out two senior instrument guys to “Today, we'd handle several similar, even his own comfort level. With the hip, energetic audit my design,” recalls Benke. more complex, jobs simultaneously.” founders setting the tone, Colt's closely-knit “After a meeting that lasted all afternoon, Colt's president/CEO uses his own early team shared an edgy, can-do attitude that he they gave me their blessing. Then Jake called experiences as a template for staff develop- found congenial in the extreme. and asked for a meeting. I had to pass his ment strategies. “At Colt, they tended to commit to jobs it test, too.” “I do try hard to perpetuate the can-do would be easy to perceive were beyond their In the end, Benke got his way and Imperial spirit that Zutphen and Halldorson brought to capabilities,” Benke chuckles. wound up with a fully functional terminal. In the company in the early days. My executive “They were always reaching to do some- the mid 80s, while working as a Colt project team is always trying to create opportunities thing more and had a knack for delivering it.” manager, Benke led a series of projects for for our younger people to grow their careers— In turn, Benke’s own demonstrable ability Syncrude. The company was experimenting just the way my bosses did for me. Being able and obvious self-confidence convinced his with changing their mining technology to truck to perpetuate that Colt value would be a bosses to give their rising star increased and shovel. wonderful legacy!” responsibility. “It was very exciting. We were applying Asked to design a state-of-the-art distribu- new technology—everything was either the Tom Keyser is a Calgary-based tion terminal for Imperial Oil, Benke travelled first time, or the biggest, or maybe both. It freelance journalist. with the client to its terminals throughout the amazes me today to see how those initial, ten- company, to learn exactly what they were after. tative steps have now become the standard for

26 U of A Engineer U of A Engineering alumni are making an impact across Canada and around the world. “Virtual Engineer” features on-line interviews with alumni working outside of Edmonton. Virtual Engineer Pedro Gluecksmann (Civil ’67)

What has been your career path from English language and writing. As I found out graduation to now? later in life and in practising the profession, All through my career I have been work- good writing is just as important as the tech- ing in the field of transportation engineering nical skills. If you can’t write, you can’t which comprises transportation studies, express your thoughts; therefore, you can’t urban highway engineering, traffic engineer- write good reports, and thus you will be con- What are the greatest challenges facing the engineering profession in the years ing, and urban planning, and related fields. sidered an engineer with little opportunity in ahead? the profession. What has been the most The Engineering profession auto-generates memorable/exciting/disappointing/chal- What have been your greatest disap- its own challenges because life without engi- lenging/rewarding aspect of your career pointments or lessons learned? neers would not be possible in the modern thus far? world. An important lesson learned is that when In the profession, I got to be quite good at asked to define alternatives to a specific pro- What emotional/sentimental/intellectu- what I was doing, and gathered much experi- ject I came to the conclusion that there can’t ence to the point I was appointed assistant pro- al/professional connections/associations be alternatives to an engineering project, fessor in the Central University of Venezuela, a still remain with the Faculty of since there is only one that is the best and the position I held for four consecutive years. Engineering/University of Alberta? only one that works exactly as required. All There is always the spirit of the profession other alternatives have some kind of consid- What has been your proudest achieve- this is the basic aspect of the pride of being an eration of economy, political aspect, personal ment, personally, professionally or engineer. It takes some doing, especially to likings, simplicity, corruption of some sort, socially? graduate and to become an engineer in the first etc. Most alternatives have nothing to do It has been 38 years since graduation. I place. I have always regarded being an engi- with engineering. Other alternatives fall short spent at least 30 of these years actively in the neer as the most important decision in my life. of the best thing. profession. I gained many rewards and nom- inations. As well, as I wrote three books on What messages do you have for poten- How did your education or experience engineering-related subjects. Now I have tial students, undergraduates, and young at Faculty of Engineering/University of decided to explore other fields in the world of professionals just entering their fields? Alberta equip you for your work? art (painting and sculptures) which is a very I’d like to provide encouragement for important aspect of my life. I have also In the Faculty of Engineering you are young engineers. Perseverance in improving embarked on a world tour with my own sail- taught the academic principles of engineer- the profession is paramount. Challenges will boat and visit many countries and cultures. I ing. If you need to know more in a specific come. Watch for them, spot them in time to am also preparing a virtual magazine to share field you must go to graduate school or go catch them, because if you don’t, the challenge my experiences. through the “University of Life.” You must will quickly be taken up by someone else. be very consistent, autodidactic, and get Be patient. Progress in the field of engi- What is so important and being good in involved in as many associations as possible neering comes all by itself. No new graduate English language and writing? and be a promoter of projects and sound can expect big responsibilities right away This is a very important subject. Most policies. because it takes experience to master the pro- engineering students and, for that matter, fession. There is absolutely no substitute for graduated engineers give little priority to the experience.

U of A Engineer 27 y his own estimate, Forbes has (or shares) about 500 patents, all held by companies for which he’s done con- Btract work during his 40-year career. Most are held by Micron Technology, an Idaho semiconductor memory manufacturer. Forbes has consulted for the company since 1996. Micron was a new company then, looking for people with experience in semiconduc- tors. By that time, Forbes had spent years working with some of the best people in the industry, something that might not have hap- pened had it not been for the U of A. “I was very fortunate,” he recalls. “There were a couple of guys who had gone to the University of Illinois and had come back and were professors at the U of A in 1961. That’s where I learned about the University of Illinois.” Forbes spent a year in Illinois earning his Master’s degree before leaving to serve in the Canadian Air Force for three years. In 1966, he returned to Illinois to earn his PhD. There were about a dozen students in the lab where Forbes worked, all given the free- the dom to study various aspects of semiconduc- tors. About a year-and-a-half into the PhD FORBES program, Forbes discovered a technique for characterizing impurities in semiconductors. The technique involved applying a stimulus to a diode and observing the time-dependent response of the subsequent electrical signal. The length of the response indicated a partic- ular impurity. And so, instead of sticking with his origi- nal dissertation topic, equivalent circuit sim- ulation, Forbes focused on gold doping in silicon, a process to introduce gold into the semiconductor silicon to control the lifetime of electrons in the material. It was his first patent-worthy work, and it would have last- ing implications on science. “We were fairly young and we weren’t being too careful about who we told about it,” he recalls. “Some other people picked it up and ran USA Today reported late last year that Len Forbes (Engineering Physics with it, and ran way ahead of us and made a significant refinement.” ’62) was 10th on a list of the top utility patent-holders in the United Those other researchers were at AT&T States.The announcement took the Oregon State University professor by Bell Labs. They had the experience and resources to make a difference. They also had 500surprise—though, in truth, it shouldn’t have. BY DEBBY WALDMAN the sense of responsibility to credit the origi- nal sources, something for which Forbes is still grateful.

