SPRING 2010
E N G I N E E R
ER WINF NT WO
O NE AZI G A M RDS AWA
THE
ALTRUISM ISSUE
Greenwashing is the new grey B Y L AU R A S I LV E R
Homes away from home PHOTO F E ATUR E
From timid kid in Africa to environmental champion in the oil patch BY JENNIFER ALLFORD
LEADERS . ENGINEERING
www.ucalgary.ca/schulichgiving/leaders
JOIN US.
Schulich E NG I N E E R
SPRING 2010
Permission to reproduce any part of this publication for commercial purposes should be obtained by writing to the address below. Reproduction for other purposes should acknowledge the source.
Dean Elizabeth Cannon
Editorial Team Mary Anne Moser Director of Communications Jennifer Sowa Media Relations Officer Amy Dowd Communications Officer
Contributors Jennifer Allford, Amy Dowd, Mary Anne Moser, Laura Silver, Jennifer Sowa
Photography Dave Brown, Ken Bendiktsen, Lynne Cowe Falls, Amy Dowd, Jennings Huang, Danielle Kendall, John McDonald, David Moll, Jennifer Sowa, Billy Wu, Danuta Wojtowicz, Keith Wu, Meghan Sired
Design ID8 Design Group
Contact information Jennifer Sowa, Managing Editor Schulich Engineer Dean’s Office, EN C202 Schulich School of Engineering 2500 University Drive NW Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4 Email: magazine@schulich.ucalgary.ca Website: www.schulich.ucalgary.ca
CONTENTS EDITORIAL By Elizabeth Cannon PAGE 2
FEATURES Greenwashing is the new grey By Laura Silver PAGE 3
A timid kid from Africa grows up to become an environmental champion in the oil patch
DID YOU KNOW? You are most likely to start your own company if you are between the ages of 35 and 54. Source: CIBC World Markets Inc.
By Jennifer Allford PAGE 10
This is what extraordinary looks like Meet 32 engineering students who are giving back to their communities PAGE 14
Engineers take on the public good By Jennifer Sowa PAGE 19
DEPARTMENTS In conversation with Seymour Schulich PAGE 8
In conversation with Chao Tan PAGE 13
In conversation with Elena Nasim
Homes away from home Photo Feature PAGE 26
PAGE 34
People PAGE 35
Reverse engineering PAGE 40 WINNER OF TWO MAGAZINE AWARDS
On the cover: The human heart by Kandi Wong, one of seven honourable mentions by first-year Schulich School of Engineering students in the international Ask Nature biomimicry design sketch competition. Biomimicry is the study of sustainable design ideas inspired by nature.
Gold – General Interest Magazine, institution fewer than 5,000 full-time students – Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District 8 (Pacific Northwest and western Canada) Silver –Doctoral/Medical Institution magazine under $100,000 – Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education (CCAE)
EDITORIAL BY ELIZABETH CANNON
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hen I take up the role of president of the University of Calgary on July 1, I will be immersed in all of the ways that this university shapes itself as a giving organization. A university plays a critical role in society – it provides a place for the free exchange of ideas, for the education of a new generation, for the cultivation of research results that benefit society as a whole. Universities do this not because they are altruistic, but because they thrive on two-way relationships with individuals and communities. They exist through a social contract, which involves both giving and receiving in a shared venture that is designed to improve lives and societies. It’s a role I will embrace with humility and passion. In my new position, I will still be involved with the Schulich School of Engineering, albeit in a different capacity. There is one project though that will stay quite close to me – the Engineering Leaders campaign. At the Schulich School of Engineering, our relationship with stakeholders is a cornerstone of our success. What we give to this relationship is the care and attention to fostering talent over relatively long timelines – years of classes, experiences and examinations, and often even longer periods of toil and precision in research laboratories. We offer a commitment to high quality and continual innovation and improvement in everything we do. In exchange, we receive a great deal from an enviable list of partners – financial and expertise support for research, teaching and real-world input to ensure a highly relevant engineering school.
Now, we are at the threshold of a very important step in our goal to be one of the very best engineering schools in this country. Making it over this threshold requires a concerted effort to expand and update the engineering complex so that we can live up to our commitment to quality and relevance. We are looking for partners in the community to realize this aim. In June, the Engineering Leaders campaign will be in full swing. This $60 million initiative will secure the role of the Schulich School of Engineering as a powerful proving ground for the next generation of engineering leaders. As the stories in this “altruism” issue of Schulich Engineer show, to invest in people and communities is not just about giving, it is about crucial societal relationships that are part of engineering culture, especially among engineering leaders. It is a social contract that makes me proud to be an engineer, and a leader. We ask you to consider getting involved with the Engineering Leaders campaign. This is a strong faculty in a tremendous university and, with your support, we can go from good to great.
Elizabeth Cannon Dean, Schulich School of Engineering President-Elect, University of Calgary
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GREENWASHING IS THE NEW GREY B Y L AU R A S I LV E R
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Making sense of murky environmental claims
roducts, like people, have back stories. Some are forthcoming about their pasts; others are less willing to reveal the real details. And like people, products – and those who make and market them – want to put their best face forward. That face is increasingly green. But the verdant tones are not always natural. Individuals gloss over imperfections with white lies, companies cover up missteps with whitewashing, and products (or rather the people who create and market them) exaggerate their environmental friendliness with heightened – or untrue – claims.
In November 2008 and January 2009, the Ottawa- and Philadelphia-based TerraChoice sent researchers into big-box retailers in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Their task? To record every product making an environmental claim and to detail each of those assertions along with supporting information found on the packaging. The results? In Canada and the United States, 2,219 products were recorded with a total of 4,996 green claims. TerraChoice tested these assertions against guidelines for best practices of the Competition Bureau of Canada, similar international bodies and the ISO 14021 standard for environmental labeling. Ninety-eight percent of the products had transgressed, which is to say they had violated consumer trust through one of the so-called sins of greenwashing. >>
Welcome to the world of greenwashing. The word entered the Concise Oxford Dictionary in 1999 as “disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image,” and is considered an outgrowth of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
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According to an April 2009 report by the environmental marketing firm TerraChoice, greenwashing is alive and well in Canada. So is consumer consciousness.
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A picture of a tree or a leaf on product packaging is not a viable measure of greenness.
WADING THROUGH MURKY CLAIMS Forget about pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed and sloth, the world of green advertising has its own set of wrongdoings. The first Sins of Greenwashing report, issued by TerraChoice in November 2007, identified six categories of wrongdoing, presented here according to their prominence: 1. Sin of the Hidden Trade-off: Paper may come from a sustainably harvested forest, but that’s only part of the picture. A life cycle assessment must consider the full scope of the paper-making process, which could include water pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and energy use. 2. Sin of No Proof: It’s not enough to declare a certain percentage of postrecycled content (think toilet paper or facial tissues). Evidence matters and it should be substantiated with easily accessible documentation or certification by a reliable third party. 3. Sin of Vagueness: Broad definitions are likely to be misconstrued by consumers. “All-natural” is not synonymous with “green.” Consider naturally occurring toxins like mercury, arsenic and formaldehyde. Illustration by Dave Goulden
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4. Sin of Irrelevance: Truthful but not helpful. It’s great that a product is free of chlorofluorocarbons, but CFCs are banned by law. 5. Sin of Lesser of Two Evils: If a cigarette is organic, does that make it green? Making a green claim detracts from the product’s inherent non-green purpose. 6. Sin of Fibbing: Environmental claims can be plain old false. Some products claim to be certified by Energy Star when they aren’t. The most recent report by TerraChoice added one more: 7. Sin of Worshipping False Labels A picture of a tree or a leaf on product packaging is not a viable measure of greenness. Invented insignias like “ecosafe,” “eco-secure” and “eco-preferred” are unreliable because they are not certified by a third party that makes its criteria publicly available.
