uofa engineer sum06

S U M M E R 2 0 0 6 W W W. E N G I N E E R I N G . U A L B E R T A . C A

Keeping in Touch with

Alumni

Double DareEntrepreneurs

K-One is a K-Win Top Jockey at Colt The Forbes 500

MechanicalPettingZoo

Vision To be one of the largest

and most accomplished engineering

teaching and research centres,

a leader in North America.

Mission To prepare top

quality engineering professionals,

to conduct world-leading research,

and to celebrate the first-class

reputation and outstanding

accomplishments of alumni.

Values Dedication, integrity,

professionalism, and excellence in

teaching, research, and service to the

global economy and community.

Faculty of ENGINEERINGUniversity of Alberta

Welcome to the Summer 2006 issue of your U of A Engineer alumni magazine. This magazine is

created and issued by the External Relations office in the Faculty of Engineering. Our mission is the

advancement of the Faculty—informing, engaging, and involving our alumni and friends of the Faculty.

Over the past six years, we have vigorously pursued our goal of encouraging alumni to collaborate with

us, building on the strong tradition of excellence in engineering. This partnership, along with a spirit of

optimism and growth, has helped build the pride we share for the Faculty of Engineering. The ongoing

involvement of Engineering alumni has been the foundation for our success.

Our desire to involve alumni with Faculty initiatives has led us to develop different

opportunities for your participation. Whether providing design engineering cases for

fourth-year design project teams, or arranging “engineer-in-residence” visits, alumni

continue to shape our present and our future. Your impact is felt in our classrooms,

labs, and lecture halls and around the world, as U of A engineers continue to influence the

engineering profession.

Our commitment is to foster a lasting relationship with our alumni and to serve

our engineering community in all its diversity. Please visit our website, contact us to find

out how you can become involved, or come to one of our many alumni receptions held

throughout the year. Don't forget to mark your calendar for our biggest alumni gathering of the year, Reunion

2006, held on the U of A campus from September 29 to October 1.

On behalf of the Faculty of Engineering, I thank all alumni, corporate partners, and professors emeriti for

continuing to strengthen and improve your Faculty of Engineering for future generations.

David M. Petis

Assistant Dean, External Relations

GreetingsDean

from the Assistant

U of A E n g i n e e r2

F E A T U R E S

6 K-One is a K-WinIn 2001, Beng Fook Lim (MSc Mechanical’99) started the K-One Group, a one-stopshop in Malaysia that designs, develops,and manufactures high-end electronic

products. Lim has nurtured thecompany from its inception to

a sales figure of $4 million USin 2004. Last year it was

ranked by DeloitteInternational as one of the 500 fastest growing technology companies in Asia

Pacific. And K-One’s key clientsinclude all the “big boys” of elec-

tronics—Sony Ericsson, Nokia, Logitech,and Hitachi, to name only a few.

C O V E R S T O R Y

10 Mechanical Petting ZooAaron Saunders (Mechanical ’00) runs amechanical petting zoo. Saunders, aproject manager with Boston Dynamics, isworking on some of the coolest robots onthe planet—robots that swim underwaterand climb walls. Many of their ideas comefrom studying the diverse motions ofliving creatures, including geckoes, cockroaches, and horses.

14 Double Dare EntrepreneursGambling on a single web page paid offfor Sam and Andy Prochazka (bothComputer ’01). Now, roughly 2,000 realestate sales agents and brokers in westernCanada subscribe to RealPageMaker, software support for realtors.RealPageMaker has agreements with agrowing number of real estate boardsincluding Edmonton, Calgary, andVancouver.

18 Marilyn’s Loss, Engineering’s Gain Marilyn Monroe might have changedeverything for T.W. Fraser Russell(Chemical ’56, MSc Chemical ’58).Although he may have missed out on thedelights of Hollywood, he has done verywell as an engineer. Dr. Russell is arenowned teacher, consultant for thechemical process industry, and chief engineer for a major research program onthin film photovoltaic cells.

of ContentsTable S u m m e r 2 0 0 6

10

18

U of A E n g i n e e r 3

D E P A R T M E N T S

5 Letter to the Editor

27 Virtual EngineerMeet Pedro Gluecksmann (Civil ’67).

34 Cross Hairs on History—From Parched Earth toFertile Field: The Storyof the Brooks AqueductAn enormous engineering challenge at the beginning ofthe last century led to the building of what was then theworld’s greatest irrigationsystem, largest human-madelake, second largest dam (afterthe Aswan Dam in Egypt), andlargest raised aqueduct sinceRoman times.

