Ualberta Engineer Spring 2015 issue

ENGINEER

U OF A

Keeping in Touch with Alumni Spring 2015

The building that opens doors Fred Pheasey makes room for innovation Connie Parenteau takes on presidency Take the Pop Quiz challenge!

Building Momentum Dean Lynch keeps moving faculty forward

U OF A ENGINEER SPRING 2015

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THE VIRTUOUS CYCLE HOW ALUMNI IMPROVE THE U OF A ENGINEERING EXPERIENCE

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’ve had the great pleasure over the years to meet with countless numbers of engineering alumni, working with them in professional capacities,

collaborating with them on gifts, both large and small, that support our Faculty, or learning about their professional and personal achievements.

Our alumni are without doubt the Faculty’s largest force for change in society. No matter where you look, you’ll find a University of Alberta engineer working as a trusted member of the profession, often as a leader in industry or government. Or maybe that engineer is just around the corner in your own neighbourhood helping to organize and build a new playground.

The roles you as alumni play in your professional lives and in your own communities are an endless source of pride to our Faculty. You are role models who inspire today’s young students. You help fuel our desire to continuously improve the engineering education our students receive.

Engineering students who have had transformative learning experiences always express gratitude that our family of alumni have stepped up to make a difference by providing a scholarship or a bursary, or providing a co-op placement, or supporting our outstanding professors and facilities. Having benefited from the goodwill of others, they in turn are motivated to share their expertise or offer support in any way they can to future engineering students.

Today’s students, and the students who will follow them, can sense our alumni’s genuine concern for their well-being. It is a virtuous cycle of support that is developed by our alumni that enables us to do so much more for our students.

I know our students can count on your continuing, thoughtful and generous support.

We do not stand apart from each other. We are inextricably linked. And our largest impacts by far will always come through the collective efforts and support of our alumni. The future of the Faculty of Engineering is our alumni and our alumni are the future of the Faculty of Engineering.

U of A Engineer is the Faculty of Engineering alumni magazine.

It is published twice a year by the Dean’s Office and is distributed to Faculty of Engineering alumni, friends, students and staff.

Dean of Engineering David T. Lynch (PhD Chemical ’82), PEng External Relations Team Nena Jocic-Andrejevic, Leanne Nickel, Cindy Spears Publisher/Managing Editor Richard Cairney Copy Editing/Proofreading Richard Cairney, Philip Mail, Leanne Nickel, Scott Rollans Art Direction Halkier + Dutton Strategic Design Contributing writers and photographers Bev Betkowsky, Jimmy Jeong, Demetri Giannitsios, Suzanne Harris, Ellen Schoeck Advertising Richard Cairney Tel: 780.492.4514 or 1.800.407.8345 Send Comments to: Richard Cairney Faculty of Engineering E6-050 Engineering Teaching and Learning Complex University of Alberta Edmonton, AB T6G 2V4 Tel: 780.492.4514 or 1.800.407.8354 Fax: 780.492.0500 email: richard.cairney@ualberta.ca Website: www.engineering.ualberta.ca Change of address: cindy.spears@ualberta.ca

Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Faculty of Engineering, University of Alberta E6-050 Engineering Teaching and Learning Complex Edmonton, AB T6G 2V4

David T. Lynch PhD. P.Eng Dean of Engineering

2 U OF A ENGINEER SPRING 2015

Spring 2015 Issue 37

Publications Mail Agreement No. 40051128

Thank you.

Vision To be one of the largest and most accomplished engineering teaching and research centres, a leader in North America.

ENGINEER

U OF A

FIRST WORD

Mission To prepare top-quality engineering professionals, to conduct world-leading research and to celebrate the first-class reputation and outstanding accomplishments of alumni.

Values Dedication, integrity, professionalism and excellence in teaching, research and service to the global economy and community.

SPRING 2015 CONTENTS

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WHAT’S IN A NAME? Donadeo Innovation Centre for Engineering builds a culture of collaboration

FEATURES

Cover Story THE DEAN OF DEANS 10 David Lynch is picking up speed as his 21 years

DEPAR TMENTS LETTERS 4 We want to hear from you.

as Dean comes to a close.

POP QUIZ 5 Take the Pop Quiz challenge

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FACULTY'S MOVING FORWARD WITH FORBES

Long-serving chair appointed as interim dean.

ENGGNEWS 6 News from around the Faculty of Engineering.

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WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Donadeo Innovation Centre for Engineering builds a culture of collaboration.

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BUILDING IS THE FUTURE

28 FOLLOW-UP Nurturing entrepreneurial engineers.

30 ALUMNI WEEKEND Come back to the place where it all started.

Architect and engineer give the inside (and out) story on new building.

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MEETING ROOM WITH A VIEW

38 OBITUARIES/IN MEMORIAM Remembrances

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THE TIME AND PLACE

An innovative engineer provides support for a collaborative environment.

Connie Parenteau takes on the APEGA presidency at an opportune time.

ON THE COVER Portrait of Dean of Engineering David Lynch (PhD ’82) following an alumni event in B.C. this spring. Lynch seems busier than ever as he winds down his twenty-first, and final, year as Dean.

Photo by Jimmy Jeong.

LEGACIES Engineers have an enduring impact.

39 KUDOS Gold stars all around!

U OF A ENGINEER SPRING 2015

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Meet your future employees There are many benefits to hiring U of A engineering co-op students. They’re equipped to help your company complete special projects or get through busy periods, providing highquality work over four- or eight-month placements. Giving future engineers real experience and a chance to prove themselves is an investment in the future – and a great way to find new longterm employees.

No matter what size your company or projects are, engineering co-op students can help. Find out how by calling: Edmonton: 780-492-5152 | Calgary: 403-718-6393

Al-Terra Engineering Ltd. has been hiring U of A engineering co-op students since the program’s earliest days. Kelly Alsmo and Dana Leithead benefitted as students working for Al-Terra and participate in the program today as employers.

Or email: engineering.co-op@ualberta.ca

LETTERS Magazine’s redesign hit the right notes

Landmark Group of Homes CEO Reza Nasseri chats with an employee at the company’s 90,000-squarefoot production facility.

Automation inside the plant radically decreases waste, improves safety and working conditions and results in a high degree of accuracy and quality.

REZA

BUILT

I am a U of A chemical engineering graduate now retired and living in Houston Texas. I worked 33 years for Esso Canada in Toronto and then emigrated to work at ExxonMobil in Houston.

By Richard Cairney

T

he construction industry in North America, particularly the residential construction sector, generates enormous amounts of waste. It’s estimated that 25 per cent of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions are related to the construction and use of homes and other buildings. South of the border, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that building construction, renovation, use and demolition account for approximately two-thirds of all non-industrial solid waste in the U.S. But a new school of building science and engineering at the University of Alberta is about to change that.

Fuelled by a $10-million gift from Reza and Sylvia Nasseri to the U of A Faculty of Engineering, the newly established Nasseri School of Building Science and Engineering will serve as a teaching and research centre in which engineering students, professors, researchers and staff will focus on improving the use of materials and energy in the design and construction of homes and commercial buildings. Advances

made through this research will reduce environmental impact, enhance safety for workers and occupants, and increase the affordability of homes.

There is a clear need in the industry for waste reduction, better building quality and affordability. Homes of the future will need to be highly energy efficient and have healthy environments, and will increasingly be involved in producing their own energy and contributing power into the electricity grid. New systems and materials for insulation and energy storage require the expertise of materials and electrical engineers, while mechanical engineers are involved in the design of more efficient heating and cooling systems. Software engineering for wireless technology in homes will be in demand.

“When you think of everything involved in building a home, it crosses many boundaries, from the foundations and concrete work to wiring and electrical appliances, plumbing and heating; and there are all sorts of materials,” Dean of Engineering David Lynch explains. The

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ENGINEER

U OF A

Keeping in Touch with Alumni Fall 2014

the

house that

Reza built Women in engineering Take the pop quiz challenge Leaders in engineering safety and risk management Students enter the Beaver’s Den U OF A ENGINEER FALL 2014

the house that

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U OF A ENGINEER FALL 2014

I recently had a moment to read through the Fall 2014 U of A Engineer magazine and wanted to give you feedback.

I liked the new format and content and the fact that it is still on paper, allowing me to read it at my convenience wherever I want to. FYI, if it were an

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e-magazine I’d most likely just delete it as I don’t like reading digital magazines.

I especially liked the three articles on women in engineering and how each of the three women is encouraging women to pursue engineering.

I enjoyed reading about Jessamyn Smith’s use

of humour to combat an irritating bot with her own bot rebuttal; Gail Powley’s committee that developed the planning resource guide employees and employers— their recommendations for encouraging an employee’s connection to the workplace during leave were spot on.

I wished more companies would implement these recommendations!

I liked the pop quiz (must admit I just looked at the answer page but found that fascinating). I don’t remember taking Mat E 202 but hope I’ll be able to answer a pop quiz on a Chem E course!

I enjoyed the article on the gift from Reza Nasseri and

the new School of Building Science and Engineering. I admire the goals of reducing environmental impact, enhancing safety for workers and occupants, and increasing the affordability of homes.

I was glad to read that safety and risk management are being further integrated into the U of A engineering degree. It would be great if safety and risk management is not only a stand-alone course but featured in various aspects of the core engineering classes (where applicable).

Keep up the good work!

Jan McNeill, Chemical ’75 Houston, Texas

LETTERS WELCOME 4 U OF A ENGINEER SPRING 2015

Please share your thoughts on any of the features and articles we publish. Your comments, questions, and opinions are always welcome! Send your letters via email to: richard.cairney@ualberta.ca.

POP QUIZ

WELCOME TO

POP QUIZ Pop Quiz! is your chance to revisit the lessons you learned while at university. It doesn’t matter how long ago you graduated—math and the laws of physics still haven’t changed.

With a little work, you’ll be able to answer these questions.

Some years have passed since you took a firstyear engineering course.

Sessional instructor and PhD student Lindsey Westover has assembled a sample of questions you’d find in ENGG 130 assignments. Westover is one of the winners of a Faculty of Engineering Graduate Student Teaching Award. If you’d been in her class, you’d know this stuff insideout. Every engineering student is required to complete this course so Westover is confident you can solve these problems.

If you have any questions, visit our Pop Quiz website: engineering.ualberta.ca/ PopQuiz

ENGG 130: Engineering Mechanics

1. The rod OA is supported by two cables AB and AC. Determine the angle between the cables AB and AC.

2. For the truss shown at right:

a) determine the zero force members

b) determine the force in member FC

3. For the beam shown at right:

a) Draw the shear force diagram (SFD) and bending moment diagram (BMD)

b) Determine the maximum bending moment and the location along the beam where it occurs

Answers appear on page 23 U OF A ENGINEER SPRING 2015

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ENGGNEWS Alumna breaks new ski trails, connects with Ski2LRT project Shauna Rae (Electrical ’98, MSc ’03) took up cross-country skiing four years ago. With a newborn baby at home, she figured it was a good way to get exercise and fresh air in her own neighbourhood. Better still, Rae noticed that skiing enthusiasts had been setting their own tracks through the snow.

DiscoverE wins third Google award

When Rae thought about the number of active skiers in the area, she also realized that it was possible to ski to the Century Park LRT station along the trails.

After organizing meetings of local skiers she set up a plan to have a ski rack built at the transit centre, allowing commuters to ski to the LRT. Through a promotional page on the Make Something Edmonton website and through a Facebook page (Ski2LRT), Rae and community members began to meet and organize ski events—and planned to have a rack designed, built and installed. This year, skiers have become so active in the area that they’ve blazed at least 20 kilometres of trails along the “whitebelts”. With the help of adjoining community leagues (through the Southwest Area Council), they opened the city’s first ski rack Jan. 31.

Working with a local welder, Rae designed the rack, which was installed on the west side of the Century Park LRT station—right next to a bike rack. The rack was installed at the end of January and has been a hit with commuters who ski to the transit centre, lock up their skis and poles and then jump onto the LRT or catch bus.

For Rae, the whole story is as much about community building as it is about skiing and using public transit. And it has a lot to do with what she sees as the role of engineers in society.

“I think it’s important for engineers to know that there are people and organizations that will support our creative solutions. There must be plenty of engineers out there with clever ideas on ways we can live better—our minds are tuned to problem solving.”

DiscoverE staff members (L-R) Anne McDonald, Alyssa Boyle, Meagan O’Shea, Emma McDonald and Ashley Stoltz celebrate a record third Google RISE award for their Faculty of Engineering outreach program.

A Faculty of Engineering outreach program has won a world-leading third Google RISE award for innovation and community impact, supporting an expansion of programs empowering girls to use computer technology.

DiscoverE is the only organization in the world to win the RISE (Roots in Science and Engineering) award more than once. The awards support organizations that engage underrepresented students in extracurricular computer science programs.

“One of the reasons I put so much time into the design of the rack and in engaging with the community has to do with a feeling of responsibility to society that engineers are sworn to,” she says. “I’ve been inspired by previous stories in the alumni magazine where engineers are putting their talents towards good causes and I would like to challenge more engineers to use their talents outside of their regular jobs in ways that help our – sustainable – communities.

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The team won its first RISE award in 2013 to create its Girls Coding Club and to bring engineering, science and technology programs to a remote First Nations community in northern Alberta. It won the award again in 2014 to take the Girls Coding Club to the next level—producing a MOOC about computer programming by girls, for girls and to encourage girls to form Girls Coding Clubs at their own schools, teaching their peers about coding.

This year, DiscoverE will use $25,000 in funding from the award to create a second MOOC, introducing students

to Java and enabling them to program their own Android apps. They’ll also bring coding programs into schools and communities at a local, regional and international level.

“When we first came up with the idea to teach children as young as Grade 3 coding languages like Python and Java, a few people laughed in our faces,” DiscoverE director Alyssa Boyle says.

“But we weren’t afraid to try because we believe the youth of our generation are so tech savvy already that it isn’t much of a step to teach them to become producers of this technology rather than just users.

“The everyday technology in our lives has so much more power than what we use it for, and if we teach these kids how to ‘break the system’ they can harness that power and be able to do what they want. By the end of the term they will not only know how to use Python and Java, and how to build an app—they will have 21st century skills that are probably going to be necessary and we want them to have the attitude that they can create whatever they want—and that’s empowerment.”

Members of the 2015 GNCTR hit high speeds during a test run of their sled.