THE BIRTH OF CRADLE-TO-GRAVE THINKING Muddy patches in the arena of green labeling are not new, according to Joule Bergerson, assistant professor at the Schulich School of Engineering and researcher in the Energy and Environmental Systems Group at the U of C’s Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy. She uses life cycle assessment in her work on oil sands development and carbon capture and storage and says the field has been inundated with controversy since its inception. Studies of the same process can yield contradictory results, depending on which factors and materials are included in a study’s parameters. Like people, products and services have an impact on the environment by their mere existence. Life cycle assessment is the investigation and evaluation of these environmental impacts in relation to individual products or processes. As a practice it predates the Rio Earth Summit by more than 20 years.
In 1969, the Coca-Cola Company completed a study to assess the environmental impact of its product packaging. Scott Vitters, director of Coca-Cola’s Global Sustainable Packaging Platform, says metrics measurements have evolved in the past 40 years. The beverage company’s initial study focused on prominent concerns of the time, including solid waste impact and energy use. Recent assessments concentrate on energy use in addition to global warming potential, land use and how the end user interacts with the product. One of the challenges of life cycle assessment is its dependence on such a large number of variables. Bergerson cites “where you’re located, the technology choices you make, the boundaries that draw around your analysis” as prime considerations. And then there is the question of who funds the study. The steel association might focus on one data set, the aluminum association on another. And ultimately, producing a product is guaranteed to generate some kind of waste. “A packaging life cycle assessment is valuable but it shouldn’t be used alone as an environmental decision making tool,” says Vitters. “Considerations like whether a package actually delivers a product effectively or meets the needs of a consumer are equally important when assessing overall environmental performance.”
A SEARCH FOR AUTHENTICITY IN A SEA OF GREEN In the 1980s there were a lot of consumer choice issues, says Bergerson: paper versus plastic for shopping bags, steel versus aluminum for vehicles. “It got very confusing for consumers – they would see headlines saying don’t you dare take one more paper bag from the grocery store,” she says. And the next week they would hear the opposite. “There’s so much data, so much complexity that it’s hard to boil it down to one particular answer that makes sense in all cases.”
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While any single decision may be hard to justify considering all variables, TerraChoice President and CEO Scott McDougall has confidence in slow, steady change. “The greening process is going to be one of incremental experimentation,” he says, “some success and some failure.” McDougall believes the marketplace will ultimately weed out imposters on the green scene. “There’s only all this greenwashing out there because companies are responding to consumer demand.” But making sense of it can be complicated, even for an expert like McDougall, who pulled three bottles from the collection of green-labeled products he stores in his office. Bottle A claimed to be the greenest plastic because of an hourglass shape that uses 30 percent less plastic. Bottle B purported to be greenest because it is reusable and dishwasher safe, but it used 30 percent more plastic to attain that level of durability. And Bottle C boasted the fact it was made out of polylactic acid – a 100 percent renewable material fabricated from cornstarch or sugarcane – but failed to mention the environmental impacts of production. McDougall’s take on the trio and its claims: “We have three unassailable scientific facts, each of which, to some degree, represents a genuine environmental achievement.” The choices can flummox the most wellintentioned consumer.
DEFINING PARAMETERS Even when experts are involved, there can be questions of which data are used to deliver results. “There is no end to the variables one can consider when drawing the boundaries of a study,” says Bergerson. “You could be going back and saying, ‘If I purchase steel for my operation, I have to look at all the costs.’” Those could include legal fees and real estate charges. And it can get even more specific, says Bergerson, “you can go all the way down to the pens on desks of the people who work there.” >>
Where then does one draw the line? That’s a question Bergerson poses to students in her graduate course on life cycle assessment. Students use principles of life cycle assessment to further their own research in biofuels or electricity generation and to explore the environmental impacts of everyday choices. Three students investigated the best option for greening their daily scrubdowns by considering three options: reducing the amount of water used, replacing the water heater for increased efficiency or reducing the temperature of the water that comes out of the faucet. Research into water systems in the Calgary area showed that water treatment was a process that consumed maximum energy, says Bergerson. So the best bet was to shorten the time spent under the showerhead and to install a low-flow model. But that’s not true for every town or city. A key part of life cycle assessment is documentation and support, says Bergerson, “so somebody can look at the details and see how investigators came up with the result.” But what about the average consumer who doesn’t have time to leaf through a 200-page report?
RULES OF (GREEN) THUMB McDougall relies on a few rules to help him – and the average shopper – avoid the pitfalls of the seven sins his firm has identified. 1. Look for and select products with legitimate eco-labels such as Energy Star, EnerGuide, and EcoLogo. EcoLogo was founded by the Government of Canada in 1988. TerraChoice has been the official management, certification and delivery agent of the EcoLogo since 1995. 2. Keep supporting green products. It’s better to choose greenwashing than no green at all.
Shop with a clear conscience Ethical Ocean is an online ethical marketplace started by a group of seven, including David Damberger, a graduate of the Schulich School of Engineering. They want to help change the way people shop, by streamlining the availability of ethical product information and by consolidating quality sellers who offer great ethical products.
3. Use tools like the Seven Sins of Greenwashing to make informed purchases. 4. Don’t give up. That would be the worst thing. What if you’re pressed for time but still want to put your best green foot forward? “Just choose the one object that seems to be doing its best to educate and inform rather than just claim brazenly,” says McDougall. Using the monetary form of green to advocate for truth in environmental claims sends a message to manufacturers: “I want this because I prefer more information. I prefer transparency.” The greenwashing guru considers consumer choice a powerful determinant of manufacturers’ behavior. “In Canada, I see lots of companies working very hard at getting it right.” Succumbing to selected sins of greenwashing can be a sign of progress as well. TerraChoice studies in 2007 and 2008 revealed a 79 percent increase in products making green claims. McDougall sees that as a key step in incremental change. “The actual number of products making green claims went up dramatically,” he says, “and that’s during a so-called recession.”
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Bergerson is in favor of the long view when it comes to consumer education. She recommends a preemptive approach to steering clear of faulty greenwashing claims. The University of Calgary professor suggests individuals keep current with the latest news by consulting multiple, conflicting sources from industry, environmental organizations and government. “Not relying on any one source is probably a good idea,” says Bergerson, who recommends adding a healthy dose of another human quality that products rarely embody: skepticism.
Laura Silver is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Popular Science and on National Public Radio.
TOOLS TO HELP GAUGE SHADES OF GREEN GoodGuide
Or Your Wall
www.goodguide.com
www.sinsofgreenwashing.org/ games-tools/poster
Founded by a University of California at Berkeley professor who studies the environmental, social, and health impacts of global supply chains, GoodGuide is a consumer watchdog site that combines health, environmental and social rankings to generate an overall score – and tons of specific details – on processes and materials used to make products including food and children’s toys. A downloadable iPhone app allows for barcode scanning that can deliver information on 50,000 products and companies.
Greenwashing Index www.greenwashingindex.com The site, promoted by EnviroMedia Social Marketing in partnership with the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication, invites individuals to post and rate ads with environmental claims. Using a crowd-sourcing model where visitors can comment on the relevance of ecomarketing claims – from 1 (authentic) to 5 (bogus) – in posted ads, the index provides a shared space for laypeople to identify genuine green claims and worst offenders.
Guide to the Seven Sins, For Your Wallet… www.sinsofgreenwashing.org/ games-tools/wallet-card Print it, cut it out, stick it in your wallet. This pocket guide spells out the sins and features a chart with 13 legitimate eco-labels.
The sins of greenwashing in large poster form
Office of Sustainability, University of Calgary www.ucalgary.ca/sustainability The Office of Sustainability was established to define a strategic vision and provide strategies to build participation in sustainability stewardship across the University of Calgary, to integrate sustainability into all aspects of operations, and to enhance the development of sustainability initiatives in academia and research. Its mission is to model excellence for interdisciplinary collaboration and propel the University of Calgary forward as a local and global leader in institutional sustainability stewardship.
