FEATURE | APEGA, Design the Future

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MARCH IS NATIONAL ENGINEERING & GEOSCIENCE MONTH

The work of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists benefits everyone – improving our quality of life, keeping us safe and driving our economy.

The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA) has 68,000 members, with more joining the professions every month.

During National Engineering & Geoscience Month (NEGM) March 1 to 31, it’s time to shine the spotlight on their achievements and look toward the future.

Events will be held throughout the month to raise awareness about the professions and highlight careers in engineering and geoscience. Activities will be taking place in cities and towns across the province – from science competitions and networking events to engineering art shows, forums and much more.

For full details on NEGM celebrations, check out the Calendar of Events on page 3 of this supplement, or go to

apega.ca

and click on National Engineering & Geoscience Month under the K-12 & Teachers section.

Keep reading to learn how Professional Engineers and Geoscientists are making a difference in the lives of others – in Alberta and around the world.

Designthe future

Students can dream bigger with EnGenious New website brings science and engineering to life

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here’s an EnGenious new way to encourage youth to pursue careers in engineering.

EnGenious.ca is an online game for kids and a national engineering outreach resource for teachers and parents of junior high school students.

Ten interactive games showcase six engineering disciplines. In the virtual world of EnGenious, students can run a refinery, set up an environmentally friendly electricity grid, inspect pipelines deep under the ocean and more. They can answer trivia questions and unravel puzzles while developing their problem solving skills.

“Not only are the EnGenious games a lot of fun – with customized avatars and the chance to win points and buy items for your avatar’s condominium – it also introduces math and science concepts to junior high school students,” said Leah Lawrence, P.Eng., President of The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA).

One of the goals of the project is to encourage more young women and Aboriginals to explore career opportunities in engineering.

“I’ve no doubt that some of the kids who play EnGenious are likely to be

studying engineering a decade from now,” said Lawrence.

Besides the games, the website includes outreach resources for parents and teachers, including career profiles, tips on preparing for post-secondary education, print materials, in-class activity sheets and more.

Parents and teachers can use the website to show kids the opportunities available to them as Professional Engineers.

EnGenious has won rave reviews from Alberta students. “I absolutely loved the game and will play it in my free time,” said one 12-year-old student. Added another 13-year-old: “I loved the game! It taught

me a lot of new things about engineering. It was amazing.”

Development of EnGenious was led by APEGA, in partnership with Engineers Canada and with the help of Professional Engineers. Funding was provided

by APEGA, Engineers Canada, the Government of Alberta and APEGA permit holders.

OUTREACH PROGRAMS

APEGA has teamed up with educators, parents, science advocates government and industry to deliver a variety of science-related outreach programs to students and the general public.

Science competitions, math contests, science nights, summer science camps and regional science fairs are some of the other outreach programs that APEGA sponsors or organizes. APEGA also has special programs to attract girls and Aboriginal youth to the professions. Hundreds of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists help make these programs a success by volunteering their time as mentors and role models.

APEGA’s free, province-wide services include: career presentations booths • career publications • job shadows (Grades 9-12) •

• career

• judges

for science events awards program • science olympics • elementary school science nights • teacher

www.apega.ca/K12/outreach/toc.html • email@apega.ca • Toll Free 1-800-661-7020 / Edmonton 780-426-3990 / Calgary: 403-262-7714

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Special Feature

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ENGINEERING &GEOSCIENCE MONTH Serving the public interest is

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APEGA’s most important job

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erving the public interest is the top priority for The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA).

APEGA licenses Professional Engineers and Geoscientists in Alberta and ensures that engineering and geoscience professionals in the province are qualified and capable in the work that they do, whether developing the latest technologies or designing highways, buildings and bridges.

“APEGA regulates the practice of engineering and geoscience in the public interest, the primary goal being public safety and secondarily creating societal and economic benefits,” said APEGA CEO Mark Flint, P.Eng. APEGA’s founding members were engineering professionals who were dedicated to protecting the public from

poor engineering work being done by unqualified individuals. More than 90 years later, APEGA continues to uphold public safety by administering the Engineering and Geoscience Professions (EGP) Act, which gives APEGA the authority to: • register and license qualified members • establish practice standards • administer a complaint and discipline process • review member and corporate practice • stop the non-qualified from practicing • require ongoing professional development APEGA’s Compliance Department ensures that non-licensed and nonqualified individuals and corporations don’t engage in the practice of engineering or geoscience, or hold themselves out as qualified to do so.

Only licensed engineers or geoscientists can use the Professional Engineer (P.Eng.)

or Professional Geoscientist (P.Geo.) titles, while companies that practice engineering or geoscience in Alberta must obtain a Permit to Practice.

The public can have confidence that when they hire a P.Eng. or P.Geo., or a company holding a Permit to Practice, that they are receiving advice from fullyqualified, experienced and licensed professionals.

Professional Engineers and Geoscientists also follow a Code of Ethics requiring them to “hold paramount the health, safety and welfare of the public and have regard for the environment.”

“APEGA and its Professional Members serve society by making public safety and well-being their top concern,” said Flint.

“The association also provides regulatory support and non-regulatory services to help members practice in the public interest.”