Richard Cairney

IT AIN’T HEAVY, IT’S MY CONCRETE TOBOGGAN Being a member of one of the Faculty of Engineering’s student project teams isn’t all fun and games. A lot of hard work goes into designing and building vehicles and raising money to travel to competitions. And for this year’s Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race team, things were a little more challenging than usual.

Coming off an incredibly successful year in 2014, when the team swept most of the award categories including the national championships, many team members graduated and only two members of the executive (Alex May and Megan Ogle) returned.

A major recruitment drive was launched and by the time the team hit the slopes at the GNCTR competition in B.C.’s Okanagan Valley this year, it was a well-oiled machine.

“We had about 15 people, almost half the team, who essentially didn’t know what GNCTR stood for at the beginning of the year,” says May, who led the team.

“But we met all the requirements. We did the fundraising, built a toboggan that went 42 km/h, had a wonderful tech exhibit, placed 5th for costumes, wrote a technical report that was 172 pages, and came in 4th place in the spirit competition, which is phenomenal,” she says.

In the overall competition the team placed 13th out of 16 teams—it was disqualified from its first run due to a slip-up at the starting gate and lost valuable points. But the team came away feeling charged up about its performance and confidence is running high for the coming year.

Student teams up with alumnus on winning startup team

Seeing with sound: student advances robotic surgery research project Even though both her parents are electrical engineers, Lucia Gan would never have imagined that her studies in the same discipline could have an impact on how heart surgeries are performed.

But that’s exactly the kind of work Gan was involved in as part of a three-month Dean’s Research Award project. Working in electrical engineering professor Mahdi Tavakoli’s lab, under the guidance of PhD student Meaghan Bowthorpe, Gan’s job was to determine whether or not ultrasound could be used as the “eyes” for a robotic arm designed to perform surgery on a beating heart.

Presently, surgeons either stop a patient’s heart or use a mechanical device to hold it still during operations.

But researchers like Tavakoli and Bowthorpe are developing ways to perform such surgeries robotically.

Up until now, Bowthorpe’s experiments with the robotic arm relied on a camera to let the robotic arm “know” where it was relative to a simulated beating heart, giving the system information it needs to move in unison with the heart—a feat no human surgeon’s hand is capable of.

Experiments Gan conducted proved ultrasound is a reliable tool to enable this new technology. Using ultrasound takes the technology an important step forward, conceivably allowing the robotic arm to perform minimally invasive surgeries.

For Gan, who has had engineering experience working on engineering jobs in the oil and gas industry, the project was an eye-opening experience.

“The interest in biomedical engineering, for me, is that you’re helping people in new, innovative ways,” she says. “I got to investigate everything—a lot of my

Third-year electrical engineering student Lucia Gan, right, worked with PhD student Meaghan Bowthorpe during her Dean’s Research Award project, finding new ways to enable a robotic arm to “see” and respond to a moving object.

The ultimate goal of the project, overseen by electrical engineering professor Mahdi Tavakoli, is to develop a robotic device capable of performing surgery on a beating heart.

project was setting up the feedback control system, and controls is a class I’m taking next semester.”

Gan was also impressed to learn how different faculties at the U of A are working together in interdisciplinary research projects. For example, Tavakoli works with researchers at the Mazankowski Heart Institute on this project.

Bowthorpe says Gan's work gives the team a new tool with which to conduct research.

The Dean’s Research Award program gives undergraduate students the opportunity to work on research projects with professors and graduate students, giving them valuable exposure to research experience and enhancing their educational experience. The program is open to all undergraduate engineering students with a GPA of 3.2.

Cleaning with dirt? That’s what AltaCarbon’s mission is: to convert petroleum coke, which is mostly considered to be a waste byproduct, into activated carbon for cleaning in a variety of applications.

main byproduct of oil sands processing, into filtration material called activated carbon. Activated carbon can be used for applications such as water treatment, air filtration, and mercury capture from flue gas emission.

Early this year AltaCarbon, a local startup led by Alvin Xu (Electrical ‘12), took the top spot and a $7,500 award in the concept stream at the Energy New Venture Competition.

“Petroleum coke has no real value to oil companies. They’re using it to filter tailings for example, but our process is more efficient like a microwave rather than an oven,” Bekavac explains. “Right now, we’re working on validating the technology on a larger scale.”

AltaCarbon started its journey with Xu presenting his idea at the eHUB SPARK 2014 competition, drawing the attention of third-year chemical engineering student Geoffrey Bekavac.

“I contacted Alvin afterwards and I’ve been involved in the business side of things since then,” says Bekavac.

AltaCarbon is a clean-tech company developing a patented platform process that can convert petroleum coke, the

AltaCarbon has demonstrated the technology to be successful at the gram-scale and is working to scale up to kilograms and then tonnes.

“Activated carbon is used by many plants and Canada and it can be made from coconut or wood, but making it from petroleum coke, an unwanted byproduct, can help the environment

and we hope it also helps improve Alberta’s image,” Bekavac says.

AltaCarbon has also won eHUB’s Triffo Prize in Innovation and the 2015 Investment Pitch Competition hosted by the Hong Kong Canada Business Association. With the third win at Energy New Venture Competition, the company is in good shape so far with $15,000 from awards.

“I extended my degree by reducing my course load so that I would have more time to work on AltaCarbon. I’m also a competitive kayaker so it can be pretty tough sometimes,” Bekavac says.

“As for what I’m going to do in the future, well, I’d like to go the entrepreneurial route with AltaCarbon and I plan for it to be my main focus if we can secure the funding we need to develop the company.”

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Insulated from radio interference inside an anechoic chamber, Pedram Mousavi is able to test and develop new intelligent antennas. Based in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mousavi’s NSERC Industrial Research Chair program crosses engineering disciplines—he is working with partners in industry and with colleagues in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Richard Cairney

Research will help diversify economy, improve industrial productivity

By Richard Cairney

H

ow does leading-edge research improve industrial productivity and diversify the economy? A new industrial research chair program at the Faculty of Engineering is aiming to achieve both goals. By helping the oil and gas industry operate more efficiently through the use of new intelligent wireless sensors and antennas, mechanical engineering professor Pedram Mousavi is also helping to expand the province’s information and communications technology industry.

Mousavi and his research team began been working with industry partners in late 2013 and have a lot to show for it.

Mousavi’s team has already licensed three new technologies to one of its industrial partners, Titan Logix, and is in the process of signing two more technologies to another, Pason Systems. An antenna coupling developed by the research team is being sold by yet another partner, Testforce, to clients around the world, and a spinoff company based on the team’s work is being created by his graduate students.

Mousavi, who is supervising more than 20 graduate students whose work is related to the project, says he was unsurprised by the fact that oil prices have dropped so dramatically in the past year—it is the natural cyclical character of resource markets. But he hopes his research program

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can help diversify the economy enough to reduce the province’s reliance on the oil and gas sectors. At the same time, he wants to help the industry operate in more costeffective and efficient ways.

Present-day technology only allows for a certain percentage of oil or gas to be brought to the surface, but Mousavi and his team, which includes leading researchers in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, are developing intelligent wireless devices connecting multiple sensors that could make resource operations more cost-effective.

Data gathered by these systems could improve productivity by informing off-site experts about an oil well’s operation and the quality of oil it is pumping from the ground. These analysts would be able to respond to the information and make immediate decisions about how the well should be operating.

Working in some of Canada’s top research facilities, the team is also developing an ultra-wide-band radar system to monitor oil in transit on railcars, in tankers hauled by trucks, or being stored in tanks. It is also building antennas and front-end circuits for an emerging 5G network, working on ways to wirelessly power remote sensors, and developing a new type of 3D printer capable of

manufacturing electronic devices, sensors and antennas in one integrated process.

The research program has been funded for five years with a possibility of renewal.

Funding for Mousavi’s research program totals $2.8 million, including $925,000 each from NSERC, Alberta Innovates – Technology Futures and industry partners (Telus, TRTech, Pason Systems Corp., Titan Logix Corp., ITS Electronics Inc., EMSCAN, InfoChip and Testforce); the remainder of the funding comes from the University of Alberta.

Crucial in-kind support of time and expertise from industry partners is valued at about $900,000 and key equipment funded through the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Alberta Innovates – Technology Futures is valued at $1.5 million.

Dean of Engineering David Lynch says collaborative partnerships such as the NSERC Industrial Research chairs benefit everyone involved by bringing industry challenges to university classrooms and labs. This forms connections among education, research and the application of new knowledge.

“When industry and universities work together, students gain a deeper understanding of the concepts they’re learning because they can see the connection between their studies and the practical applications of engineering principles,” Lynch said. “At the same time, industry and the engineering profession benefit as we educate a highly qualified new generation of engineers.”

Lynch says the team’s “incredible productivity” proves that such partnerships work. “These programs very quickly have significant outcomes for a receptive industrial community.”

From professor to provost An international search finds the best, right in our own backyard

F

ollowing an international search, an experienced Faculty of Engineering administrator, and award-winning professor and researcher, has been named the University of Alberta’s new chief academic officer.

The U of A Board of Governors, with unanimous support from the advisory committee, has approved the appointment of Steven Dew to the position of provost and vice-president (academic), effective July 1, 2015.

Dew has been associate dean (research and planning) in the Faculty of Engineering since 1999, and a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering since completing his PhD in electrical engineering at the U of A in 1992. During that time, he has helped stimulate and manage the Faculty of Engineering’s growth—52 per cent growth in faculty members, 60 per cent growth in undergraduate students, 180 per cent growth in graduate students, 265 per cent growth in external research funding, and 380 per cent growth in research chairs.

“Steven’s role as a member of the leadership team has been pivotal in terms of Engineering’s growth and development, but his impact has been felt far beyond that faculty,” said U of A PresidentElect David Turpin, who co-chaired the search committee with President Indira Samarasekera. “Steven will bring to the provost’s role a focus on excellence and an outstanding track record of fostering

A highly respected educator and administrator, Faculty of Engineering Associate Dean (Research) Steven Dew has been appointed as the U of A Provost and Vice President (Academic). Dew takes over the position July 1.

collaboration and building consensus across the institution and beyond, while successfully leading large multi-stakeholder initiatives.”

According to Samarasekera, one example of Dew’s reach stems from his work as co-chair of the committee to develop a campus-wide set of graduate student attributes for the GFC Committee on the Learning Environment. He was also key to the development and success of the Institute for Oil Sands Innovation and the Canadian Centre for Clean Coal/Carbon and Mineral Processing Technologies.

“Steven has played a critical role in numerous university-wide committees related to research and scholarship, graduate studies, international engagement, curricula, academic leadership and information technology,” she added.

Dew was responsible for securing the acquisition of and ongoing operations support for $85-million, open access nanotechnology facilities used by 340 research and industry groups. He was the key organizer, lead proposal author and member of the National Operations Committee for the Helmholtz-Alberta Initiative, the university’s largest international initiative, involving more than 50 U of A professors across several faculties and seven German Helmholtz institutes.

He was also the driving force behind organizing the Sino-Canadian Energy and Environment Research and Education Initiative with Tsinghua University that involves 23 projects across four faculties.

With research expertise in the areas of nanofabrication, Dew has published more than 175 papers including being co-editor of the book, Nanofabrication Techniques and Principles (2011). He is a recipient of the Killam Annual Professorship, the McCalla Professorship and the Douglas R. Colton Medal for Research Excellence, as well as being a three-time recipient of the Faculty of Engineering Teaching Award.

Dew is a NINT Fellow; vice-chair of the national committee developing standards for nanotechnology under the International Standards Organization; founding member of the Canadian Engineering Graduate Consortium; visiting team member for the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board; past board member of TRLabs, a not-forprofit corporation and Canada’s largest telecommunications research organization, now called TRTech; and corporate member for TRTech.

Dew describes the U of A as an exceptional institution with an incredibly bright future, and a vital role in the success of this province and the nation.

“I am truly honoured to be selected for this key position,” he said. “I look forward to working closely with President Turpin and the executive team, as well as so many outstanding people from across our university and in the broader community, to help guide the U of A to even higher levels of achievement and contribution.”

The provost and vice-president (academic) is responsible for institutional planning and administration in all aspects of the academic operations, involving students, academic and support staff, alumni, members of governance committees, and staff associations. The position is the chief academic officer of the university and leads the conceptualization, development, implementation, and continuous improvement of academic programs and services.

The provost also plays a key external role provincially, nationally and internationally –– liaising with the Ministry of Innovation and Advanced Education, leading academic program partnerships with other Campus Alberta institutions, and representing the U of A in provincial and national associations of provosts and chief academic officers as well as other external agencies.

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AN OBJECT IN MOTION

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING’S MOMENTUM KEEPS BUILDING IN DEAN LYNCH’S FINAL YEAR OF SERVICE

Demetri Giannitsios

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t's early April and David Lynch has 85 days to complete what he started more than 7,500 days ago when he was appointed acting dean.

His one-year appointment was followed by four terms as Dean of Engineering at the University of Alberta.

And on this day, he’s working on projects that will have an impact on the Faculty of Engineering for decades. There is no slowing down or looking back. The Faculty, he says, is a forward-looking entity. Today’s students are no different from the first five engineering students who entered the university in 1908—they’re thinking of their futures. Once they graduate, these young engineers continue to look ahead.

Professors are similarly attuned to what lies ahead and are searching in their labs for what might be. It’s no different for a dean.

Like a long-distance runner building up to a sprint before hitting the finish line, Lynch is steadfastly focusing on the future of the Faculty. “We have a large number of major initiatives underway now that, if approved, won’t start until after I’m gone,” he says. “As long as I’m here, I can help.”

Those initiatives are setting the Faculty on a trajectory to continue incredible growth that began in the mid-1990s. In the 21 years Lynch has served as Dean (the first year was an acting appointment and his final term as Dean comes to a close June 30, 2015), the Faculty of Engineering has added more than 1.2 million square feet (over 110,000 sq. m) of exceptional teaching and research space, with the new space comprising almost 80 per cent of all space in the Faculty. The Faculty has more than doubled in size and today has 4,400 undergraduate students, 1,500 graduate students and more than 200 professors. The purpose of this growth has been to meet the rapidly increasing demand by excellent students for an outstanding engineering education and the need for new research developments. Lynch has overseen the graduation of over 13,000 undergraduates—51 per cent of the over 25,000 BSc in Engineering graduates in the university’s 107 years. During his tenure as Dean, more than 5,000 master’s (MSc and MEng) and doctoral (PhD) degrees in engineering have been awarded, more than

75 per cent of all the engineering graduate degrees awarded in the history of the Faculty.