28 U of A Engineer “They referenced us,” he says. “It was good, in the sense that it became well known. Over my career, I’ve gotten a lot of credit for it.” But credit isn’t the reason Forbes keeps coming up with idea after patentable idea. He’s a problem solver at heart. He’s been one since his childhood in Hythe, in northern Alberta, when an interest in electronics led him to experiment with building electronic devices. It’s what drew him to the U of A and, eventually, south of the border.

Forbes’ first job after earning his U of A This is part of one of Forbes' U.S. patents, a memory array with vertical nanoscale transistors. degree was at IBM in suburban New York. From there he went to IBM in Manassas, discoveries that may not be used, and others or error rates. Forbes is trying to ascertain Virginia, where he specialized in semiconduc- are for processes and patents that were only what the limit is—how small the devices can tor integrated circuits. While in Virginia, he used for a short time. Also, because the rights become before error rates become a problem. taught one day a week at Howard University are held by companies and not by him per- His interest in nanoscale memories was in nearby Washington, D.C., where his sonally, he doesn’t stand to profit from them. reinforced by a visit to Dr. Michael Brett in appetite for an academic acareer was whetted. “If someone comes up with a particular Engineering Physics at the U of A, and also “I preferred to have the freedom of a free new process and they patent it and personally by a tour of the National Institute for schedule and the freedom to go wherever I own the patent rights to it, and that process Nanotechnology at the U of A. wanted, whenever I liked,” he says. becomes widely used in the industry, they can “It’s really impressive,” he says. “All that “My preference is always for an academ- collect royalties and fees from any industry money they’re spending on electrical engineer- ic life. Even though the hours may be much that uses it and can become, literally, quite ing and nanoengineering, we could never hope longer, I get to set the hours and go where I rich,” he says. for anything like that. Maybe some of the top like, for the most part.” “Some of them are worth a lot of money, 10 schools in the U.S. might have institutes Where he went next was the University of but that’s the exception, not the rule.” like that, but the smaller schools wouldn’t.” Arkansas in Fayetteville. There he made his Then there’s the issue of collecting royalty But Forbes believes that students studying proudest discovery, and also received his first payments if other companies use those at the U of A will likely face the same prob- patent—but not for the same thing. processes or devices without permission. This lems as those at any U.S. institution, which is The patent was for work he did with requires enforcement, which isn’t always pos- that much of the work for which they’re Telex Computer Products in Tulsa, sible or done. being trained has moved overseas, particular- Oklahoma, on a process to make memory “The problem in high technology is it’s ly to China and Korea. devices. The discovery that he feels is his extremely difficult to ascertain if someone is Forbes is curious, but not eager, to add most significant was a circuit for transistors, using that process or technology. Particularly regular trips to Asia to his schedule. At 66, he now known as a pseudo-nMOS. if it is a process, because there are many dif- has come to see travel as more burdensome That said, Forbes doesn’t really think ferent ways of arriving at the same product.” than exciting. about patents much these days. At Micron, most of Forbes’ patents have Travel perks and credit have never been “Basically what I do is pick a topic and let had to do with nanoscale memories, in which the driving force in his work. In fact, what my mind wander on that topic and see what particles consisting of a few atoms are used to he’s most proud of isn’t the number of papers it might come up with that might be useful,” store an electrical charge. Forbes is not yet and patents to his name; it’s that, after 40 he says. sure how and where many of the patents will years, he’s still productive. He gets his ideas from attending confer- be used. “I think when you reach the end of your ences, reading, and searching the Internet. Most of his academic work focuses on life,” he says, “you’d like to look back and “Nowadays you can search several mil- nanoscale devices and the limits imposed by say you made some positive contributions to lion technical publications on-line in my noise. In electrical engineering, noise is the world.” field. Even now, Google has an amazing defined as the electrical signals that result It’s probably safe to assume Forbes will be number of technical items because people from the random motions of electrons in a able to do just that. are posting their research on the Internet. So wire or device, or the random trapping and you have access to millions of documents, release of electrons from impurities. As Debby Waldman is an Edmonton- publications, or patents.” microprocessors grow smaller and voltages based freelance journalist. Forbes himself hasn’t kept track of every decrease, fundamental limits will be imposed one of his patents. Many are for processes or by noise; there are likely to be more glitches,