CONTRIBUTORS: Sandy Arndt; Kelle Cloutier; Rebecca Dika; Alex Fraser-Harrison; Arlene Lauer-Krueger; Richard Liebrecht; Corinne Lutter; Philip Mulder, APR; Shari Narine; Sarah Pratt; Maurice Tougas

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MARCH 2013

Calendar of Events KICKOFF EVENTS

EDMONTON

Military vs. Civilian Engineers Challenge CFB Edmonton

CALGARY

National launch of EnGenious.ca website Wednesday, February 27

SCIENCE OLYMPICS CALGARY

(Grades 1-12) Saturday February 23 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

Stampede Park, Big Four Building, Hall C

COLD LAKE

(Grades 6-8) Wednesday February 27 Time TBA Cold Lake Energy Centre

EDMONTON

(Grades 1-12) Saturday March 2 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Shaw Conference Centre, Hall A

RED DEER

MEDICINE HAT

ENGINEERING &GEOSCIENCE

PALEO 2013

NEGM Lectures and Events

Saturday, March 16 • 9 a.m.- 4:30 p.m Jenkins Theatre, Mount Royal University, 4825 Mount Royal Gate S.W., Calgary

Dates and locations TBA

Free event includes eight fascinating talks on a range of paleontological topics. Plus posters and fossil displays. In conjunction with the CSPG Palaeontological Division and the Mount Royal University Earth Sciences Department. Details albertapaleo.org.

Canstruction Calgary March 14-22 • Southcentre Mall 100 Anderson Rd. S.E., Calgary

Smartphones from canned salmon? How about an iPad from peas? The theme for the eighth annual Canstruction Calgary competition is Gizmos and Gadgets. On March 14, starting at 9 a.m., teams of Professional Engineers, architects, contractors, designers and students will CANstruct their favourite, can’t-live-without CANtraption. Exhibits on display March 15-22. Food will be donated to the Calgary Food Bank. Details canstructioncalgary.com.

Discoveré

CO2 Car Races

Friday, March 15, 4-9 p.m. • West Edmonton Mall

Students compete in the C02 Muscle Car, Sprint Car and Show Car classes. University of Alberta Faculty of Engineering students will be on site to engage guests and participants in fun challenges and demonstrations at the NewCap Stage.

LETHBRIDGE

Collaboration and Collectedness

(Grades 4-12) Saturday April 13 12:30-4 p.m.

Lethbridge Regional Science Fair & APEGA Science Olympics, University of Lethbridge (Grades 9-10) Date and location TBA

PEACE COUNTRY (Grades 7-12) Date and location TBA

Watch for activity updates at

apega.ca @APEGA_AB

Engineers Without Borders

Held by the University of Alberta Engineering Students’ Society and the University of Alberta Engineers Without Borders chapter. Among the activities: a large-scale game of Jenga and a professor-student mixer. Details ess.ualberta.ca or ualberta.ewb.ca.

2nd Annual Traces Engineering Art Show March 18-28, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. (weekdays only) University of Alberta, Engineering Teaching and Learning Complex (ETLC) & Natural Resources Engineering Facility

Exploring the lingering impacts we have on the people we interact with, the environment we live in, and the world at large. Engineering students, faculty and professionals share their creative sides. Various media, from photography to painting, spoken word to aerial acrobatics. Details engineeringspaces.ca.

Traces Lecture Series: Ideas to Action – Engineering, Architecture and Design Date TBA • ETLC Solarium, 12-1:30 p.m

Professional Engineers have a moral responsibility to take an interest in the esthetic and human aspects of their designs.

Dr. Jeff DiBattista, P.Eng., and Donna Clare, principals at DIALOG, expand on the idea that collaboration among designers holds the key to success. Light refreshments provided. Details engineeringspaces.cam.

March 5-30

Activities designed to raise the profile and highlight the accomplishments of U of C EWB’s professional members – in an environment of sharing and learning. Details at ucalgary.ca/ewb.

Tuesday, March 5 • 5:30-8 p.m.

Wine and Cheese and Silent Auction Art Gallery of Calgary

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University of Alberta

Alberta Palaeontological Society

(Grades 4-7) Saturday March 23 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Kiwanis Regional Science Fair & APEGA Science Olympics, Medicine Hat College

LLOYDMINSTER

(Grades 7-12) Saturday March 2 12:30-4:30 p.m.

Westpark Middle School

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NEGM Gala and Traces Closing Reception March 28, 5-9 p.m. • ETLC Solarium Performances at 6 p.m.

Celebrate the end of NEGM with the U of A Faculty of Engineering, the Engineering Students’ Society, Engineers Without Borders and the Traces Engineering Art Show.

Enjoy an evening of food and drinks (created by local Professional Engineers), conversation and performance art.

ENGINEERING STUDENTS’ SOCIETY

NEGM Drop-In Events

Dates and locations TBA. Details ess.ualberta.ca.

Engineering Spring Formal Date and location TBA

Students, faculty and alumni come together to celebrate NEGM. Awards are presented to graduating students who have made outstanding contributions to the community.

Details ess.ualberta.ca.

Pi Throw Date TBA • University of Alberta campus and community

ESS will hand-deliver a pie to the face of a friend – or enemy – of your choice, in exchange for a donation to Habitat for Humanity. Details ess.ualberta.ca.

University of Calgary ENGINEERING STUDENTS’ SOCIETY

Pi Week

March 11-15 • University of Calgary campus and community

Tuesday, March 12 Connection 360: Networking and Panel Discussion for Women in Engineering Thursday, March 14 • 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

Leadership Workshop University of Calgary, MacEwan Hall

Students and faculty raise thousands of dollars for Calgary Urban Project Society, while hand delivering pies to the faces of colleagues. Details ess.ucalgary.ca.

Graduation Banquet March 23 • Hyatt Regency

Dress and dine with fellow graduates, professors and guests. Special speeches, student awards. Details ess.ucalgary.ca.

Wednesday, March 20 • 6-7:30 p.m.

Global Engineering Guest Lecture, APEGA President Leah Lawrence, P.Eng. University of Calgary, Rosa Centre Saturday, March 23 Battle of Alberta • Sustainable Energy Design Competition Initiation Saturday, March 30 Battle of Alberta • Sustainable Energy Design Competition Finals Judging

First and Second Year Student Dinner March 27 • Location TBA

This annual event is the highlight of the second semester for first- and second-year students, who are introduced to faculty and industry reps, and served a four-star meal. Awards presented to professors and students. Details at ess.ucalgary.ca.