The impact those engineering alumni have on our communities and our economy is incalculable—their contributions reach the four corners of the world. Lynch feels obvious pride in this. “Engineering is an exceptional education. It shapes analytical thinking, it shapes problem-solving, it shapes broad thinking, it shapes interconnections to science, technology and society,” he says. “I have described engineering education as the ‘liberal arts’ education of the 21st century. It is a broad-thinking education which meshes with the type of society we have today.”

One of Lynch’s major tasks to complete by the end of June is to consolidate 1,700 professors, graduate students, administrators and support staff into a collaborative environment in the new 27,000-sq.-m Donadeo Innovation Centre for Engineering.

Working together under one roof will bring about a cultural shift, creating an atmosphere of even greater collaboration in teaching, research and support. A new sense of community will grow and innovative partnerships can spring forth.

The personnel areas being vacated in the existing engineering buildings already meet the demanding building code requirements for research and instructional labs and will support future expansions in numbers of

in Canada. The Alberta energy sector was booming, so Lynch chose the company’s Redwater fertilizer plant, about 60 km northeast of Edmonton. He had worked summers and earned scholarships to finance his own education. At graduation he had just $1.57 in the bank. He secured a bank loan for $300, loaded a box of books and other belongings on a CN railcar and rode his Honda 750 motorcycle to Edmonton. Cranes featured prominently on the downtown skyline as new towers of concrete and glass rose. The vacancy rate for apartments was zero, but Lynch managed to find a place he describes as “interesting” and began work the first week of June. The demand for engineers in Alberta was so high and staff turnover so great that after two months on the job, Lynch was eighth on the seniority list in a group of 16 engineers he worked with.

There was plenty to learn and plenty of opportunities, but the idea of attaining a PhD was growing. Lynch applied for graduate studies at the Faculty of Engineering but delayed making a decision.

He knew an exciting career lay ahead of him as an engineer and he was unsure of which path to take. It may have been lousy weather that sealed the deal.

The summer of 1977 was one of the wettest on record in Alberta. A week before

During his tenure as Dean, more than 5,000 master’s (MSc and MEng) and doctoral (PhD) degrees in engineering have been awarded, more than 75 per cent of all the engineering graduate degrees in the history of the Faculty. students and professors. While creating a new innovative workspace in the Donadeo ICE, Lynch is in effect also gaining the equivalent of a new major research and teaching facility valued at about $150 million—for a third of the price. It’s a stroke of jaw-droppingly impressive planning.

But how did we get here—did the Dean actually envision this 20 years ago? The short answer is yes. The long answer starts in 1977.

After earning a degree in chemical engineering at the University of New Brunswick, Lynch accepted an offer from Esso Chemicals to work at any of its plants

the Labour Day long weekend, after which classes would begin, the weather turned from bad to worse. “If you check the weather records, it snowed that weekend. I was working some extra time and it snowed on me, on my motorcycle out to Redwater and back it seemed, every day for several days. I took that as somebody telling me something,” he says. “It rained on me on my motorcycle almost every day in July and August. So at the end of the Labour Day weekend my decision was confirmed with the U of A. If it had been a dry summer with no snow—who knows?”

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While still completing his PhD, Lynch was appointed as an assistant professor in chemical engineering in January 1981 and his PhD was completed later that year (PhD conferred in 1982). Young and active in teaching, research and faculty affairs, Lynch was appointed by former dean Fred Otto as associate dean of planning in 1992.

Otto’s term as Dean was completed in 1994, but a university selection committee was unable to finalize the selection of the next Dean. University administrators approached several long-serving professors to act as dean on an interim basis, but none accepted. With the university reeling from brutal budget cuts imposed by thenpremier Ralph Klein—the U of A faced a 21 per cent budget reduction—many seasoned professors were investigating early retirement incentives. Others, no doubt, had no interest in holding the dean’s office under such extreme financial circumstances. Lynch supposes the university’s senior executives must have been near the end of their rope when they abruptly appointed him as acting dean.

Lynch, then one of the youngest members of the faculty, accepted but made it clear he would serve no more than 12 months. He

Completion of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Research Facility and the Engineering Teaching and Learning Complex were major milestones in helping the Faculty of Engineering provide exceptional teaching and research opportunities to students and professors.

been since the early ’80s. From 1982 until the early 1990s in Alberta, we had what felt like a certifiable depression.” But Lynch says an organization’s aspirations should always be greater than its own resources allow, and those aspirations—in this case, to provide a top-level engineering education while conducting leading engineering research—need to intersect with the aspirations of other groups. It’s a matter of like-minded groups helping each other. He found that kind of welcoming

"There was almost a collective supporting of that aspirational vision that the Faculty of Engineering could play such a huge role in our society and our province and that it was achievable—it was really the realization that it was achievable.” had no long-term interest in the position.

“The whole university was in chaos,” he recalls. “Universities are people places with most spending focused on people, and that’s what makes us so sensitive to budget fluctuations.” Jobs were lost. Salaries were rolled back. Programs were cut. The Faculty had to redefine itself.

Within three months a plan was in place, built upon the advice of faculty colleagues and Lynch’s own weighing of the new fiscal environment and ideas about building a future for the Faculty. He began to work externally to drum up financial support.

These first forays into fund development and partnerships were challenging.

“Everybody had their own troubles. The whole of society was under stress, and had

12 U OF A ENGINEER SPRING 2015

presence in the Alberta Chamber of Resources, which included him at board meetings and introduced him to industry leaders across the province.

“They just kind of adopted me and gave me an education about Alberta that I knew only a little bit about, but not in the way that they informed me. They connected me with a large group of our natural supporters.”

Back on campus, he undertook what he calls “academic archeology,” taking time at the end of each day to dig through files in the dean’s office. He found a treasure of plans dreamed up over the years for new buildings and growth for the Faculty. Many of these plans would never come to pass, but it was inspiring to look forward and

imagine what the Faculty might become.

By the middle of Lynch’s 12-month term as acting dean, an aspirational plan and financial plan had been charted and Lynch was beginning to get connected, rapidly, with supporters who wanted to see the Faculty of Engineering succeed.

In early 1995, Lynch applied to become dean of engineering. Why? Because the tough front-end work had been done and in building plans for the future, a strong sense of team and purpose had developed.

“We’d pulled together to get through that crisis—there was a good team in the Faculty and sensational supporters outside of the Faculty,” Lynch says. “There was almost a collective supporting of that aspirational vision that the Faculty of Engineering could play such a huge role in our society and our province and that it was achievable—it was really the realization that it was achievable.”

Slowly, good things started to happen.

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council’s Industrial Research Chair (IRC) program was in its infancy and the Faculty of Engineering seized the opportunities the program presented. New IRC chairs in the Faculty were awarded to Jacob Masliyah, then Fernand Ellyin and Simaan AbouRizk. It never stopped.

Today the Faculty of Engineering itself has 16 IRCs, more than any other entire university in Canada. Through the years, but especially in the early years, the IRCs gave the Faculty hope. There is a great deal of credibility, prestige and commercial and

industrial relevance associated with the appointments, and in them, Lynch found symbols of achievement he could point to and build further successes on. “The Faculty and the students had to see there were positive things happening,” he says, adding that it was important that the Faculty was always moving toward another success so that “everybody could see that there were positive things happening, that there were people and organizations out there that valued engaging with us.”

One of those supportive people was John Poole (Civil ’37, LLD [Honorary] ’87). During a lunch meeting at the Faculty Club, Lynch sketched out his plans for the Faculty, on a paper placemat, showing four new buildings. Intrigued and impressed, Poole immediately committed $2.1 million to support the vision. Without the $2.1-million commitment, Lynch notes, he couldn’t have then applied to the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to get an additional $4.2 million; and without the CFI, he couldn’t approach the provincial government to make up the required $10.5 million needed to break ground on a new building. On June 23, 1999, the CFI posted its funding decisions. Lynch went online

Dean Lynch takes questions from first-year students during orientation (page 10), and joins them as an attentive audience member during other presentations. Lynch says he’s driven to deliver a world-class education to U of A engineering students.

“with a bit of trepidation” and thankfully discovered that the Electrical and Computer Engineering Research Facility (ECERF) would go ahead—the CFI had approved the Faculty’s funding application.

“That $2.1 million turned into a $35-million 18,800-sq.-m building,” Lynch says, reflecting on the impact of Poole’s support. Today, ECERF houses the Faculty’s high-tech NanoFab facility, North America’s first nanotechnology labs dedicated solely to undergraduate education, and some of the country’s finest research facilities—not to mention internationally renowned teachers and scholars. The impact of Poole’s gift carries on to this day and will for decades to come.

“There are a whole bunch of those stories that have never been told, in terms of those key moments.”

The Faculty was now staking out a leadership role in a world in which much had changed in engineering teaching and research. Lynch envisioned a vibrant engineering precinct and the Faculty began to experience a boom of its own.

At one point, the Faculty simultaneously had four building projects in design, construction or close-out. In quick succession the Faculty added ECERF, the 15,000-sq.-m Engineering Teaching and Learning Complex including the Maier Learning Centre, and the 28,000-sq.-m Markin-CNRL Natural Resources Engineering Facility, followed by major renovations now underway in the Chemical and Materials Engineering Building.

Construction of the 21,300-sq.-m National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) building was also led and managed by the Faculty of Engineering. The lower five levels of the NINT building are leased to, and operated by, the National Research Council of Canada, and the Faculty of Engineering has sole use of the upper two levels.

“I never for a day thought I’d be around to implement five new buildings and major renovations,” says Lynch, who is the Faculty’s eighth and longest-serving Dean. “But if you lay out a 20-year plan, then doing this is part of a plan—and you need to have the plan available for the next people so you don’t start fresh every time. I

Allan Markin (Chemical ’68, LLD [Hon] ’02) and Dean Lynch look over a model of the Markin/ CNRL Natural Resources Engineering Facility, which today houses the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

always thought of this as being responsible planning. If you think over 20 years you can see what you need, with reasonable clarity.”

Original planning for the new Donadeo Innovation Centre for Engineering, he adds, “goes way back to 2005.” Depending on how things go, another new building could be going up in five years. Or, he says, it could be 20. But go up it will, and the number of students receiving a top-notch engineering education will continue to grow, more professors and more graduate students will continue to conduct leading-edge research and transfer that knowledge to industry.

He has full confidence that the momentum carrying the Faculty of Engineering forward will gain strength, as long as the Faculty continues to aspire to and reach for the seemingly unattainable.

“The horizon always moves. The horizon always changes because our society always changes around us. We should never, ever get to the point where we say, ‘Great—it’s all done. We’re perfect now.’ No. A future-looking place is always looking forward and aspiring to do more.”

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Faculty’s moving forward with Forbes Long-serving CME chair appointed as interim dean

By Richard Cairney

A

sk Fraser Forbes about the future of the Faculty of Engineering and you’ll get some straightforward answers on where the faculty is headed and what we can do to take it there.

Forbes takes over July 1 as interim Dean of Engineering—an appointment made by the university after its year-long search for a new dean ended unresolved.

A member of the faculty since 1996 and chair of the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering since 2002, Forbes intends to focus on the word “dean” in his title. The only difference between an interim dean and a dean is the length of the appointment: Forbes’ is less than the full five years that make up a dean’s term.

He’s taking a long-term view of his responsibilities. How far ahead can he plan—can he dare look at a 20-year horizon?

“Yes,” he replies. “Absolutely. I’m a dean.

The strategic planning continues as it would normally. We have to keep the place moving as fast as we can—and we have some great challenges ahead.”

14 U OF A ENGINEER SPRING 2015

Fraser Forbes has served as chair of the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering since 2002 and has been appointed as interim dean of engineering. Forbes says he plans to press forward with a long-term view to keep the Faculty of Engineering’s momentum going.

Among those, he says, are settling faculty, staff and graduate students into the new Donadeo Innovation Centre for Engineering and building a new community inside that structure (see story page 18); repurposing spaces made available for teaching and research in the Mechanical Engineering, NREF, ECERF and ETLC buildings; completing ongoing renovations to the Chemical and Materials Engineering Building; and refurbishing the Mechanical Engineering Building. These tasks, Forbes says, are part of long-term planning that will “get us to the point where we are positioned very well for the next four or five decades” as a leading engineering school.

Working in parallel with these plans are goals around increasing undergraduate and graduate student enrolment, increasing the number of professors to more than 300, and continuing to expand research capacity and achievements. The faculty was awarded more than $65 million in external research funding in 2013-14, and Forbes says that figure ought to grow along with the numbers of faculty members.

The Engineering Co-op Education program, he notes, is a key area of growth for undergraduate students.

It’s clear that there are plans set by outgoing Dean David Lynch, but as of July 1, Forbes will be implementing those,

“As a faculty, we cannot afford to let our momentum flag. If anything, we need to accelerate.”

while putting his own stamp on the faculty’s direction. There is no sense, he says, in doing anything less than confidently moving forward.

“If you’re going to be a world-class engineering faculty anywhere, this is one of the places that you can do it,” he says.

“As a faculty, we cannot afford to let our momentum flag. If anything, we need to accelerate.”

Fraser Forbes file Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering Chair Fraser Forbes begins his term as interim dean of the Faculty of Engineering July 1.

Forbes earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemical engineering at the University of Waterloo and his PhD at McMaster University.

Professionally, he worked as a process automation engineer with Dofasco Inc. from 1987 to 1989, and from 1983 to 2005 was a principal of Forbes-Barry Inc. as a consultant. In that capacity, his services covered a wide range of operations in the steel, petrochemical, forest products and agriculture/food industries; he developed high-performance control systems for moisture control in industrial grain dryers and coating weight control of galvanizing lines.

His research is broadly based around the optimization of industrial operations, and his research findings have resulted

in more than 145 refereed publications. As a principal investigator, his research projects have been awarded more than $2 million and he has been co-investigator on projects that have received more than $1.5 million in research funding.

Forbes was appointed as chair of the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering in July 2002. Under his guidance, the department has seen a number of successes, including the completion of three newly renovated floors of the CME building (which have been awarded LEED Gold standing); the establishment of a prestigious Canada Excellence Research Chair in Oil Sands Molecular Engineering, seven new Canada Research Chairs, five new NSERC Industrial Research Chairs and the renewal of four NSERC Industrial Research Chairs; the creation of a Campus Alberta Innovates Program Research Chair in Polymer

Engineering for Oilsands Processing and the formation of three large research centres: the Imperial Oil Institute for Oil Sands Innovation, the Canadian Centre for Clean Coal/Carbon and Mineral Processing Technologies, and the Alberta Centre for Surface Engineering and Science.