36 [email protected]

37 In memoriam

37 Reunion 2006

38 Kudos

21 Nova’s SupernovaWalentin (Val) Mirosh (Chemical ’68) wastechnically born into slavery, less than amonth before the conclusion of the SecondWorld War. Now he’s the Calgary-basedvice president of Nova Chemicals Corp. andthe company’s senior officer in Canada.

24 Top Jockey at ColtAn entrepreneurial aptitude and a lifelong love of making things led LarryBenke (Electrical ’73) through a series of career-building milestones and, ultimately, to the leadership of ColtEngineering, one of the busiest hydrocarbon process and industrial facilityengineering companies in the country.

28 The Forbes 500USA Today reported late last year thatLen Forbes (Engineering Physics ’62) was10th on a list of the top utility patent-holders in the United States. By his ownestimate, Forbes has about 500 patents,many shared with colleagues from indus-try and academia, and all held bycompanies for which he has done con-tract work during his 40-year career.

30 Green Building—A Child ofthe 60s Helps Change theWorldA champion of the cause, Ian Theaker(Mechanical ’86) advocated for greenbuilding since his high school days in the1970s. Now program manager forLeadership in Energy and EnvironmentalDesign (LEED) for the Canada GreenBuilding Council, Theaker has plans for112 building projects across Canada thatare seeking LEED certification as greenbuildings.

Bost

on D

ynam

ics


thefrom

Editor Message

It is my pleasure to introduce a new colleague, Matt

Ferguson, who is development and communications coordinator

for Mechanical Engineering. Ferguson has put together a four-

page discipline-specific insert for this magazine. If you are a

graduate of Mechanical Engineering you have received a special

issue of U of A Engineer with this insert.

This insert features Dr. Peter Flynn’s imagi-

native response to global warming. His

research involves mobilizing 8,000 barges

moving into the northern ocean in the fall, to

pump sea water. It’s a bold proposal but not

an inexpensive one. Intrigued?

The insert also introduces grad student

Erin Searcy who is spinning straw not into

gold but into alternative fuels sources. These environmentally

friendly sources of electricity result in fewer greenhouse gas

emissions than traditional fuels.

You will also become familiar with a new combustion

concept that has potential to reduce the fuel consumption of

vehicle engines while significantly lowering some of the exhaust

emissions.

If you are a graduate of a discipline other than Mechanical

Engineering and if you are interested in this insert, please

contact me at [email protected]

I hope you enjoy this special insert. In fact, I hope you enjoy

all the content in summer issue of the magazine. Feedback is

always welcome. Contact me at 780.492.4514 or at

[email protected].

UofAEngineerU of A Engineer is the Faculty

of Engineering alumni magazine.It is published three times

a year by the Dean’s Office andis distributed to Faculty of

Engineering alumni, friends, and staff.

Dean of EngineeringDavid T. Lynch

(PhD Chemical ’82), PEng

Assistant Dean, External Relations

David M. Petis

External Relations TeamMelanie Bailey, Mandi Cronin,Matt Ferguson, Peggy Hansen,Allyson Haug, Ana Herrera,

Katherine Irwin, Leanne Nickel,and Laurie Shinkaruk.

Publisher/Managing EditorSherrell Steele

Copy EditorScott Rollans

Art DirectionHalkier + Dutton Strategic

Design

Contributing writers and photographers

Bluefish Studios, BostonDynamics, Connie Bryson,

Andrea Collins, Phoebe Dey,E.I.D. Archives & Library,

Don Hammond PhotographyLtd., Tom Keyser, K-One,

Debby Waldman, and Bruce White.