TerraChoice Environmental Marketing www.terrachoice.com TerraChoice is a science-based marketing firm. Products and services include strengthening the positioning of environmentally preferable products and services through a science-based marketing approach and improving communication and messaging.
HE WHO
DIES RICH, DIES DISGRACED.
IN CONVERSATION WITH SEYMOUR SCHULICH Seymour Schulich is one of the 50 richest people in Canada. With an estimated worth of $1.31 billion, amassed through his many investments in gold, oil and other sectors, he has set out to dedicate 20 percent to education and charity projects. He has given over $75 million to charity and $175 million to education to date. He says Andrew Carnegie put it best: “He who dies rich, dies disgraced.”
Q: Was there a specific moment when you realized
Q: How did you get started on giving? A:
The most important $1,600 of my life came to me in the form of a scholarship in 1963 to McGill’s brand new MBA program. That money changed my life, and I wanted to be able to help others get a start like that. So, when I was 43 years old, my wife and I created a foundation and set up 16 scholarships in entrepreneurship across Canada and Nevada. Ten years later, we started the faculty benefaction project, which now includes the creation of over 800 scholarships annually in six Canadian universities and one Israeli university.
Q: Why do you attach your name to the schools you support?
you wanted to make it a project to give away part of your wealth?
A:
I have always known that I did not want to build up a great business, then die and be forgotten. Business is a means to an end, not an end in itself. You aren’t going to be remembered for the money you make. However, we didn’t set out to create this set of named faculties. We’ve been following the law of unintended consequences.
It started with the 16 scholarships. All sorts of good things happen once you start to donate. Since then, my wife Tanna and I have become fascinated with the subject of goal attainment, fulfillment of life and the role of philanthropy in that.
I was impressed with the way John D. Rockefeller Sr., Andrew Carnegie, and Walter Annenberg gave back so much of their amassed wealth to build a better society. We have been great beneficiaries of what this country has given us, and we believe we should try to leave it a better place.
A:
There are a few reasons. I like the challenge of doing something that has never been done before, and establishing a set of named faculties like this, to the best of my knowledge, has never been done before. We’ve designed a method of creating super faculties that are quite entrepreneurial, and each one of these schools is in a place where we have a personal connection. So we are able to give back to places that have helped us along the way. Another is to be remembered. And another is that the name works: the Schulich brand helps the university raise money by attracting other donors, and it helps faculties perform better than they would through government funding alone.
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Q: You have said elsewhere that Canadians donate only
44% as much as Americans on a per capita basis, and that some very rich Canadian families do not donate at levels commensurate with their wealth. Why do you think that is?
A:
I am not sure I know the full answer. Compared to Europeans, we actually do well. Part of it is the tax regime. Part of it is cultural. In Europe, they say, “Let the state do it.” But when you think the state will solve all problems, you run into trouble. People actually have more sense than governments do. And we need safety nets. I used to be right wing but after travelling I could see what happens to places without safety nets. I don’t want to live in a place where we create a class of society that would sooner cut off your earlobe for the earring than say hello.
YOU CAN GIVE
TIME,TALENT
OR TREASURE. THEY ARE ALL IMPORTANT.
Q: What made you decide to speak out about rich people in Canada for not doing their part?
A:
The very rich are well recognized for donations that they make, but relative to their total worth, it may not be a lot. I think the private sector has to step up to create solutions that governments do not or cannot do.
Q: Why do you give to faculties rather than universities more generally?
A:
You know, when I made the benefaction in Calgary, there was a worry that all these Toronto investors with a conscience would be out in Calgary. Turned out I was a one-man army. I don’t know how other people think. I just know that in my lifetime, I want to see my money work. How can you be part of the solution if you are being parsimonious?
Q: What are the basic criteria you have negotiated for each benefaction?
Q: Do you think there is a specific mental switch that
needs to be flipped for people to start to donate more of their earnings?
A:
I think there is maybe too much emphasis paid to money given. You can give time, talent or treasure. They are all important. If you have got treasure, it might be the easiest thing to give.
A:
First, every benefaction has to be matched, at least to some degree, by money from government or the private sector or the university’s own operating expenses. People don’t value things that come to them for free.
Second, half the money goes to scholarships, to be awarded according to some combination of student need, ability or community leadership. I want to reward students who are entrepreneurs and not just smart. The scholarships have to be at least large enough to cover fees, so that the students can think about what they want to do next, not just what they have to do to pay the bills.
Third, having been at university and seeing that half my professors are involved in research and had no interest in teaching and were therefore lousy teachers, we try to incentivize teaching. We create teaching awards that are voted on by the students.
Finally, half the cash flow goes into a fund to be spent by the dean to upgrade the school, in areas that are identified by students and faculty – anything from professional recruitment and faculty travel to minor capital upgrades and fund raising. The decisions on how to spend are left to the dean. The idea is to create “academic entrepreneurs.”
Q: What are the guidelines you are following in the benefaction project?
A:
We have developed a method using a formula, and it is this. One benefaction per city, to avoid any brand confusion. I avoid giving to research, at least in Canada. Research is lottery tickets. I do not give endowments. Endowments are a curse, because the game becomes for universities to create bigger and bigger endowments. It becomes an objective in itself, when the real point should be to get money into the hands of people who are going to do something with it. We require that the universities pay out at least 7 percent of the funding per year. We say to universities, ‘We don’t care if you burn the money up. If you burn the money up, go out and raise more money. You got enough here for 15 or 20 years at 7 percent. If you burn it up, you burn it up. But I want this money working.’ SCHULICH
A university is too big and amorphous. It’s hard to have impact on anything that big. With a faculty you can get behind a powerful leader. And with powerful leaders you attract top followers.
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A TIMID KID FROM AFRICA GROWS UP TO BECOME AN ENVIRONMENTAL CHAMPION IN THE OIL PATCH BY JENNIFER ALLFORD
AS A SKINNY GIRL BRINGING HOME STRAY MONKEYS AND TURTLES IN EASTERN AFRICA, AUDREY MASCARENHAS COULDN’T HAVE IMAGINED SHE’D GROW UP TO CHASE HER OWN KIDS DOWN THE SKI HILLS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.
S
he loved playing the piano and thought she’d be a pianist, devoting her life to the arts and stray pets. Engineering and environmentalism were as foreign to her as Calgary half a world away, yet the bright child from Kenya grew up to embrace all three. Now CEO of Questor Technology Inc., a company that provides incinerators for the oil and gas industry, Mascarenhas develops and markets solutions for the clean burning of toxic gas in the field. Prior to joining Questor in 1999, she spent 17 years at Gulf Canada in Calgary. Chuck Shultz was her CEO at Gulf for five years and mentor for many more. “Wherever we moved her around she functioned well in whatever role we gave her,” recalls Shultz, a 40-year veteran of the oil patch and current CEO of Dauntless Energy.
Audrey Mascarenhas as a baby in Kenya with Uncle Oscar and Aunt Maureen in 1961. Years later, Uncle Oscar would advise Audrey to get a good education. Photo courtesy Audrey Mascarenhas
“Audrey has always had good people skills,” he says. “She’s a smart lady and well educated; those things stick out.” The 49-year-old mother of two has a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Toronto and a master’s in petroleum engineering from the Schulich School of Engineering at the University of Calgary. But some of her greatest skills she learned before university even began. When she was 13, her family moved from Africa to Toronto and the naive little girl was placed in Grade 10. Not only was Mascarenhas younger than her classmates, she had dark skin and an accent from years in British-run schools. “I was a novelty in high school,” she says diplomatically.