He has supervised the hiring of 39 faculty members. During his tenure, the department has experienced graduate student enrolment growth of over 250 per cent, along with a 200-percent increase in undergraduate materials engineering students and more than 50-per-cent growth in undergraduate chemical engineering student enrolment.

three undergraduate courses and one graduate chemical engineering course. He led the chemical engineering curriculum revision committee, drove the first major revision of the materials engineering undergraduate program in several decades, and ushered in new biomedical and nanotechnology options and a new Professional M.Eng program targeted at early-career practising engineers.

In university governance, Forbes has been an active member of the U of A’s Chairs’ Council Executive and the President’s Advisory Council of Chairs. Both bodies are key resources for advising senior administrators on university policy and processes.

In teaching and learning, Forbes has supervised 30 master’s and 14 PhD theses.

As department chair, he has provided full encouragement and support for continuous improvement in teaching. He created or completely revised

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When they arrived in Canada in the 1950s, Lorenzo Donadeo’s parents had no idea they’d one day have an

Honouring the past, building the futurei

F

rom those who are given much, much is expected. It’s an expression that Lorenzo Donadeo (Mechanical ’81) and his family sincerely practise as a way to remember and honour the past and inspire future generations. A co-founder, CEO and director of Vermilion Energy Inc., Donadeo is a community-minded philanthropist, supporting charities such as the Alberta Cancer Foundation and the Red Deer 16 U OF A ENGINEER SPRING 2015

Hospice Society. The Vermilion Engineering classroom, funded by Vermilion Energy and located in the ETLC, has hosted thousands of engineering students. But a special gift from the Donadeo family to the Faculty of Engineering will have an even greater impact in educating future generations of engineers—and honouring the family’s past.

In recognition of the gift, a new 14-storey building will bear the family name: the

impact on engineering students of the future. By Richard Cairney

Donadeo Innovation Centre for Engineering.

Lorenzo Donadeo says the gift is “a way for us to say thank you for the great work the Faculty of Engineering does.”

It also has deeply personal meaning for the family. It’s a way for Lorenzo to thank his parents for the lives they built in Canada, and for pointing their son in the right direction.

Photos: Demetri Giannitsios

Donadeo’s parents emigrated to Canada from Italy in the 1950s with little to their name. His father worked as an asphalt foreman in Red Deer but first took on punishingly hard labour in a grimy, centralAlberta coal mine. The elder Donadeo always referred to that period as the worst eight years of his life. Donadeo learned from his parents the value of hard work and quality workmanship, and the importance of a strong education.

Donadeo excelled in math and science throughout grade school. After graduating from high school, he spent two years studying welding engineering technology at Calgary’s Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. His success there gave him the confidence to take a shot at U of A’s mechanical engineering program.

“I’m not that smart but I worked hard,” Donadeo recalled in an interview with U of A Engineer in 2005. “Some of the calculus courses were so tough. I thought, ‘My gosh, what does this have to do with anything in the world?’ It’s only after graduation, when you get out in the workplace, that you start to understand that they’re teaching you a thought process, a methodology for problem-solving.” In his U of A aerodynamics class, Donadeo and three classmates drafted a new design for a gliding airplane, earning second place in a national competition. The experience reinforced the future CEO’s faith in creative teamwork. “You get together as a team, learn how to interact effectively, how to divide the workload, and to work collaboratively to reach the objective. These are invaluable skills, though I may not have fully realized it at the time.”

After graduating with honours from the U of A, Donadeo accepted a job

offer (one of nine that came his way) with Hudson Bay Oil & Gas, a company acquired by Dome Petroleum a few months later. He accumulated experience in the field and the boardroom working with Amoco Petroleum Ltd. He teamed up with partner Claudio Ghersinich to form Vista Nuova Energy, which later morphed into Vermilion Energy, the multinational energy firm Donadeo leads as CEO. He says the gift and naming of the building is a respectful recognition of family sacrifices made a generation ago.

“The naming of the new Donadeo Innovation Centre for Engineering Building is a way to acknowledge my parents for continually stressing the importance of a good education and thank them for the sacrifices they made over the years,” he said during the gift announcement last fall.

Their values of hard work, determination and a positive attitude, coupled with their focus on a good education, are the legacy they are leaving.

“By naming this building the Donadeo Innovation Centre for Engineering, it’s our way of keeping this legacy alive for our future generations. Donna, my family and I, and our future generations will always

Previous page: Signs on campus will have to be changed to reflect the support of Lorenzo and Donna Donadeo and their family. Visible in the upper-right corner is the new Donadeo Innovation Centre for Engineering, opening this spring. At left: Dean of Engineering David Lynch led the Donadeos and guests on a brief tour of the building in September. Below: Lorenzo’s parents, Antonio and Vittoria Donadeo in Mercoal, Alberta, approximately 1953.

look at the Donadeo Innovation Centre for Engineering with great pride.”

Opening this spring, the building will provide approximately 28,400 square metres of space to support expanded educational and research activities in the Faculty of Engineering. It allows a major expansion of engineering programs, starting with government-funded growth in the Engineering Co-operative Education program. The building brings professors and administration from all engineering departments under one roof and provides space for nearly all engineering graduate students. Spaces vacated in other buildings will help accommodate student growth in the faculty.

Dean of Engineering David Lynch says bringing all departments under one roof creates unprecedented opportunities for interdisciplinary collaborations. The word “innovation” is at the heart of the building’s purpose. “When the prepared mind meets other prepared minds, that is when innovation occurs,” he told an audience of alumni gathered at the announcement.

“We will see the biomedical engineers, the nanotechnology engineers and those in oil and gas and energy interacting and creating that hothouse where innovation will occur.”

Donadeo says supporting the project simply makes sense.

“Our family understands the old adage that says: ‘To those who much is given, much is expected.’ Our family, like many people in Alberta, has been blessed with good fortune. Much of our family’s good fortune is directly related to the strong engineering education I received at the University of Alberta. We do understand that we have a responsibility to give back to the community.”

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How a new building opens doors

By Richard Cairney

T

he architect and structural engineer who worked together on the new Donadeo Innovation Centre for Engineering say the project tested their professional abilities. But more remarkable is the powerful impact the building will have on the Faculty of Engineering by creating new space for teaching and research and establishing a new culture promoting more interaction and collaboration.

Opening this spring, the $$134-million structure is an office building that houses the Faculty of Engineering’s professors and administrators and nearly all of its graduate

18 U OF A ENGINEER SPRING 2015

students and support staff. Approximately 1,700 people will work every day in the 14-storey building, which provides about 28,500 square metres of workspace, including a centralized student services area, the engineering co-op program office and the faculty’s DiscoverE outreach programs and staff.

One major result of drawing these administrative functions and people under one roof is that it makes space available in enginering buildings that are already fitted out to accommodate research labs and classrooms. Donna Clare, an architect with Dialog who designed the Donadeo

Innovation Centre for Engineering as well as the NREF, ECERF and ETLC buildings, says the ICE building will have a major impact on the Faculty of Engineering.

“It’s an amazing concept that secures a future for the Faculty of Engineering like no other building has done,” says Clare, noting that the NREF, ECERF and ETLC buildings were designed and built as mixed-use facilities that are basically roughed in for research space, even though they’ve housed administrative, teaching and learning areas. Research buildings, Clare notes, come with gut-wrenching price tags because of required air handling systems,

ceiling heights and floor-load capacities, costing between $5,000 and $6,000 per square metre. Relatively speaking, office space is cheap.

“Now you’ve built the ICE building as an office building pro forma. And you take people out of buildings that have research lab infrastructure and all of a sudden you’ve freed up all of this research space with an equivalent value of two or three more buildings at a third of the cost. You don’t have to raise another $50 million to build another research floor.

“So imagine what the dean has set the Faculty of Engineering up for over the next 20 years.”

Jim Montgomery (Civil ’73), a principal with DIALOG who has served as structural engineer for several U of A buildings including ETLC and ECERF, says a hallmark of the U of A engineering buildings is that they keep people connected. He recalls being in a meeting with Dean David Lynch, working to find ways to contain costs on the ETLC/ECERF project. He suggested to Lynch that a pedway connecting ETLC to the NREF building, which houses the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, could be scrapped.

“It was not well received,” Montgomery says, explaining that on the many building projects he has worked on with the dean, Lynch always insists on keeping people physically connected.

This is where the cultural impact of the new building comes in. The building is the ultimate people connector. For the most part, professors and graduate students from specific disciplines will be working on floors together—each department has its own space. Despite that, professors and most graduate students are all under one roof for the first time.

“What this building is asking is for them to change the way they’ve been working for years,” Clare says. “It’s a cultural shift.

It will result in more interdisciplinary ways of thinking and doing things. Electrical engineers will be bumping into structural engineers—all of these people who rarely see each other will start to meet each other more and more often.”

A single gathering space on the eighth floor—the Fred Pheasey Engineering

Commons—will play a key role in bringing people from different disciplines together.

(See story page 20.)

Clare says interaction between professors and students is one measure she will use to know whether the building is working. Another key measure of success is esthetics. On that point, both Clare and Montgomery are proud of their work.

For Montgomery, designing “a structural steel building in a concrete city” was exciting, but the job had inherent challenges.

“It’s situated on a very tight site and most people thought we were crazy to be building on that little sliver of a plot,” he says. In order to occupy more space than the land area allowed for, the building cantilevers out multiple times.

The exterior of the building changes continuously. On the north side, concrete, metal and glass are threaded in a way that, Clare says, “makes you wonder why the skin can’t be endless.” There’s also a stark contrast in the building’s appearance as day turns to night.

Inside, no two offices are exactly alike.

Tyndal stone from the Chemical and Materials Engineering Building and stone recovered and stored when the university renovated the old Hudson’s Bay Building downtown are featured in elevator lobbies and hallways. Some offices on the south side of the building have feature walls that were once the exterior of the CME building.

It’s common inside the building to see exposed steel features—there will be no shortage of structural engineering students touring the building to see firsthand the materials, forces and designs they’re studying. Typically, steel needs to be enclosed and protected in case of fire.

“It’s a cultural shift.

It will result in more interdisciplinary ways of doing things.”

— Donna Clare

DIALOG architect Donna Clare and structural engineer Jim Montgomery say the new Donadeo Innovation Centre for Engineering (previous page) will help spark collaborations among engineering professors and graduate students.

Because the sprinkler system in the building has two independent water sources, one from the city and one from the university’s own utility system, the exposed steel meets building codes.

“Most buildings don’t do anything that’s new or different,” Montgomery says. “I’m not saying this one is way out there, but you do see more complicated and sophisticated design. Dean Lynch encourages the team to be creative in the design of buildings.

Not every client does that. He tries to understand everything. And he’s good at it, at it, too.”

For Clare, there is one key outcome: that the occupants not simply “enjoy” their new workspace. “If the building does what we hope it does, it will bring richness to their experience of the everyday.”

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Fred Pheasey is one of Alberta’s great innovators—his support of a

Creating an innovative space

new space where new ideas will take shape is both generous and appropriate.

By Richard Cairney

Demetri Giannitsios

Touring the Fred Pheasey Engineering Commons during construction, mechanical engineering alumnus Fred Pheasey says the space already is imbued with potential.

20 U OF A ENGINEER SPRING 2015

N

o matter what he said about the view from the eighth floor of the Donadeo Innovation Centre for Engineering, David Lynch could not have exaggerated its beauty—hyperbole could not be employed. With windows wrapping the floor on the east, north and west sides, the view of the city is panoramic. Last September, on one of those early autumn days that make you wish you were a student again, Lynch and a group of former students began Alumni Weekend with a trip to the building.

Trees in the neighbourhoods and river valley parkland below sprawled to the horizon, blazing with back-to-school yellows and crimson reds so hot you could taste them; the very greens and golds this university clams as its own lit the room.

The big blue Alberta sky began to dim as the sun, seeming to take its time, cast long, lingering shadows. To the north, towers of glass and steel in the downtown core glowed.

“I heard people drawing in their breath,” says Lynch, the dean of engineering.

“I think the project managers worked overtime to get the sun into just the right spot and were out there hand-painting the leaves green and gold.”

Lynch was explaining the importance of this meeting place to a packed house of alumni, thanking Fred Pheasey (Mechanical ’65) for a remarkable $5-million gift to support the Faculty of Engineering. Known as the Fred Pheasey Engineering Commons, this level is the building’s heart and soul where professors, students and staff, working in the same building for the first time, will congregate. New connections will be made. New ideas will be planted. From collective imagination and knowledge, a new culture of innovation will take root. By design, this building ensures a mingling of the minds.

In a letter to Pheasey, U of A President Indira Samerasekera characterized his gift as “transformational.”

It is fitting that the area be named after Pheasey, one of the great innovators and leaders in the global oil and gas service industry. Aside from his obvious technical

knowledge and engineering expertise, Pheasey’s greatest strengths may well be creativity and communication, working with others to devise innovative solutions for the oil service industry.

Pheasey was born and raised on Edmonton’s south side. His father owned the Acme Meat Market on Whyte Avenue.

Among the customers were Madeleine Johnson, Fred’s Grade 7 school teacher, and her husband C.W. (Johnny) Johnson, a mechanical engineer who managed the Edmonton plant of Barber Machinery.

Fred wanted to be an architect but there was no school of architecture in Edmonton.

Johnny suggested Fred complete two years of engineering at the U of A. If he decided he wanted to transfer to a university offering architecture, he’d get full credit for his first two years. Fred stayed at the U of A and after graduation began working at Barber Machinery. Pheasey advanced to the position of assistant to the president, but after the company was sold in 1972, he struck out on his own, co-founding Dreco Energy Services Ltd. The oil and gas industry in Alberta was still young, and Pheasey and Dreco became known for fast, reliable and creative solutions. In 1974, Dreco started a downhole tool subsidiary that developed downhole motor products to power a drill bit, primarily used to drill deviated and horizontal well bores, that to this day is the choice of the industry worldwide, now under National Oilwell Varco Inc. “It was innovation after innovation,” says Pheasey. “We didn’t have money to throw around and do a lot of unreimbursed product development work. We’d go to a customer and ask what they wanted to do.

