the complete engineer spring/summer 2014
DESCRIPTION
The magazine of The Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science at Queen"s UniversityTRANSCRIPT
COMPLETETHE
ENGINEERTHE MAGAZINE OF THE FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE AT QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY
INSIDE...Queen’s Engineering International: A look at how our students and researchers are interacting with the global community
SPRING/SUMMER 2014
Their own field of dreams:Electrical and computer engineering grad students
reignite Kingston’s love of cricket
R U S S I AFINLAND
AUSTRIA
ITALY
SPAIN
SWEDEN
NORWAY
GERMANY
FRANCE
PORTUGAL
HUNGARYROMANIA
BULGARIA
TURKEY
DENMARK
POLAND BYELARUS
UKRAINECZECH
GREECE
CYPRUS
NETH.
BELGIUM
IRELAND
SERBIA
ALBANIA
MOLDOVA
LITHUANIALATVIA
ESTONIA
LUX.
MONTENEGRO
BOSNIACROATIA
SLOVENIASWITZ.
MACEDONIA
GREENLAND
ICELAND
MEXICO THE BAHAMAS
CAYMAN ISLANDS
PANAMA
EL SALVADORGUATEMALA
BELIZEHONDURAS
NICARAGUA
COSTA RICA
JAMAICAHAITI
DOM. REP.
ARGENTINA
BOLIVIA
COLOMBIA
VENEZUELA
PERU
BRAZIL
FRENCH GUIANASURINAME
GUYANA
CHILE
ECUADOR
PARAGUAY
URUGUAY
FALKLAND ISLANDS
SOUTH GEORGIA ISLAND
KENYA
ETHIOPIA
ERITREA
SUDAN
EGYPT
NIGER
MAURITANIA
MALI
NIGERIASOMALIA
NAMIBIA
LIBYA
CHAD
SOUTH AFRICA
TANZANIA
ZAIRE
ANGOLA
ALGERIA
MADAGASCARMOZAMBIQUE
BOTSWANA
ZAMBIA
GABON
CENTRAL AFRICANREPUBLIC
TUNISIA
MOROCCO
UGANDA
SWAZILAND
LESOTHO
MALAWI
BURUNDIRWANDA
TOGO
BENINGHANA
IVORYCOAST
LIBERIA
SIERRA LEONE
GUINEABURKINA
GAMBIA
CAMEROON
SAO TOME & PRINCIPE
ZIMBABWE
CONGO
EQUATORIAL GUINEA
WESTERNSAHARA
DJIBOUTI
SENEGAL
GUINEA BISSAU
Canary Islands JORDAN
ISRAELLEBANON
ARMENIA AZERBAIJAN
GEORGIA KYRGYZSTAN
TAJIKISTAN
KUWAIT
QATAR
U. A. E.
YEMEN
SYRIA
IRAQ IRAN
OMAN
SAUDI ARABIA
AFGHANISTAN
PAKISTAN
INDIA
C H I N A
KAZAKHSTAN
TURKMENISTAN
UZBEKISTAN
MYANMAR
THAILAND
KAMPUCHEA
NEPALBHUTAN
VIETNAM
SRI LANKA
LAOSBANGLADESH
MALAYSIA
MALAYSIA
PAPUANEW GUINEA
BRUNEI
HONG KONG
SINGAPORE
PHILIPPINES
TAIWAN
I N D O N E S I A
JAPAN
MONGOLIA
SOUTH KOREA
NORTH KOREA
AUSTRALIA
NEW ZEALAND
U. K.
NEW CALEDONIA
FIJI
COMOROS
PALAU
VANUATU
SOLOMONISLANDS
GUAMMARSHALL
ISLANDS
MICRONESIA
TONGA
SAMOAISLANDS
FRENCHPOLYNESIA
KIRIBATI
R U S S I AFINLAND
AUSTRIA
ITALY
SPAIN
SWEDEN
NORWAY
GERMANY
FRANCE
PORTUGAL
HUNGARYROMANIA
BULGARIA
TURKEY
DENMARK
POLAND BYELARUS
UKRAINECZECH
SLOVAK REPUBLIC
GREECE
CYPRUS
NETH.
BELGIUM
IRELAND
SERBIA
ALBANIA
MOLDOVA
LITHUANIALATVIA
ESTONIA
LUX.
MONTENEGRO
BOSNIACROATIA
SLOVENIASWITZ.
MACEDONIA
GREENLAND
ICELAND
U. S. A.
CANADA
MEXICO THE BAHAMASCUBA
PANAMA
EL SALVADORGUATEMALA
BELIZEHONDURAS
NICARAGUA
COSTA RICA
JAMAICAHAITI
DOM. REP.TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS
ARGENTINA
BOLIVIA
COLOMBIA
VENEZUELA
PERU
BRAZIL
FRENCH GUIANASURINAME
CHILE
ECUADOR
PARAGUAY
URUGUAY
FALKLAND ISLANDS
SOUTH GEORGIA ISLAND
KENYA
ETHIOPIA
ERITREA
SUDAN
EGYPT
NIGER
MAURITANIA
MALI
NIGERIASOMALIA
NAMIBIA
LIBYA
CHAD
SOUTH AFRICA
TANZANIA
ZAIRE
ANGOLA
ALGERIA
MADAGASCARMOZAMBIQUE
BOTSWANA
ZAMBIA
GABON
CENTRAL AFRICANREPUBLIC
TUNISIA
MOROCCO
UGANDA
SWAZILAND
LESOTHO
MALAWI
BURUNDIRWANDA
TOGO
BENINGHANA
IVORYCOAST
LIBERIA
SIERRA LEONE
GUINEABURKINA
GAMBIA
CAMEROON
SAO TOME & PRINCIPE
ZIMBABWE
CONGO
EQUATORIAL GUINEA
WESTERNSAHARA
DJIBOUTI
SENEGAL
GUINEA BISSAU
Canary Islands JORDAN
ISRAELLEBANON
ARMENIA AZERBAIJAN
GEORGIA KYRGYZSTAN
TAJIKISTAN
KUWAITBAHRAIN
U. A. E.
YEMEN
SYRIA
IRAQ IRAN
OMAN
SAUDI ARABIA
AFGHANISTAN
PAKISTAN
INDIA
C H I N A
KAZAKHSTAN
TURKMENISTAN
UZBEKISTAN
MYANMAR
THAILAND
KAMPUCHEA
NEPALBHUTAN
VIETNAM
SRI LANKA
LAOSBANGLADESH
PAPUANEW GUINEA
BORNEO
PHILIPPINES
TAIWAN
JAPAN
MONGOLIA
SOUTH KOREA
NORTH KOREA
AUSTRALIA
NEW ZEALAND
NEW CALEDONIA
FIJI
PALAU
VANUATU
SOLOMONISLANDS
GUAMMARSHALL
ISLANDS
MICRONESIA
TONGA
SAMOAISLANDS
FRENCHPOLYNESIA
KIRIBATI
HAWAII
TRINIDAD
ST. LUCIABARBADOSST.VINCENT
BERMUDA
ENGLAND
SCOTLAND
NORTHERN IRELAND
MAURITIUS
SEC TION HEADER
for students throughout the year. Our international programs, developed through deep relationships with government, industry and other educational institutions, not only provide our students with exceptional learning and internship opportunities but also bring new ideas to campus through exchange programs that offer international students a valuable Queen’s experience while adding to the cultural fabric of our Faculty.
Why is internationalization important? We live in an increasingly global community, a world where engineers must collaborate within diverse cultures and environments. International experiences are an integral component of our education and one of the many ways that we prepare our students to succeed in their careers. Internationalization also builds awareness of Queen’s and the
expertise within our Faculty, promoting collaborative partnerships in education, research and industry.
I hope that you enjoy reading about the people within our Faculty who are contributing to internationalization at Queen’s and actively developing global relationships that showcase Queen’s and contribute to a better world. As always, I invite your comments and wish you all a lovely summer.