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One challenge, initially, was finding her locker in her new big school. “I had all these little tricks,” she says. “There was this one girl whose locker was near mine. I’d wait and as soon as she would get up at lunchtime, I’d follow her.” After settling in, Mascarenhas ran for student council, played every sport she could and decided to go into engineering so she’d have a fallback in case she didn’t get into medical school. The summer jobs came, in the field with Texaco and Pan Canadian, and with them an education of a different sort. There was a farewell lunch with the boys at a strip club and other incidents where the only “girl engineer” was teased by the boys. Once again a novelty, Mascarenhas had learned a few things about adapting. >>
Top Left:
Mascarenhas, 13, in her school uniform after her family moved to Toronto. Right:
1982 graduation photo from the University of Toronto, where Mascarenhas earned a degree in chemical engineering. Bottom Left:
Mascarenhas on Pigeon Mountain near Canmore, Alberta with her daughter Kaitlyn, 15, son Jarred, 12, and husband Alex. Photos courtesy Audrey Mascarenhas
“I didn’t go in with a whole bunch of preconceived notions,” she says. “I wasn’t going in saying, ‘I’m here to stay!’ It was more like, “Okay, how do I fit in? How do I add value? I don’t know much about this stuff. Tell me what you need me to do.”
A lot of the bright minds are saying, ‘I don’t want to go into the oil and gas industry,’ so as an industry we have to wake up. How can we be better at what we’re doing and move these bright minds to do it?
She fell in love with the logic of engineering, the people in the oil and gas industry and one man in particular, Alex Verge. On their first date in 1981 Verge, then her classmate at the University of Toronto, took her to an Alice Cooper heavy metal concert. A Perry Como fan, she wasn’t sure what to make of the show, but she liked her date and married him eight years later. The two followed jobs at Gulf and moved to Calgary. Mascarenhas left Gulf in the spring of 1999 to spend more time with their children. But a few months later, Questor called and she agreed to help out for six months. Eleven years and a whack of environmental awareness later, Mascarenhas is devoted to helping the oil and gas industry clean up its act.
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“The reality is we’re going to be a fossil fuel based economy for a long, long time so we have to focus on how can we be smarter,” she says. Rather than debating the hows, whys and wherefores of climate change, she’s more interested in finding common ground from which to start the conversation about the environment. “To me the discussion and the argument really is how do we be good stewards of our planet?” she says. “This is a complex ecosystem. We don’t fully understand it, but common sense dictates that we shouldn’t be putting all this black smoky stuff, including known carcinogens, into the air because we’re breathing all this stuff,” Mascarenhas says. “She’s in the forefront and probably her product is a little ahead of its time, but I think times will catch up with it,” says Chuck Shultz about the suite of Questor incinerators. “We will see even more innovative products for the oil and gas industry that help the environment and also conserve energy.”
Audrey Mascarenhas and Ritchie Stagg of Questor Technology (middle), along with representatives from Solvay Chemicals and Verdeo Group, in front of a Questor incinerator at a Pioneer Natural Resources facility in Cuero, Texas. Photo courtesy Questor Technology
While the rest of the industry is catching up, Mascarenhas is looking ahead and seeing opportunities in every flare. “When you think of the amount of gas that’s being flared everywhere, it could be as simple as taking that heat and putting it into a greenhouse to make food for the food bank,” she says. “Using that gas to help power your operations, heat a building, make hot water; it’s little everyday things like that we could be doing that have an impact.” She’s been taking that message on the road with a series of speeches for the Society of Petroleum Engineers at conferences all over the world. Mascarenhas discusses opportunities to address air quality and talks about sustainability and the business of climate change. “Someone said to me the other day, ‘Oh you’re an environmentalist.’ And I said, ‘I am, but I’m also a business person,’” Mascarenhas says. “One thing I learned from my oil and gas background is that things have to make business sense.” Sustainability is a growth industry, but out of the office it also makes for some goodnatured family ribbing. Just ask 15-yearold Kaitlyn Verge.
We’re going to be a fossil fuel based economy for a long, long time so we have to focus on how can we be smarter.
“My dad (CEO of Nuvista Energy) is an oil guy so he drills for oil and my mom cleans up, because she’s the environmentalist. Everyone says, ‘Oh you must have such interesting conversations at the dinner table!’” For the record, Kaitlyn insists most of the suppertime chat is actually about her latest ski race or her 12-yearold brother’s homework.
She says it’s crucial to reach people as they are setting the course of their lives. Mascarenhas remembers well a discussion she had in Grade 12 as she considered quitting school to help support the family as it struggled with her father’s alcoholism. Her Uncle Oscar arrived on the doorstep all the way from England and told her, “Go get an education. Follow your dreams and when you come back you’ll be in a better position to fix things,” she recalls. “If he hadn’t come at that point, my life would have been so different,” says Mascarenhas while her husband and children discuss skiing in the next room and her latest stray, a black mutt named Missy, sleeps at her feet.
The Grade 10 student wants to follow her mom into a career in sustainability. Mascarenhas says a lot of young people want to make a difference, but she worries many of them will look outside the energy sector. “A lot of the bright minds are saying, ‘I don’t want to go into the oil and gas industry’ and as an industry we have to wake up. How can we be better at what we’re doing and move these bright minds to do it? What’s the solution? I don’t hear those conversations happening.”
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Jennifer Allford, a former CBC radio journalist, is a Calgary writer and communications consultant. She is a frequent contributor to More magazine. Her work has also appeared in U magazine, the Calgary Herald and the National Post.
IN CONVERSATION WI T H CHAO TA N
Chao Tan is an associate professor in the Centre for Environmental Engineering Research and Education at the Schulich School of Engineering. He is developing ways to create energy from waste biomass such as woodchips, cattle and pig manure.
Chao Tan with the slow cooker in his laboratory Photo by Ken Bendiktsen
Q: How do you turn cow manure into fuel?
A:
We use a slow cooker and follow a certain recipe that we develop. First, we mix manure, water and catalysts in a blender. Then we pour the “soup” into a 1.8-litre slow cooker (stainless steel reactor) and cook it for three hours at a certain pressure and temperature. The resulting gas is called biogas and the liquid contains bio-oil.
Q: Does it stink? A:
No, the cooking process doesn’t smell bad because the ingredients are in a perfectly sealed reactor.
The more I learn, the more I’m convinced it will work because technology is advancing every day.
Q: Some people say biofuels are
inefficient. What do you say to that?
A:
That’s what I thought before I started working on biofuel. The more I learn, the more I’m convinced it will work because technology is advancing every day. There are many ways to define energy efficiency, but most applicable to industry is the ratio of energy carried by the biofuel to what is needed to produce energy for a certain system. The higher the energy efficiency, the more profit for industry. Right now, energy efficiency is slightly above 1 for commercial processes. That’s why I’m working to improve efficiency, along with countless other scientists and engineers around the world. New technology is aimed at improving profitability by converting inedible waste biomass to alkane bio-oil, which is just like petroleum gasoline. Right now, conventional bio-oil has to be mixed with petroleum gasoline in order to work with existing engines due to its high density and viscosity.
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Q: What kind of car do you drive? A:
A six-year-old gasoline-powered car. The next car will be a flexible-fuel one.
Q: If you could recommend a book on
environmental fuel, what would it be?
A:
If you are an engineer, read Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns. One of the authors, Clayton Christensen, is a professor at Harvard Business School. He’s famous for saying, “The breakthrough innovations come when the tension is greatest and the resources are most limited.” If you are not an engineer, read Biorenewable Resources: Engineering New Products from Agriculture by Robert C. Brown. He will tell you that biofuel is an engineering thermodynamics challenge.
Q: Who is the most altruistic person
you know?
A:
My mother! She spent years raising six boys in Jiangsu Province in China from rural barbarians to businessmen, a lawyer and an engineering professor, and she never needed a reason.