U of A Engineer 29 green A Child of the 60sbuilding Helps Change the World by Bruce White

s an urban people, we spend much of lighting, as well as water consumption both to green all its buildings. Nike, the running our lives indoors. A substantial inside and out. They calculate how the natur- shoe company based there, will have a chunk of our environmental impact al light is used in work spaces and how solar green headquarters. And a Honda car manu- derives from our buildings: the land heat is stored away in a thermal mass for facturing plant near Portland is a LEED Athey use, the energy we consume to winter. They look at the landscaping (lush, gold building. heat or cool them, the water we use while we’re green lawns are a no-no) and what happens While green movements are nothing new in them, and the effects of harvesting and man- to the runoff oil drippings from cars in the to the west coast, they’re now popping up in ufacturing building materials. parking lot. Inside, there are other issues to the most surprising places, including the Yet most of us probably don’t give much consider, such as air quality and the environ- Motor City itself. thought to the environmental implications mental impact of building materials—even “Ford Motor Company’s original Model- of buildings. how the toilets flush. It all adds up. T plant, the River Rouge plant, their biggest Not so for Ian Theaker (Mechanical ’86), Using a point system, they assess the facility—they’ve decided they’re going to a U of A engineer near the heart of Canada’s plans. The first step is LEED registration, have the largest green building in the world,” emerging green building movement. Theaker awarded provisionally to the building if plans Theaker says. is the program manager for Leadership in are up to scratch. Then, once the building is LEED is reaching takeoff velocity in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), completed, it is certified as a LEED building. Canada as well. The City of Calgary has a pol- for the Canada Green Building Council. Successful projects are rated as either silver or icy of designing all new buildings over 5,000 Sharing a small, environmentally-friendly gold buildings. square metres to LEED certification standards. office at Vancouver Island Technology Park “From our point of view, a green building Vancouver also has adopted LEED, and other in Victoria, Theaker has within reach of his is first and foremost a very high-quality Canadian cities will soon follow. desk the plans for 112 building projects building,” says Theaker. Thomas Sutherland, a partner with across Canada that are seeking LEED certifi- “Green buildings are also commercially Edmonton-based architecture firm Cohos cation as green buildings. successful, because companies and people Evamy, says LEED is on the verge of becom-

Before Theaker and his colleagues certify prefer to lease space in green buildings.” ing mainstream in the public sector, but lags s o i d u

a project for LEED, they carefully assess the Portland, Oregon is the North American a bit in the private sector. t S

h s i

building and its site. They look at the energy beachhead for the green building movement. “Where you see it most on the private side f e u l

the building will consume for heating and A major developer in Portland has decided is at the higher end,” he says. B

30 U of A Engineer nding

Ian Theaker (Mechanical ’86)

U of A Engineer 31 PCL’s Centennial Learning Centre

In Edmonton, LEED projects include soft- ware developer Intuit Canada’s headquarters and construction giant PCL’s new Centennial Learning Centre. While LEED has its champions in the design community, it still takes some selling from an architect to convince clients to go green. Fees charged for LEED certification (cur- rently between $3,500 and $16,000) can be an issue, as well as the documentation required for the certification process. Critics dismiss LEED as a “points-chasing exercise” and claim that its standards can be met with- out the expense and bother of registering. The biggest sticking point, however, is that green buildings are more complex to design and construction costs are higher. “Clients whose budgets are stretched to the max are always at the end of the day try- ing to balance off whether they would rather purchase more space or would they rather purchase better space,” Sutherland explains.

The BC Cancer Currently, government and major corpora- s o Research Centre i d tions are the biggest adopters of LEED because u t S

h they are willing to look at costs through the s i f e u

l entire lifecycle of a building. But Sutherland, B

32 U of A Engineer one of more than 25 LEED-accredited profes- tion and heat output of office equipment. of the top of the room. For the past six years, sionals in his firm, predicts that LEED “Working with a group like BCBC is people have been touting this as the latest and standards will become a mandatory part of all particularly rewarding because you’re work- the greatest. Well, this was done in the British new buildings. ing on actual problems with real buildings,” Houses of Parliament in the 1870s. “Groups like the Green Building Council says Theaker. “Another thing we’re telling people now have an important role in making that happen. “It wasn’t academic research, but getting in terms of day lighting and passive solar is They’re like a standard-bearer, an avant-garde out there to measure how things work in the to make your ceilings tall and your windows for the movement.” real world. tall so that light penetrates deep into the Theaker has championed the cause of “With building energy simulations, you’re room and you don’t have to use electricity for green building since his high school days in trying to figure out how everything in a build- lighting. Well, British cathedrals have been the 1970s, when he skipped classes to go ing affects its energy consumption—what the doing that for centuries—bringing light deep down to the University of Toronto library to walls are made of, what the windows are, into a space.” read about solar energy. how much airflow there is, how much it leaks, From Europe, Theaker took the long way During a hiatus in his formal education how much water is used. In order to accu- home via southeast Asia, posting a 47,000- between high school and engineering school, rately model a building’s energy consumption, word green building and travel journal on the Theaker learned about buildings and energy you have to know that building really, really Internet as he went. from the ground up. He framed houses for a intimately—ideally to three decimal places on Returning to Vancouver, he worked on a couple of years. He went to Fort McMurray several hundreds of parameters.” pilot project for the B.C. government to build to work for Bechtel as a construction assistant In the 1990s, Theaker joined Sheltair four primary schools across the province. helping to build Syncrude. In the 1980s, he Scientific Ltd., a new environmentally oriented moved to Edmonton and went back to school. firm in Vancouver. That led to the opportunity “I grew up with all the In his final year at the U of A, Theaker was to help write urban design guidelines for Santa s o i values of the 1960s–the

d a research assistant for Dr. David Wilson, Monica, California, a green island in the great u t S

h doing work for the Alberta Home Heating urban sprawl that is Los Angeles.