DEANKimberly A. Woodhouse
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONSAdam Walker
MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATORMeagan Suckling
CONTRIBUTING EDITORJordan Whitehouse
GRAPHIC DESIGNWalker Design & Communications
CONTRIBUTING WRITERSNanci CorriganKirsteen MacLeod Alec Ross Christine Ward
CONTACT INFORMATION Faculty of Engineering and Applied ScienceQueen’s UniversityBeamish-Munro Hall45 Union StreetKingston, ONK7L 3N6Tel 613.533.2055Fax 613.533.6500Email [email protected]
SPRING/SUMMER 2014
CONTENTS
elcome to the spring/summer 2014 edition of The Complete Engineer.
Warm weather has finally arrived—and with it a busy summer filled with research activities, summer studies and planning for the fall term. Another session of the Queen’s Summer Innovation Initiative has begun, research work continues at its usual bustling pace and the Engineering Society is holding their annual Science Quest camps.
This issue features many of the international initiatives that contribute to our Faculty’s outstanding educational opportunities
Kimberly A. WoodhousePhD, PEng, FCAE, FBSEDean, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science
Message from the Dean
W
8 Mining grad champions plan for a chair in mining finance Warren Gilman, Sc’82, is enjoying an amazing career in international finance, and he wants to help Queen’s engineers succeed as well
9 The Queen’s-Fudan partnership The foundation of Queen’s relationship with China
10 International collaboration to tackle a persistent problem Dr. Jeffrey Giacomin is working with manufacturers in Thailand
11 Our cover story International students bring cricket back to Kingston
12 HMRL World-class facility attracts researchers from around the globe
13 Alumnus accepted to the University of Cambridge’s innovative Hetero-Genesys Laboratory
14 Working to make mining greener at home and abroad Dr. Heather Jamieson’s work takes her around the world
15 Paying it forward Alumnus Scott Bonham, Sc’84, is helping Canadian entrepreneurs connect with Silicon Valley
16 International transfer students arriving, and thriving, at Queen’s
18 Alumni events: QYea!, Oil and Gas Speaker Series, Cirque, and receptions in Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto: Our alumni have been out in force
ABOUT THIS MAP
FEAS alumni distribution around the world
Message from the Dean This page
2 Faculty news We welcome five new faculty members
3 Connecting with the global community Message from Scott Yam, Associate Dean, International and Special Projects
4 Queen’s Engineering goes global International exchanges open new worlds to students
6 Trading sun and sand for snow and BeaverTails Mandy St. Rose learns to love the cold
7 Expanding equal access to health care Alumna Krista Vandermeer, Sc’03, MSc’05, is making a difference in Mozambique
Canada: 18,036
United States: 1,726
Hong Kong: 228
Australia: 135England:101
Countries with 33-50 alumni
Countries with 21-27 alumni
Countries with 10-19 alumni
Countries with 5-9 alumni
Countries with 1-4 alumni
COVER: Malik Mujahid, Shahid Altaf, Salar Sarwar, Nikhil Dhawan, Mirza Tahir Ahmed, and Farhan Zia.
COMPLETETHE
ENGINEERTHE MAGAZINE OF THE FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE AT QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY
INSIDE...Queen’s Engineering International: A look at how our students and researchers are interacting with the global community
SPRING/SUMMER 2014
Their own field of dreams:Electrical and computer engineering grad students
reignite Kingston’s love of cricket
3SPRING/SUMMER 2014
Connecting with the global community: Message from the Associate Dean, International and Special Projects
FACULT Y NE WS FACULT Y
2 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER
ueen’s has a long history with internationalization, fostering groundbreaking partnerships around the globe that provide mutual benefits to students, faculty and institutions. Over the past year in my
new role as Associate Dean, International and Special Projects, I’ve had the chance to build on this strong foundation with opportunities and programs that provide exceptional learning experiences for Queen’s students and bring new cultures and ideas to our campus.
International experience is critical to success for today’s engineer. Our alumni provide expertise around the world, such as helping to manage water resources in developing countries, directing operations in remote mines and consulting on chemical processing for the petroleum industry.
The skills that they need to excel, however, go beyond technical knowledge. Our students must be able to understand and thrive in diverse cultures, and be comfortable collaborating within a global environment. Our numerous exchange programs provide valuable opportunities for our students to gain these soft skills while earning their degrees. While away, they also act as Queen’s ambassadors, raising awareness of our strong education programs and fostering new relationships for growth.
Global exchange programs are about more than sending our students away to learn, however. They are also designed to create a culturally rich environment here at Queen’s. Each year, we welcome growing numbers of international students at all levels of training to our campus through programs such as the Masters of Engineering Program with industrial internship, which allows international students to spend one year at Queen’s and apply for internships and placements in Canada.
We also work with industry partners and governments to participate in programs such as Science without Borders, an initiative that is bringing 12,000 Brazilian students to Canadian universities, and Mitacs Globalinks, a national non-profit research internship program that facilitates international training for students from Mexico, Brazil, China, India, Turkey and Vietnam.
We continue to build momentum through educational, industry and government alliances that contribute to best practices in engineering around the world. I hope you enjoy reading about our programs and invite you to contact me with any questions or comments about these initiatives.
Scott YamAssociate Dean, International and Special Projects
Welcome to new faculty
“”
Global exchange programs
are about more than
sending our students away
to learn, however.
They are also designed
to create a culturally rich
environment
here at Queen’s.
Ahmad GhahremaninezhadDr. Ghahremaninezhad has a bachelor’s degree (2005) and a master’s degree (2007) in materials science and
engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, and earned his PhD in materials engineering from The University of British Columbia (2012). Upon completing his PhD, Dr. Ghahremaninezhad joined the
Technology Centre of Barrick Gold Corp. as an NSERC industrial research and development postdoctoral fellow. He joined The Robert M. Buchan Department of Mining at Queen’s University as an assistant professor in January 2014.
Dr. Ghahremaninezhad’s primary area of interest is hydrometallurgical processing of resource materials. While at Queen’s University, his long-
term research goals will focus on the extractive metallurgy and mineral processing aspects associated with the following areas: hydrometallurgy and biohydrometallurgy, mineral processing wastes and their remediation, electrochemical dissolution of complex minerals, and design of metal extraction processes.
Q
Laura WellsDr. Wells graduated with a bachelor’s degree in engineer-ing chemistry from Queen’s (2003), where she worked
under the supervision of Dr. Brian Ams-den in biomedical engineering. She then completed her master’s degree in applied science (2005) and PhD (2010) at McMas-ter University. She held a postdoctoral fellowship from the Canadian Institutes
of Health Research and an NSERC postgraduate scholarship for her doctoral studies.
Dr. Wells is an accomplished researcher in the field of biomedical engineering, focusing on the development of new types of polymeric materials for drug delivery and tissue engineering in wound healing and ophthalmic applications. She is
particularly interested in cell/material interactions, and plans to develop strategies for designing and synthesizing polymers that respond to biological and physical stimuli. She is proposing to focus on instructive polymers that induce desirable application-specific biological responses and on responsive polymers that interact with biological and physical cues.
Michael J. RainbowDr. Rainbow has relocated to Queen’s from the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Harvard
Medical School. He received his bachelor’s degree in computational physics at Penn State Behrend and his PhD in biomedical engineering at Brown University. During his internship as an undergraduate at Shriners Hospital
for Children’s Motion Analysis Lab, he learned that there are still many open questions about human movement, and he has been committed to its study ever since.
Dr. Rainbow’s work examines how an individual’s specific anatomy and mechanics function together during activities that often lead to overuse injury. This research encompasses emerging
techniques in MRI and CT imaging, computational modeling, and high-speed X-ray motion capture to understand joint function in 3D. The results of this work will allow development of screening tools to identify those at risk for various overuse injuries and to help develop personalized treatments and preventative strategies.