Engg vs. Geoscience Dodgeball Game March 30 • Time and location TBA

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Get paid to E

ngineering and geoscience involves lots of deskwork, but many professionals find their careers also take them into the field – sometimes far afield.

“The reason I chose geophysics is because I didn’t want to sit behind a desk for the rest of my life,” said Kevin Williams, P.Geoph., a Calgary-based geophysicist with Chevron Canada Ltd. In his more than 30 years with Chevron, Williams has worked in warmer climates like the Congo and Papua New Guinea, and in the Mackenzie Delta and Beaufort Sea in Canada’s north.

“My job requires I go into the field and talk with the contractors and employees and pass along leadership and the message that safety is the utmost priority,” he said.

“Oil and gas exploration takes place in some of the most beautiful parts of the planet … all the easy stuff was found 50 years ago, and now the stuff we’re looking for is in more complex, remote locations. That’s part of the challenge that makes it fun.”

Williams says his career has literally opened up the world for him, introducing him to destinations he’d never have imagined visiting on his own. “It’s a fantastically

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travel the world challenging career… it’s a wonderful mix of science and the natural world,” he said.

Engineer-in-Training Connor Rea, a SAGD completions engineer with Statoil, recently transferred from Calgary to Norway, where he is working in offshore drilling exploration.

“Engineering appealed to me for a number of reasons … travel is one of them,” he said.

Rea is studying up on his Norwegian and looking forward to taking skills learned from Statoil’s onshore operations and applying them to the offshore world.

“My experience so far (with Statoil) has been phenomenal – the awesome responsibilities and challenges with the work I’ve been given,” said Rea. Jennifer McMillan, P.Eng., works with the Reliability and Performance Improvement Team at Syncrude Canada Ltd. “I work mostly in trying to optimize the fluid coking process used in Syncrude’s upgrader,” she explained.

This research involves experimentation and analysis, but also takes her frequently to the upgrader site itself at Fort McMurray, because there is no substitute for direct inspection.

“We can look inside the unit … and document the findings, and it helps us guide the research in the future,” said McMillan. “It’s one thing to be in the lab… everything up there is so much bigger.”

Her career has also taken her to Australia, where she assisted in experiments and attended meetings at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO).

“I did enjoy having the opportunity to share my knowledge with the folks in Australia and to work closely with them,” McMillan said. “We seek out people and organizations with the best available expertise…my visit to CSIRO was also an excellent learning experience.”

McMillan also travelled to China as a grad student, and has attended conferences in the Netherlands, U.S. and across Canada. She also enjoys meeting with students in her work as an adjunct professor at the University of Alberta and University of Western Ontario and as an advisor on student projects.

GREAT CAREERS FOR GREAT ENGINEERS With ATCO, you will join our unique and diverse world which includes a healthy and safe work environment, a commitment to the communities where we live and work, and an opportunity to grow your career across our various companies that share a long-term vision for sustainable, profitable, growth.

Jessica, Engineering Supervisor, ATCO Power

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For more information visit www.atcocareers.com.

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ExplorE EnginEEring and gEosciEncE Play the free game at engenious.ca

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ENGINEERING &GEOSCIENCE

Professionals prove you can have it all – careers, family and fun, too

T C A G N I BALANC J

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ust like everyone else in today’s fast-paced For Professional Engineers Tina Yeung and world, engineering and geoscience profes- Alex Labelle, home life has become more imsionals want to achieve work-life balance - portant than ever. On January 24 the young couple celebrated the arrival of their first and they can.

Choosing the right company to work for is child. They are confident their engineering a great place to start, said Sarah Marshall, careers will allow them an excellent work-life P.Eng. She and her husband, Hartley Harris, balance.

When they met as fresh grads in late 2008, are both Professional Engineers but their caTina and Alex were working 50-hour weeks reers have taken off in different directions.

“Hartley owns Catch Engineering, a com- at the Shell Scotford Upgrader Expansion 1. pany that provides electrical engineering and “But we still had the evenings to enjoy ourinstrumentation support to the oil and gas selves,” said Alex. “We could go to the mounindustry,” said Sarah. “I lead a group of en- tains once a month and take a few small trips gineers, chemists and technologists at Nova in the summer.”

Although their careers today are quite difChemicals, working in product and catalyst ferent (Alex is a process control engineer; research and development.”

With two young children, they place a high Tina is a mechanical engineer), they both value on their home life and family time. work regular hours and enjoy a perfect balance. “We take turns To help maintain that cooking, finish dinbalance, they hired a ner by 6:30 and have nanny. Sarah’s job replenty of time to relax. quires her to travel out Sometimes we go out of town at least once for a walk, or play a bit a month, and Hartley of ping pong.” also travels frequently.

Both Tina and Alex “We try to draw the line try not to let their work and not be out of town encroach on their perat the same time,” said Sarah. sonal time. “For us, She believes it’s imright now, we’re five portant to choose a years into our careers, above: Professional Engineers Tina Yeung and career path and an and we have different Alex Labelle recently celebrated the arrival of their first child. below: Nicolette Stanley employer that can offer job opportunities. We balances her work as a Professional a fulfilling career while work longer days durGeoscientist with an active social life. allowing for a good baling the week and then ance at work and home. enjoy long weekends “I’ve had many opporand social activities,” tunities to advance at said Alex. my company, and HartThey plan to conley has worked hard tinue their hobbies of to grow his company hockey, dodge ball, through our kids’ early scrapbooking, cycyears. We’ve achieved a ling, and investing in balance that works for rental properties. Afus, for now.” ter her maternity leave,

Tina will return to her engineering career.