s central ones that resonated i f e u

l Research Institute. They tested six houses of “They are serious about reducing their B with me were ecological.” various construction for their energy con- city’s environmental impact in every way— sumption in prairie conditions—doing auto- waste management, energy consumption, mated blower-door tests to measure the water consumption, planting more trees,” They even talked about doing a green prison leakiness of buildings. Theaker says. in Abbottsford, but that never happened, to “It’s probably one of the best databases The resulting Green Design Guidelines for Theaker’s great disappointment. around on what happens with building leak- Santa Monica is one of the pioneering docu- Like a rolling stone, Theaker’s career was age when winds are from different directions, ments of its kind. Completed in 1999, it con- soon on the move again—this time to the at different temperatures outside and different tains 14 guidelines on water consumption Canada Green Building Council and the conditions inside, and different kinds of con- alone, including collecting rainwater and LEED program. struction,” Theaker says. grey water to irrigate landscaping. In a way, he’s where he always wanted After he graduated, Theaker threw every- After finishing the California project, to be. thing he could fit into a pickup truck which involved working for three years with “I was born at the tail end of the baby and drove to Toronto. His grasp of a new a team of 13 people spread from the Gulf boom in 1957,” he says. software application, AutoCAD, helped him Islands to Texas, “I was pretty seriously “I grew up with all of the values of the get a job with MCW Consultants, a mechan- crispy around the edges,” Theaker admits. 1960s—the central ones that resonated with ical, electrical, and building engineering firm. It was time for a sabbatical. Theaker want- me were ecological. It seemed obvious to me He spent three years in Toronto and two ed to meet the people who design and operate that the way we lived then, and now, was not more in MCW’s Vancouver office working on the world’s most advanced green buildings. something that we would be able to maintain building mechanical systems before leaving Germany, Scandinavia, Holland, and to some as a species. the firm. extent Britain, are a decade ahead of North “One thing that resonated with me was “They weren’t doing, to me, very interest- America in green building design. buildings. They are a third of the ecological ing projects,” says Theaker. “I wanted to find Despite the movement’s current vogue, footprint of our society. Here’s a place where the people on the coast who were doing solar Theaker discovered many green building con- I could contribute, could use some creativity, building. In the course of that summer, I ran cepts aren’t really new. and it was very worthwhile doing.” across the pioneers of this business in B.C.” “One of the hot issues right now is natur- He began doing contract work, and soon al ventilation,” Theaker explains. Bruce White had a long-term client in BC Buildings “You bring fresh air in under the floor ([email protected]) is an Corporation (BCBC). For BCBC, Theaker near where the people are, and they breathe Edmonton-based business writer worked on natural lighting for offices and did the freshened air and it picks up heat and and editor. one of the first studies of the energy consump- contaminants as it rises up to get sucked out

U of A Engineer 33 The Brooks Aqueduct, Cross Hairs July 24, 1915. on History y r a r b i L

&

s e v i h c r A . D . I . E From Parched Earth to Fertile Field: The Story of the Brooks Aqueduct

by Andrea Collins

outheast Alberta—vast tracts of arid leys on arches. It was 56 metres long and agreement signed in 1902, was given 15 years land, sagebrush and cacti, little rain, watered the fields and palace gardens north to complete one of the modern world’s evaporation from heat and wind, of Ninevah. The Greeks built their first aque- largest irrigation projects. runoff over the hard-packed duct on the island of Samos in 530 BC, but Fired with enthusiasm, driven by dead- S the Romans perfected the art and engineering lines, and motivated by money, CPR engi- ground—not a promising place to farm. Or is it? That’s the question the Canadian govern- from 200 BC on. Although ravaged by time, neers completed a number of small canals ment officials set out to solve a century ancient aqueducts were built to last centuries. and wooden siphons before they began the ago. They encouraged a business partner, Roman engineers carefully chose appropriate Herculean task of building the massive Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), to sink its materials, designs, and skilled workmen, and Bassano Dam and the innovative Brooks resources into the case and invest in building organized these complex forces to maximize Aqueduct over a span of four years. The an irrigation system to rival ancient Rome. the results. designs were daring for the day and drew the After spending millions of dollars, the CPR The CPR engineers who built the Brooks attention of engineers and media from threw up its hands and flung the land and the Aqueduct should have heeded that example. around the world. irrigation system back at a stalwart group of CPR got involved when the Canadian govern- The Bassano Dam consists of a dam and Alberta pioneers who continue to operate it ment offered it incentives, mostly land, to concrete spillway, designed to trap the waters to this day. build a transcontinental railway. But the land of the Bow River at a horseshoe shaped bend. That engineering challenge, at the begin- in southeastern Alberta appeared useless—so Built in 1910–14 at a cost of $17 million, the ning of the last century, led to the building of dry (with an average rainfall of less than 30 complex project involved the removal of over what was then the “world’s greatest irriga- centimetres a year) no one wanted to settle half a million cubic metres of earth by horse tion system,” featuring the largest human there—and the railway would not have been and wagon, building a spillway comprised of made lake, second largest dam (after the able to profit from land sales or the trans- 42,000 cubic metres of concrete and more than Aswan Dam in Egypt), and largest raised portation of goods. four million kilograms of reinforced and struc- aqueduct since Roman times. The federal government convinced CPR tural steel, and constructing a dam 2,200 But let’s start at the beginning. The first that the land only needed water to become metres long. The Bassano Dam remains the recorded construction of an aqueduct was in fertile, and that CPR could obligingly provide lifeblood of the Eastern Irrigation District (EID). Assyria in 691 BC, consisting of a dam and that water if it became a licensed irrigation The water from the Bassano Dam flows masonry channel that sometimes bridged val- company. CPR fell for the ploy and, in an east eight kilometres and then splits north and

34 U of A Engineer construction. With money on the table, con- materials when the results were negative. In the tractors grabbed whatever materials and men first weeks of work in 1912, they used local they could find, and went to work. Pay was gravel of inferior grade that soon caused crum- doled out by the quantity of work, not the bling. There was also little water at the site for quality, so corners were often cut. With only mixing the cement, so it had to be hauled in by y

r 13 supervisors for 300 men allocated to 38 train from Suffield, 65 kilometres away. Steel a r b i

L construction crews in the whole far-flung dis- reinforcing bars were also in scarce supply

&

s

e trict, there was no one to blow the whistle. locally and were shipped out from Winnipeg at v i h c

r (One study, conducted years later, showed great expense. A . D .