David E. RivalDr. Rival completed his bachelor’s degree (2003) and master’s degree (2005) in mechanical engineering
at Queen’s and then left for Germany to undertake a PhD in experimental aerodynamics at the Technische Universität Darmstadt. As part of a larger program studying nature-inspired fluid mechanics, Dr. Rival studied energy
extraction in dragonfly flight, for which he received the Hugo Denkmeier Prize from the German Aerospace Center (DLR).
Starting July 1st, Dr. Rival will return to Queen’s in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering as an assistant professor, after spending the last four years on faculty at the University of Calgary, where he has
held an AITF iCORE Strategic Chair on Wind-Resource Assessment. By studying the unsteady hydrodynamics of a moon-shaped tail, Dr. Rival and his team have uncovered optimization strategies for a new generation of wind and water turbines appropriate for complex and gusty environments.
Lindsay FitzpatrickDr. Fitzpatrick graduated with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and biosciences from McMaster
University (2006), where she studied biomaterial surface modification and protein adhesion. She then completed her PhD at the University of Toronto (2012). Her doctoral research focused on the molecular mechanisms of the angiogenic response to poly(mehtyacryclic acid
-co- methylmethacrylate) beads in wound healing models. She also studied oxygen transport within modular tissue engineering microtissues.
Dr. Fitzpatrick is an accomplished researcher in the field of biomedical engineering, focusing on identifying the molecular mechanisms that govern the initiation and resolution of inflammation in the presence of biomaterials, and using this knowledge to develop advanced
materials for chronic wound therapies. Her most recent work, conducted as a postdoctoral fellow at the Georgia Institute of Technology, has focused on devitalized stem cell matrices and microparticle-mediated delivery of stem cell morphogens for treating chronic wounds and promoting tissue regeneration.
R U S S I AFINLAND
AUSTRIA
ITALY
SPAIN
SWEDEN
NORWAY
GERMANY
FRANCE
PORTUGAL
HUNGARYROMANIA
BULGARIA
TURKEY
DENMARK
POLAND BYELARUS
UKRAINECZECH
GREECE
CYPRUS
NETH.
BELGIUM
IRELAND
SERBIA
ALBANIA
MOLDOVA
LITHUANIALATVIA
ESTONIA
LUX.
MONTENEGRO
BOSNIACROATIA
SLOVENIASWITZ.
MACEDONIA
GREENLAND
ICELAND
MEXICO THE BAHAMAS
CAYMAN ISLANDS
PANAMA
EL SALVADORGUATEMALA
BELIZEHONDURAS
NICARAGUA
COSTA RICA
JAMAICAHAITI
DOM. REP.
ARGENTINA
BOLIVIA
COLOMBIA
VENEZUELA
PERU
BRAZIL
FRENCH GUIANASURINAME
GUYANA
CHILE
ECUADOR
PARAGUAY
URUGUAY
FALKLAND ISLANDS
SOUTH GEORGIA ISLAND
KENYA
ETHIOPIA
ERITREA
SUDAN
EGYPT
NIGER
MAURITANIA
MALI
NIGERIASOMALIA
NAMIBIA
LIBYA
CHAD
SOUTH AFRICA
TANZANIA
ZAIRE
ANGOLA
ALGERIA
MADAGASCARMOZAMBIQUE
BOTSWANA
ZAMBIA
GABON
CENTRAL AFRICANREPUBLIC
TUNISIA
MOROCCO
UGANDA
SWAZILAND
LESOTHO
MALAWI
BURUNDIRWANDA
TOGO
BENINGHANA
IVORYCOAST
LIBERIA
SIERRA LEONE
GUINEABURKINA
GAMBIA
CAMEROON
SAO TOME & PRINCIPE
ZIMBABWE
CONGO
EQUATORIAL GUINEA
WESTERNSAHARA
DJIBOUTI
SENEGAL
GUINEA BISSAU
Canary Islands JORDAN
ISRAELLEBANON
ARMENIA AZERBAIJAN
GEORGIA KYRGYZSTAN
TAJIKISTAN
KUWAIT
QATAR
U. A. E.
YEMEN
SYRIA
IRAQ IRAN
OMAN
SAUDI ARABIA
AFGHANISTAN
PAKISTAN
INDIA
C H I N A
KAZAKHSTAN
TURKMENISTAN
UZBEKISTAN
MYANMAR
THAILAND
KAMPUCHEA
NEPALBHUTAN
VIETNAM
SRI LANKA
LAOSBANGLADESH
MALAYSIA
MALAYSIA
PAPUANEW GUINEA
BRUNEI
HONG KONG
SINGAPORE
PHILIPPINES
TAIWAN
I N D O N E S I A
JAPAN
MONGOLIA
SOUTH KOREA
NORTH KOREA
AUSTRALIA
NEW ZEALAND
U. K.
NEW CALEDONIA
FIJI
COMOROS
PALAU
VANUATU
SOLOMONISLANDS
GUAMMARSHALL
ISLANDS
MICRONESIA
TONGA
SAMOAISLANDS
FRENCHPOLYNESIA
KIRIBATI
R U S S I AFINLAND
AUSTRIA
ITALY
SPAIN
SWEDEN
NORWAY
GERMANY
FRANCE
PORTUGAL
HUNGARYROMANIA
BULGARIA
TURKEY
DENMARK
POLAND BYELARUS
UKRAINECZECH
SLOVAK REPUBLIC
GREECE
CYPRUS
NETH.
BELGIUM
IRELAND
SERBIA
ALBANIA
MOLDOVA
LITHUANIALATVIA
ESTONIA
LUX.
MONTENEGRO
BOSNIACROATIA
SLOVENIASWITZ.
MACEDONIA
GREENLAND
ICELAND
U. S. A.
CANADA
MEXICO THE BAHAMASCUBA
PANAMA
EL SALVADORGUATEMALA
BELIZEHONDURAS
NICARAGUA
COSTA RICA
JAMAICAHAITI
DOM. REP.TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS
ARGENTINA
BOLIVIA
COLOMBIA
VENEZUELA
PERU
BRAZIL
FRENCH GUIANASURINAME
CHILE
ECUADOR
PARAGUAY
URUGUAY
FALKLAND ISLANDS
SOUTH GEORGIA ISLAND
KENYA
ETHIOPIA
ERITREA
SUDAN
EGYPT
NIGER
MAURITANIA
MALI
NIGERIASOMALIA
NAMIBIA
LIBYA
CHAD
SOUTH AFRICA
TANZANIA
ZAIRE
ANGOLA
ALGERIA
MADAGASCARMOZAMBIQUE
BOTSWANA
ZAMBIA
GABON
CENTRAL AFRICANREPUBLIC
TUNISIA
MOROCCO
UGANDA
SWAZILAND
LESOTHO
MALAWI
BURUNDIRWANDA
TOGO
BENINGHANA
IVORYCOAST
LIBERIA
SIERRA LEONE
GUINEABURKINA
GAMBIA
CAMEROON
SAO TOME & PRINCIPE
ZIMBABWE
CONGO
EQUATORIAL GUINEA
WESTERNSAHARA
DJIBOUTI
SENEGAL
GUINEA BISSAU
Canary Islands JORDAN
ISRAELLEBANON
ARMENIA AZERBAIJAN
GEORGIA KYRGYZSTAN
TAJIKISTAN
KUWAITBAHRAIN
U. A. E.
YEMEN
SYRIA
IRAQ IRAN
OMAN
SAUDI ARABIA
AFGHANISTAN
PAKISTAN
INDIA
C H I N A
KAZAKHSTAN
TURKMENISTAN
UZBEKISTAN
MYANMAR
THAILAND
KAMPUCHEA
NEPALBHUTAN
VIETNAM
SRI LANKA
LAOSBANGLADESH
PAPUANEW GUINEA
BORNEO
PHILIPPINES
TAIWAN
JAPAN
MONGOLIA
SOUTH KOREA
NORTH KOREA
AUSTRALIA
NEW ZEALAND
NEW CALEDONIA
FIJI
PALAU
VANUATU
SOLOMONISLANDS
GUAMMARSHALL
ISLANDS
MICRONESIA
TONGA
SAMOAISLANDS
FRENCHPOLYNESIA
KIRIBATI
HAWAII
TRINIDAD
ST. LUCIABARBADOSST.VINCENT
BERMUDA
ENGLAND
SCOTLAND
NORTHERN IRELAND
MAURITIUS
5
INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGESINTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES
Jennifer Erskine, Sc’14, has fond memories of her exchange at the University of Leeds in England from January to May 2013.