“We can have a good life,” she said. “With kids, you can adjust your hours, manage your work and your lifestyle.”

Nicolette Stanley, P.Geol., moved to Fort McMurray from the Maritimes four years ago to start her dream job working with Shell as a groundwater specialist. She is now a team leader on two Shell sites. She met and married Jack Farrar, P.Eng., a civil engineer who works with a road-building company and they are expecting their first child.

“We work hard, but we play hard as well,” she said. “We get a lot of time off and enjoy a great work-life balance. The average age in Fort McMurray is 32, so there are lots of people and lots of things to do.”

Despite some 12-hour days, Nicolette and Jack enjoy a full and varied social and home life. “I started up a book club three years ago and it’s still going strong. We camp a fair amount, and we bought a summer home in P.E.I.” The Pottery Guild in Fort McMurray also fills much of Nicolette’s free time. “My father and brother are professional potters, and my mother is a weaver,” she said, crediting

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her upbringing with her attraction to science.

“My parents are very open-minded, wellread, well-travelled. They pushed me toward my love of science.”

She offered advice to new students and graduates. “Don’t be scared about embarking on a new adventure. Don’t be scared about travelling across our big country. Go and try different things. You never know if you’ll like it until you’ve tried it.”

Making time for family is a priority for Professional Engineers Sarah Marshall and Hartley Harris.

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ENGINEERING &GEOSCIENCE MONTH

MARCH 2013

Out of this world

Arctic meteor crater an unexpected discovery for Professional Geoscientists

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hat began as a pioneering geological survey in Canada’s Arctic turned into an even more exciting discovery for Dr. Keith Dewing, P.Geol., and his colleagues.

In 2009 the Government of Canada’s Geomapping for Energy and Minerals program launched a geological mapping expedition to Victoria Island, N.W.T. There was no existing geological map for the area.

Before travelling to the site, Dewing, like any good scientist, did background research. He studied satellite images and aerial photographs of the area to get the lay of the land.

“I looked carefully at the images I had and saw something weird,” said Dewing “There was an area that looked to have a circular pattern, where bands of rock curved.”

Dewing soon travelled to the site and immediately realized what was going on. “As soon as I got out of the helicopter and saw the shatter cones and looked

again at the photos, I was pretty sure this was a meteor impact crater.”

And not just any crater, but one an incredible 25 kilometres wide.

Fieldwork took place from 2009-2011 and Dewing, a research scientist with Natural Resources Canada’s Geological Survey of Canada, worked alongside colleagues from across Canada.

The crater was named the Tunnunik Crater after the local Inuvialuit name for that part of the island.

The age of the impact is uncertain, noted Dewing.

The youngest rocks involved are thought to be about 450 million years old and the area is cut by faults estimated to be 130 million years old.

“As a scientist, the discovery was very exciting,” said Dewing. “This is only the 30th crater known in Canada (there are 183 known around the world), so it was a chance to contribute something meaningful to our understanding of the Earth. It also shows how much work there is to do in geology in Canada.”

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Professional Geologist Dr. Keith Dewing discovered a giant meteor impact crater.

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The future is green

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rom smarter roads to harnessing the power of the sun, Alberta’s Professional Engineers are working toward securing our energy future.

Energy conservation begins, quite literally, where the rubber hits the road. Stephanie McCabe, P.Eng., is the project manager for the City of Edmonton’s Complete Streets project, a new approach to planning and designing roads.

“It’s all about looking at the best ways to provide sustainable options for people to get around,” said McCabe.

“It’s an approach to design standards for the roadway that doesn’t assume that one size fits all. It means on some roadways, pedestrians would be the top priority. On other roadways, such as Whitemud Drive or Yellowhead Trail … cars are still the priority. We want to make sure that the cross-sections that we have reflect the land use of the area.”

For example, roads going through a new community might be more pedestrianfriendly, with narrower roads to discourage

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speeding. Edmonton is also looking into how to better accommodate bicycles through bike lanes, a bike buffer or a boulevard. And there’s a lot of territory to cover — there are 3,500 kilometres of roads in the capital.

As the Complete Streets recommendations come into effect, the smarter streets will be built next to more and more energy efficient homes.

Stuart Fix, P.Eng., is bringing the complex world of eco-friendly homes to the masses through his Edmonton-based company ReNu Building Science Inc. Currently, he is working with Igloo Prebuilt, a manufacturer of modular homes, to create a super energy efficient home — Igloo calls it a ‘balanced energy home’ — that sells at market rates.

“The point of Igloo’s initiative is to stick to a commonplace esthetic, and stick to a commonplace price point. Suddenly, it’s not a crazy thing to buy an energy efficient home,” said Fix. The houses are not net zero (a net zero house produces as much energy as it uses),

but they are close. Fix has blended energy efficient technologies like passive solar design and insulation to create a house that can reduce energy use by 80 to 90 per cent.

Ultimately, he sees homeowners being given the option of making energy saving additions to their homes, the same way they would choose the style of their kitchen cupboards.

While great strides are being made in energyefficient buildings, we still have a long way to go. For example, energy efficiency standards in Alberta are the same as they are in California.

“We build the same walls here as they build in Los Angeles. We’ve been neglecting the efficiency issue because energy has been so cheap. It’s time to deal with it,” said Fix. Gordon Howell has been saying the same thing for decades. He’s been designing and developing solar electricity systems for 29 years. He’s seen tremendous leaps forward in solar electricity technology, particularly on the expense side; solar electricity packages that cost $40,000 back in 1994 now cost about $13,000. In fact, said Howell, solar electricity and traditional grid electricity are essentially at grid parity in cost per kilowatt hour.

Solar electricity systems can be installed

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Professional Engineers are helping develop new solar electricity systems for Albertans.

anywhere, and Howell said the growth has been “amazing.” There are 128 systems in Edmonton right now; 18 months ago there were only 62. Howell has helped spread the word through the dozens of public presentations he gives every year.