Send your comments to: Sherrell Steele

Faculty of EngineeringE6-050 Engineering Teaching

& Learning ComplexUniversity of Alberta

Edmonton, AB T6G 2V4Tel: 780.492.4514 or

1.800.407.8354Fax: 780.492.0500

E-mail:[email protected]

Website: http://www.engineering.ualberta.ca

Cover photo: LittleDog fromBoston Dynamics.

Summer 2006 Issue 20

Publications Mail Agreement No. 40051128

Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to:Faculty of Engineering, University of AlbertaE6-050 Engineering Teaching & Learning ComplexEdmonton, AB T6G 2V4

e-mail: [email protected]


Dear Editor:Iam writing in reference to the article

“Restoring NA337 A Labour of Love,” by

Lois Hammond, in the summer 2005 issue of

U of A Engineer.

The article contains errors in three places,

as noted below, which are misleading and can

confuse the real circumstances. The opening

sentence of the article states, “… the Halifax

bomber was raised out of its watery grave…”

This statement is incorrect because the air-

craft referred to is NA337, which, technical-

ly, is not a bomber.

The first two sentences of paragraph eight

of the article state, “The only other Halifax in

the world sits unrestored in the Royal Air Force

Museum in Britain. ‘None exist intact today

and this makes NA337 very, very special’.”

says Tytula.

There are in fact three Halifax aircraft in

the world today—a reconstructed BMk III

bomber at Elvington, Yorkshire, the unrestored

remains of a BMk II bomber, W1048, in the

RAF Museum, Hendon, and the fully restored

NA337 in the RCAF Museum at Trenton,

Ontario. Yes, NA337 is special, but the real

reason is obscured.

Consider the following. The writer refers

to the R.C.A.F. Museum, Trenton, Ontario

(www.rcafmuseum.on.ca) and the article

under the heading “The Move of The

Halifax.” The article states,“After the Second

World War all of the remaining Halifax air-

craft were scrapped. Today, from a total of

over 6,000 which were built, only three

remain, two of which are in England: the first

a composite rebuild which incorporates parts

from other Halifaxes and another type of air-

craft [the Elvington Mk I11 bomber, my

addition], the second preserved as a crashed

aircraft [in the RAF Museum, my addition],

and now NA 337 which will be the only tech-

nically correct Mark 7 aircraft in the world.”

Anyone following the progress of this

mammoth task managed by Mr. Tytula over

the past ten years will be aware that on more

than one occasion there have been exchanges

between the Yorkshire Air Museum in

Elvington and the restoration team in

Trenton, openly mentioned in restoration

progress reports from the restoration team.

The Halifax Aircraft Association's web

page (www.halibag.com) has a link, “Other

Halifax,” which contains a write-up

(although some information is incorrect) on

Halifax LV 907, Friday the 13, which is

located at the Yorkshire Air Museum, Allied

Air Forces Memorial in Elvington, Yorkshire,

just outside the City of York. This aircraft is

a Halifax BMk I11 bomber fully restored to

WWII condition. It is housed in the Canadian

Memorial T-2 Hangar, a wartime Bomber

Command hangar, the purchase and erection

of which was funded by the Canada Branch

of the Yorkshire Air Museum.

The writer also makes reference to Mr.

Tytula's restoration progress report in “The

‘Halibag’ Newsletter,” summer 2000 issue.

Here is a selection for background, ‘The final

configuration of the restoration is not ‘cut

and dried.’ NA337 is a MK VII A Halifax

configured for special operations executive

activities. Most Canadians flew MK 111 B

(Bomber) Halifaxes and many members

would like to see this aircraft presented as a

MK 111. Some of the best examples of our

indecisiveness are … do we want HZS, a mid-

upper turret, etc. For the present we intend to

leave all options open.”

The author may be excused for perhaps

quoting Mr. Tytula out of context due to the

technical nuances of the subject matter. On the

other hand, some due diligence investigation of

the two mentioned websites should have trig-

gered questions that suggested clarification

may be necessary before publishing the article.