I that where the specs call for a concrete pour But still the great edifice went up, metre . E of 20 centimetres deep in the barrel, many by metre, to its completed length. Its rein- The beginning of the construction of the places measure only eight to 10 centimetres.) forced concrete flume was 3,195 metres, with aqueduct pedestals in 1924. According to F.G. Cross in a 1928 report, double expansion joints made of copper “Hustle was the order of the day and con- every 24 metres. The perimeter of the barrel tractors were urged on to expediency by a was 10 metres, the top more than 6.86 east. Most of the water in the eastward leg ends penalty clause hanging over their heads in metres, and the depth nearly 2.6 metres. Nine up at Lake Newell, believed to be the largest case they failed to fulfill their contract by a hundred thousand kilograms of reinforcing human-made lake in the world with 225 billion stipulated date. In other words—to take a steel were used, and 18,579 cubic metres of litres of water contained in a depression 16 deep breath was fatal.” concrete was poured. It took three seasons kilometres long and 6.5 kilometres wide. The nearest lab for testing concrete was in (1912–1914) to complete, at a cost of But how to get the water from the reser- Winnipeg, but impatient contractors rarely $600,000. It supplied enough water to irri- voir to the land without losing elevation over waited for the results and did not replace faulty gate 50,600 hectares of land. the many small valleys along the way? This The aqueduct’s construction riveted the was the problem Hugh Muckleston, CPR’s attention of engineers worldwide. Scientific chief engineer on the irrigation project, had to Brooks Aqueduct American published praise and details of the resolve. Though there were several options Technical Statistics Bassano Dam, Lake Newell, and the Brooks available, Muckleston made a startling choice Top width of barrel 6.86 m Aqueduct in 1916, as did Engineering News given the remote location and lack of men and and Canadian Engineer. Depth 2.6 m machines: an elevated canal or aqueduct. The glory was short-lived. The aqueduct Length 3186 m Not only had there never been a canal so was never able to deliver the 900 cubic feet Elevation drop (approx.) 1.7 m long (3.2 kilometres), there had never been an per second (cfs) flow anticipated by its Maximum height 18.6 m elevated structure of such magnitude (20 designers. It reached only a maximum of 640 metres high) built of concrete. Muckleston pro- Anticipated capacity 900 cfs (25 cms) cfs, mainly due to blocking and leaking of its posed a new design, a flume with a hydrostatic Achieved capacity 640 cfs transverse beams. It required major repairs catenary curve mounted on 1,030 columns, Perimeter of barrel 10 m shortly after its completion because of the complete with an inverted siphon to go under design (which encouraged a concentration of Walkways 2 feet the CPR main line. A catenary-shaped flume (61 cm) on alkali at lower elevations), faulty construc- had never been used in an aqueduct before, or each side tion and materials, and the frost action and tested in a water channeling system. However, Shell thickness 5 inches severe weather conditions of prairie Canada. (12.7 cm) Muckeston believed it would provide maxi- CPR maintained the aqueduct until 1935, Transverse girders 35 x 30 cm mum stability and allow for a greater flow of and then proposed closing this gigantic white water. He also chose to suspend the barrel, Twin columns 6 m spacing elephant. Drought-stricken farmers panicked rather than support it from below. And he pro- Expansion joint spacing 6 m and rallied, proposing to take over the owner- posed that the barrel be constructed from rein- Footings (spread type) ship and operations. CP agreed, turned over forced concrete made from the newly top 0.5 m x 0.5 m the land, and gave them an operating loan of developed Portland cement, a recreation of the bottom 2.5m x 2.5 m $300,000. They surprisingly hired the original hydraulic cement of ancient Rome. Portland depth 2.6 m engineer, Muckleston, then a private consul- cement was still at the experimental stage and Mean velocity 1 meter/sec. tant, to inspect the structure and make recom- was, as one engineer historian notes, “a mater- Amount of concrete 18, 349 cubic mendations to their Irrigation Council prior to ial regarded with some suspicion”. used metres purchase. His report ends on an optimistic Their failure to test the materials or design note: “I have been surprised at the excellent Amount of 900,000 kg would come back to haunt the CPR engineers, reinforcing steel condition of this structure. …I do not antici- as would their inadequate supervision during Construction costs $600,000 pate any further concentrated expenditure on