He hopes that in the future people will consider adding solar electricity to their homes in the same way they think about adding a garage. “People have to make their buildings and houses solar ready. To do otherwise is not preparing for the future.”

Striving for less…

After more than 50 years of research, pilot work and commercial production in the oil sands, we’re still striving for less… less greenhouse-gas emissions, that is.

We are relentless in our pursuit of technologies that will help us recover more bitumen while emitting less greenhouse gases.

At Cold Lake, technologies we’re implementing include using hydrocarbon solvents to assist and one day even replace the steam we inject to produce bitumen.

And our Kearl Oil Sands Project will be the first oil-sands mining operation that does not require an upgrader to make a saleable crude oil. Processing bitumen once rather than twice results in lower greenhouse-gas emissions.

Our relentless pursuit of innovation will continue – because we won’t settle for anything less than less.

Read about these and other technologies at www.imperialoil.ca

HAVE YOU HEARD? We dedicate over half our research budget to improving our environmental performance — and it’s working.

At Syncrude, we are working to meet the challenge of cleaning up our tailings ponds. One example is our patented water treatment technology that involves filtering tailings water with petroleum coke. Can fish live in the water? Yes. Since 2010, this koi has been right at home in an aquarium at our Edmonton R&D Centre.

Because being the best means never forgetting we can do better.

Learn more. Sign up for our e-newsletter at syncrude.ca

The Syncrude Project is a joint venture undertaking among Canadian Oil Sands Partnership #1, Imperial Oil Resources, Mocal Energy Limited, Murphy Oil Company Ltd., Nexen Oil Sands Partnership, Sinopec Oil Sands Partnership, and Suncor Energy Ventures Partnership.

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MARCH 2013

Careers combine Aboriginal culture, education and experience W

aylon Cameron, P.Eng., remembers Working in construction, he decided to go growing up watching his back to school. He went to the Northern grandfather’s woodworking skills.

Alberta Institute of Technology for two “My grandpa always built a lot of items years before attending Lakehead University with his hands,” said Cameron. “I’m sure in Thunder Bay, Ont. After earning his that may have rubbed off a little bit. It’s civil engineering degree, he returned to always been a passion of mine, to work with Edmonton to start his new career. my hands.”

Cameron turned building tree houses in the bush on Beardy’s & Okemasis First Nation in Saskatchewan into construction work in Brett Meston, Engineer-in-Training Edmonton when he was returned to his hometown of Peace 17 years old, eventually River to give back to his community. becoming a civil engineer.

Now he’s a senior engineer with Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC), located in Edmonton, and works Professional Geoscientist Katie Fryk collects surface water samples for water quality studies.

closely with Treaty 6 First Nations (central Alberta) on infrastructure projects.

“I grew up around those Nations. I know lots of people around those communities and a lot of people know me,” said Cameron. “It made the transition a lot easier because I had those relationships developed previously.”

Cameron’s parents left Saskatchewan when he was 12 years old, settling in Hobbema for teaching positions.

When an opportunity presented itself with AANDC, he was keen to accept it. He works on infrastructure projects including roads, bridges, wastewater treatment plants and schools.

“I always wanted to, for the development of my career overall, get to the point of doing the front-end stuff,” Cameron said. “So it’s all the planning, development, design.”

Katie Fryk, P.Geo., also does work in First Nations communities, but her work focuses on the environmental aspect. Fryk, who is a Métis hailing from Edmonton, said her family spent a lot of time outdoors camping and hiking in the mountains when she was growing up. That exposure, along with university courses in earth and atmosphere sciences, piqued her interest and eventually led to her career as a geoscientist.

Fryk splits her time between EBA Engineering Consultants and Chinook Consulting. With EBA, she conducts environmental site assessments, as well as groundwater monitoring. Her work has taken her to remote northern communities, including Fort Simpson, N.W.T., and Kugluktuk, Nunavut, where she undertook large clean-up projects. With Chinook Consulting, Fryk serves as a wellsite geologist in oilsands drilling.

For Engineer-in-Training Brett Meston, giving back is an important part of his career plans. “I have an Aboriginal background, and I was able to get funding from the Métis Association to go to school; now I want to give back to my community.”

Raised around his entrepreneurial father’s construction projects, Meston knew at a young age that he enjoyed watching a project grow from nothing into something.

After graduating with a civil engineering degree in 2011, he worked in Edmonton until a job opportunity came up in his hometown of Peace River.

Today, Meston is beginning to explore the diversity that is open to him in his career.

He has invested in his father’s waste solution business and has his sights set on working with Aboriginal communities. He recently spoke at a conference for Aboriginal youth.

“I gave them information about where I had come from and my career path.”

Geologist-in-Training Andrea Elser was drawn to geoscience by her love of the great outdoors. “We can protect the world we live in and use it to our advantage in a respectful way,” she said.

Her mother is from the Saddle Lake First Nation and Elser wants to become more involved in Aboriginal water resources and management. “It’s really important and I’m glad people are paying attention. I’m not an activist but I would love to get involved, to help further the cause.”

Working today as an environmental consultant, Elser is doing remediation work in various sites across Alberta and in the north. “After the natural resources are extracted,” she said, “we work to see the

land restored to its natural use. It’s really rewarding when you get to work as a team with energy producers, and you’re looking out for the business as well as the public’s best interests.”

Elser knows how important mentorship is, especially among Aboriginal youth and women. “If it’s something you really want, go for it. Don’t let anything stand in your way.”

APEGA Past-President Jim Smith, P.Eng., accepts a gift from Rose Laboucan, Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta education chief.