For general information, and to clarify the

difference between “B” and “A” types, the

following is a brief explanation of the some

of the “types” of Halifaxes produced:

Type “A” carried paratroops and supplies

and/or special agents to be dropped to resistance

groups in the occupied countries (what NA337

was performing when shot down), and as glider

tugs. This type did not have the mid-upper tur-

ret installed to provide more room for person-

nel, or the H2S radar installed on the underside.

The hole in the floor for the H2S was modified

for dropping supplies or to function as the exit

for paratroops. This is the type of Halifax pic-

tured across pages 38 and 39 in the article.

The type “B” bomber is self-explanatory.

The majority of Halifaxes built were this

type, serving with 4 Group and 6 (RCAF)

Group in RAF Bomber Command.

Type “C”, a post-war designation, is

basically a cargo aircraft and used in the

Berlin airlift.

Type “GR” is a Coastal Command version.

Regardless of these criticisms, the restora-

tion of Halifax NA 337 is a monumental and

magnificent achievement, of which Mr.

Tytula, the gifted members of the restoration

team, and the Halifax Aircraft Association

and members can be justly proud. It will

stand as an outstanding tribute to all the

Canadian men and women who served in the

Allied Air Forces during WWII, and a memo-

rial to all who gave their lives on our behalf.

Ms. Hammond's article and its publication

in the U of A Engineer are most commendable,

and I thank you for it. We in Canada have a

tendency to belittle our military participation

in WWII, but we should be very proud of the

part played by Canadians, particularly by 6

(RCAF) Group of Bomber Command.

Memorials such as NA337, right here in

Canada, will enable the next generations to

better see and understand the role our country

performed and the sacrifice paid by those men

and women who served on our behalf.

Sincerely,

KEN F. TOWNEND

(Electrical ’55)

Halifax LV 907, Friday the 13th at the Yorkshire Air Museum

Bomber Command Memorial


K-Winis aK-One

B Y P H O E B E D E Y

Beng Fook Lim (MSc Mechanical

’99) had unfinished business with the U of A.

In 1981 he was a Master’s student in engi-

neering management when he learned his

father had passed away in Malaysia. As the

eldest son, it was his duty to return home

and tend to the household. But when he left

campus, he was one class short of completing

his degree. Since his thesis was done and

K-O

ne

K-One’s mobile phone gameboard.


eA

ll ph

otos

for

this

sto

ry a

re p

orvi

ded

by K

-One

Beng Fook Lim (MSc Mechanical ’99)


knowing the course could be completed fromanywhere, Lim left with the intention of fin-ishing it from Malaysia. He just didn’t knowit would take so long.

Seventeen years later, after he was becom-ing known as an emerging entrepreneur in hiscountry, he wrote a letter to the university. Heexplained he was one course short of hisMaster’s degree, which was “way, way over-due.” By that point, Lim likely didn’t need theletters on his CV to further his career. He hadalready proved his mettle with such interna-tional companies as Mobil and TycoElectronics. But Lim recognized that a gradu-ate degree might set him apart even more.Given the go-ahead, he did the required read-ing and assignments and earned his degree 18years after he started.

His interest in engineering began when hewas a young boy. He was born in Ipoh, a town200 kilometres north of Kuala Lumpur, to afamily of 10 children. He took his early edu-cation in an Anglo-Chinese school in theregion and remembers often dismantling

things and returning them to their originalform. With six older sisters, the eldest boyoften followed his father to work and watchedas the seasoned mechanic performed his trade.

Lim left Malaysia for Sheffield, Englandwhere he completed his engineering degree in1981. When he decided to pursue a Master’sdegree in engineering management, he con-sidered a university in Oklahoma and the U of A. Edmonton won out and Lim settledinto Hub Mall, where he became accustomedto the smell of cooking food wafting up to hissmall apartment.

Then came the news about his father.After taking care of things at home, Lim tooka job with Mobil Oil Malaysia and ended upin various sales departments for eight years.With retail sales, he was in charge of lookingafter service stations. In industrial sales, headvised engineers about which lubricantswould work best at different factories. Rightbefore he left that company, he did a turn incorporate planning, which would serve himwell in the years ahead.