As an example, a drilling contractor might

It is fitting that the area be named after Pheasey, one of the great innovators and leaders in the global oil and gas service industry.

say, “I want a drilling rig to do development drilling on the North Slope of Alaska— propose one this size.” We’d say OK and go away and create, in our view, a fit-forpurpose proposal. We’d come back with designs and show them what they asked for—and we’d often show them an alternative solution that we thought would be an improvement for them and the industry. More often than not, they bought it.”

Dreco’s innovative designs had major benefits for its clients. During the mid1980s, development drilling on the North Slope of Alaska was done with wells drilled on 100-foot intervals. When BP decided to drill 120 wells on a man-made island north of Prudhoe Bay, Dreco designed a largewheeled rig with a cantilevered drill floor that could drill the wells at 10-foot intervals.

Shortened intervals dramatically reduced the size and cost of building the island.

Next, Doyon Drilling, a prized customer of Dreco, approached Dreco for a bid to provide the rig so Doyon could bid for the job of drilling the wells. Knowing there would be substantial gas produced with the oil, Doyon wanted to power the rig with expensive, imported dual fuel turbines rather than diesel engines. Diesel fuel would be used to drill and complete the first few wells. Once enough natural gas was being produced from those wells, it could be used to power the rig.

“We were told that the well spacing concept alone, if it had been used in Prudhoe Bay from the outset, would have reduced the costs by more than $1 billion, and this was almost 30 years ago,” Pheasey recalls, adding that the dual-fuel turbine design saved BP about $10,000 a day over the course of a multi-year drilling program. “That’s a worthy innovation.”

They delivered a double-whammy rig that changed the face of the industry.

Chronicled in the book Dreco—A Corporate Odyssey by John Chisholm McBean, the company’s historic impact could be fodder for a fascinating PhD thesis. Dreco grew along with Alberta’s oil and gas industry and beyond—becoming a major global presence. By 1981, Dreco was U OF A ENGINEER SPRING 2015

21

Dreco know-how and innovation made its way around the world. In 1987, on a manmade island northeast of Prudhoe Bay, the two-module, self-propelled Doyon Rig 15 with crew camp was drilling development wells next to a gas re-injection facility.

the world’s leading oil derrick manufacturer with $243 million in operating revenues and earnings of $12.4 million. All of that changed for the worse suddenly, seemingly undoing nine years of heart-and-soul dedication. The recession that struck in the early ’80s gutted Dreco. Worldwide, its employee numbers dropped from about 2,800 to 212, Pheasey says, “and we probably still had too many people.” Clients began cancelling the $20-million backlog of jobs on order. The company was saddled with $75 million of debt, and bankruptcy proceedings were initiated.

Pheasey and his team would not roll over.

They applied the same teamwork, creativity and drive into reshaping the company as they did to building it—for six years. In 1988, Dreco earned its first profit in six years—$67,000 on sales of US $28 million.

Fast-forward nearly a decade: Dreco agrees to merge with National Oilwell Inc. and Pheasey becomes an officer and director

of National Oilwell. Dreco’s shareholders, at the time, then held about one-third of the combined company’s shares. In 2005, National Oilwell merged with Varco and became National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV).

People who meet Pheasey for the first time are impressed by his modest, unassuming Prairie manner. He is a 2002 inductee to the Canadian Petroleum Hall of Fame for his contributions to drilling and well servicing equipment and technology in worldwide markets. In 1998, he was made an honorary member of the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors in recognition of technical, safety and business achievements that have significantly advanced the Canadian petroleum drilling industry. But Pheasey is more apt to give than receive accolades.

When he learned that Lynch’s tenure as dean of engineering was ending, Pheasey felt the urge to provide more immediate financial support to the faculty, while Lynch was still in office.

“I got a fine education here and it equipped me to compete, and enter and understand the oil service business and ultimately start my own business. That’s how I made my money and that’s why I’m giving some of it back.”

22 U OF A ENGINEER SPRING 2015

“I know what Dean Lynch can do with my money but I don’t know what the next dean can,” Pheasey told his fellow alumni during last fall’s gift announcement. “I got a fine education here and it equipped me to compete, and enter and understand the oil service business and ultimately start my own business. That’s how I made my money and that’s why I’m giving some of it back.”

He loves getting into discussions about the technical side of his career as much as he enjoys talking about the other, equally important aspect of business and life: building relationships and connecting with those around you. Pheasey has worked with plenty of U of A engineering alumni. The former Dreco portion of NOV, he notes, has about 50 U of A engineering alumni on staff in its rig and downhole tool business in Edmonton—including those with advanced degrees.

“Back in 1972 did I ever think that we’d have something to keep someone with a degree in engineering physics or with a PhD excited? No. But do we ever—and it’s absolutely marvellous!”

Now, just weeks before the first of some 1,500 engineering faculty, staff and students move into the new building and begin to congregate at the Fred Pheasey Engineering Commons, Pheasey finally has an opportunity to tour the site. He looks around the room and out at the trees and city spread out below.

“It’s a beautiful space, isn’t it?” he says in an understated tone. “It’s incredible. If people can’t come together here, they can’t come together anywhere.”

POP QUIZ ANSWERS

Answers from questions on page 5 Questions or comments?

Visit engineering.ualberta.ca/PopQuiz

ENGG 130: Engineering Mechanics 1. Determine the angle between the cables AB and AC. The unit vectors along the cables AB and AC are:

The angle between the cables AB and AC can be found from the dot product. Note that the magnitude of the unit vectors and are equal to 1:

2. a) Determine the zero force members: Member BF

b) Determine the force in member FC.

3. a) Draw the shear force diagram (SFD) and bending moment diagram (BMD)

3. b) Determine the maximum bending moment and the location along the beam where it occurs

U OF A ENGINEER SPRING 2015

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A full (presidential) plate Connie Parenteau is on the move as APEGA’s new president, taking on issues that will have a lasting impact

By Richard Cairney

24 U OF A ENGINEER SPRING 2015

W

elcome rays of spring sunshine stream into a boardroom in downtown Edmonton as Connie Parenteau (Electrical ’80) speaks of challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for APEGA, the regulatory body for Alberta’s self-regulating engineers and geoscientists. As president, Parenteau is leading a strategic plan renewal, working on a review of the legislative act that governs the professions, and planning for the 100th anniversary of the engineering profession in Alberta in 2020. These are the Big Three issues Parenteau and her executive are dealing with, and while each is exciting, it isn’t every president who gets to conduct a legislative review (the act was last updated in 1980) or plan for a centenary.

“A lot of things have changed in our professions,” she says, adding that the legislative review will be chunked into three parts: a review of the act itself, examination of its regulations, and a bylaws review.

The association will consult with the public and members of the profession. It’s also examining larger issues affecting the profession across the country, specifically examining the Charbonneau commission into corruption and collusion in the Quebec construction industry and various levels of government, and examining the tragedy at the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ont. Two people were killed and 20 injured when the mall’s rooftop parkade collapsed in June 2012.

For Parenteau, who is Six Sigma trained, examining failure is the best way of preventing it, and if Alberta is to avoid situations such as those in Quebec and Ontario, it needs to understand them in detail. By the end of the legislative review, she notes, APEGA will know “how we can become a stronger regulator.”

It’s important work that’s vital to the future success of the professions, and Parenteau recognizes that she has landed in the president’s office at an opportune moment. “It’s truly a great honour to be here at this time in the history of the profession,” she says.

But what led her here? What’s the attraction to leadership positions, with all their duties and inherent risks? Interestingly, Parenteau credits the Faculty of Engineering

for helping her find her life’s work and her passion for leadership. “It’s all built on my experience at the U of A,” she explains.

In the spring of 1975, Parenteau’s high school counsellor directed her to a panel discussion at the then-new Mechanical Engineering Building entitled “Why Not Engineering?” The panellists were female engineering students who talked about their studies and conducted tours of the faculty. Parenteau learned that once she completed an engineering degree she’d have a job and, importantly, that it would be in a profession. Her brother Harry (Mechanical ’79) was already a first-year engineering student, and meeting the young women on the panel sealed the deal for Parenteau. She was unaware, though, of some of the struggles she’d face.

“There were of course no cellphones and no PCs back then—we had multiparty phone lines in rural areas. As new graduates, we hadn’t been taught about the old technology. We were taught about electromechanical relays. So knowing how to learn and solve problems were great assets,” she says.

A workplace culture that by today’s standards can only be politely described as archaic and offensive added to the challenges. At the time, an Old Boys club mentality pervaded most corners of the industry and AGT was no exception. She describes the environment as “turbulent,” but she certainly held her own, spending 33 years with the organization as it morphed into TELUS, a global leader in communications.

“My passion is around the profession—it’s in my blood.”

— Connie Parenteau Parenteau was surprised there were just two women in her first-year engineering class; the other was Audrey (Joan) Austin (Petroleum ’80).

Through her university years, Parenteau was part of a group called the Women’s Engineering Student Society, which “really played an important role in my life and was probably the key to keeping me in the engineering program.”

She and her classmates graduated into an industry on the verge of rapid technological change and economic and cultural shifts that permanently altered the industry and workplace. When she joined Alberta Government Telephones— a provincial Crown corporation that was the province’s largest telecommunications company—technology in place covered a huge spectrum. Some of the equipment she was working with “had been installed the year I was born.” Working in the company’s maintenance engineering unit, which provided the highest level of technical support to workers short of calling equipment manufacturers, Parenteau quickly discovered her leading-edge education was years ahead of much of the technology in place.

Interestingly, the workplace helped Parenteau sharpen her leadership skills.

In 1991, she became president of the then-new Edmonton chapter of the Association of Women in Engineering and Science. “We saw the need in our profession for women to have networks and role models,” she explains. In 1993, her efforts were recognized by APEGA with an Early Achievement Award. That, in turn, opened the door for Parenteau’s involvement on the APEGA Council.

In 1997 she became the first female vice-president of APEGA. Her goal then, as it is now, is to strengthen and promote the professions and to help APEGA on its path of continual improvement. Looking back, she sees that the role of president has been a long time coming.

“My passion is around the profession —it’s in my blood. During my visits across the province, there are conversations being held about the future of our professions and how our professions shape Alberta and Canada and the world.

I like to talk about who we are and what we do—and to celebrate everyone’s contributions.”

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Connecting research and entrepreneurship

T

hree engineering graduate students were thrust into the spotlight during a new University of Alberta Festival of Ideas event designed to explore radical ideas and technologies. The Ross and Muriel Cheriton Distinguished Visitor Lecture gives voice to a visiting speaker; however, the inaugural version focused on groundbreaking research that engineering graduate students are conducting under the supervision of their professors. Graduate students Katherine Evans (Mechanical ’13), Nir Katchinskiy (Electrical ’12) and Jocelyn Bachman (Engineering Physics ’11, MSc ’13) presented leading-edge research into smart prosthetics for amputees, the use of femtosecond laser technology to develop new and improved medical technologies, and using nanotechnology to advance medical diagnostics.

The event honours Muriel and Ross Cheriton and was hosted by their son David Cheriton. Muriel (DSc [Hon.] ’14).

In opening remarks at the event, Dean of Engineering David Lynch referred to Muriel (Electrical ’46) as “a key leader in the engineering community” who worked as an engineer and is a strong supporter of “engineering for all,” encouraging and inspiring generations of students, especially women, to study and develop careers in the profession. Her husband Ross Cheriton, who was educated at the University of Saskatchewan, is renowned as one of this country’s foremost forensic engineers.

David is a computer science professor at Stanford University and a founder of and investor in some of the world’s top technology companies.

David Cheriton addressed the audience on the subject of innovation and entrepreneurism, saying “the pioneers of this country were entrepreneurs and innovators.” His grandfather, Oliver

26 U OF A ENGINEER SPRING 2015

Cheriton, operated a homestead farm in Saskatchewan, a challenge that demands creative and innovative thinking to solve problems, and entrepreneurial smarts to make the effort pay off.

During the evening’s program, the graduate students delivered engaging presentations about their research.

Following the presentations, the audience sat in rapt attention as the students and Cheriton discussed their research in a sort of talk-show setting.

Cheriton’s line of questioning clearly came from an investor’s perspective— connecting the dots between research, innovation and entrepreneurship.

In one humorous and frank exchange, Cheriton asked about investing in the research Katchinskiy is conducting with his supervisor, electrical engineering professor Abdulhakem Elezzabi. The two have broken new biomedical engineering ground by developing a way to connect cells and tissues.

Cheriton asked Katchinskiy a pointed question: “You’re working on technology that has great promise. … Why shouldn’t I write you the big cheque right now?”

“Well, first of all,” replied Katchinskiy, “you should!”

Cheriton and the audience shared a laugh, but Katchinskiy laid bare the fact that ground-breaking research results had come about through several long months of painstakingly detailed work. “Moving neurons around in a dish took six months to achieve, so there is a way to go,” he said. But, he added, “I don’t see why it wouldn’t go out there (to market) if you write me a cheque.”

In a conversation with Bachman about the pitfalls of sensors—particularly dealing with false positives—Cheriton asked the graduate student which application she would pick as a commercial winner.

Ricahrd Cairney

Festival event explores link between research, innovation and the market By Richard Cairney

PhD student Jocelyn Bachman delivers a presentation on her research into the development of nanomechanical sensors. She was joined by fellow graduate students Nir Katchinskiy and Katherine Evans, onstage with honorary degree recipient David Cheriton, to kick off the 2014 Festival of Ideas.

“Well—how fast do you want the technology?” she asked.

“The money is burning a hole in my pocket,” Cheriton replied, laughing. “As fast as possible!”

The two then weighed the pros and cons of developing either medical sensors or sensors for military applications.

With respect to the “smart prosthetic” limb research Evans is conducting, Cheriton asked if Evans believed the research team’s goals would be realized. “Are you going to do it?” he asked. “Are you going to save the world?”

Explaining that the engineering research team she belongs to works directly with a surgeon and amputees, Evans expressed optimism. “I’ll try my best.”

The event clearly explored innovation and practical applications and the connection of scholarly activity to entrepreneurship. The connection is vitally important. Lynch noted that Cheriton, “a mentor, adviser, investor and innovator,” was one of the first financial supporters of a company two Stanford University graduates students launched—Google.

Lynch said the university can and is doing more to bridge the gap between research and the market.

“We can start to traverse that direction,” Lynch told the audience. “As you think about innovation and entrepreneurship, it is where the prepared mind, through education and research, meets opportunity.”