“By far, the best thing was making friends with other students from
so many different countries and backgrounds,” she says. “I also loved
having a chance to travel.”
With a lighter course load than at Queen’s, Erskine had time for day
and weekend trips around the United Kingdom, as well as a month-
long backpacking trip through Europe during Easter break.
Challenges included getting used to a new educational system.
“Courses at Leeds have fewer timetabled hours, but students are
expected to do significantly more independent learning,” she says.
“This was a bit of an adjustment for me.”
Erskine says going on exchange made her more interested in
working abroad. This fall, she’ll be joining a large engineering
consulting company, she says. “I’m really excited to be starting a job
with a significant amount of international travel.”
Jennifer ErskineEngineering Physics, electrical option
Juan Jou-Valencia, Sc’14, fled the cold for a three-month exchange at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, in January 2013.
“I wanted a change of culture but didn’t want a language barrier to
be a source of stress and frustration,” he says. “And I was also looking
for a warm place with ample opportunity for outdoor activities.”
Academically speaking, the exchange worked well, Jou-Valencia
says, though his favourite activity turned out to be catching waves.
“I learned to surf,” he says. “Not only was it a lot of fun, but I felt
like I immersed myself in something that is a big part of Australian
culture.”
Jou-Valencia says his time in Sydney has had a lasting influence. “I
learned to be more independent. Faced with a problem, there was
no calling home so someone could come and get me.”
Juan Jou-ValenciaChemical Engineering, biochemical engineering option
4 5 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER SPRING/SUMMER 2014
Queen’s Engineering goes global: International exchanges open new worlds to students
Samantha Taylor, Sc’13, chose to finish her degree with an exchange semester at the National University of Singapore from August 2013 to December 2013.
Hot weather was one factor that attracted her there. “Also, it was a
large school in a big city in Southeast Asia—making it completely
different from my experience at Queen’s.”
Adventures from her exchange, included traveling around Southeast
Asia. “I went to Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Taiwan, Thailand and
Vietnam—scuba diving, hiking volcanoes, exploring new cities.”
As well, she enjoyed a term of electives versus engineering courses.
“I studied music, Arabic and Indian philosophy,” she says. “And trying
Singapore’s amazing cuisine was also a highlight. Kway teow, a
signature dish, was my favourite!”
Asked how the exchange has influenced her, Taylor says “It’s just
increased my desire to travel.” She will head for Europe late this year,
then spend five months volunteering in an orphanage in Nepal
(www.oceannepal.org). In 2015, she plans to “settle down” and start
her new geological engineering job back home in Canada.
Samantha TaylorGeological Engineering
Gillian Reid-Schachter, Sc’15, spent a full year on academic exchange at the University of Leeds in England from September 2013 to June 2014.
For her, high points included “meeting people from different
cultures, seeing how different systems accomplish the same
purposes as back home, and learning new sports, words and habits.”
In no time, Reid-Schachter was saying “cheers” and “ta”; eating
toasties (grilled cheese sandwiches); hiking in the Yorkshire Dales
and the Lake District; and playing those most British of sports, polo
and cricket.
At the university, she says, she found the pace frustratingly slow at
first, with fewer class hours. Soon, however, she saw the upside of
having more time. “It really gives students an opportunity for sports
and other activities,” she says. “Europeans lead a more balanced life.”
That’s why Canada should import pub culture, she says. “That people
just go meet their friends or colleagues after work at the pub and
have a drink and just talk is amazing.”
Gillian Reid-SchachterChemical Engineering, biochemical engineering option
6 7
ALUMNI ABROADGR AD STUDENT PROFILES
THE COMPLETE ENGINEER SPRING/SUMMER 20146 7 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER SPRING/SUMMER 2014
Mandy St. Rose bravely left the Caribbean sun, sand and sea behind in February 2013, arriving at Queen’s for a four-month scholarship under the federal government’s Emerging Leaders in the Americas Program (ELAP).
“I was really scared, as I’d never experienced winter before,”
confesses St. Rose, a visiting master’s research student in civil and
environmental engineering from the
University of the West Indies in Trinidad.
“But it was fine: it turns out I love the cold!”
Soon, St. Rose was tobogganing down hills
near campus on a garbage bag with her
housemates from the Kingston Student
Housing Co-operative, who were amazed
by how quickly she adapted. Her secret?
BeaverTail pastries. “They really kill the cold.
My feet and fingers were frozen, I ate one
and almost instantly I was warm,” she insists.
St. Rose came to Queen’s to continue her investigations into
sustainable ways to dispose of plastic waste. Her thesis involves
collecting plastic recycling and incorporating the material into
concrete to make construction material for park benches, paving
stones, street curbs and much more.
Explaining her work, St. Rose, hands rough from concrete
experiments, holds out two containers. Each is filled with strips
cut from pop bottles of a particular size. “I mix this in to see how it
affects the strength and performance of the concrete.”
At Queen’s, her work has advanced rapidly, helped along by
improved access to research literature and better-equipped lab
facilities than at home.
As well, she’s had an epiphany. “This scholarship
opportunity has been life-changing,” she says. “I can
now see the path I would like to take in my life as a civil
engineer. I want to pursue academia, a doctorate and
teach new generations of professionals.”
St. Rose completed her undergraduate degree in 2004
at the Universidad de Camagüey in Cuba and then
worked for eight years as a civil engineer in
St. Lucia. She expects to receive her master’s in civil
and environmental engineering in October 2014.
Does she have anywhere in mind for her PhD studies after
graduation? “I would love to study abroad—preferably in a cold
country,” she says with a grin.
Trading sun and sand for snow and BeaverTails Mandy St. Rose
Krista Vandermeer, Sc’03, Engineering Chemistry, draws upon skills learned at Queen’s daily as an international development and public health professional in Mozambique, where she’s worked for the past four years.
“The most important skill I took away from my studies at Queen’s
was my ability to problem-solve,” Vandermeer says. “This is an
engineer’s greatest asset. No problem is too big or too small as we
are trained to tackle each and every one we are presented with
methodically and ethically.”
Born and raised in Belleville, Ontario,
Vandermeer became interested in how the
environment impacts human health while still at
Queen’s. Then, from 2008 to 2009 she developed
this interest, completing a master’s degree in
public health at London School of Hygiene and
Tropical Medicine, University of London.
“I became fascinated by the challenge of improving access to clean
water in developing countries. The water, sanitation and hygiene
sector provides a great opportunity to incorporate my technical
background and engineering training with my interest in the social
side of things, such as promoting health and wellbeing.”
When an opportunity arose to go to Mozambique in 2010, she
jumped at it, eager to put what she had learned into practice. As
project coordinator and then deputy team leader with Ottawa-
based Cowater International Inc., Vandermeer spent just over
three years implementing a rural water and sanitation program in
northern Mozambique.
Now Vandermeer works for SolidarMed, a Swiss nongovernmental
organization that aims to strengthen and expand existing health
services and enable access to quality health care in Mozambique.
Specifically, Vandermeer is providing logistical support and
overseeing an infrastructure project to build and rehabilitate
existing water supply systems in rural health centres.
Vandermeer—along with her husband, who is
from Mozambique and works for the provincial
government in the forestry department, and their
nine-month-old son—lives in Pemba, Cabo Delgado,
the most northern province of Mozambique. Asked
what she likes most about her adopted country,
she highlights friendly, welcoming people and 2,500 kilometres of
beach. “The pristine coast along the Indian Ocean provides some
great spots to relax after a long week in the field!” she notes.