His next stop, at the age of 32, wasnational general manager for the engineeringgroup Renold, a U.K.-based company. Fromthere he joined AMP Products, now knownas Tyco Electronics, again as its national gen-

An emergency portable car battery charger.

A scanner that can read and translate sentences.

9U of A E n g i n e e r

eral manager for Malaysia. He was instru-mental in growing Tyco Electronics Malaysiafrom a sales operation of about $7 million USin 1992 to $50 million US in 1999. As if thatwasn’t enough, at the same time he also heldthe position of director, automotive industryfor the Association of Southeast AsianNations for two years.

Near the end of his time with Tyco, Lim hitthe books again. He finished his graduatedegree and began looking into starting his owncompany. In February 2001, along with aNorwegian partner, Bjorn Braten, he startedthe K-One Group, a one-stop shop thatdesigns, develops, and manufactures high-endelectronic products. Lim has nurtured thecompany from its inception to a sales figure of$4 million US in 2004. Last year it was rankedby Deloitte International as one of the 500fastest growing technology companies in AsiaPacific. And K-One’s key clients include all the“giants” of electronics—Sony Ericsson,Nokia, Logitech, and Hitachi, to name a few.

K-One differentiates itself by streamliningthe process from start to finish. Other compa-nies in the region focus on either manufactur-ing or designing, but not both.

As Lim explains, “Design and developmentis the engine that drives our business.”

That puts Lim behind the wheel, setting thevision and the strategy of the company.

He admits when he first started the com-pany, he had to make cold calls and knock onmany doors. It helped that Lim built up anextensive network while making deals withmultinationals when he was at Tyco.

“It gave me the opportunity to go back tomy old customer base to try to win somedeals,” he says.

“We had to start small and we won peopleover—I think mostly we won their hearts.”

K-One got its first break when SonyEricsson asked it to design and develop a carcradle for mobile phones.

“It took us a couple of months and thenthey told us, ‘since you’ve designed it, youmight as well manufacture it.’ It was a natur-al progression.”

Since then the company has also created andbuilt such items as a web camera, a pen thatcan scan, read, and then translate a sentence aswell as home-care products like vacuums.

Currently, K-One’s base is in Malaysiawith four sales offices in Europe. In the next

three years, they have big plans: they are look-ing to open a manufacturing and R&D plantin China, a manufacturing base in easternEurope, and more sales offices in Europe andNorth America. Lim, who speaks Malay,English, and four Chinese languages anddialects, wants to turn the mid-sized companyinto an international global business operat-ing on five continents.

With his combination of engineering andbusiness background, Lim is capable of making that happen.

“It certainly helps that I can understandthe engineering side, and that the engineers inthe company know that I understand whatthey are working on. Because I have a teamof design and development engineers I cancount on, I am able to focus more on thebusiness side.”

His work has paid off—not only in dollarfigures but also in national recognition. K-One has won a slew of awards in its shortexistence, including five honours given toMalaysian small- to medium-sized industriesthat have excelled in such things as sales performance, profit growth, technologyusage, and innovation.

Individually, Lim was accorded theEntrepreneur of the Year Award by theMalaysia Canada Business Council in 2004.In 2005 he was named a finalist for Ernst &Young’s Emerging Entrepreneur category inthat company’s Entrepreneur of the Year

Award. And in the fall of 2005 Lim returnedto the U of A to pick up an alumni award ofexcellence handed out by the Faculty at theuniversity’s annual reunion weekend.

Although the campus blueprint haschanged since Lim’s days as a student, hisimpressions remain strong. He easily recallsDr. J.C. Sprague (professor emeritus) and Dr.John Whittaker (Civil ’62), two engineeringprofessors who specialized in management.

“They were mentors to me and I’malways grateful to them for coaching me andfor being patient with me.”

Running a company like K-One hasalways been a dream for the father of two.Although he was the top man at TycoElectronics Malaysia, he was still an employ-ee drawing a salary.

“You can be very independent andallowed to make major decisions and set thedirection of the company, but it doesn’tbelong to you. It is so satisfying to grow asmall company that you own. I am veryproud to be associated with all these big com-panies. Whenever I travel and look at what iswritten behind the Sony Ericsson package, Isee, ‘Made in Malaysia,’ and know it is beingmade by us—K-One. It’s very rewarding.”