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THIS IS WHAT EXTRAORDINARY LOOKS LIKE
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1 B R E N T C O O M B E , a second-year mechanical engineering student, volunteers every week at the food bank, coaches nine- and ten-year-old ski racers and owns his own lawn maintenance company. 2 F A R H A T B U S H R A P E R V I N is a second-year chemical engineering student who works as a hospital and distress centre volunteer and is vice-president of STAND (Students Against Genocide in Darfur). 3 W A R R E N M A T T H E W R E Y E S is a first-year engineering student who coaches volleyball and volunteers with STEM, an initiative to attract youth to careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. 4 A N J U L I C H E E M A , a first-year engineering student, volunteers at the TELUS World of Science, the Women’s Resource Centre at the U of C and works with seniors at a care centre in Calgary. 5 L A N D O N P O F F E N R O T H in first-year engineering teaches golf to youngsters, volunteers weekly at the Mustard Seed Street Ministry and leads a church youth group. 6 N I C O L E V A G L E is a first-year engineering student, Girl Guide leader and volunteer at the Colonel Belcher seniors’ care facility in Calgary. 7 G E R R Y B E Y L E R I A N , a first-year student, wants to pursue aeronautical engineering, and works with the Royal Canadian Air Cadets as a warrant officer, competition drill team commander and parade and legion volunteer.
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THEY ARE NATURAL BORN LEADERS. THESE WERE THE KIDS IN HIGH SCHOOL WHO OPERATED ON INHUMAN SCHEDULES – STARTING BUSINESSES, RUNNING CLUBS OR VOLUNTEERING – AND STILL, SOMEHOW, EMERGED AS HONOURS STUDENTS. EVERY YEAR, THE SCHULICH SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING OFFERS OVER A DOZEN ENTRANCE SCHOLARSHIPS BASED ON COMMUNITY SERVICE AND ENTREPRENEURIAL ACHIEVEMENTS. HERE ARE 32 RECIPIENTS WHO ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE BY CONTRIBUTING TO THEIR COMMUNITIES. 13
Photos by David Moll
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8 L I A M N E L S O N , in his second year of mechanical engineering, was an organizer of the 2009 Lift Up Your Eyes message to space event at the Schulich School of Engineering and he volunteers at the Between Friends Club, which provides social and recreational opportunities for people with disabilities 9 B R O C K D Y C K is a second-year civil engineering student who coaches volleyball and developed a high-school mentoring program for Grade 9 students. 10 C A R L I E T O L L I F S O N , first-year engineering student and church group leader, volunteers at the Mustard Seed Street Ministry and is vice-chair of logistics on the organizing committee for the Western Engineering Competition, to be hosted by the University of Calgary in 2012. 11 T A M A R A M C Q U E E N , first year engineering student, is an Engineering Students’ Society first-year representative, volunteer dance teacher and vice-chair of sponsorship on the Western Engineering Competition 2012 organizing committee. 12 J U L I A L Y , second-year chemical engineering student, prepares educational programs for children under five at the TELUS World of Science and volunteers every week in the Intensive Care Unit at Peter Lougheed Hospital in Calgary. 13 J E N N A D A L L A L O N G A , second-year mechanical engineering student, volunteers at the Calgary Drop-In Centre and the Road Ahead Society of Calgary, an organization that helps the families of disabled adults plan for the future. 14 M E N G - L I N G L E E is a first-year student who is treasurer for the Alberta Foundation for the Recovery of Youth in Sports and reaches out to senior citizens through the LINKages Society of Alberta.
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15 T I G E R L I is a first-year engineering student who was an English tutor in China and now organizes activities at a Calgary retirement residence and for the Nepalese Community Society of Calgary. 16 N A T A L I E H I L B R E C H T is a third-year electrical engineering student in the energy and environment specialization. She’s held several positions with the U of C chapter of Engineers Without Borders and organized two swim-a-thons that raised thousands of dollars for the Calgary Inter-Faith Food Bank and the Heart and Stroke Foundation. 17 A N D R E W C U L L I N G H A M , second-year chemical engineering student, volunteers at the Rockyview Hospital, coaches minor hockey and formed a club in high school that raised money for Light Up The World, an organization that brings lighting to developing countries. 18 S H A H I R M I S H R I K I , first-year student, has worked with Engineers Without Borders, the Cerebral Palsy Association in Alberta, the Calgary Distress Centre and was a member of the Pi Squad at the Schulich School of Engineering that pied students and faculty to raise money for The Doorway, a group that helps street kids. 19 A N A V I L L A R R E A L is a first-year engineering student who mentors Grade 5 students, visits senior citizens through the LINKages Society of Alberta and is often found serving dinner at the Calgary Drop-In Centre. 20 M I C H A E L M U N D is a first-year engineering student who coaches soccer, tutors students at William Aberhart High School and co-founded the Alberta Foundation for the Recovery of Youth in Sports, a group that helps families deal with the burden of sports injuries – such as medical costs not covered by insurance. 21 M . Z A R E E F Z A H R A T , in his second year of electrical engineering, teaches math to children and adults at the Mustard Seed Street Ministry and leads programs at University of Calgary International, a group that teaches international students about social issues in Calgary. 22 B R Y A N L E E D H A M is a third-year geomatics engineering student who is vice-president of events for the Geomatics Engineering Students’ Society, a team leader with the breast cancer fundraiser Run for the Cure, and visits senior citizens though the LINKages Society of Alberta. 23 N E U C Z K I M A T H U R I N is in her second year of mechanical engineering and is a youth mentor with Immigrant Services Calgary and an organizer of the Global Youth Summit, an annual event for high-school students to learn about global issues and making a difference in their communities.
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24 K A S M I R A P A W A is a third-year mechanical engineering student and president of the Engineering Students’ Society, coordinator of a mentorship program for students in Grades 5 and 6, and a volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Calgary and Area. 25 K E L S E Y K U B L I K , third-year chemical engineering student and president of the Energy and Environment Engineering Students’ Association, has worked with Young Adults Connecting with Seniors and Inn From the Cold, an organization that provides a network of emergency shelters for homeless families in Calgary. 26 N E V E N D I M I C , in his third year of chemical engineering, has reached out to senior citizens through the LINKages Society of Alberta and has worked for Kids’ Help Phone and helped organize Youth Week Calgary, an annual event that encourages young people to get involved in their communities. 27 S A N A M Z O M O R O D I is a third-year chemical engineering student who has tutored high-school students and new Canadians and volunteered with the Central Alberta Immigrant Women’s Association and with L’Arche Calgary, an organization that supports people with developmental disabilities. 28 S U K H J E E T G I L L , second-year mechanical engineering student, has organized fundraisers for the Canadian Cancer Society and Save the Children’s Club and volunteers at the Mustard Seed Street Ministry while serving as vice-president of communications for the U of C chapter of Engineers Without Borders. 29 L E N A H A G E L , second-year chemical engineering student, coaches ringette and volunteers with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Calgary and Area, the Lions Club of Calgary, the Salvation Army, Calgary InterFaith Food Bank and the Alberta Cancer Foundation. 30 E V A N K I M I C K , third-year chemical engineering student and track-and-field athlete, volunteers at Samaritan’s Purse and founded the Random Acts of Kindness Club, a group that brings coffee and donuts to U of C students during exams and delivers sandwiches to clients of the Mustard Seed Street Ministry. 31 S T E F A N R A T H , first-year engineering student and junior men’s luge athlete ranked 10th in the world, sponsors a child through Compassion Canada, was a junior delegate at the 2009 APEC CEO Summit in Singapore and traveled on a Junior Team Canada trade mission to Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia. 32 P H I L L I P S H R I M P T O N is a first-year engineering student, competitive speed skater and coach, swim meet official and volunteer with Samaritan’s Purse and Christmas hamper drives.