Asked to describe her work, Vandermeer responds, “In one word:
challenging. Every day I am presented with a new obstacle to
overcome, from small logistical challenges to more significant
engineering design problems.”
“”
This scholarship opportunity
has been life-changing.
I can now see the path I would
like to take in my life as a civil
engineer. I want to pursue
academia, a doctorate and
teach new generations of
professionals.
Expanding equal access to health careKrista Vandermeer
“ ”The most important skill
I took away from my
studies at Queen’s was my
ability to problem solve.
8 9
Fourteen years ago, China was accelerating an historic
transformation that welcomed more foreign investment, academic
exchanges, trade, tourism and ideas into what, for centuries, had
been a largely closed society. Hok-Lin Leung, then Director of
Queen’s School of Urban and Regional Planning (SURP), recognized
the importance of these changes and recommended that Queen’s
become a part of them. This came to pass in 2000, when Queen’s
Principal William Leggett signed a memorandum of understanding
with Fudan University in Shanghai that opened the door for
academic partnerships and student exchanges between the two
institutions.
Today, the fruits of that partnership take many forms: dozens of
Queen’s students have travelled to China to participate in programs,
including global development studies, biology, urban and regional
planning, policy studies, law, and business; and Chinese students
have come to Queen’s. Most courses are taught in English by
Chinese professors. When studying at Fudan, Queen’s students are
paired with a Chinese student who serves as a friend, cultural guide
and, when necessary, translator.
The frequency of such cooperation has increased since 2007,
when Queen’s opened the Queen’s China Liaison Office (CLO)
at Fudan University and appointed Dr. Zhiyao Zhang as Queen’s
“ambassador” in China. Zhiyao’s work has not only led to student
exchanges and research collaborations between Queen’s members
at Fudan, but also to new collaborations between Queen’s and
other institutions elsewhere in China.
One beneficiary of Zhiyao’s knowledge and Chinese connections
is Queen’s Civil Engineering Professor Bruce Anderson. With SURP
Professor John Meligrana, Anderson co-founded what in China is
called the Fudan-Queen’s Sino-Canada Centre for Environment and
Sustainable Development.
For Dr. Anderson, the centre (structured as a network at Queen’s)
has been the focal point for a number of collaborations. “I’ve been
able to branch out to many other schools,” he says. “Now I have a
relationship with about five other important universities across
China, and in 2012 I was able to place a master’s student at Tianjin
University [the first engineering university in China] to do a research
project. It’s all because of that starting point, the relationship with
Fudan, and I am strongly committed to maintaining and growing
that relationship today.”
The Queen’s-Fudan partnership: The foundation of Queen’s relationship with China
Director Lin (Hai River Basin) proudly showing off treatment wetland effluent
Warren Gilman (right) visiting a gold mine in FinlandDr. Bruce Anderson at the Dujiangyan irrigation project (2,500 years old)
Queen’s China Liaison Office (CLO) at Fudan; Dr. Zhang Zhiyao (second from right)
THE COMPLETE ENGINEER SPRING/SUMMER 2014
Warren Gilman, Sc’82, says it was the marriage of Queen’s Engineering and an MBA with a finance specialization that set him on the track to success. And now the chairman and CEO of CEF Holdings Ltd.—the company co-owned by CIBC and Li Ka-shing’s Cheung Kong Holdings—is taking steps to ensure that future Queen’s mining engineers have what it takes to carve their own winning paths, all the way from Kingston to China
Gilman is the volunteer champion of a plan to endow up to
$7 million for a chair in mining finance at Queen’s Faculty
of Engineering and Applied Science’s Robert M. Buchan
Department of Mining.
“Money and engineering are inseparable. You can’t have one
without the other,” says Gilman. “Thirty years ago, a big mine cost
$100 million. Now it can be $3 billion or $5 billion or even more.
They’re incredibly massive projects that require a great deal of
money.”
As head of cash-rich holding company CEF, Gilman’s job is to
invest in the globe’s most promising resource development
opportunities. The majority of his growth capital commitments
have involved developing companies in Canada. “China is
focused on resource production, and the key place to go for that
is Canada,” he explains.
When it comes to understanding the complex feasibility studies
and financial modelling that accompany such investments,
Gilman says his mining engineering and finance degrees are an
ideal combination. But he bemoans the fact that “there’s no one
program that teaches you both how to build a mine and how to
raise the money to do it.”
Gilman and Queen’s want to change that.
Drawing together the university’s distinct strengths in mining
engineering and finance, an endowed chair in mining finance will
attract a world-leading researcher and educator to campus who
has a finger on the pulse of the global finance industry. Students
will be better prepared for all aspects of a career in global mining,
employers will gain an invaluable mix of expertise, and Canada
will remain the go-to country for more mining finance experts
like Gilman.
“It’s been more than 30 years since I graduated from Queen’s,
and I still believe I graduated from the best mining school in the
world,” he exclaims.
With the right support, he predicts the best will get even better.
8 9 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER THE COMPLETE ENGINEER
ALUMNI ABROAD
8 9 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER SPRING/SUMMER 2014
INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIP
“ ”Today, the fruits of that partnership take many forms:
dozens of Queen’s students have travelled to China
to participate in programs, including global development
studies, biology, urban and regional planning,
policy studies, law, and business;
and Chinese students have come to Queen’s.
Mining grad champions plan for a chair in mining financeWarren Gilman
10 11
STUDENT PROFILES
10 11 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER THE COMPLETE ENGINEER
Draw two concentric circles, and you have a simplified diagram of the face of the sort of steel die that’s used to make plastic pipes and rubber hoses. During manufacturing, molten plastic, or raw elastomer, is forced by high pressure through the slot between the circles. The smaller circle borders the space inside the tube.
In real life, the central circle is a rod called a mandrel, and it’s held
in place by eight bolts. Adjusting the bolts allows the mandrel to
be repositioned, which in turn determines the pipe’s shape and the
thickness of its walls. A centred mandrel will produce a straight hose
with walls of even thickness. An off-centred mandrel curves the
hose, and the greater the decentering, the tighter the curve. You’ll
see examples of these curved hoses in any modern car engine.
Hose-making sounds straightforward, but it’s not. Plastic
or elastomer molecules are long, stretchy chains that resist
deformation. When these elastic liquids are squeezed through a
die, the molecules exert enormous pressure on the mandrel; an
incorrectly designed one will bend or even break. For hose and pipe
manufacturers, this is a serious and potentially costly problem, as
extrusion dies cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Dr. Jeffrey Giacomin, a Chemical Engineering Professor at Queen’s, is
collaborating with Chanyut Kolitawong at King Mongkut’s University of
Technology in Bangkok to develop an equation to gauge the force of
the elastic liquid acting on the mandrel. Once complete, the equation
will help process engineers design mandrels stiff enough to withstand
the pressures they’re subjected to.
Giacomin has been working on this particular problem for over
20 years. “There’s a reason why this has not been conquered,” he
says. “Part of it is that the mathematics are difficult. Also, you can’t
measure the lateral force on that mandrel. All you can do is either
succeed or fail when you design a die, so no one has measured the
thing we’re trying to calculate. We just have industrial experience
that hose manufacturers in Thailand have shared with us about
what works and what doesn’t.”
These days, Kingstonians can bat, bowl and otherwise indulge in cricket thanks to electrical engineering doctoral student Mirza Tahir Ahmed.
“Back home in Pakistan, people are crazy about cricket. And here, it’s
catching on quickly,” says Ahmed, who came to Queen’s in 2011 to
complete his PhD.
Before arriving in Kingston, he recalls checking out campus on
Google Maps and noticing a green space near the county courthouse
marked “Cricket Field.” “I was happy, as wherever I go, I play cricket.”