A car cradle formobile phones.

Phoebe Dey is an Edmonton-based freelance writer.

Mechanical Petting Zooby Bruce White

MECHANICAL

The RiSE robot usesits compliant legs toclimb a tree.


All

phot

ogra

phs

this

sto

ry:B

osto

n D

ynam

ics


uch a small dramatic event wouldprompt Aaron Saunders (Mechanical’00) to reach for a camera and note-

book to record the event.Saunders is a 28-year-old project manag-

er, working with 20 designers on some of thecoolest robots on the planet—robots thatswim underwater and climb walls. They getmany of their ideas by studying the diversemotions of living creatures, including geckoes,cockroaches and horses.

“What makes a good engineer is someonespending their life building up a catalogue

of how things move, how things fit together, what the pieces are that makedevices work. A good engineer is one whohas that catalogue and can use it to builddevices,” says Saunders.

“Great engineers, and I’ve worked with afew, are able to search through their cataloguein a creative way that nobody else is able to.”

Saunders and the robo-engineers atBoston Dynamics, located halfway betweenHarvard and MIT, have learned a lot aboutkinetics by studying the natural world. Itshows in their robots.

LittleDog is a robotic puppy that seemshesitant and unsure of its balance as it walksacross a room. BigDog likes the outdoors,where it runs on four flexible limbs the size ofhuman legs, carrying on its broad back a loadof supplies to a disaster scene.

Feisty RHex has the exuberance of aLabrador retriever as it bounds on its sixsemicircular legs over rough terrain andthrough water and mud. (But unlike any dogwe know, RHex can swim underwater.) RiSEis a slow-motion Meccano cockroach thatcan climb a tree or a brick wall.

NICALpetting

ZOOb y B r u c e W h i t e

It’s a sight that amazes many a traveller to the tropics, often while they are laid up

in bed with a stomach bug, staring at the ceiling. A little green lizard, eight or ten

centimeters from head to tail—a gecko—effortlessly climbs the wall, and just

as effortlessly begins to walk across the ceiling. Then, just as the viewer’s

amazement is wearing off, the gecko twists to one side and in a lightning-fast,

upside-down dash snatches a housefly off the ceiling for dinner.

S

The RiSE robot climbs a tree.


Most of the work at Boston Dynamics isfinanced by the U.S. military throughDARPA, the Defense Advanced ResearchProjects Agency. Robots like BigDog andRiSE have obvious potential applications forthe military, such as carrying payloads onto abattlefield or performing reconnaissance mis-sions without risking soldiers’ lives.

“Current methods are you either rush inwith guns or blow up the building with bombsand people get killed,” elaborates Saunders.“You send in a robot and it gets shot, well, arobot got shot. It’s just equipment.”

He adds that robots are ideally suited forsome kinds of reconnaissance.

“The more information that police or the military or rescue people can gather fromthe environment, the better prepared they areto go in with the right equipment and theright strategy.”

Military-nurtured technology can alsoturn out to have substantial civilian uses. Forexample, the Internet and GPS started out asmilitary secrets.

Robots are finding their way into ourgadget culture. A flying saucer-like iRobotretails for less than $150 and will vacuum thefloor while you’re out at the movies. Sony’sQRIO is a humanoid robot that can danceand play soccer. Toyota has developed robotic technology that allows a Prius to parallel park itself. Robots are exploringMars, and helped search for survivors in NewOrleans and at the World Trade Center.

Yet for Saunders, the robot age is barelygetting started.

“Pretty much every major university inthe world has some work going on in robot-ics. As for companies, our industry doesn’tquite exist yet. We’re at the forefront of whatwill become an industry just like computers.We’re not quite there yet. We’re living offresearch and development type projects.”

In a sense, Saunders began his personalresearch and development as a preschoolerplaying with Lego. And like most of hisyoung colleagues in the robotics industry,Star Wars robots R2-D2 and C-3PO were hisearly inspiration.