Student researchers to watch

Creating better prostheses Katherine Evans completed her degree in mechanical engineering with a biomedical option in 2013. During her undergraduate degree, she spent 16 months conducting research at the U of A and the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital, through the engineering co-op program. She’s now working under the supervision of mechanical engineering professor Jason Carey and Dr. Jacqueline Hebert, associate research chair in clinical rehabilitation.

Evans is researching a method to provide sensory feedback to upper-limb amputees.

Upper-limb amputees are traditionally fit with a body-powered hook arm, although recently there have been advances in robotic prostheses capable of more complex movements and grips. One drawback to these myoelectric limbs is their lack of sensory feedback, which makes it difficult to manipulate objects. A novel feedback device has been developed by the Bionic Limbs for Improved Natural Control (BLINC) research group that Evans is working in.

Her research focuses on optimizing parameters of this device, integrating it into a prosthetic socket, and conducting clinical tests to ensure system functionality, improving quality of life for amputees by providing them with a sense of “touch” when using prostheses.

Demetri Giannitsios

Three graduate students who took part in the inaugural Ross and Muriel Cheriton Distinguished Visitor Lecture are at the leading edge of new technologies that could have enormous impacts on society

Katherine Evans, Nir Katchinskiy, Jocelyn Bachman

Using nanotechnology to invent extreme sensors

Opening new frontiers in medicine

Jocelyn Bachman completed her degree in engineering physics in 2011 and her master’s in electrical engineering in 2013. She is currently a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholar working on her PhD under the supervision of Wayne Hiebert, a Department of Physics professor and NINT researcher.

Nir Katchinskiy completed his degree in electrical (biomedical) engineering in 2012. His research, under the supervision of professor Abdulhakem Elezzabi, focuses on applications of ultrashort, femtosecond laser technology, with the goal of developing new and improved medical technologies.

Nanomechanical devices are highly sensitive to their surroundings. A single molecule such as a protein landing on a nanomechanical device causes an observable change in the device’s behaviour. This means that masses of single molecules can be measured, and that very small concentrations of a substance can be measured.

This high sensitivity means nanomechanical sensors can be used in a wide variety of applications. Examples include detecting small proteins in point-of-care diagnostic tools for quickly analyzing blood or urine samples, single molecule detection for scientific applications such as mass spectrometry, or even detecting trace amounts of explosives for defence and security applications. In the scientific community, these devices have the potential to study biological and chemical interactions.

Femtosecond laser pulses are bursts that last one-quadrillionth of a second (one million billionths of a second, or 10-15 seconds).

The lasers deliver large amounts of power, but a small amount of energy, to a material.

This allows for incredibly precise manipulation of tissues and cells, on the order of hundreds of nanometres, without disrupting surrounding cells.

Bachman’s work focuses on developing nanomechanical sensors integrated on a single silicon chip that can be used in different environments, to increase the versatility of these devices. By using light guided on a chip to detect these nanomechanical devices, the footprint of the sensor can be decreased to make the sensors more portable and robust.

Katchinskiy’s research uses femtosecond laser pulses to attach tissues and individual cells.

Researchers have been able to cut, ablate and create pores on single cells using this technology, but until recently, no one had applied this technology to connect cells and tissue. In February 2014, Katchinskiy and Elezzabi published the first work demonstrating that single-cell membranes can be attached without damaging cells. Since then, Katchinskiy has developed a method to selectively attach single neurons to each other (axons to neuronal somas).

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FOLLOW-UP

Fa l l 2 0 1 0

w w w. e n g i n e e r i n g . u a l b e rta . c a

Keeping in Touch with

Alumni

Sandwich

Bridging a technological gaP An engineering family is bringing radical

change to structural engineering with an innovative new technology

A biomedical revolution

The clean team

From Panda to construction mogul

The air that you breathe U of A Engineer Fall 2010 1

Change occurs slowly in some fields. Tried-and-true materials and methods of designing and building structures are the ones we feel most confident in.

They work well and their familiarity brings us comfort.

That sense of certainty can stifle innovation. And yet, a family of engineers with roots at the University of Alberta has sparked a revolution in structural engineering. Intelligent Engineering, established in the mid-1990s by the Kennedy brothers Michael (Civil ’82), Stephen (MSc Civil ’84, PhD Civil ’87) and Timothy (Civil ’85) with the assistance of their father, the late U of A civil engineering professor Laurie Kennedy, has introduced a new building technology. Invented by Stephen, the Sandwich Plate System is making waves worldwide.

The family’s work, including their involvement with the rehabilitation of the Dawson Bridge in Edmonton, was featured in the Fall 2010 edition of U of A Engineer.

We caught up with Michael to find out how things are progressing.

28 U OF A ENGINEER SPRING 2015

Update us on Intelligent Engineering and SPS—are there notable projects SPS is or has been used in?

We have now completed more than 400 projects. You may wish to have a look at our Project Portfolio which can be found on the home page of our web site www.ie-sps. com. This shows a number of recently completed projects across a variety of applications including stadia, buildings and bridges. You might also have a look at a time-lapsed video showing the speed with which SPS terraces were erected at the new San Jose Earthquakes stadium. This can be found at www.youtube. com/watch?v=P-PaGOQzN2Q. Don’t blink around the one minute mark or you’ll miss the SPS bit.

By sector, stadia is the most advanced application, with multiple projects around the world including the U.S., the U.K., as far afield as Azerbaijan and the largest indoor arena in the world, in the Philippines. The bridge and building sectors are beginning to take up SPS as the benefits such as saving time, increasing live load capacity and increasing floor area are being recognized. We have won awards for bridges from AASHTO for our ‘bridgein-a box’ and for the Mettlach bridge in Germany. We have just won a big project to renovate the Pont Rouge in Luxembourg. We are currently working on a number of flooring projects, including a couple at quite large-scale. We remain active in the off-shore sector and have a number of attractive solutions ready to apply in new shipbuilding as this market recovers.

Plate System When we first interviewed you Intelligent Engineering had key partnerships that included BASF and South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering.

Do you have any new partnerships to talk about?

Our global partnerships with BASF and Daewoo continue. We have recently signed a long-term deal with Caterpillar for the use of SPS across their product range. We are in discussions with a number of steel makers in the U.S., Europe and Asia. We now have two partners in our North American business, Walters Group in Ontario and Supreme Group in Edmonton, Alberta.

Change takes time. How has SPS been accepted in the marketplace?

You are absolutely right in noting that change takes time. No matter how good the idea, how much it improves performance or how much money it saves, heavy industry is very conservative and very few are willing to be “first”. The difference now is that with more than 400 completed projects and a blue-chip customer base, they no longer have to be. When performance and economic benefits can be taken more or less as read, it also means your sales force no longer need to be SPS specialists and this opens up distribution. Watch this space.

In our 2010 article your father was serving as a key member of the Intelligent Engineering advisory board. We were saddened to hear of his passing. At the time, he said that working professionally with his sons was one of the true highlights of his life. How did he help the company in its early formation?

Laurie was a man of principle. He had a strong work ethic. He was very openminded and at the same time acutely critical. Therein lies his original and continuing contribution. Start with what looks like a good idea, gather data and invite comment, beat the hell out of it and, if it still holds up, don’t let anyone tell you it can’t be done.

What’s next for Intelligent Engineering and SPS? We had two objectives when we started, that SPS find its deserved place as a widely used technology and that we earn a decent return for the people who entrusted us with their time and money. I think the first is now inevitable and we are within sight of the second. So much so that we have addressed the problem of succession that often bedevils founder-managed companies by bringing on a new CEO, David Glover, who had a long career at Arup and was, until recently, global head of Building Engineering at AECOM. I can now sign this as Chairman.

Facing page: the Intelligent Engineering SPS system was installed on the Dawson Bridge in Edmonton in 2010. Above, the Kennedy engineers: (L - R) Michael, Stephen, Laurie and Timothy.

U OF A ENGINEER SPRING 2015

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2015

Alumni Weekend

Thursday, September 24 through Sunday, September 27

Beginning on Thursday, September 24 with the Alumni Recognition Awards, and ending on Sunday, September 27 with a concert celebrating the 100th anniversary of Convocation Hall by some of the university’s most talented music students, Alumni Weekend 2015 is full of opportunities to see the people and places that you got to know so well as a student.

Our evergreen and gold campus will warmly welcome all engineering alumni – regardless of year of graduation – but this year, if you graduated in a year ending in a “5” or a “0”, you have a special invitation to come celebrate a milestone anniversary!

A brief overview of the Engineering and all-campus events being held follows. The August edition of New Trail will have complete details on all the activities taking place during Alumni Weekend 2015. Information is also available on the Faculty of Engineering’s website (www.engineering.ualberta.ca/alumni), as well as in the Alumni & Friends section of the University of Alberta’s website.

Faculty of Engineering Alumni Special Events Note: All Engineering Alumni Weekend events are FREE to alumni and their guests. However, pre-registration is requested to help ensure adequate space and refreshments. To register, visit http://alumni.ualberta.ca/ events/alumni-weekend beginning in June. For further information on any Engineering event, contact Cindy Spears at cindy.spears@ualberta.ca or 780.492.7050.

Class of 1955 Engineering Alumni Luncheon Friday, September 25, 2015 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Faculty Club, University of Alberta Who’s Invited: Engineering graduates from 1955 and earlier, and their spouses/guests.

Dean’s Engineering Reception Friday, September 25, 2015 4:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Fred Pheasey Engineering Commons 8th Floor, Donadeo Innovation Centre for Engineering (ICE) (NOTE NEW LOCATION!) Who’s Invited: All engineering graduates and their spouses/guests.

Dean’s Engineering Alumni Breakfast Saturday, September 26, 2015 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Fred Pheasey Engineering Commons 8th Floor, Donadeo Innovation Centre for Engineering (ICE) (NOTE NEW LOCATION!) Who’s Invited: Engineering graduates from 1970 and earlier, and their spouses/guests.

Note: Reunion class photos will be taken at the breakfast for any class that wishes to have one.

30 U OF A ENGINEER SPRING 2015 2015

Engineering Expo 2015 Saturday, September 26, 2015 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Engineering Teaching and Learning Complex (ETLC) Maier Learning Centre (ground and 2nd floors) Who’s Invited: Open to everyone and the general public Note: Please visit www.engineering.ualberta. ca/Expo for more information and a schedule of tours, activities and events.

Estate Planning Seminar Saturday, September 26, 2015 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.

8th Floor, Donadeo Innovation Centre for Engineering (ICE) Who’s Invited: All engineering graduates and their spouses/guests.

All Campus Events Join alumni from other faculties on campus at the following events. For details, please visit http:// alumni.ualberta.ca/events/alumni-weekend or watch for your August issue of New Trail magazine.

Thursday, September 24 Presidents’ Circle Statue Unveiling Alumni Recognition Awards

Friday, September 25 The Tent Class of ’65 Cap ‘n Gown Green & Gold Day Sock Fight!

Golden Bears Football The Den: Speakeasy & Casino

Saturday, September 26 The Tent Family Fun in the Tent Golden Grads Dinner (1965 grads and earlier)

Sunday, September 27 UAlberta Music Live in Concert

Class Reunion Organizers & Individual Class Events These engineering alumni have enthusiastically volunteered to be class reunion organizers for Alumni Weekend 2015.

Some classes are also planning private class dinners, social evenings or other events throughout Alumni Weekend or at other times this summer or fall.

If you are a member of one of the classes listed below, you may already have received a call or email regarding plans for the reunion of your class. If not, please contact Leanne Nickel at 780.492.4159 or leanne.nickel@ ualberta.ca to find out how to get in touch with your class organizer and get details on class-specific activities.

1955 Petroleum Engineering

Gerald Desorcy 1958 Chemical Engineering

Donald Thurston 1960 Civil Engineering

Zaniel Figol, Robert Savage 1960 Mechanical Engineering

Donald MacIntosh 1965 Chemical Engineering

Richard Farwell, Henry Bosman 1965 Civil Engineering

Herb Reynolds, William Hibbard,

Murray West 1965 Metallurgical Engineering

Gary Webster

If your class is not listed – especially if you are from the Class of 1955, 1965, 1975 or 1990 – you may want to consider volunteering to help ensure you don’t miss a great opportunity to get together!

1975 Chemical Engineering

Janet McNeill

1945 Engineering

Winston Stothert 1950 Electrical Engineering

Donald Peterson, Milton Ozubko

1985 Computer Engineering

Dave Rusnell, Danny Wilson,

Monica Sawchyn

(first week of August)

1955 Civil Engineering

Charles Grant

1990 Computer Engineering

Colleen Bester

1955 Electrical Engineering

Kenneth Townend, Robert McIntyre

2000 Mechanical Engineering

Caren E. Steele, Jacalyn Hodgson

1975 Electrical Engineering

Keith McLeod 1980 Civil Engineering

Murray Johnson, Mark Timler

U OF UA of ENGINEER A Engineer SPRING Spring 2014 2015

3131

LEGACIES

The responsible engineer Charles Hantho takes the long view with an endowed fund supporting responsible and sustainable engineering

By Richard Cairney

D

Demetri Giannitsios

On campus this spring, Charles Hantho (Chemical ’53, LLD [Hon] ’13), met with the Faculty of Engineering’s Engineering Safety and Risk Management group. Hantho was a key figure in developing policies supporting responsible industrial practices. These standards were eventually accepted by industry and governments across Europe and the U.S. Hantho has established a fund to support teaching of responsible and sustainable engineering at the U of A.

32 U OF A ENGINEER SPRING 2015

elivering a convocation address to graduating engineers in 2013, Charles Hantho (Chemical ’53, LLD [Hon] ’13) made a statement the graduands might not have expected from a retired captain of industry. He stated, flat-out, that corporations have duties and responsibilities extending far beyond the shareholders’ short-term profits; that CEOs increasingly recognize that for a corporation to be successful in the longer term, they must be proactive in developing strategies that will address safety, health and environmental issues for the well-being of their workers and the public. These were not new ideas to Hantho—they are the ways he was taught to practise as an engineer.

When he graduated from the University of Alberta, Hantho took his first job with CIL as a technical assistant. The company was building the first polyethylene manufacturing plant in Canada, on the

east side of Edmonton, and Hantho was in on the ground floor. He was thrilled. “I thought, ‘Oh boy! Polymer chemistry—I love it!’ It was an incredible experience,” he says. “I’ll never forget the first polyethylene polymer coming out of the reactor. It was green and it was sloppy … I was hoping to see something a little more exciting, but it was a fascinating decade as we developed tailor-made plastic resins for rapidly growing new applications with a market growing at over 15 per cent a year.”