‘Education is our buffalo’ Increasing the number of Aboriginal Professional Engineers and Geoscientists in the province is something The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists (APEGA) is working to achieve.

Last year, APEGA signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta, to encourage Aboriginal youth to explore math and science and consider careers in engineering and geoscience.

APEGA Professional Members will be an important part of the MOA’s future success. Professional Engineers and Geoscientists are already volunteering their time and mentoring Aboriginal youth at elementary and junior high schools in Calgary and Edmonton. Now, they’ll have more chances to visit schools in Treaty 8 First Nations communities, to share their experiences with students and encourage an interest in math and science.

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ENGINEERING & GEOSCIENCE MONTH

International impact A

Empowering developing nations

growing number of Professional Engin- Agency, students from these countries are eers and Geoscientists are taking their brought to Canada to earn their M.Sc. deskills to the international front in an effort grees either at the University of Calgary or to make a difference in places where access the University of Waterloo, and then return to clean water or building an orphanage can home to implement what they have learned. mean the difference between life and death.

As well, Professional Engineers and Geo“We can’t break the cycle of poverty, we scientists from Canada travel to these councan’t have safe and secure nations, if we tries to present workshops. Most of the waterdon’t take care of water,” said Shauna Curry, related work focuses on surface water, as reP.Eng., CEO for the Calgary-based Centre mote villages are often dependent on rainfall. for Affordable Water “There is now a and Sanitation Technolcritical mass of hydroogy (CAWST). geologists in Central CAWST provides America that know training and consulting each other and are support for both internetworked and are national and domesworking on their own tic organizations overwater resources,” said seas providing access to Ryan. water, well pump repair, She and Bethune are water treatment and also in the process of sanitation at the houseestablishing Hydrohold level. CAWST has geologists Without 400 clients in 63 counBorders. Ryan said the Professional Engineer Shauna Curry delivers a biosand water filter training tries and is delivering organization will enworkshop in Afghanistan. train-the-trainer progage those people who grams in eight countries. “have had great proIn this way, said Curry, CAWST is hoping fessional careers and are now ready to give to reach 20 million people by 2020. To date, back.”

CAWST-trained organizations have had an For Edmonton Engineer-in-Training impact on the lives of six million people.

Ryan Williams, it’s been about giving at the “There’s the temptation of North American beginning of his career. After attending organizations to go and fix it for them … yet a career fair before graduating from the there are very capable people in developing University of Alberta and learning about countries (who) want to make a difference,” Engineering Ministries International (EMI), said Curry. “An important role for North Williams jumped in with both feet. In Americans is … building up the local four years, he has done engineering and knowledge and skills to be able to take care consulting work in a handful of developing of their own water supply.” countries. His work has ranged from building Dr. Cathryn Ryan, P.Eng., P.Geol., is a full an orphanage in Tanzania to working on a supporter of providing locals with the skills medical centre in Kenya. With his degree in and training they need in order to have a civil engineering, he is only part of a team long-term impact in their home countries. that carries out two to three-week locally “Our goal is to start programs in water re- driven projects in conjunction with local source management, kind of train-the-train- professionals and labourers. ers, so they can pass on their knowledge,” “My experience in doing missions, especially said Ryan, a professor in the Department of with the Christian community abroad, is that Geoscience at the University of Calgary. they have sincere hearts to help but a lot of Ryan and her husband, David Bethune, times they just don’t have the understanding P.Geo., manage a Master of Science program or the knowledge to reach their goals. EMI in water resource management in Central comes in and acts as that foundation that America and Bolivia. With funding through they can build on … and that empowers the Canadian International Development people and gives them hope,” said Williams.

Join us and do the best work of your career.

WorleyParsons manages many of the world’s leading resources & energy projects in our four customer sector groups: Hydrocarbons, Power, Minerals & Metals and Infrastructure & Environment.

As Edmonton’s largest EPCM firm, we are always recruiting for talented professionals in our Edmonton and Saskatoon offices. A sample of our opportunities include:

WorleyParsons Edmonton: » Lead Plant Design System Coordinator (PDS) » Civil/Structural Team Lead » Intermediate / Senior Process Engineers » Intermediate / Senior Mechanical Engineers » Electrical Engineers (MV/HV Power Distribution) » Senior Piping Designers ( PDS/AutoPlant) » Project Managers » Senior Project Engineers » Project Controls Managers / Leads » Senior Planner/Schedulers » Senior Cost Controllers » Senior Automation Engineers/Technologists » Senior Instrumentation & Controls Engineers/Technologists » Materials Handling Mechanical Engineers/Designers » Senior Pipe Stress Engineers

WorleyParsons Saskatoon: » Electrical Engineers » Senior Mechanical Engineers » Senior Civil/Structural Engineers » Senior Piping Designers » Senior Project Managers To view a complete list of our current opportunities or to apply, please visit:

www.worleyparsons.com/careers

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ENGINEER THE WORLD’S ENERGY NEEDS AND YOUR CAREER.

EDMON TON JOUR NA L edmontonjournal .com

We’re currently working on the largest slate of capital projects in our company’s history; the opportunities for engineers are endless.

Come build your career at one of the world’s most sustainable organizations. Work on everything from pipelines to green energy and help supply the world with the energy it needs for today and tomorrow.

There has never been a more exciting time to be an engineer in Alberta or at Enbridge.

TO VIEW AVAILABLE POSITIONS VISIT

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ENGINEERS ARE IN DEMAND BUILD A

DYNAMIC FUTURE

You could preserve historic landmarks or create new ones; reduce carbon emissions or purify drinking water; perfect acoustics in a theatre or light up a stadium.

Visit stantec.com for current opportunities.

One Team. Infinite Opportunities.