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First-year student design sketches Courtesy Marjan Eggermont SCHULICH
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ENGINEERS TAKE ON THE
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PUBLIC GOOD BY JENNIFER SOWA
“The role of an engineer is to develop devices or technology to assist people in everyday activities, new activities they haven’t been able to perform before or to make their lives more efficient and easier,” says Chomistek.
or a young girl paralyzed from the waist down, it was a delight discovering she could “dance” with her hands. The patient at Alberta Children’s Hospital was trying out a new floor mat from the music video game Dance Dance Revolution. A group of engineering students modified it just for her. “All she had to do was touch the different squares and the moves would show up on a screen. She had so much fun,” recalls Kara Chomistek. She was the student who came up with the idea for a class project designing toys for disabled children.
So often in education we give students the problem and more or less guide them to the logical solution. What we’re doing now is asking them, ‘What’s the problem? What are you going to fix?
For nearly a decade, students in the first-year design and communication course at the Schulich School of Engineering have taken on projects to improve the lives of others. Instructors have arranged partnerships with a number of agencies: the Alberta Paraplegic Foundation, the Cerebral Palsy Association in Alberta, the Independent Living Resource Centre, the Calgary Homeless Foundation and the Mustard Seed Street Ministry. Some assignments relate to the work of Engineers Without Borders, such as building prototypes for water filtration systems and tools for farmers in Africa. >>
Chomistek is studying mechanical engineering with a biomedical specialization at the University of Calgary’s Schulich School of Engineering. Ever since she volunteered at a physiotherapy summer camp for kids, she’s wanted to help people with disabilities. As a second-year student, she received a summer research grant and set out to study the challenges faced by people with limited mobility. She realized engineering has a lot of the solutions.
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The project for the children’s hospital certainly helped many patients do things they hadn’t been able to do for quite a while, including a boy whose disease had taken all his fingers. He could play hockey again with a modified stick that strapped to his arm.
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Engineering academics need to think of themselves not just as teachers but as mentors, and approach education like an apprenticeship. It’s all about honing research skills, learning the value of teamwork, getting creative and just maybe coming up with something nobody’s thought of before. Engineering students are taught, first and foremost, to be problem solvers. Sure, math and science will always be the backbone of the profession. But many experts say there’s a growing gap between what students learn in the classroom and the demands they face in the real world. In a 2003 report, the Canadian Academy of Engineering noted that students need to develop more skills related to problemsolving, managing projects and working in groups and they need more sensitivity when it comes to public welfare. “Engineers are certainly becoming more socially aware,” says Ron Hugo, the Schulich School’s first Chair in Engineering Education Innovation. “Our goal as educators is to produce the strongest possible graduates who are capable of innovation, who go on to form companies and create things that improve quality of life.”
Few Canadian institutions have chairs dedicated to enhancing the education of engineers and Hugo’s is the first in the country to focus on the implementation of CDIO, a growing trend in engineering education. CDIO – Conceiving, Designing, Implementing and Operating – is a model that combines engineering science education with practical, hands-on experience. The initiative began as a collaboration between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and three institutions in Sweden: Chalmers University of Technology, Linköping University and KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. CDIO aims to bridge “the gap between scientific and practical engineering demands.” The University of Calgary is one of more than 40 collaborators around the world, including three others in Canada: the University of Manitoba, Queen’s University and École Polytechnique in Montreal.
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Historically, the profession has gone from practical, hands-on training in the 1800s – apprenticeships more than anything – to the realization around 1930 that engineers should have a more formal education in math and physics, also known as engineering science. That idea came from European-educated engineers including Stephen Timoshenko and Theodore von Kármán. Their arrival in North America triggered a shift in engineering education with the integration of more engineering science and the development of graduate programs. Major world events served to further integrate engineering science into engineering education: World War II, the invention of radar and the atomic bomb, the launch of the Sputnik satellite by the USSR and the ensuing Space Race. And so the pendulum swung from experiential learning to the other extreme and, according to Ron Hugo, it got stuck there. He wants to see it planted firmly in the middle, striking a balance between math- and physics-based education and practice-based education.
“It’s about being well-educated and comfortable with the concepts of engineering science and then being able to apply that knowledge to situations that are slightly out of context and not right out of a textbook,” he explains. “The goal is to plant the seeds of innovation in our students. And it starts in middle school and high school.” Mentoring programs aimed at schoolaged children are playing a prominent role in engineering education. Kasmira Pawa, president of the Engineering Students’ Society at the Schulich School of Engineering, and fellow student Marc Beaudin co-ordinate a program at a local school for students in Grades 5 and 6. The youngsters meet weekly with Schulich students to discuss and design projects. They focus on addressing the challenges faced by children in the developing world. One team designed a vest to help a child carry clean drinking water. The water helps keep the child cool while he or she is walking.
It’s also the age at which children start thinking seriously about what they want to do when they grow up. That makes this mentoring program a research opportunity as well.
“Kids at this age are young, fresh, and full of ideas. Nothing is impossible and they’re really excited about it,” says Pawa. “They’re enthusiastic and this is the perfect age to show them how useful engineering can be.”
Students and mentors record their experiences in journals and Crichton, the principal investigator of this research project, watches for changing attitudes and evidence the children are learning more about what engineers actually do.
“Many young people say they aren’t interested in science or engineering because they’re not good at math or they think science is boring,” says Susan Crichton, a professor and researcher in the U of C’s Faculty of Education. “If we present engineering as a profession that helps make the world a better place, that improves the human condition, would that entice more young people?”
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The project is a STEM initiative, meaning it’s aimed at encouraging young people – girls in particular – to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The mentoring program is a partnership between the Schulich School of Engineering and the Faculty of Education, with funding from the Imperial Oil Foundation. Crichton holds the grant jointly with Dave IrvineHalliday, Schulich engineering professor and founder of Light Up The World, an organization that brings lighting to thirdworld countries. “So often in education we give students the problem and more or less guide them to the logical solution,” says Crichton. “What we’re doing now is asking them, ‘What’s the problem? What are you going to fix?’ That engages students in a completely different way.” Such programs are taking things in the right direction, according to Bill Rosehart, an electrical engineering professor at the Schulich School of Engineering. Last November, he travelled to Herndon, Virginia for the first-ever symposium on engineering education organized by the National Academy of Engineering. The chair of the event was Edward Crawley from MIT, one of the founders of the CDIO initiative. >>
Critical skills such as communication, leadership, teamwork, design and project management will play a more significant role in defining success in the engineering profession and in engineering education.
Taking the sit-ski for a run at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary: Brian Martin (left), instructor with the Canadian Association for Disabled Skiing, and James Chew, director of product design for Incline Design. Photo by Meghan Sired
Rosehart exchanged ideas with educators in the United States about ways to engage students and ensure they learn the skills they need to succeed. “Engineering academics need to think of themselves not just as teachers, but as mentors and approach education like an apprenticeship. That’s how you might have thought of engineering 50 or 100 years ago,” says Rosehart. “Somehow we lost this idea of apprenticeship but I think it can still be achieved with the right design courses and projects.” Rosehart developed a new first-year course for Schulich students, ENGG 200, which begins this fall. It takes first-year engineering design to the next level, giving students a better understanding of the design process and the mindset to tackle complex problems that can have multiple solutions. He ran a pilot of the course last year. As part of that course, students were asked to choose a structure in New York City that has anything to do with engineering design. They gave presentations on the Empire State Building, Radio City Music Hall, bridges, transportation systems and the power grid. Students were so captivated they put together a proposal for funding from the Schulich Student Activities Fund, which provides $500,000 each year for learning experiences outside the classroom. In May 2009, Rosehart and an entourage of students found themselves on a plane, off to experience the Big Apple in person. “We’re training students for real-world thinking, real-world problems,” says Rosehart. “Although math and science will continue to be a significant component of engineering and engineering education, as we move forward, critical skills such as communication, leadership, teamwork, design and project management will play a more significant role in defining success in the engineering profession and in engineering education.” Many inventions start off as projects in university and end up on the market. For example, the creators of the latest sit-ski for disabled athletes are U of C graduates who wanted to make the sport of alpine skiing more accessible by designing a ski with fewer components.