In reality, it turned out to be a baseball diamond. Ahmed learned,
however, that Kingston does have a history with cricket. For
example, Sir John A. Macdonald’s first cabinet in 1867 declared it to
be Canada’s national sport. Ahmed had no plans to revitalize cricket
here, but eventually that’s exactly what happened.
After a cricket-less year, Ahmed and some friends advertised a free
cricket match at Queen’s for anyone who wanted to try the sport.
“We expected 40 people at the most, but 120 registered, which told
us there was a high level of interest,” says Ahmed. Both men and
women played from Queen’s and the wider community.
Soon after, Ahmed and fellow enthusiasts started the Queen’s
Cricket Club, which has about 50 members. They play two or three
games a day most weekends, often travelling to Toronto, Ottawa
and other cities.
“Many players are international
students from countries where
cricket is popular, and I’m happy
that more and more Canadians
are getting involved,” says
Ahmed.
Now his dream of a new cricket
pitch is nearly a reality. The pitch, approved recently by city council,
will be built at the Memorial Centre. “It’s a perfect location, as
it’s close to Queen’s and convenient for people from the wider
community.”
A rectangular concrete pad covered by synthetic grass, the pitch is
expected to be ready to host teams of white-clad cricketers by the
end of July. And Ahmed takes pleasure in knowing that even if he
gets a job elsewhere once his PhD is completed next year, people
will continue to play.
Asked what is most rewarding about his cricket-boosting activities,
Ahmed smiles. “At first, I knew only a couple of people from my lab,
but after doing this, I have 50 or 60 people who are close friends.
And they are not from my country of origin. This is diversity in
community. Cricket is open to everyone, and I like this.”
Email [email protected] to learn more about the local
cricket club.
C U LT U R A L CO L L A B O R AT I O N INTERNATIONAL COLL ABOR ATION
PhD candidate Chaimonkol Ngow
Professor Giacomin at North Bangkok campus entrance with statue of King Mongkut (photo by Chanyut Kolitawong)
THE COMPLETE ENGINEER SPRING/SUMMER 201410 11 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER SPRING/SUMMER 2014
International collaboration to tackle a persistent problem
International students bring cricket back to Kingston
Jeffrey Giacomin
Mirza Tahir Ahmed
12 13
For the past two years, John Armitage, Sc’12, has been exploring the globe, mostly monitoring electric arc and blast furnaces for Hatch Ltd. “I travel a lot,” he concurs. “I keep an equipment case with sensors and protective gear packed and ready to go.”
As a non-destructive testing specialist for Hatch, which has sixty-five
offices on six continents, Armitage has worked under smelters in
Austria, England, Germany, Japan, Russia, South Africa, Venezuela
and around North America.
His Queen’s education, he says,
launched him successfully into the
wider world. “I got hired at Hatch
because Queen’s campus recruiting
sessions gave me a foot in the door.”
Further, Armitage credits Queen’s
with helping him get into a
prestigious British university for
graduate studies. “One of the key
reasons that I got accepted to work
toward a master’s at Cambridge this
fall was because the professor knew
Queen’s Engineering Physics is a top
program.”
Describing his current job, Armitage says that negotiating new
cultures means you really have to remember where you are. “In
Russia, for example, I was whistling onsite and someone said, ‘Don’t,
it’s bad luck and will cause you to lose your money.’”
Then in Austria, he adds, a union rule meant employees could drink
alcohol onsite. “The guys were handing me a tall boy at 10 am,” he
recalls with a laugh. “I declined, but asked, ‘Is it allowed?’ They said,
‘Yes, and plus it’s only light beer.’”
This September, Armitage—whose father, Ian, Sc’81, is the principal
mechanical engineer at Hepburn Engineering Inc.—will begin his
studies, joining the University of Cambridge’s innovative Hetero-
Genesys Laboratory.
“I’ll be working on large-area electronics, transistors and
smartphones—hopefully developing an innovative screen
technology,” he says. His supervisor, Dr. Arokia Nathan, a Canadian,
is Chair of Photonic Systems and Displays at the University of
Cambridge’s Department of Engineering and a renowned expert
on amorphous silicon.
Armitage says Queen’s has opened doors, providing skills for his
international career, and a competitive edge to help him get into
his first choice of graduate schools. “Clearly, I’m very happy with my
Queen’s education.”
The future looks bright, and Armitage is enthusiastic about
returning to campus—albeit in England this time. “Cambridge is
fantastic! It reminds me of Kingston, but older,” he says.
ALUMNI ABROADI N T E R N AT I O N A L R E S E A R C H E R S
For Dr. Adam Clansey, life as a postdoctoral fellow in Kingston has been a cultural and professional adventure. Originally from Liverpool, he came to work at the Queen’s University Human Mobility Research Laboratory (HMRL) in September 2013 after completing his PhD in biomechanics at the University of Ulster in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Clansey’s first culinary experience was particularly memorable.
“I was walking to the university and I saw a truck selling food. So I
asked, ‘What do you recommend for breakfast?’ The man handed me
a cheeseburger and chips covered with cheese and gravy and said,
‘Welcome to Canada.’ It was poutine, at 9 am!”
The $1.5 million, 3,000-square-foot HMRL in Kingston’s Hotel Dieu
Hospital impressed him more favourably. “I was in awe when I saw
the lab, which is world class,” says Clansey, whose research interest is
clinical biomechanics and how humans move.
Nowadays, he spends most of his time in the high-tech facility.
Among other duties, he works with surgeons to analyze patient
mobility after operations such as knee replacements, monitoring
people while they’re doing more demanding activities of everyday
living—walking, jogging or going up and down stairs.
While it’s a great chance to expand his horizons, there’s been a
learning curve. “How people work here is different,” says Clansey.
“Coming from a kinesiology background and being introduced to a
mechanical engineering focus at the HMRL is a real challenge.”
Clansey credits supervisor Dr. Kevin Deluzio, the lab’s principal
investigator and a professor in the Department of Mechanical and
Materials Engineering at Queen’s, and the lab’s supportive team with
helping him to adjust.
“I’m learning what’s expected of me, gaining a better
understanding of biomechanics and becoming more diligent as a
researcher,” he says.
Outside the lab, new activities have included playing ice hockey—“I
peaked during the warm-up”—curling and downhill skiing. He’s
also learned the dangers of running outside in winter. “My face was
burning so much it kept me up nights. I thought, ‘What is this, some
strange allergy?’ Turns out it was dry skin from the cold!”
Whatever else his adopted home has in store, Clansey says he
welcomes it. “I plan to experience all I can: work hard, see the
country and stay open to the possibilities.”
HMRL: World-class facility attracts researchers from around the globe
Adam Clansey, seated, monitors a subject at the HMRL
John’s “selfie” at Cambridge
THE COMPLETE ENGINEER SPRING/SUMMER 2014
“”
One of the key
reasons that I got
accepted to work
toward a master’s
at Cambridge this
fall was because
the professor knew
Queen’s Engineering
Physics
is a top program.
Alumnus accepted to the University of Cambridge’s innovative Hetero-Genesys LaboratoryJohn Armitage
Adam Clansey
Scott Bonham, Sc’84, was a money manager of tech stocks at one of the world’s largest investment management organizations in 2000. Over dinner with newly appointed IBM president and COO Sam Palmisano, he did the unthinkable.
“I suggested IBM abandon its PC strategy,” laughs the 1984 Queen’s
electrical engineering grad. Palmisano didn’t miss a beat. “He
suggested if you don’t like our strategy, sell our stock.”
Bonham was taken aback at first, but then he figured his dinner
companion might be onto something. “All I was doing was buying
and selling stocks. I was in my late 30s. I wanted to build something
significant.” In the midst of the recession gripping the United
States, Bonham and three co-founders launched a California-based
venture capital company, GGV Capital, and staked a claim to help
entrepreneurs in and across the world’s two largest economies—
U.S. and China.
“Every day was a street fight,”
remembers Bonham of the
company’s early days. “Today it
seems obvious to invest in China,
but in 2000 no one had done it
successfully; everyone thought we
were crazy.”