U of A Engineer 35 Cross Hairs engineer.alum on History @ualberta.ca

this structure which has behaved far better ject almost as taxing, and much more expen- Civil Engineering than I ever expected it to do.” sive, than building the original structure. The massive repairs required in subse- Despite this ingenuity, effort, and expense, Cumming, E. Keith (Professor emeritus) quent years belie that optimism, and suggest the case proved hopeless. Nothing could Walter Riva was one of my students when that Muckleston was trying to protect the compensate for the flawed design and con- I taught at the U of A. Like many others CPR and his own reputation. However, the struction. As White concluded in his 1983 in those immediate post-war years, he had Eastern Irrigation District (EID), as it became historical review of the aqueduct, “The a distinguished career. Many of his class- known, carried on and is today widely aqueduct was an engineer’s dream, but an mates distinguished themselves as senior known for its knowledge and expertise. operator’s nightmare.” executives in energy and construction cor- One of the EID engineers who tried to The Brooks Aqueduct was abandoned in porations. Perhaps the most successful of tame the “white elephant” was R.T. (Bob) 1979, replaced by an earth-filled canal that all was Bob Stollery, who was responsible for developing PCL into a world class White (Civil ’49), now deceased. White was a can carry 50 percent more water. However, its construction company and has had an Brooks boy from birth. Like many locals, he historic and engineering significance will not outstanding philanthropic record. viewed the Brooks Aqueduct’s graceful arch- be forgotten. As David Finch, author of Brain es and sheer magnitude as his passion, his and Sinew, says, “The Brooks Aqueduct was I also have a personal interest in my son pride, and his nemesis. Though he moved to a major testimony to the ability of a group of Kevin Cumming’s career. His bio could do Edmonton to study engineering at the people to triumph over a natural obstacle and with an update. He is now president of ATCO Midstream and has several awards University of Alberta, each summer saw him bring huge sections of near-desert into bloom for several projects for which he was back in Brooks, labouring on the aqueduct’s through irrigation.” responsible. maintenance crews. It can still be seen today, rising like a giant White’s first degree was mining engineer- monolith off the surface of the prairie, eight Finally, I wish to mention two of my class- ing, which made him a valuable asset during kilometres southwest of Brooks. The basic mates when I attended the U of A before his wartime service (1942–46), but on his structure has not shifted; its catenary curve going on to McGill: Harry Hole and his now deceased brother Bob. They built return he completed a second degree, this design has withstood time and weather as Lockerbie and Hole into a major mechan- time in civil engineering. His first civilian job Muckleston hoped. Named a national his- ical contactor and have been very gener- drew him back to Brooks in 1949, where he toric site in 1983 and designated as “one of ous supporters of the U of A and the would eventually serve as assistant engineer, 10 outstanding engineering milestones in Citadel Theater. chief engineer, assistant manager, and manag- Alberta” in 1987, it is now maintained by the er of the Eastern Irrigation District. Alberta government. Matheson, W.G. (Bill) (Civil ’68) “Bob spent 40 years with the company,” The aqueduct’s story is told in an inter- Whenever I come across any article deal- recalls his widow Wanda White. pretive centre nearby, and in the film “From ing with NA337 (published in the U of A “He knew more about EID than anyone in Dust Bowl to Prairie Oasis”, written and pro- Engineer summer 2005 issue) I am always the world. Even today, his grandchildren call it duced by White’s granddaughter, Sheena reminded of my first visit to see her. At ‘Grandpa’s aqueduct.’ The aqueduct was his White in 2004. At the film’s end she wrote, that time she was still in pieces and the biggest challenge—he always worried it would “It was the sheer perseverance of man and shell holes were apparent. fall down in the middle of the irrigation season. horse that brought the monumental structure Having been a navigator on that other He was always trying to find ways to fix it.” from a vision into a reality.” bomber, the Lancaster, I was more inter- Early in his tenure, White was helped by To fully appreciate this engineering marvel, ested in all the instruments that had been the data for a major study of the aqueduct travel to Brooks and stand in the aqueduct’s removed from her and laid out on a table conducted by T. Blench from the Faculty of majestic shadow. When you look up, the than I was in the whole remarkable recon- Engineering. Blench was able to identify the brooding silence is broken by the imaginary struction scene around me. As I was iden- cause of the short discharge capacity and offer echo of hammers striking metal, the creak of tifying the navigational equipment and a few practical solutions. Many of the expan- wagon wheels and harness, the shouts of men various other items that I recognized to my sion joints were replaced by galvanized metal calling orders, and by the triumphant whoosh companion, I began to realize that I had an in the 40s and by hot-rolled copper V joints in of water tumbling through the flume. audience of volunteers who busy making the 50s, but the measures provided only tem- notes of what I said. It was a remarkable porary improvement. In the 1960s, EID began Andrea Collins is an Edmonton- experience for me and I relate it only to a major maintenance project under White’s based freelance writer and emphasize just how dedicated those volun- direction to add additional reinforcing and communications consultant. teers were (and are!). replace all the concrete in the structure, a pro-

36 U of A Engineer in memoriam

The Faculty of Engineering sincerely regrets the passing of the following alumni and friends. Just a small point . In the RAF/RCAF our Mechanical Engineering flights were known as “operations,” not Batcheller, Derek (Chemical ’54, MSc Chemical ’62) “missions,” which is an American term. Marks, Andrew (Mechanical ’02) Horne, Douglas (Civil ’57) I have been accepted into the commercial ani- In any event congratulations to all involved in Graham, Michael (Electrical ’82) mation two-year diploma program at Capilano the rebuilding of NA337. A remarkable job Helmer, Ronald (Chemical ’46) College in North Vancouver. I am one of 24 well done. Honey, Ronald (Chemical ’60) applicants to be selected based on a 30-page Houg, Chester (Electrical ’62) portfolio which includes life drawing, still life, Ibrahim, A. Majid (Civil ’53) Electrical Engineering animals, caricatures, locations, etc. The pro- Law, Dennys (Chemical ’43) gram is highly competitive, with many local Phillips, Sidney C. (Electrical ’41) Verret, Sean (Electrical ’00, MSc Electrical ’04 ) and international arts students applying. Reiten, Stanley (Electrical ’43) I was part of an Graduates from this program go on to careers Schienbein, Lawrence (Mechanical ’68, adventure racing in film and television, usually working at ani- MSc Mechanical ’70, PhD Mechanical ’74) team that went to mation houses in Vancouver, Toronto or the Strum, Herbert (Electrical ’51) Chile and competed U.S. I am very much looking forward to this Wasylyk, George (Electrical ’69) in the Patagonia new direction. Yuskiw, Ernest (Mining ’61)

Expedition Race, The Faculty of Engineering was recently a 12-day, 795-km Schubert, Leigh (Mechanical ’68) made aware that the following alumni race by foot, moun- It is with real sadness that I inform you of the passed away more than a year ago. tain bike, and passing of a friend and former classmate on Baker, Andrew (Mining ’37) kayak. Our team January 8, 2006. Lawrence A. Schienbein Hindle, Walter (Electrical ’37) finished in second place. Recently articles (Mechanical ’68, MSc Mechanical ’70, PhD have been published in the Calgary Sun and Mechanical ’74) died in Seattle after a long the Medicine Hat News. fight that ultimately overcame him. He was EDITOR’S NOTE: Verret’s guest column is recognized worldwide as an expert in renew- archived on the Engineering website at able energy and many related fields, and his In memory of www.engineering.ualberta.ca. early demise is a great loss to his family and Herbert Allan Strum, friends as well as the whole world. P. E. (Electrical ’51)