“Simplicity was the driving factor when it came to the production and assembly of our product,” says James Chew, who came up with the idea when he was a master’s student in environmental design. In 2008, he brought his design to the Schulich School of Engineering and a team of fourth-year students fine-tuned it. The result was a sit-ski that was half the cost of other models because of its plate-aluminum frame and only seven parts, making the ski easier for athletes to disassemble for maintenance and repair. A year later, Chew and Schulich graduate Jeremy MacLennan formed the company Incline Design. They sold their product to a ski club on Vancouver Island and interest from others is mounting. Their sit-ski was on display at the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games. “It’s been extremely rewarding to see our product evolve and the positive feedback we’ve received tells us that we have real potential to have an impact on this sport,” says Chew. That’s what engineering students are realizing more and more, and early in their studies: they can use their skills to make significant contributions in areas they’re passionate about. “We’re taught to be problem-solvers. You really have to be innovative and come up with new solutions,” says Kara Chomistek. Chomistek just finished her degree and countless assignments have come and gone. For her, the most memorable was designing toys for patients at Alberta Children’s Hospital. “It was an amazing feeling when we took the toys over to the hospital. It was important for us to help the children and give them an outlet to interact and play.” Evidence that she and the other students succeeded came in the form of a giant card from the young patients. Children and hospital staff signed alongside a message that read, “Thank you for making a difference in our world.”
Jennifer Sowa is the managing editor of Schulich Engineer magazine and the media relations officer for the Schulich School of Engineering. She is a former print and broadcast journalist.
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Bill Rosehart (back row, fifth from right) and students on the Brooklyn Bridge with New York City Department of Transportation staff in May 2009. Photo courtesy Billy Wu
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HOMES AWAY FROM HOME PHOTO F E ATUR E
In 1984, Schulich School of Engineering graduate Sam Kolias and his brother Van, then aged 22 and 17, bought a drab 16-unit walk-up in Calgary using a down payment guaranteed by their father, a Greek immigrant and bricklayer. Units within this building were a mess, landscaping was unsightly, and the only occupied suite belonged to the resident manager who was not paying rent in exchange for her duties. What started as the brothers’ private company, Boardwalk Rental Communities, became publicly traded in 1994 and has since grown into Canada’s largest apartment landlord, owning and managing over 31,000 units. Boardwalk has been building homes for families in Mexico for more than a decade. In November 2009, 40 students and three staff members from the Schulich School went along to roll up their sleeves for two families in Tijuana.
PHOTOS BY LYNNE COWE FALLS, DANIELLE KENDALL AND KEITH WU
The disparity in wealth is still unbelievable to me. This trip changed my perspective on the world. Helping people like we did in Mexico is a responsibility an engineer has in society today.
KEITH WU
second-year software engineering student
The undeveloped region of Tijuana, Mexico, where the Diaz and Pena families live
ABOVE AND LEF T: Before the build: the former home of the five members of the Diaz family.
Just seeing the living conditions that five family members had to live in‌
RIGHT: Second-year Schulich student Keith Wu pals around with Sergio, the youngest member of the Diaz family.
they lived in a space the size of one of your bedrooms. The lack of basic necessities was astounding. We got them groceries, some beds and a stove.
MITCHELL DOW
fourth-year mechanical engineering student
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FAR LEF T: Two teams of students worked morning to night building homes for the Diaz and Pena families.
Their houses are built of scrap metals, wood and cardboard. We gave them something that we take for granted
ABOVE AND LEF T: The Pena family gets the keys to their new house.
every day: a proper roof over their heads. Really, it doesn’t take that much for us to go over there and change their lives. We helped two families in a way that nobody else can and I’m very grateful for that experience. It’s something I will remember for the rest of my life.
S Y LV E S T E R Z D ON C Z Y K
second-year mechanical engineering student
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We had just given the keys over to the family and I was selected to be the one to knock on their door so they could invite us in their house for the first time. When I knocked
ABOVE: Michelle Ha (left), third-year mechanical engineering student, with the Diaz family after handing over the keys to their new home.
on the door and they opened up, I’ll never forget the look of pride and gratitude on their faces. I realized that the time and effort we spent helping them build their house will have a significant impact on their lives for many years to come.�
DANIELLE KENDALL
second-year chemical engineering student
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RIGHT: Schulich students took the families grocery shopping and delivered the goods to their new kitchens.
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IN CONVERSATION WITH ELENA NASIM
Elena Nasim is the manager of the Women’s Advancement Office for the Schulich School of Engineering and the Faculty of Science at the University of Calgary. She oversees events and services to support female students and faculty. Nasim also organizes Explore IT and Women in Engineering Day, which introduce teenaged girls to the science and engineering professions.
Q: Describe an amazing woman
you know.
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While I didn’t actually know her, the woman I’ve admired since I was very young was Mother Teresa. She wasn’t a scientist or an engineer but she was a totally amazing woman. She gave with complete abandon and love without a thought for herself. What if everyone was a little bit like that? What would this world be like?
Q: Do you think men and women are
differently oriented toward math, science, and engineering?
Photo courtesy Elena Nasim
Q: Why do you care about helping women advance in science and engineering?
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I want to see women fulfill their potential. So many women who are good at math or science choose not to go into science or engineering because they feel like they don’t belong there. Many bright young women choose the health profession instead, for example, because they want to pursue careers that have direct value to society. I want to help change attitudes so women know they can make valuable contributions in many fields, that they can contribute to society as engineers, scientists, mathematicians. They need to truly know and believe they’re as capable and intelligent as their male colleagues in these fields.
Q: You have a degree in mathematics from the University of Calgary. How many women were in your program?
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There were two of us in a class of about 30.
Q: What attracted you to that field? A:
A:
Perhaps because of upbringing and stereotypes, but certainly not because of any difference in intellectual ability. Men typically have more confidence in their intellectual ability in math, science, and engineering and have historically dominated the research in these areas. It’s clear to me that women have the same to offer and should be encouraged to fulfill their potential.
Men and women tend to approach problems from different perspectives. It’s been shown that diversity leads to better productivity and to a better bottom line in business. A diverse group of people – not just women, but people with culturally different upbringings – can come up with better and more inclusive solutions to problems than a homogenous group.
I was good at math, I found it interesting and I liked the fact that the answers are clear and there’s no arguing about interpretation. I really liked the simplicity and the challenge of proving mathematical concepts based solely on logic and a few basic principles.
Q: Does math require creativity? A:
Absolutely. Thinking up a good solution requires that you explore every possibility. You have to think of ideas you haven’t been taught, that aren’t anywhere in a textbook. You’re constrained by logic and the basic axioms but creativity is often a necessity in finding the most straightforward, shortest and elegant solution.
Q: Do you call yourself a feminist? A:
Q: Who is the most altruistic person
Feminism is the doctrine that says that women should have the same economic, A: social and political rights as men. So yes, I’m a feminist and I believe that most people are these days. SCHULICH
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you know?
My mother. She’s probably the most giving person I know. Her goal in life seems to be to make other people’s lives better. She’s retired now and dedicates most of her time volunteering.
PEOPLE That moment of exhilaration when the Canadian men’s speed skating team took Olympic gold was also a rush of pride for the Schulich School of Engineering. One of the long-track team pursuit racers, Lucas Makowsky, is working towards a joint degree in chemical engineering and economics at the University of Calgary. He was one of two Olympic winners from the Schulich School. Schulich alumnus Chris Le Bihan, who graduated in 2005 with a degree in manufacturing engineering, was on the four-man bobsleigh team that won bronze, Canada’s first Olympic bobsleigh medal in 46 years.
Lucas Makowsky (middle) with teammates Denny Morrison (left) and Mathieu Giroux.