The gamble paid off. Fifteen years
after that fateful dinner, GGV Capital
has $2 billion under management.
Successes include an early
investment in China e-commerce
giant Alibaba Group, widely expected to become the largest-ever
initial public offering in America since its filing in May.
Bonham attributes his success to hard work, “strategic serendipity”
and a piece of advice he received almost 30 years ago from Queen’s
School of Business faculty member Norm Macintosh. Bonham was
considering leaving his job at General Motors, where he’d worked
since graduation, to attend law school. Macintosh suggested he
apply to Harvard Business School instead.
“He gave me the idea and the confidence to apply,” says Bonham,
who earned a Harvard MBA and settled in Silicon Valley in 1989.
Bonham remembered that advice five years ago when a group of
Canadians in Silicon Valley created the C100, a non-profit focused on
helping Canadian entrepreneurs succeed in Silicon Valley through
mentorship, partnership and investment. Bonham was recently
named the C100’s co-chair, a role he says will give him the chance to
pay forward the mentorship he received from Macintosh.
“For me, it was having someone say I could do it. That nudge
was all I needed. Queen’s engineers are world-class but often
underestimate their potential. We could be the people behind the
next Google. We could change the world.”
Mining and resource extraction provide the raw materials for virtually everything people use—from steel for buildings and bridges to the high-tech circuitry in cell phones and televisions. But while the benefits of mining are endless, they also come with a price in the form of mine waste.
To help ensure that mine waste doesn’t contaminate the
environment, Dr. Heather Jamieson, a Queen’s professor in the
Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering, and
her students work in Canada and around the world to identify the
mineralogical properties that determine whether metals of concern
will remain safely contained within mine waste or be released into
air, soil, groundwater, lakes or rivers.
For instance, Jamieson is currently working with doctoral student
Anežka Radková to determine the chemical mechanisms governing
the release of antimony and arsenic into the water at a former
antimony mine in Slovakia. The work is important because while
much research has been done on arsenic, data on the behavior
and toxicity of antimony is less common, raising the possibility
that health and mining regulations relating to the metal are not as
rigorous as they might be.
“There are a lot of unknowns about how it moves into the
environment,” says Jamieson, who says Radková’s findings may
be applicable at the Beaver Brook antimony mine site in central
Newfoundland. The mine is owned by a Chinese company and is not
currently operating, but further exploration is planned for the site.
Another high-profile project of Jamieson’s involves a billion-dollar
cleanup of the now-closed Giant gold mine in Yellowknife, where
gold is contained within a mineral called arsenopyrite. When
the mine was in production between 1948 and 1999, mined
arsenopyrite was put through a process called “roasting,” which
freed up the gold for recovery but also left behind approximately
300,000 tonnes of arsenic trioxide dust. Most was stored
underground and contaminates ground and surface water. Some
of the arsenic trioxide dust is now distributed around the area in
tailings, soil and sediments in the vicinity of local water bodies such
as Great Slave Lake.
“We’re looking at the deposits in microscopic detail to figure out
whether the arsenic in the soils and sediments is sequestered in a way
that’s going to minimize the risk to ecosystem and human health or
whether it’s vulnerable to getting into the water,” says Jamieson.
Jamieson and company also work at both closed and operating
mines elsewhere in the Northwest Territories, as well as in Alaska,
Nova Scotia, and as far afield as Chile and Peru. In every case, she
says, it’s important to understand the processing history of the mine
and the environment in which the mine waste is deposited; to do
rigorous characterization of the site; and, crucially, to study the mine
waste in microscopic detail—in some cases at the nanoparticle level.
“The practical use of the research is to provide better risk assessment
and a basis for better remediation design,” says Jamieson.
Working to make mining greener at home and abroad
STUDENT PROFILESINTERNATIONAL COLL ABOR ATION
Ph
oto
: D. F
ort
in
ALUMNI ABROAD
14
“”
Every day was a
street fight. Today
it seems obvious to
invest in China, but
in 2000 no one had
done it successfully;
everyone thought we
were crazy.
Paying it forward: Helping Canadian entrepreneurs connect with Silicon Valley Scott Bonham
Heather Jamieson
15 SPRING/SUMMER 2014 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER
Heather Jamieson sampling minerals precipitated from acid rock drainage in Chile
16
INTERNATIONAL TR ANSFER STUDENTS GR AD STUDENTS PROFILES
17
Setting off on a long-haul educational adventure, international transfer student Salman Ghaffar took a direct flight from Islamabad to Toronto in August 2012. “It was the first time I’d travelled abroad,” he says. “I was a little scared as before this I’d always lived with my parents.”
After a twenty-five-hour journey, Ghaffar, who transferred to
Queen’s from Islamabad’s National University of Sciences and
Technology (NUST), one of Pakistan’s top engineering schools,
finally arrived in Kingston. “I woke up early my first morning and it
was really beautiful—especially the lake, the first place I went.”
Six months before, Ghaffar, who came to Queen’s as a second-year
electrical engineering student, had been planning to complete his
bachelor’s degree at NUST and then do his master’s abroad. “But
after hearing about Queen’s I thought, ‘Why not go now? This will be
beneficial for my career.’”
What inspired him was a presentation by two Queen’s professors
who visited NUST in February 2012. “I already knew about the
strong reputation of Queen’s. Then I was really impressed by the
talk. So I applied.”
Now in the third year of his studies, Ghaffar says he’s looking forward
to fall, when he enters the twelve- to sixteen-month Queen’s
Undergraduate Internship Program—after which he will have
earned his degree in 2016.
While he’s adapted well to life as an international transfer student,
Ghaffar says there’s been a lot to learn. Informality with professors,
for example, is one big difference. “In Pakistan, you say ‘sir’ or
‘madam.’ Calling a professor by name is disrespectful. Here, they ask,
‘Why are you calling me sir?’”
Estee Jo Mathew, who arrived in August 2013 as an international transfer student from India’s Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra (BIT Mesra), in Ranchi in the eastern state of Jharkhand, says she can relate. “Back in India, I wouldn’t dare call my professors or managers by their first names the way that’s customary here.”
Mathew, who came to Queen’s as a third-year computer engineering
student, also notes that learning methods are very different. “In
some of my classes, we used the same textbooks as we did in India,
but how we approach the material is completely different. There,
we had to memorize a lot; here, we don’t, but there are many more
assignments.”
Living in a cold country was also something new. “Luckily, I have a
friend who studies at Queen’s and who is from Kingston. She drove
me around and told me what winter clothes to get.”
Currently, Mathew’s new experiences revolve around the world of
work: she’s employed under the Queen’s Undergraduate Internship
Program as an information management technical enablement
specialist at IBM in Markham, Ontario.
The internship and the experience in two different jurisdictions
inspired her to transfer to Queen’s, she says. This fall, she will return
to campus for her fifth year and looks forward to opportunities in
both North America and India upon graduation.
What’s the best thing she’s gained as an international transfer
student? “I learned to be more flexible and adapt to new situations,”
Mathew says. “Also, the internship is the first time I’ve ever had a
nine-to-five job, so I’m learning how working life will be.”
In the future, Queen’s Engineering expects to bring more
international transfer students to campus. “We’ve been laying the
groundwork for international transfers since 2007, and our initial
International transfer students arriving, and thriving, at Queen’s
partnerships have come to fruition in recent years,” says Scott Yam,
Associate Dean (International and Special Projects) of the Faculty of
Engineering and Applied Science.
“The goal is to establish a few strong partnerships in key areas and
develop intensive relations,” he adds.
So far, memorandums of understanding have been signed with
India’s BIT Mesra and the Manipal University in Udupi in the state of
Karnataka, and with the Arab Academy of Science and Technology
in Egypt. Potential partnerships with NUST and other institutes
around the world are also being explored.