Edmonton International Airport Terminal Expansion

RiverWalk Urban Waterfront, Calgary, AB

buildings | environment | industrial | transportation | urban land

City of Red Deer WWTP Phase 4 Upgrades

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Making the world a better place A

ECOM’s standing as an industry leader comes from the rich history of several consulting engineering companies united by a common purpose: to create, enhance and sustain the world’s built, natural and social environments.

A trusted partner to our clients, we draw together engineers, planners, architects, landscape architects, environmental specialists, scientists, economists, and construction, project and program managers to provide innovative solutions to challenging projects.

From transportation services for Calgary’s ring roads that will ease congestion and multiple LRT lines that will enhance Edmonton’s mass transit system; to environmental services for oil sands projects that help ensure the responsible management and development of these natural resources; to the environmentally responsible, energy efficient EPCOR Tower office building, downtown Edmonton’s first new high rise in 22 years, our professionals set the standard for technical expertise and creative excellence.

We are proud of our #1 ranking in Engineering NewsRecord’s 2012 Top 500 Design Firms and our listing among Newsweek’s Top 500 Greenest Companies. The readers of Diversity/Careers in Engineering and Information Technology Magazine selected us a Best Diversity company, and we were named a Financial Times’ Best Workplace.

AECOM’s Calgary office participates in CANstruction, building structures with canned goods that are donated to a local food bank.

These rankings reflect the importance we place upon our people – our most valuable and valued resource. In turn, our people are empowered to realize AECOM’s vision, using our talents to make the world a better place. But it’s not just in our client work that we pursue this ideal. In virtually every AECOM office, initiatives are in place that encourage giving back to the local communities where we work and live.

In Canada, we routinely donate our professional and technical expertise, support important causes, and volunteer our time to charitable organizations. By far our biggest annual charitable efforts are in support of United Way of

Canada, where we have raised more than $1 million dollars in the past five years. In addition to employee donations and a corporate match, our staff hold bake sales, pancake breakfasts, Halloween parties, bingo games, bowling tournaments and hockey shootouts to raise even more money.

In 2012 we joined the largest cycling fundraiser in Alberta’s history, the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer, a 200 km bike ride through the Rocky Mountains. We participated in CANstruction, an annual competition where engineering companies build giant, 3-D sculptures, using canned and other non-perishable goods that are later donated to the Calgary Inter-Faith Food Bank.

AECOM also sponsors the Science in Motion program for the TELUS World of Science in Edmonton. More than 300,000 students in remote communities have learned about science through experiments, demonstrations, and handson activities, inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers and investing in a healthy future economy for Alberta.

Fusing science, engineering, and design with good oldfashioned people power, our commitment to serve as a global corporate citizen underpins everything we do to shape a better tomorrow.

Emerson Process Management is a trademark and service mark of Emerson Electric Co. ®2013

Intelligence is Power

Thr Through ough an un unparalleled paralleled ccombination ombination o off in industry dustry ttalent alent an and de experience, xperience, dee deep pp process rocess knowledge, project execution excellence, and best-in-class enable our kno wledge, p roject e xecution e xcellence, an d be st-in-class ttechnologies...we echnologies...we e nable o ur clients to unlock the true potential of their operations by creating smart digital plants.

Emerson Process Management is a smart global company committed to their customers, their employees, and their communities. Since 2000, our Calgary office has: • Implemented the most advanced technology in our clients’ facilities • Configured over 400,000 I/Os • Automated over 3 million BPD oil production Find out more about the opportunities at Emerson’s 70 world wide offices: Process Systems and Solutions Canada Engineering Center +1 403 258 6200 EmersonProcess.com

SCAN to see current opportunities

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I AM A LEADER I AM FLUOR For more than 100 years, Fluor’s valued employees have had a passion to build.

We are global leaders that design, build and maintain some of the world’s most complex projects and we want you to join our team.

If you are a professional with oil & gas experience and are looking for an exciting and diverse career, then we want to hear from you.

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ENGINEERING & GEOSCIENCE MONTH

Professional Engineers help make

I

medical breakthroughs

f you are a female in this country, the chance of developing breast cancer in your lifetime is one in 8.8. Until now, detection of the disease was largely limited to visual interpretation of mammograms by a radiologist.

But researchers at the University of Calgary’s Schulich School of Engineering have developed computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) technology to detect early signs of breast cancer months before the formation of a tumor.

“Our methods can detect early signs of breast cancer 15 months ahead of the time of clinical diagnosis with a sensitivity of 80 per cent,” said Dr. Raj Rangayyan, P.Eng. The CAD software flags suspicious areas – called architectural distortion – that

Robotic arm trains amputees

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might be missed by visual analysis alone.

Together with radiologist Dr. J. E. Leo Desautels, images from the Alberta Cancer Board’s screening program – taken two to three years before cancer was ultimately diagnosed – were used to develop image processing algorithms that can detect the subtle signs of early stage breast cancer before a mass even forms.

With CAD technology, detection of early-stage malignancies increases from 73 to 78 per cent.

More research and development work is required before the software goes to market. Additional research dollars for testing with a newer and larger dataset, using state-of-the-art digital mammograms in tandem with a radiologist at Foothills Hospital, is currently being explored.

Researchers at the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Engineering are part of an interdisciplinary team working to develop a robotic arm that trains amputees to operate a prosthetic device. The Myoelectric Training Tool (MTT) and its software trains amputees to control a new prosthetic using their own residual muscles.

Dr. Jason Carey, P.Eng., is part of the BLINC (Bionic Limbs Improve Natural Control) team. “Without this type of collaboration where engineering, Researchers at the University of Alberta are part of an interdisciplinary team working to develop the Myoelectric surgery, rehabilitation and Training Tool, a robotic arm that trains amputees to operate computer science disciplines work a prosthetic device using residual muscles. together as a team, the MTT wouldn’t be possible,” said Carey.