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Photo by Jeff Bough, courtesy Speed Skating Canada
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PEOPLE Yadid-Pecht in the Integrated Sensors and Intelligent Systems Laboratory at the Schulich School of Engineering Photo by Ken Bendiktsen
World expert in smart sensors recruited to Schulich School of Engineering Orly Yadid-Pecht is making a lot of things smarter: your mobile phone, medical devices, security systems. She’s improving the performance of sensors and developing more uses for them, such as remote sensing for forestry management and urban planning and in vehicle collision avoidance systems.
Orly Yadid-Pecht and the Integrated Sensors and Intelligent Systems (ISIS) laboratory were brought to Alberta through a partnership between the Alberta government, the University of Calgary and other government agencies and industry providing $8.9 million in funding over five years.
Yadid-Pecht is a pioneer in sensor technology and has joined the University of Calgary’s Schulich School of Engineering to establish a world-class facility and research team. She spent several years at Ben-Gurion University in Israel, where she founded the Very Large Scale Integration Systems Center (VLSI).
It’s Schulich time. Students Kasmira Pawa, left, and John McDonald – shown here with Supercow, the mascot of the Engineering Students’ Society – placed first in their category at the 2010 Western Engineering Competition in Winnipeg. Their presentation was on xenotransplantation, which involves transplanting animal organs into humans. They discussed the potential for success in the context of genetic engineering. Photo by Jennings Huang
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The monster toboggan Night of the Living Sled was declared “King of the Hill” for emerging unscathed from a series of one-on-one races. The concrete toboggan team at the Schulich School of Engineering won a total of four awards – plus second place overall – at the 2010 Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race in Hamilton, Ontario. Photo by Danuta Wojtowicz
Be robust in everything you do; find new opportunities to challenge you and take you out of your comfort zone. John A. Manzoni offered inspiration and words of wisdom in the keynote address at the 19th Annual Student Excellence Awards. Manzoni is president and chief executive officer of Talisman Energy Inc., a longtime supporter of the Schulich School of Engineering.
Keep your eye on this student leader The new Vice-President, Communications of the Canadian Federation of Engineering Students is a Schulich School of Engineering student. Darshni Pillay, third-year electrical engineering student and former operations manager of the U of C Solar Team, was elected at the national congress in January 2010. The organization represents nearly 60,000 engineering students. Left to right: Kevin Liu, Vice-President Finances and Administration, Darshni Pillay, VicePresident Communications, Charlsie Searle, Vice-President Services and Development, Robert Stalker, President Photo by John McDonald
Photo by David Moll
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PEOPLE
Coming to a classroom near you: Recipient of Canada’s most prestigious teaching award For Uttandaraman (U.T.) Sundararaj, Lego robots and Silly Putty are a regular part of class. He uses them as tools to teach complex engineering concepts and to engage his students so they develop a passion for engineering. Sundararaj, head of chemical and petroleum engineering at the Schulich School of Engineering, has received Canada’s most prestigious award for excellence in teaching. He was named a 3M National Teaching Fellow, an honour that goes to just 10 professors each year.
Pedro Pereira Almao, director of the In Situ Energy Centre
Photo by Ken Bendiktsen
Remember when SAGD was thought to be impossible? Meet the man who’s leading the next transformation of the oil sands industry. The In Situ Energy Centre’s new wing will enable researchers to test projects that will unlock energy from Alberta’s vast oil sands by upgrading bitumen directly in the reservoir. In situ processes will replace the costly environmental impact of steam and surface refineries and are only a few years away from testing in the field. The director of the centre is Pedro Pereira Almao, professor in the Schulich School of Engineering. The U of C, through a joint initiative led by the Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy (ISEEE) and the Schulich School of Engineering, received more than $9.3 million from the Canada Foundation for Innovation for the new multidisciplinary research facility. The In Situ Energy Centre has also received significant funding from the provincial government through Alberta Innovates, and support from industry, including Shell Canada, Total Canada, Nexen Inc., Repsol and ConocoPhillips.
Order of the University of Calgary At the Fall 2009 U of C convocation ceremony, Schulich School of Engineering alumnus Ian Herring, shown here with Chancellor Joanne Cuthbertson, was inducted into the Order of the University of Calgary. Herring is Vice-President, Yemen Strategic Initiative with Nexen Inc. He has a long history of volunteering and committee work at the U of C.
Sundararaj joins the ranks of more than 240 other 3M Teaching Fellows from 45 universities. The 3M Fellowships were established in 1986 through a partnership between technology company 3M and the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.
Photo by Dave Brown
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The Schulich Axiom is lighter, faster and more energy efficient than its predecessors. In November 2009, the University of Calgary Solar Team unveiled its thirdgeneration solar car at the Fairmont Palliser hotel in downtown Calgary. Photo by Ken Bendiktsen
Homerooms are a unique tradition at Canadian engineering schools. They foster friendships and strong academic performance and no one knows their value better than former students. Robert Wichert (left) and Dale Dusterhoft (middle) are two alumni who supported the renovation of the chemical and petroleum engineering department’s newly renovated homeroom. Uttandaraman (U.T.) Sundararaj, head of chemical and petroleum engineering, thanks them in this photo. A number of chemical and petroleum engineering alumni supported the project with generous donations. Photo by David Moll
DONOR PROFILE Calgary-born company creating unparalleled international network of research chairs Computer Modeling Reservoir Simulation Foundation (Foundation CMG) has embarked upon a unique plan to set up a network of top experts around the world. The Foundation supports world-class researchers to advance the knowledge of computer numerical modeling and four-dimensional visualization of oil and gas reservoirs.
In partnership with Foundation CMG, Alberta Innovates – Technology Futures has created two new research chairs at the University of Calgary to improve the visualization and analysis of oil and gas reserves and to make the recovery process more efficient and economical while reducing the impact on the environment.
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This collaboration taps the talents of John Chen, an expert in petroleum reservoir modeling and computer simulation at the Schulich School of Engineering, and Mario Costa Sousa, an expert in the visual display of information from the department of computer science in the U of C’s Faculty of Science.
REVERSE ENGINEERING
CINQUE
CINQUE CONFESSES
1 YEAR IN JAIL
1 YEAR IN JAIL
5 YEARS IN JAIL
GOES FREE
GOES FREE
5 YEARS IN JAIL
3 YEARS IN JAIL
3 YEARS IN JAIL
TANYA CONFESSES
TANYA
TANYA SAYS NOTHING
CINQUE SAYS NOTHING
Tanya and Cinque have been arrested for robbing the Hibernia Savings Bank and placed in separate isolation cells. Both care more about their personal freedom than about the welfare of their accomplice. A clever prosecutor makes the following offer to each. “You may choose to confess or remain silent. If you confess and your accomplice remains silent I will drop all charges against you and use your testimony to ensure that your accomplice does serious time. Likewise, if your accomplice confesses while you remain silent, they will go free while you do the time. If you both confess I get two convictions, but I’ll see to it that you both get early parole. If you both remain silent, I’ll have to settle for token sentences on firearms possession charges. If you wish to confess, you must leave a note with the jailer before my return tomorrow morning.”
Is altruism socially desirable? Game theory is a branch of applied mathematics that is used in the social sciences, most notably in economics, as well as in biology, engineering, political science, international relations, computer science, and philosophy. It attempts to mathematically capture behavior in strategic situations, in which an individual’s success in making choices depends on the choices of others. A classic game theory model is the Prisoner’s Dilemma.
The “dilemma” faced by the prisoners here is that, whatever the other does, each is better off confessing than remaining silent. But the outcome obtained when both confess is worse for each than the outcome they would have obtained had both remained silent. One interpretation of the dilemma takes the game to represent a choice between selfish behavior and socially desirable altruism. The move corresponding to confession benefits the actor, no matter what the other does, while the move corresponding to silence benefits the other player no matter what that player does. Benefiting oneself is not always wrong, of course, and benefiting others at the expense of oneself is not always morally required, but in the prisoner’s dilemma game both players prefer the outcome with the altruistic moves to that with the selfish moves. Source: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
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Yella! Engineering students turned rap artists
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