Later at the University of Alberta, mechan-ical engineering was his only interest. In hisfirst year, he joined a student group called theAutonomous Robotic Vehicle Project (ARVP),which was designing a robot that would beable to navigate an obstacle course.

“If there was one defining moment in myeducation, it was my involvement with studentengineering projects, because I got to startapplying my knowledge,” Saunders recalls.

“And I got to do it early. I didn’t have to study four years and then go into a job. As I was learning, I got to apply what I was learning.”

At the time he joined ARVP, the grouphad produced a 23 kilogram electric robot,but Saunders dreamt of bigger things.

Aaron Saunders(Mechanical ’00)poses with RiSE.

The RHex robotclimbs a curb.


Bruce White ([email protected])is an Edmonton-based business writerand editor.

“Aaron and his Mechanical Engineeringfriends suggested to the rest of us (mostly inElectrical and Computer Engineering) thatwe build a 362 kilogram, gas-driven,hydraulically actuated monster of a robotcalled Polar Bear,” recalls James Smith(Electrical ’98, MSc Electrical ’01), anotherstudent on the project who does robotresearch at McGill University.

“Within weeks everyone had bought intoAaron’s vision for the project. Six monthslater we had the first version of Polar Beardriving inside the Mechanical Engineeringmachine shop.”

Saunders’ Polar Bear competed in theIntelligent Ground Vehicle Competition inDetroit, winning the tug-of-war portion of thecontest so decisively that it has never been heldsince. Polar Bear, built for $25,000 in partsplus abundant free labour, also won secondprize in the design category two years in a row.

“Student projects like Polar Bear are agreat learning experience for students,” saysLeonard Swanson, an assistant dean at theFaculty of Engineering.

“These competitions provide tremendousnetworking and career opportunities andteach students how to manage projects andwork as teams.”

Saunders credits Swanson, the adviser forstudent engineering projects, for helping toinspire him to pursue his passion for robotics.

After completing his degree at the U of A,Saunders earned his Master’s in mechanicalengineering from the University of Victoria.His thesis was on underwater propulsion forrobots. He spent time at Memorial University,where there are facilities for testing underwatervehicles. Later, he became a research associatewith Smith at McGill, where his work withProfessor Martin Buehler led him to join someof the top robot designers at Boston Dynamics.

“Aaron eats, breathes and sleeps robots,”says Smith.

“When the two of us get together, ourwives roll their eyes and leave the roombecause they know the conversation alwaysturns to robots and the next cool project towork on.”

There have been plenty of those. In hisfirst year or so at Boston Dynamics, a com-pany started by a former MIT professor,Saunders worked on the teams that designedfour robots of ever-increasing capabilities.

“We’re building mechanisms today thatare extremely complex in an amazingly shorttime, primarily because we can build themand move them around in the computerbefore we produce one,” says Saunders.

“There was a day when you had to buildsomething five or six times before you couldget it the point where it worked. More oftenthan not, with a little bit of fitting, our pro-totypes work the first time that we buildthem. We can model every little bit and everylittle feature.”

The designers are driven by constant pres-sure from DARPA. Annual grants are contin-gent on producing robots capable ofperforming on a test course.

“If they’re not excited about what we aredoing then we get dropped, so we’re alwayspushing the edge, pushing the envelope,” saysSaunders.

“We want to do the hard things, like mak-ing running robots, things that are dynamic.”

So far, cockroaches are still betterclimbers than robots and much smarter;roaches manage to find their way aroundquite nicely without anyone pulling togglesor writing code. RHex needs human con-trollers within a few hundred metres to helpit find its way around a large obstacle, aidedby an on-board camera and limited telemetrysuch as orientation and compass heading.

“That will change quickly,” saysSaunders. “BigDog will roam farther from

home as new capabilities are added. Healready has cameras and laser rangefinders.The on-board global positioning systemenables its handlers to plot out his route fromA to B to C.”

BigDog and RiSE rely heavily on tactilefeedback—in effect, a sense of touch—thatallows it to measure the force its paws areapplying to the ground, detect slippage, andto adjust its speed and posture from one suitable to walking on level pavement, forexample, to one suitable for climbing over amound of sand.