Herbert Allan Strum, aged 81 of Fort Myers Beach, Florida passed away on AWRENCE CHIENBEIN (Mechanical ’68, MSc Mechanical ’70, PhD L S August 30, 2002. Strum was born May Mechanical ’74) passed away January 8, 2006, after a lifetime of distinguished research in 9, 1921 in Edmonton, Alberta to Canada and the United States. During his career, he worked on a wide range of projects, includ- Harvey Allan and Ella Manetta Strum. ing utility-scale wind turbine generator design, wind turbine and wind/diesel hybrid systems He became a King’s Scout in 1937 with research and development, shipboard helicopter landing systems, and underwater and airborne- the Boy Scouts Association. During towed bodies, to name only some of the areas in which he worked. WW II he proudly served for five years Schienbein also co-founded Sustainable Energy Technologies, a wind energy business, where in the Royal Canadian Air Force and he was responsible for prototype development that led to the commercialization of technology was discharged as a flight lieutenant. for fuel cell and photovoltaic applications. He received the prestigious Webb Among his achievements, Schienbein was especially proud of his contribution to wind Award for a paper he presented while energy; in the 1980s, he was regarded as the foremost Canadian authority in that field. He held studying at the University of Alberta. management positions at wind energy firms in Ontario and California, frequently traveling Strum immigrated to the U.S. in 1953 between both countries. to assist with the implementation of the “Lawrence always believed that the University of Alberta offered the highest standards in dial telephone system. For many years, collegiate education and was very proud to have the U of A as his alma mater,” says his wife, before moving to Florida, Strum oper- Gwen. “Lawrence kept up with his former classmates both from his undergraduate courses as ated his own engineering firm, H.A. well as those who were in grad studies when he was working on his Master’s and beginning his Strum & Associates, in North Doctoral studies.” Muskegon, Michigan. His iron ring was one of his most valued possessions.

U of A Engineer 37 Kudos Taking pride in achievement

experience in the oil and gas he brings in-depth expertise in ANSLEY, RALPH DR. ROZAK, ALAN (Civil ’59, PhD Civil ’63) industry. Prior to joining Peregrine software architecture, web-based (Mechanical ’89) PEng has been appointed to the Energy Ltd., Gardiner was with solutions, and systems integra- has been appointed advisory board of Petaquilla AEC/EnCana Corporation where tion. He has worked across a vice president of Minerals Limited. he held various positions of broad client base in both the gas gathering and increasing responsibility, most public and private sectors includ- processing for recently the position of vice presi- ing Workers’ Compensation ATCO Midstream. CAMARTA, NEIL dent of the Fort Nelson business Board, Alberta Government (Chemical ’75) PEng unit. In his career, Gardiner has Services, AADAC, City of has been appointed prepared and managed operating Edmonton, Alberta Human vice president, cor- and capital investments in excess Resources and Employment, and SEMCHUK, MARK porate communica- of $500 million per year and was Owens Corning. Over the past (Mechanical ’81) PEng tions and planning responsible for the management of four years, Harris has focused on has been appointed with Petro-Canada. several multi-disciplined technical successfully delivering advanced vice president busi- Mr. Camarta will teams to exploit and produce oil Microsoft.NET solutions for ness development lead Petro-Canada’s business and gas assets. Gardiner has Sierra Systems’ clients. His excel- and corporate ini- planning activities and commu- extensive experience in oil and gas lent team leadership abilities pro- tiatives for ATCO nications with the public, exploitation, production, and long vide strong technical guidance to Structures. employees, government, and range planning, as well as acquisi- the Edmonton branch. tions, drilling, completions, and investors. Camarta has 30 years SPADY, DARCY of experience with Shell Canada operations. Previous employers KABARCHUK, JOE (Petroleum ’86) PEng in a variety of senior leadership include the City of Medicine Hat, has been appointed roles. Suncor, and Home Oil. (Civil '94) PEng has been appointed director for vice president, oper- the City of Edmonton transporta- ations of PetroGlobe Incorporated, a pub- ENGEL, CORY HAAS, DR. RALPH tion and infrastructure division. licly traded compa- (Chemical ’94) PEng (Civil ’61, MSc Civil ’63) PEng has joined the leadership team at has recently been ny with operations PAS, a leading provider of awarded the MACLEOD, MICHAEL in Central Alberta, Canada and advanced automation solutions, Professional (Mining ’75, MEng Mining ’76) the Palo Duro basin of West PEng with immediate responsibilities Engineers Ontario Texas. Until November 2005, he has been appointed to the board for all of the Americas solutions Engineering Medal was director of production opti- of directors for Adanac. Macleod sales. Engel brings experience in for Research and mization and vice president of has been an active mining engi- the sale and delivery of software Development for his work in Canadian operations for neer for 25 years. He has been solutions for the process indus- transportation and infrastruc- Columbia Natural Resources, responsible for major capital pro- tries, having established ture. He has also recently been LLC. based in Charleston, West jects, feasibility assessments, and Matrikon in the U.S. and eastern elected a Fellow of the Virginia. Before that, he was gen- marketing and environmental Canada—regions accounting for Engineering Institute of Canada. eral manager of Columbia’s studies. He will be responsible for nearly half of all Matrikon’s Previously, Dr. Haas was named Canadian subsidiary based in all project development and oper- global sales. Further, he has per- as a Member of the Order of Fredericton, New Brunswick. ational activities, and for assem- sonally led margin improvement Canada (1998), a Fellow of the Spady joined CNR in 2000, after bling and leading the team of initiatives in these regions to Royal Society of Canada (2001), working as sales manager for professionals that will advance vices in reach gross margins of over 60 and a Fellow of the Canadian Schlumberger Oilfield Ser the Ruby Creek Moly project. percent—the highest for any Academy of Engineering (1990). the Eastern United States, and was Matrikon region and division. Haas is The Norman W. district manager for Dowell Engel originally joined Matrikon McLeod Enginering Professor Schlumberger in the Illinois Basin MORGAN, GWYN and in several areas of Canada, as employee number 15 and has and Distinguished Professor (Mechanical ’67) PEng including off-shore, the Maritimes, been instrumental in leading its Emeritus at the University of has become execu- Quebec, and Ontario. Prior to growth since the late 1990s. His Waterloo. tive vice chair of this, he held various engineering track record and extensive back- EnCana. He has and management positions for ground in the markets served by also been named a Dow, based in Calgary and PAS helps ensure that PAS can HARRIS, KEVIN director of Alcan (Engineering Physics ’95) PEng Red Deer, Alberta, and for exceed its 39 percent revenue Inc. In addition, has been appointed Schlumberger Wireline in growth record of 2005 and Morgan is the director of HSBC technology leader Edmonton, Alberta. achieve its 52 percent growth Bank Canada, a director of SNC- responsible for suc- goal for 2006. Lavalin Group Inc., and a mem- cessful delivery of ber of the energy advisory board technology-based SYMINGTON, WAYNE of Accenture Ltd. In 2005, he (Mechanical ’78) PEng GARDINER, GARY solutions for Sierra was named the most respected has been appointed (Petroleum ’86) PEng Systems’ clients in the Edmonton CEO in Canada by a survey of has been appointed president and branch. Harris is a senior archi- senior vice president the country’s leading CEOs. chief executive officer and director tect with 10 years of industry for development, for Peregrine Energy Limited. experience delivering software engineering, and Gardiner has over 20 years of solutions. As a technology leader, construction for ATCO Power.