The international transfer program offers students many benefits,
says Yam. “It gives them an opportunity to participate in an
internship—to get paid and gain valuable work experience in
Canada—and opens scholarship and research opportunities to
future master’s and PhD students.”
As well, Queen’s students get a valuable chance to collaborate
with transfer students. “Canada is a trading nation with a small
population, and these incoming students will potentially serve as
our ambassadors and provide a wealth of international contacts
based on the relationships formed while they’re on campus.”
With this in mind, Yam welcomes input. “Working through the
Queen’s Engineering community is one way that we find good
partners, so we’re open to hearing from those in our network who
have any ideas.”
SPRING/SUMMER 2014 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER
In September 2013, Salmiah Nawi travelled from her home in Malaysia to Queen’s to continue work on her masters thesis, which examines rehabilitation funds regulation that requires mining companies to contribute to the fund before they receive an operating permit from the host jurisdiction. After a mine has closed for good, these funds pay for remediating the site. In Malaysia, says Nawi, mining companies pay a flat fee of $3,000 CDN, but in most cases, she says, this amount is woefully insufficient to cover costs. Nawi is studying how remediation is funded in Canada and other selected countries and gathering data to develop a formula—based on mine size, tenure, degree of environmental damage and other factors—that mining regulators in Malaysia can use to calculate an appropriate amount to be deposited in the rehabilitation fund. “When I go home, I can present my research to the government, and I hope they will use the recommendations and formula from mining companies.”
Open-pit mining is an expensive proposition, and a multitude of
internal and external factors determine a mine’s financial success.
Graduate student Sebastian Hurtado, an employee of Andes Iron
in Chile, is working with Dr. Ursula Thorley in the Robert M. Buchan
Department in Mining on a master’s thesis that will focus on how
certain mine processes can be optimized to maximize a mine’s
profitability. His research looks in part at dilution, or the amount
of waste material in mined ore, and cutoff grade optimization,
the process that determines which ore will be processed and
which should be sent to a stockpile or waste facility. “I’m trying to
understand the impact of the inadvertent inclusion of waste on the
economic performance of a mine,” says Hurtado. “The less waste
there is, the more money a mine will make.
Sebastian HurtadoMASc candidate
Salmiah NawiMASc candidate
Salman Ghaffar
Estee Jo Mathew
ALUMNI NE WS
Frosh week, first-year exams, the iron ring ceremony and
graduation are just a few of the milestones which define
an engineering student’s experience at Queen’s University.
Queen’s Young Engineering Alumni (QYea!), a Toronto-based
group of passionate young alumni, is on a mission to add one
more milestone to the list: giving back.
QYea! is the next generation of Queen’s leaders, and they
understand the importance of philanthropy in building a first-
rate university. “Queens Engineering will only thrive if more
alumni contribute time and money to the university,” says
Martha van Berkel (Garriock), Sc’00, the founding chair of QYea!
The group was created as part of the ongoing Inspiring
Greatness: The Campaign for Queen’s Engineering and is leading
the charge to create a thriving community of young engineering
alumni who start giving back right after graduation.
“We aren’t looking for large contributions. The goal is
participation achieved by offering opportunities for graduates
who are just starting their careers to contribute in ways which
excite them,” says Jim Elson, Sc’02, who took over as a co-chair
in 2013.
They are on the right track, having reached over 300 alumni in
the GTA. QYea! will be hosting their annual Welcome to Toronto
event again this September. “It provided a great networking
opportunity. I reconnected with classmates and met a lot
of engineering alumni in the city,” says one newly-minted
alumnus. Details for 2014 will follow later this summer.
To find out more, or to get involved, find QYEA! at
www.inspiring.engineering.queensu.ca/qyea, or
on Facebook at www.facebook.com/QYea.TO.
Contact them by email at [email protected].
Alumni Events
Peter MacConnachie, MSc’88, Sr. Sustainability Issues Management Specialist at Suncor Energy, addresses the sold-out conference in Ban Righ Hall.
Jim Elson, Sc’02, current co-chair of QYea!, with Damien McCotter, Sc’98, and Kevin Tanas, Sc`99
Mike Rose, Artsci’79, President, CEO and founder of Tourmaline Oil delivers his presentation “Where is the Industry Going?”
QYea!
Shane O’Leary, Sc’77, Chief Operating Officer of Gran Tierra Energy, chats with students during a break.
Michele Harradence, Sc ‘91, (centre) General Manager of Shell’s Sarnia Manufacturing Complex, with student conference delgates.
In January, alumni and friends from the oil and gas industry came to campus to share their experience, insight and knowledge at the Oil and Gas Speaker Series. This year’s theme was Future Challenges, Solutions and Opportunities.
Oil and Gas Speaker Series
This past academic year, Dr. Bob Dengler, Sc’65, visited the Robert M. Buchan Department of Mining.
Dr. Dengler speaks to mining students about mining health and safety.
Martha van Berkel, Sc’00, founding chair of QYea!, with Emily Stock, Sc’00, Krist Papadopoulas, Sc’00, and Richard Hayward, Sc’01
18 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER SPRING/SUMMER 2014 19
ALUMNI NE WS
Dean Kimberly Woodhouse and several department heads headed west in April to host Queen’s Engineering receptions at the Petroleum Club in Calgary and at the Fairmont Waterfront in Vancouver. They then turned east for a reception in Toronto.
Alumni Events
Vancouver: Sam Wong, Sc’85, Pamela Ip, Artsci’90, Karina Chan, Bobby Chiu, Sc’87
Calgary: Jamie Fitzgibbon, Sc’86, Tim Kitchen, Sc’86 Calgary: Harry Rankin, Sc’48, David Sask,
Sc’78
Vancouver: Bruce Townson, Sc’94, Michael Walsh, Sc’87,
Graham Ross, Sc’89
Calgary: Dean Kimberly Woodhouse, Michael Trowell, Sc’09
Calgary: Elizabeth Philp, Sc’12, Andrew McVicar, Sc’13, Alexander Trifunov, Sc’13
Vancouver: Mike Birk, Sc’78, MSc’81, PhD’83; Ian Lipchak, Sc’03; Christie Lyons, Sc’06; Andrew Chong, Sc’07; Connor Langford, Sc’08; Kimberly Woodhouse, Dean
Brad Lamb, Sc’84, (right) President of Brad J. Lamb Realty & Lamb Development Corp, speaks with Greg Bavington, Sc’85, Executive Director of the Queen’s Innovation Connector, before his presentation at CIRQUE.
The 2014 theme for the student-run conference CIRQUE was Engineering Potential and featured a range of industry professionals who spoke about their careers and how they apply their engineering degree in industry.
Toronto: Priyesh Intwala, Sc’09, Kadra Branker, Sc’09, Sam Leung, Sc’06, Rachel Adams, Sc’06, Kyla Sask, Sc’06, Jenna Usprech, Sc’10
Toronto: William Hendrie, Sc’68, Wasim Hassan, Sc’68, Richard Dobson, Sc’68, Dean Kimberly Woodhouse, Bruce Mitchell, Sc’68
Toronto: Wasim Hassan, Sc’68, Ilona Hassan, John Lill, Sc’73, Kamal Hassan, Sc’88, Helen Hassan
Toronto: Dean Kimberly Woodhouse, Carol Darling, Sc’78, Penny Fabbro, Sc’78, JoAnne Cavanagh Butler, Sc’78
Toronto: Richard Dobson, Sc’68, Jane Clapp, Robert Clapp, Sc’65
Toronto: Daniel Agnew, Sc’69, Thomas Hitchman, Sc’69
CIRQUE
20 THE COMPLETE ENGINEER SPRING/SUMMER 2014 21
Building Our Future. The Queen’s Innovation Commons will provide the setting for cross-faculty and cross-university collaboration. Their collective goal: driving innovation forward in Canada and beyond.
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE – Development and Alumni RelationsBeamish-Munro Hall, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6
www.inspiring.engineering.queensu.ca613-533-6000 Extension [email protected]
inspiring.engineering.queensu.ca