One of the most common amputations is loss of the upper arm, usually occurring in young men between the ages of 20 to 35 in the prime of their working lives.

The problem, explains Carey, is the success rate of complex, technologically advanced myoelectric arms that cost between $30,000 and $100,000. Currently, most of the patients that get fitted with one reject it and it ends up sitting on the shelf, said Carey.

The MTT costs approximately $6,000 and can be used by multiple people – at the hospital, a rehab centre or by insurance companies and private clinics. The MTT is designed to prepare amputees for a myoelectric prosthesis and determine if the patient is a good candidate for the expensive device. “It’s cheap and easy to use for the clinician and the patient,” said Carey. “We’re going to help a lot of people.”

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Creativity & teamwork rule in engineering competition

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Professional Engineers with

app-titude

C

rystal Theodore decided to study engineering because she was interested in applying knowledge to solve problems.

She’s doing that in a big way. As a fourth-year chemical engineering student at the University of Alberta Faculty of Engineering, Theodore played a major role on a student team that won the entrepreneurship category of the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Her team developed plans to turn paper that cannot be recycled into high-value specialty chemicals including shikimic acid, a key ingredient in the flu-busting prescription drug Tamiflu.

The ‘Upcycled Aromatics’ team projected $4.5 million in annual revenues from shikimic acid production at just one site, using waste paper.

“I was always more interested in the application of science than the research side,” she said. “And chemical engineering is so broad that it applies to physical science and life sciences together with mathematics and economics.”

Judges at the competition were impressed that the students designed their technology to operate at an industrial scale.

“A lot of times in biology you have things developed at the lab scale but you don’t look at how it will be implemented at the industrial scale,” said Theodore. “We can look at a process and optimize it for certain conditions and in this team we had engineering students asking the biology students questions, then both aspects were developed together.”

Chemical engineering professor Dr. Dominic Sauvageau, P.Eng., who supervised the team, says the interdisciplinary nature of Alberta’s emerging synthetic biology industry means finding new ways of working.

“We need to educate engineers on the bioscience side of it and we need to educate scientists on the engineering side and find common ground,” he said. “We have to work together more and more. As this field is developing, it’s important to have people from different disciplines share this common ground.”

University of Alberta Faculty of Engineering student Crystal Theodore holds a vial filled with waste paper feedstock used in the production of specialty chemicals called aromatic compounds. Theodore was part of a student team that won the entrepreneurship category of the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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s the CEO of Robots & Pencils, an iPad and iPhone app developer, Michael Sikorsky, P.Eng., is proof that a career in engineering is dynamic and varied.

You may have heard of their most successful app, Spy vs. Spy, which reached number one in 11 countries. More than 4.7 million people have used their apps, and Professional Engineers are an integral part of the company’s success.

“We have a lot of engineers using math and computer graphics,” said Sikorsky.

“The reason we’re called Robots & Pencils is because of engineering (robots) and humanities (pencils). Every project right from the beginning involves engineering and humanities. It’s key. Our goal, our focus is to make great products.”

Sikorsky’s employees have various backgrounds including science and engineering. “We are a home for creative professionals and making video games is a fun, dynamic career,” he said.

The creators at Robots & Pencils don’t

have regularly scheduled meetings, but rather have “about 100 meetings a day via Skype, text and email, so we’re always communicating,” he said. It’s an open concept, with everyone contributing and working together toward a common goal for a variety of clients. Robots & Pencils has worked with oil and gas, healthcare, media and more, on top of creating video games.

Sikorsky offers inspiring words for students and Engineers-in-Training. “Engineers have so much power,” he said.

“There’s nothing stopping you from doing great things.”

When it comes to producing apps, Sikorsky encourages Professional Engineers, Engineers-inTraining and engineering students to look at releasing their products and ideas, even if they’re in school. “School is busy and time is tight, but even if you release one product per year, you’re on your way,” he said.

“We’ve learned you can be successful anywhere,” said Sikorsky. “You don’t have to be in a certain place - Canada is great and we’ve had such great success here.”

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EDMON TON JOUR NA L edmontonjournal .com

DESIGN CREATE INVENT THINK DREAM

Engineering is for everyone The Faculty of Engineering’s DiscoverE outreach program is a leader in bringing the excitement and energy of engineering, science and technology to the next generation—including children and youths who might not otherwise benefit from these fun and inspiring experiences.

DiscoverE ensures accessible programming for as wide an audience as possible by removing barriers to participation, whether related to financial circumstance, geographic location or disability.

By providing targeted opportunities for skill development, mentorship and confidence building, DiscoverE encourages women and other under-represented groups to pursue engineering.

Last year, outreach programs that respect First Nations’ traditions and values delivered engaging, relevant engineering experiences to about 4,000 Aboriginal youths in metropolitan, rural and remote communities.

Girls participate in all of the DiscoverE camps and workshops; they can also choose from all-girls programs. The Girls, Engineering and Mentorship (GEM) Club introduces girls from Grade 3 - 9 to female engineering mentors and role models through fun activities. Discover-Elle summer camps bring girls together to design, invent and create in exciting, hands-on challenges.

These exciting, early experiences help inspire an interest in engineering, science and technology education

and careers. And with the support of APEGA and partners in industry, government and communities, the impact of our DiscoverE outreach program is growing.

In 2012, nearly 23,000 kids experienced engineering through DiscoverE camps, school workshops, video conferences and special events in 70 communities across Alberta and the Northwest Territories.

Almost 19,000 students participated in fun, hands-on engineering projects at 163 schools.

As DiscoverE celebrates its 20th year, the Faculty of Engineering thanks APEGA and our many other supporters for believing that engineering is for everyone.

Visit www.engineering.ualberta.ca

Number of Youth Reached 1-49 50-99 100-249 250-500 500+