As rewarding and memorable as that experience was, Hantho was also struck by a message continuously preached by Greville Smith, the company’s CEO. “His tag line, on everything he sent out, was Do It Right!”

That instruction meant more than being technologically correct from an engineering standpoint—it meant being safe and operating a company or a manufacturing plant in a responsible manner. As a university student, Hantho says, he and his classmates were more concerned with the “how” of things, with technology. The emphasis in classrooms and labs didn’t stray far from that. The message from his CEO was enlightening.

Hantho entered the plastics industry at the start of a period of unfathomable growth. He rose quickly through the ranks at CIL and became president and CEO in 1982. He continued to follow the Do It Right mantra. Starting in the 1970s, Canadian Chemical Producers Association members had begun to talk about industry safety in the production, handling and transportation of hazardous chemicals.

Out of these discussions the industry developed a unified Community Awareness and Emergency Response plan.

It involved establishing programs with communities that had chemical plants in order to integrate industry emergency plans with local authorities, first responders and hospitals. This development of processes within the industry was well underway when, in December 1984, a massive leak of methyl isocyanate gas and other chemicals occurred at a Union Carbide India Ltd. pesticide plant in Bhopal, India. Estimates of the death toll range from 2,259 to 3,787, with thousands more suffering permanent injuries.

“By establishing this fund, we’re able to put money toward advancing the individual, to help them along, to help them have more wellrounded experiences.”

“We were doing all this planning behind the scenes as an industry and then Bhopal happened,” he says, recalling the morning that newscasts reported the story. “The unthinkable had happened.” The industry could sense that governments the world over would be beefing up regulation on the industry, and the chemical industry in Canada was, thankfully, ahead of the curve.

“Until [Bhopal] we were this largely invisible industry whose products aren’t even sold in stores. But we knew we had to step up and be seen. We also realized that as an industry we are only as good as our worstperforming company. As an association we had to accelerate and deepen those protocols into individual company action plans. Thus was created the industry-wide Responsible Care Program. It was all about doing the right thing.” That included a more focused approach to risk management in chemical operations and looking beyond the boundaries of a manufacturing plant, extending its responsibilities up and down the supply chain.

“What we were doing was respecting the management of chemicals from the cradle to the grave, looking deeply into our own risks and the handling and transportation of chemicals from our suppliers and likewise the shipments to our customers to ensure they had the ability to safely receive and use toxic chemicals.”

In 1997, Hantho received the Order of Canada for his contributions to the creation of the industry’s Responsible Care Program. But he vociferously credits the entire industry. “It wasn’t a single person

behind this; it was an entire industry across Canada, including U.S.-owned companies.

It was a real grassroots effort.” Ultimately, the critical approach and standards developed here were accepted by industry and governments in the U.S. and Europe.

As CEO of CIL, Hantho worked diligently to ensure the same ethos continued to permeate the company’s culture.

“If we had a lost-time accident, I would get directly involved. As CEO, I’d fly people in to talk about what happened and how it happened and what they learned and what they were now doing differently.

We weren’t perfect but we sure were proactive, and that’s the key thing. We were never just reacting to government regulations; we were being proactive to do what we thought was right.”

Hantho went on to become president and CEO of Dominion Textiles and later a non-executive chairman of Dofasco, two companies that he says had the same culture of being proactive to “do it right.”

To this day, he works to promote those values. To that end, he has established the Charles H. Hantho Fund in Responsible and Sustainable Engineering at the U of A. This $250,000 endowed fund will exist in perpetuity to support educational, research and other initiatives in the area of responsible and sustainable engineering.

This fund will affect teaching and research in sustainable design engineering, engineering management and engineering risk management in the areas of safety and the environment.

Hantho says he’s impressed with the Faculty of Engineering’s growing Engineering Safety and Risk Management curriculum, adding it goes “far deeper and is more comprehensive than at other universities.” He also knows it will give engineering graduates today a much broader understanding of the importance of proactive management of health, safety and environmental risks to the success of an enterprise.

“It’s a field that is ripe for creativity and innovation in problem solving that is not only ‘doing the right thing’ for society and the balance sheet, but will also potentially establish a competitive advantage for a company,” he says. “It’s all about corporate sustainability for the long term.”

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LEGACIES

Bill Kent

At the time he was photographed here at his home on Vancouver Island in 2010, Bill Kent was still building, making plans for construction in his garden.

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An inquisitive kid would became an extraordinary engineer

By Ellen Schoeck and Richard Cairney

he Faculty of Engineering mourns the loss of its oldest alumnus, a man whose remarkable life spanned the university’s entire history. Bill Leslie Kent, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 1931, passed away Oct. 11, 2014, just days from what would have been his 107th birthday.

Born Oct. 19, 1907, in Content, Alta., about 65 kilometres east of Red Deer, Kent and his family followed the railroad to the neighbouring town of Delburne when he was six years old. He showed an early talent for building things. As a toddler, he could take apart a clock and put it back together.

As a young boy, after seeing a rotary

snowplow clearing the railroad tracks near his home, he made a working version from salvaged scrap metal.

“My dad ran a livery stable during an era when horses were the main form of transportation,” Kent recalled. “When cars started to rule the road, he had to find another career, and it was my mother who decided we should move to Edmonton. The reason? Simple. The University of Alberta was there, and she wanted me to live out my dream of becoming an engineer.”

Kent’s father started work for a local lumber company, but in the 1920s Alberta was in a deep recession. His mom took in boarders, saving money for Bill’s education.

During his final years of high school at what is now Old Scona Academic High School, Kent worked during the summers at the lumber company with his dad—for 35 cents an hour.

When Kent began his engineering studies in 1925, the stand-alone Faculty of Engineering was only four years old. The School of Nursing had just launched, the first medical students educated entirely at the U of A graduated that year. Only two students on campus had cars.

He graduated just as the Great Depression was descending. While working for the Alberta government for three summers as a surveyor, he met his wife, Doris. They were married in 1934, headed to Vancouver for their honeymoon, and ended up staying there.

In 1936, Kent was hired as a civil engineer on the Lions Gate Bridge. He was involved in designing and pouring the anchor piers, and casting the famous concrete lions at the bridge’s south entrance. He was in the first car to travel across the bridge upon its completion in 1938.

He went on to design or build bridges and power plants in every province and territory in Canada. His favourite projects included the Powell River laboratory and concrete-arch dam; magnesium plants in Nevada during the Second World War; an Air Force training camp at Abbotsford; Churchill Falls generator installation; the Canso Causeway connecting Cape Breton Island with the mainland; hydro plants at Grand Rapids, McArthur Falls, Exshaw

and Snare River; a powerhouse at Bennett Dam; the western half of the DEW line; buildings on the UBC and Simon Fraser University campuses; and the St. Lawrence Seaway excavation. He also helped build the Red River Canal around Winnipeg, and its concrete control dam.

“I grew up wanting to build things,” he said in 2009, “and I’m still chomping at the bit to build something.”

When Kent turned 99, his daughter Jane and son-in-law Stan established a bursary to honour Bill and Doris, who passed away on the eve of their 70th wedding anniversary. The bursary is designed to help first-year engineering students who are struggling financially. In his dining room, Kent hung the plaque engineering Dean David Lynch gave him to honour the bursary that bears his and Doris’s names.

“I well remember the struggle to make ends meet when I was in engineering, and I know how my parents sacrificed to get me through,” he says. “I am deeply grateful that this bursary has been established. I also make sure to meet each year with the student who has received the bursary. It’s a great feeling to know you are helping someone in need, someone with a passion to be an engineer.”

Kent would return to Edmonton for the U of A’s Alumni Weekend every five years while he was working. Once he retired at age 65, he made the 900-kilometre trip every single year from his home in Langley, B.C., to enjoy the festivities. He loved hanging out during those weekends with current engineering students, listening to their stories, their concerns about the cost of going to university, and their dreams for the future.

“I first met Bill when he was here for his 70th reunion of his graduation in 2001,” says Leanne Nickel, the Faculty of Engineering’s alumni relations manager and a longtime friend of Bill’s. “I was amazed by this 93-year-old fellow who had taken the Greyhound bus all the way from Langley, B.C., on his own. He showed up at our engineering alumni reception at the Faculty Club, and I recall worrying about him getting back to his hotel safely at the end of the evening. Years later he used to laugh at how I offered to call him a cab, but

“At the age of two years (Bill) was found sitting on the floor of his nursery putting a demolished alarm clock back together.

This was the beginning of his career as an Engineer.”

— From Bill Kent’s 1931 Evergreen and Gold graduation photo

he was just fine on his own taking the LRT back downtown to his hotel.

“Attending Alumni Weekend seemed to be the highlight of his year, and I feel so fortunate to have been able to welcome him here every fall for about 10 years, right through to the 80th anniversary of his graduation. My favourite memory of him will always be seeing him sitting in the ETLC Atrium on the Friday morning of Alumni Weekend, so happy to visit with students who were brave or curious enough to chat with him. What fascinating conversations they would have had with this engineer who had worked on so many of Canada’s iconic engineering achievements.”

Ellen Schoeck, former director of the University Secretariat and author of I Was There, a collection of alumni stories about the U of A, knew Bill for many years. They were close friends. She visited him often in Langley, and saw him as recently as September.

“Bill knew he would be missing Alumni Weekend this year,” she says. “He wished he could make one more trip to his alma mater. He recounted to me many times how his time at the University of Alberta changed the course of his life.”

The university recognized Bill’s contributions by giving him the Alumni Association’s Alumni Honour Award in 2009.

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The David and Joan Lynch School of Engineering Safety and Risk Management

The history of the Faculty of Engineering is one of service to society through its exceptional graduates, transformative research and commitment to its many communities.

— DAVID T. LYNCH, PHD, P.ENG

In 1910, William Muir-Edwards, Alberta’s first engineering professor, ended a typhoid outbreak by identifying a problem in Edmonton’s water treatment facilities. In 1918, he died on his 39th birthday while tending to sick university students during the Spanish flu epidemic.

In 1925, engineering professor Karl Clark used a household washing machine to separate oil from sand. Clark’s “hot water” method unlocked the Alberta oilsands, and ushered in a new era of resource development for the province and the nation.

36 U OF A ENGINEER SPRING 2015

Professors Muir-Edwards and Clark epitomize the ingenuity and dedication to service at the heart of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Alberta. Whether bolstering the economy or developing safer homes and industries, the students, graduates, teachers and researchers of the faculty make a difference in people’s lives. That legacy is the foundation of future growth, innovation and achievement.

Engineering Safety and Risk Management The Faculty of Engineering is continuing its growth in order to prepare students for the challenges of modern society. One of the key areas of expansion is the field of Engineering Safety and Risk Management, which is focused on the development of enhanced safety procedures and awareness, and the continuous reduction of risk to people, the environment, facilities and operations.

From pipelines to railroads, from bridges to refineries, safety and safe operations are increasingly critical, particularly as the complexity of industrial processes and systems continues to grow.

Canadian Leadership For the past 25 years, the Faculty of Engineering has been a leader in developing and offering its Engineering Safety and Risk Management (ESRM) program — the only one of its kind in Canada. The positive impact of the ESRM program is felt through the work of engineering graduates with enhanced ESRM skills, and through the outreach of ESRM professors to corporations and industries.

The faculty is now embarking on a major expansion of its ESRM activities. Education, research and outreach in safety and risk management are fundamental to continued growth in construction, production facilities, and industrial and business operations.

The David and Joan Lynch School of Engineering Safety and Risk Management The University of Alberta proposes to establish the David and Joan Lynch School of Engineering Safety and Risk Management, to provide a dramatic increase in ESRM education, research, service and outreach.

Central to the success of the “Lynch School” will be the creation of a $15 million “Lynch School Endowment Fund for Engineering Safety and Risk Management.” The fund will help recruit additional ESRM professors, ideally with industrial experience, who will develop and teach an expanded ESRM curriculum.

Through the establishment of the School and the Fund:

Two Decades of Accomplishment and Growth During his 21 years of leadership as Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, David Lynch has successfully overseen spectacular growth through his focus on: •

recruiting outstanding students and faculty,

•

providing outstanding facilities to support exceptional engineering education and research, and,

•

connecting the Faculty of Engineering to its many communities by building partnerships with industries, governments, universities and alumni.

The last 13 years has seen the addition of more than 1.5 million sq. ft. of new and renewed teaching and research space, and over the last 20 years more than $900 million in philanthropic, governmental and partner support for the Faculty of Engineering.

Faculty of Engineering growth from 1994 to 2015

•

By 2016-17, all 1,000 engineering graduates each year will have completed in-depth ESRM courses.

•

By 2017-18, a course-based Master of Engineering degree program in Engineering Safety and Risk Management will be offered both on and off campus.

93 to 205 Professors

•

By 2018-19, new research-based MSc and PhD programs in ESRM areas will be offered in order to develop new knowledge and best practices.

2,900 to 6,000 Students

Join the University of Alberta and the engineering community in honoring the legacy of Dean Lynch with a gift to the David and Joan Lynch School of Engineering Safety and Risk Management.

Our immediate goal is to raise $4 million by June 30, 2015 as a means of honouring Dean Lynch upon the completion of his tenure as Dean. Gifts may be made directly to the Lynch Fund or through the creation of separate named endowments or funds in support of ESRM student activities, Industrial Fellows, Professorships and Chairs.

FACULTY

STUDENTS

RESEARCH FUNDS

$8 to $66 Million

To visit To make make aa donation, donation or foruab.ca/lynchfund more information, or contact NenaBen Jocic-Andrejevic, please contact McIsaac, Director, Faculty Engineering: Faculty of Development: 780-492-8969 @ualberta.ca 780-492-1603 || jocic giving.ualberta.ca Gifts of any amount are welcome and appreciated and may be provided over time. A charitable tax receipt will be issued by UAlberta for eligible donations.

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IN MEMORIAM The Faculty of Engineering sincerely regrets the passing of the following alumni and friends.