38 UofA Engineer Class Organizers

To make Reunion 2006 as memorable as possible, we need volunteers who will act as class organizers. If your class is not listed and you’d like to help organize a special reunion TimeTime toto CelebrateCelebrate for your class, please contact Allyson Haug at [email protected] or by phone at 780.492.4159 (toll-free 1.800.407.8354).

Class Organizers (as of May 3, 2006)

’46 Electrical Engineering Muriel Cheriton and Robert Proudfoot ’46 Chemical Engineering Jack Cuyler and Doug Love ’46 Civil Engineering Henry Kasten REUNION 2006 ’51 Chemical Engineering BY LLYSON AUG A H Art Davison ’56 Civil Engineering Harry Anderson Come one, come all! ’56 Chemical Engineering If you graduated from U of A in a year ending in a 6 or a 1, 2006 is your year to Dr. Ron Brown and Dr. T. W. Fraser Russell celebrate! Join us September 29–October 1 for Reunion 2006—the perfect opportuni- ’56 Electrical Engineering ty to reconnect with former classmates, professors and friends, and to share school-day Mathew Romanow memories and future plans. ’56 Petroleum Engineering In addition to the many campus-wide events, the Faculty of Engineering will host Stanley Harper and Leonard Maier several complimentary activities specifically for Engineering alumni and their guests. ’61 Chemical Engineering Plan now to join us for an unforgettable Reunion 2006. We look forward to seeing you Al Patterson in September! ’61 Electrical Engineering Gordon Domeier and Robert McLean Friday, September 29 ’66 Chemical Engineering Jerry Lack Dean’s Reception* ’66 Mechanical Engineering 4:30–7:00 p.m. Dale Brossert ETLC Solarium, 2nd Floor, Engineering Teaching and Learning Complex (ETLC) ’66 Metallurgical Engineering Start off Reunion Weekend by reconnecting with Engineering classmates and col- John Scheffer leagues. Dean David Lynch and Mrs. Lynch invite all Engineering alumni and their ’71 Civil Engineering guests to join them for complimentary hors d’oeuvres and refreshments in the Mike Yakemchuk ETLC Solarium. ’71 Chemical Engineering *Watch your mailbox for your invitation to celebrate the Faculty’s latest Robert Burns nanotechnology initiatives. ’76 Chemical Engineering Matt McCaffrey and Glen Tanaka Saturday, September 30 ’76 Electrical Engineering Glenn Stowkowy Dean’s Brunch ’81 Chemical Engineering 9:00–11:00 a.m. Mark Semchuk ETLC Solarium, 2nd Floor, Engineering Teaching and Learning Complex (ETLC) ’81 Mechanical Engineering All Engineering alumni who graduated in 1961 or earlier and their guests are Paul Dusseault and Duane Evans invited to a complimentary hot brunch, hosted by Dean David Lynch and Mrs. Lynch. ’86 Chemical Engineering Dr. Lynch will celebrate the accomplishments of our alumni and will speak on the past, Brian Harrison present, and future of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Alberta. ’86 Mechanical Engineering Jim Funk Engineering Open House, Tours, and Lectures ’86 Petroleum Engineering 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. Darcy Spady Engineering Teaching and Learning Complex (ETLC) ’96 Mechanical Engineering Tim Humpke The Faculty of Engineering is pleased to welcome alumni, prospective students, and guests to Engineering Open House 2006. Take in displays from the four ’96 Metallurgical Engineering Fenna Poelzer Engineering departments and numerous student groups, and attend free lectures on a variety of engineering-related topics. Tours of the engineering buildings will be ’96 Mining Engineering Fenna Poelzer available. The alumni hospitality lounge will be open to provide a quiet place to enjoy a coffee and catch up with old classmates. ’96 Petroleum Engineering Fenna Poelzer For more information on any of these events, contact Allyson Haug at allyson.haug @ualberta.ca or by phone at 780.492.4159 (toll-free 1.800.407.8354).

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