Adkisson, Carol, Chemical ‘78, in July 2014 Allen, Leonard David, Civil ’53, in March 2015 Auger, Gen Lucienne, Mechanical ‘05, in October 2014 Bednar, Ronald James, Civil ‘58, in December 2014 Blakely, William Earl, Engineering Physics ‘50, in December 2014 Bradford, Charles Nathan, Chemical ‘89, in February 2015 Bruyer, William Francis, Civil ‘60, in March 2015 Bue, Roy Sylvester, Mining ‘49, in October 2014 Chan, Wai Kwong, Electrical ‘72, in November 2014 Christie, Deanna Michelle, Mechanical ‘93, in December 2014 Cimolino, Ronald Anthony, Civil ‘56, in July 2014 Clarke, Donald Allan, Chemical ‘50, in September 2014 Cook, Eugene T., Mining ‘49, in January 2015 Cox, John W., Electrical ‘51, in February 2015 Cuthill, J. Ivan, Petroleum ’55, in April 2015 Dalby, Ronald Norman, Civil ‘52, in October 2014 Dancey, James Neil, Mechanical ‘67, in February 2015 Daniels, Reg S, Chemical ‘58, in October 2014 Dockery, James Alfred, Petroleum ‘51, in October 2014

Durrant, Robert John, Civil ‘54, in September 2014 Fowler, Ian Hamilton, Chemical ‘49, in August 2014 Green, Murray Abrey, Civil ‘51, in December 2014 Guzmits, Frank E., Civil ‘63, in January 2015 Hajash, Mickey, Mining ’47, in March 2015 Haley, Richard Frank, Electrical ‘82, MSc (Electrical) ‘86, in January 2015 Hayden, Stephen Russel, Electrical ‘47, in November 2014 Howell, Douglas Pemberton, Chemical ‘49, in November 2014 Huffman, Bert , Civil ‘49, in December 2014 Inkpen, G. Robert , Chemical ‘42, in August 2014 Kasten, Henry Ludwig, Civil ‘46, MSc (Civil) ‘49, in August 2014 Kazoleas, Christopher Vernon, Civil ‘07, in October 2014 Kent, William Leslie, Civil ‘31, in October 2014 Kroening, Wesley, Civil ‘83, in September 2014 Kully, Gerald Joseph, Mechanical ‘67, in January 2015 Leshchyshyn, Theodore Henry, PhD (Petroleum) ‘99, in September 2014 MacGregor, James Grierson, Civil ‘56, in January 2015 Mah, Joseph Yee S S, Electrical ‘69, in October 2014 Martell, R. Clyde, Electrical ’62, MSc (Electrical) ’67, in April 2015

McEachern, Frank Donald, Petroleum ‘52, in August 2014 McLeod, Jack, Civil ’59, in March 2015 Melnyk, Edward, Mining ‘61, in January 2015 Nelson, Leslie William, Civil ‘45, in August 2014 Ocol, Carlito Mendoza, Computer ‘99, in November 2014 Pirot, Donald Henry Albert, Engineering Physics ‘61, MSc (Electrical) ‘65, in November 2014 Pomajzl, Vladimir, Civil ‘73, in February 2015 Radford, Bruce Alfred, Chemical ‘48, MSc (Chemical) ‘50, in February 2015 Roberts, Donald Murray, Engineering Physics ‘45, in July 2014 Rogers, Edward Lee, Electrical ‘53, in October 2014 Sampson, Donald James, Civil ‘53, in January 2015 Sather, Robert Ludwig, Chemical ‘44, in October 2014 Scott, John David, Mineral Process ‘61, Mechanical ‘65, MSc (Petroleum) ‘71, in January 2015 Serra, John William, Mechanical ’64, MSc (Petroleum) ’66, in April 2015 Snell, L. Eric, Chemical ‘58, MSc (Chemical) ‘60, in October 2014 Spackman, Grant Lawrence, Civil ‘52, in December 2014 Spinney, Alden Clarke, Civil ‘63, in January 2015 Trimble, Thomas Jackson, Civil ‘50, in August 2014

Former chancellor was a bright light on campus

R

onald Dalby (Civil ’52), the University of Alberta’s 10th chancellor, passed away Oct. 28 at age 85.

During his time as chancellor from 1974 to 1978, Dalby led the university senate through one of its most dynamic phases, helping address issues of a turbulent decade that were bringing change to society and to campus.

“He was a real bright light who brought to campus fresh ideas,” said Jean Forest, who followed Dalby by serving as chancellor from 1978 to 1982 and worked side by side with him in the senate. “He was open-minded and his enthusiasm brought a lot to the university.”

One of the most important senate initiatives under Dalby’s term was the Report on Academic Women in 1975, which drew attention to unequal hiring, promotion and pay practices of the day and led to gradual change.

38 U OF A ENGINEER SPRING 2015

Vander Voet, Paul Jan, Civil ‘75, in June 2014 Walchuk, John, Electrical ‘60, in November 2014 Walsh, George Richard, Civil ‘62, in September 2014 Wasson, John William, Mechanical ‘67, in September 2014 Watson, Reginald J, Civil ‘58, in October 2014 Wegner, Joanne Laura, MSc (Mechanical) ‘85, PhD (Mechanical) ‘88, in September 2014 Yasui, Shozo, Chemical ‘52, in September 2014 The Faculty of Engineering was recently made aware of the passing of the following alumni more than a year ago: Aldrich, John Gerald, Civil ‘52, in July 2011 Bridge, Allan Clare, MSc (Chemical) ‘49, in January 2002 Cahoon, Kent Jacobs, Mechanical ‘66, in August 2013 Cherry, David Douglas, Engineering Physics ‘48, in August 2010 Clement, Terry, MSc (Civil) ‘77, in May 2013 Corkum, Hector Mackenzie, Chemical ‘46, in January 2014 De Launay, Leon Henry W, Electrical ‘46, in July 2012 Eng, Peter Glen, Civil ‘94, in 2014 Fisher, Lawrence William, Electrical ‘45, in July 2005 Guttman, Herbert, Chemical ‘46, in April 2014 Hannah, Merwin Russell, Electrical ‘43, in May 1998 Harcourt, George Alan, Mining ‘30, in March 1991

Herbert, Eric Christian, Electrical ‘51, in April 1992 Hulbert, Vincent Gonvill, Electrical ‘52, in February 2013 Kelly, Patrick Edward, Chemical ‘49, in 2008 Kozak, Alexandra Julia, Mineral Process ‘85, in February 2014 Leavitt, Kent Duane, Chemical ‘51, in September 1996 Loshaek, Sam, Chemical ‘45, MSc (Chemical) ‘46, in November 2012 Lukawesky, Tony, Chemical ‘43, in 2005 Mar, Dean William, Civil ‘02, in March 2005 Meldrum, Alan Hayward, Chemical ‘38, in July 2007 Miner, Sydney, Chemical ‘44, in February 2013 Mirosh, Edward Anton, MSc ‘66, in February 2013 Miyanaga, Tom Yoshiharu, Civil ‘60, in January 2014 Morgan, J. Willis, Chemical ‘39, in 2001 Newhall, Stuart Owen, Electrical ‘44, in October 2006 Pechet, Meleo, Mining ‘35, in October 1996 Sanche, Leo, Civil ‘62, in October 2012 Shapiro, Alec, Engineering Physics ‘49, in October 2012 Sherbanuk, Michael Robert N, Mechanical ‘73, in March 2005 Stevens, Robert Leonard, Electrical ‘35, in 2001

By Bev Betkowsky

Dalby was also dedicated to the idea of quality education for students, Forest noted.

The second senate-led project that occurred under his chancellorship was the establishment of a Task Force on Native Students, which ultimately recommended that a college or school of native studies be established at the U of A. The School of Native Studies opened on campus in 1986, and is now known as the Faculty of Native Studies, the only stand-alone faculty of its kind in Canada.

After graduating with a civil engineering degree, Dalby embarked on a long and distinguished career in the energy industry, working with various companies including Imperial Oil and then moving his expertise to the utilities field, working with Northwestern Utilities, Canadian Utilities and International Utilities. He went on to establish a consulting firm specializing in engineering and management in the energy field.

Dalby put his personal and professional passions to good use serving the community. He twice served as president of the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta, in 1967-68 and 1973-74. He was made an honorary life member of the association in 1978. He also served as a director of the U of A-affiliated St. Stephen’s College and was a charter member of Edmonton’s Grace United Church.

Besides lending his time and leadership to the senate, Dalby and his wife, Elsie, also provided bursaries to the U of A in medicine/nursing and civil engineering.

For his outstanding service to the university, in 1978 Dalby was awarded the U of A’s Alumni Golden Jubilee Award, the alumni association’s highest honour. He was also awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree from the U of A in 1980.

KUDOS

TAKING PRIDE IN ACHIEVEMENT

Abdulhameed, Diana

Has been awarded the Gordon F. Anderson Scholarship from DIALOG in Edmonton. The award is presented annually to a student entering the first year of a graduate program in structural engineering at the University of Alberta.

The $5,000 scholarship is intended to encourage students to pursue advanced study in structural engineering. A firstyear PhD student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Abdluhameed’s research focuses on the pipeline field—specifically examining the effects of internal pressure on stresses in pipe elbows.

Chung, Hynu-Joong PEng

Has been awarded the Hanwha NonTenured Faculty Award. The award is presented to young teaching and research leaders to demonstrate Hanwha’s commitments of promoting cutting-edge research and innovation in Materials Chemistry and strengthening the international faculty networks of Hanwha Advanced Materials.

Elias, Anastasia Peng

(Engineering physics ’02, PhD ’07) Has won the 2015 Early Accomplishment Award from the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta, in recognition of exceptional accomplishments in the early years of her career. Elias has made a positive impression on the field of nanotechnology by building a world-class research group devoted to developing new materials for food packaging.

She volunteers for organizations involved in science and engineering outreach, including the DiscoverE Girls, Engineering and Mentorship GEM Club for elementary school girls and Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science and Technology.

Jonsson, Katherine EIT (Materials ’09, MSc ’12)

Has been awarded the ASM International Emerging Professionals Achievement Award. The award honours extraordinary ASM volunteers early in their careers i.e., less than five years of experience post graduation, who have made a significant impact on ASM International through service and dedication to the future of the society.

LaValley, Douglas PEng (Civil ’74)

Has won the Centennial Leadership Award from the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta. LaValley has dedicated 35 years to Stantec Consulting as a leader, advisor and mentor. His work has focused on water management. He led development of Calgary’s wastewater master plan, greatly increasing efficiency.

His includes such initiatives as the Pine Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, Shepard Stormwater Diversion Channel project, and 210 Avenue Trunk Utilities project. He also spent two years working in the Republic of Malawi as designer and resident inspector for the Lilongwe Water Supply Project, which doubled the capacity of the capital city's water system, including supply, treatment, distribution pumping and storage.

Li, Leijun

Has received the William H. Hobart Memorial Award for his paper on the “Effect of Postweld Heat Treatment on the Toughness of HeatAffected Zone for Grade 91 Steel” in the Welding Journal, co-authored

by Bishal Silwal (Georgia Southern University, USA), Andrew Deceuster (Weber State University, USA), and B. Griffiths. Li is a professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering whose research areas focus on physical metallurgy and welding and joining of materials.

Mendez, Patricio PEng

Has been inducted to the 2014 American Welding Society (AWS) Class of Fellows.

A professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering who heads the Canadian Centre for Welding and Joining, Mendez was recognized for promoting improved understanding of defect formation in welding, mathematical modeling of welding processes, the physics of metal transfer, wear resistant overlays, and phase transformations. He was also recognized for his excellence in mentoring and teaching students and young professionals, and for the continued advocacy for welding education and training. AWS also selected Mendez for the 2014 Adams Memorial Membership Award for outstanding teaching activities.

Mertiny, Pierre PEng (Mechanical PhD ’05)

Has won the 2015 Excellence in Education Award from the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta. Mertiny believes that student engagement and experiential learning are essential for an outstanding learning experience. By enhancing his courses with state-ofthe-art technology, engaging students in active dialogue, and promoting an anecdotal and activity-based approach to lecture material, Mertiny ensures that students are excited about and relate to the information he presents.

Nychka, John PEng (Metallurgy ’97)

Has won the ASM Silver Medal Award from ASM International, a competitive international award with entries from the U.S., Canada, Europe, and India.

The award was presented in recognition of his contributions in the field of materials science and engineering, and the ASM Society and for his innovative

and substantial contributions to the pedagogy, style, and structure of education and professional stewardship in materials science and engineering. A professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Nychka is devoted to student and public outreach and is an accomplished researcher.

Sego, David PEng (Civil ’82, PhD ’80)

Has won the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council’s Synergy Award for Innovation.

Sego played a key role on a nation-wide research team conducting a decade-long research project to protect the environment from diamond mine wastes in the Northwest Territories. The Diavik Waste Rock Research Project is an unprecedented research program that is leading to better mine waste management to protect fragile northern environments for centuries to come. Sego is a professor emeritus in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Tang, Tian PEng

Has been awarded the prestigious Martha Cook Piper Research Prize from the University of Alberta.

Tang, a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering who is the Canada Research Chair in Nano-biomolecular Hybrid Materials, was awarded the prize in recognition of her work developing new models and computational tools that will drastically reduce the time it takes to design and engineer nano-biomolecular hybrid machines that can be used in health, manufacturing and electronics.

Do you have news to share? Send your news of awards, appointments and other successes to engineer.alum@ualberta.ca

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Become a fan of the U of A’s Facebook page—you’ll get news, photos and videos about the Faculty, students and alumni sent directly to your own Facebook account.

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U OF A ENGINEER SPRING 2015

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MYTH: looking for n’t Industry is ith PhDs. w s r e e in g en

REALITY: Engineers with grad degrees move into a glo bal market solving job demanding technical prob lems.

INVEST IN YOURSELF TODAY FOR A MORE REWARDING CAREER Opportunities for engineers with advanced degrees are growing: Our global economy is increasingly driven by innovative R&D, largely conducted by postgraduate degree holders. Sophisticated and innovative engineers will compete in a technological world.

95,000 Canadian engineers are about to leave the workforce, taking with them decades of experience, knowledge, and leadership. New leaders with advanced skills will have incredible opportunities.

Engineers are in demand, but when competition is tough, an advanced engineering degree means you are positioned for a more rewarding career in industry, government or academia.

Join us to learn more about graduate education from Canada’s top engineering schools on the evening of September 29.

Find details at www.engineering.ualberta.ca/GradSchoolNight

Can’t attend? Explore the possibilities of postgraduate engineering education at www.engineering.ualberta.ca/GraduateEducation.