If you put a tree in the middle, BigDog should be able to “see” its wayaround. But it isn’t yet sophisticated enoughto map its way around a more difficult obsta-cle without a human at the controls. As themobility problems get solved, BigDog willadd autonomy.

Like a proud parent, Saunders has a hardtime saying which robot is his favourite.

“RiSE is amazing because it climbs betterthan anything I’ve ever seen. BigDog is themost advanced quadruped in the world—it’scapable of running and balancing over roughground almost at the level of a human. RHexis amazing; it’s conceptually the simplestrobot that we have at our company. It has sixlegs and one motor on each of those legs andthe legs just rotate. I can’t say that one ofthem is my favourite—I love them all.”

Geckoes, Cockroaches, and Crabs Inspire ResearchRobotics engineers like Saunders study the biomechanics of geckoes,

those little green wonders. Engineers try to understand the compliance and flexibility of their limbs, the dynamics of how geckoes climb—pulling up and pulling in towards a wall, while loading their muscles with energy to push upwards—and how they sense the correct amount of force to use.

Geckoes’ ability to stick to walls and ceilings also inspires adhesives chemists lookingto develop the ultimate Post-It note.

Geckoes use four legs and a tail to move around. Compare this to the movement ofa cockroach, whose six legs act together as a pair of tripods. Or consider how somecrabs climb out of the water onto wet rocks, propelled by little hairs on their limbs.


by Debby Waldman

DoubleEntrepreneurs

Sam Prochazka(Computer ’01)

Dare


heir plan was to take a brief holidaybefore returning to Edmonton, wherethey’d start a company to develop an

orthodic device designed by their father.But before they had a chance to get their

start-up company off the ground, their poten-tial investors backed out. Andy took a jobwith a local company, Eleven Engineering.Sam wasn’t sure what to do.

Then his friend John Carter, a real estateagent, asked him to design a web page.

“I wanted an all-in-one software package,something that wouldautomate my business andwork as a client manage-ment and front-end mar-keting system, all the whilehelping me sell property,”says Carter, who had metthe twins a few years earli-er and knew about theirprogramming prowess.

With little else to occu-py his time, Sam threwhimself into designing a page that wouldmeet Carter’s needs. His twin brother helpedon nights and weekends. They got such acharge out of the challenge that they decidedto keep at it and create a product that couldbe used on a wider basis.

Late in 2002, about a month before theywere ready to unveil their software, anotherlocal company introduced a similar product.But the Prochazkas forged ahead. As Samsays, “We had something special to offer, andwe weren’t about to give up.”

The gamble paid off. Roughly 2,000 realestate sales agents and brokers in western

Canada now subscribe to RealPageMaker.The company is in talks with real estateboards in Toronto and Ottawa in hopes ofexpanding to those regions.

RealPageMaker allows real estate agentsand brokers to offer their services over theInternet, which is where most people nowstart their search for property. Potential buyers can go to their agent’s or broker’swebsite, request information about the typeof property they’re interested in, and get animmediate response.

Potential buyers canalso track price changes,search for foreclosures,conduct rolling home eval-uations, and find comparable properties tohelp them determine whatwill meet their needs.Because RealPageMakerhas agreements with agrowing number of realestate boards including

Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver, buyersinterested in those areas can access informa-tion as soon as a property is listed.

“We plug into the real estate data fromvarious boards we work with, and we can pipeit through to the realtors’ site,” Sam explains.

“The main benefit of that is that the realtors no longer have to refer their clientsout to mls.ca [the multiple listing serviceswebsite] or any of the other real estate board-built MLS systems.”

The Prochazka’s software is designed toimmediately notify subscribers by e-mail, PDA,phone, or pager when a property becomes

T

Andy Prochazka(Computer ’01)

Sam Prochazka (Computer ’01) was at loose ends. After spending

a year in Kentucky and Calgary, working on control systems

for Honeywell refineries in Fort McMurray, he realized that

corporate engineering wasn’t for him. Curious, energetic, and entre-

preneurial, he was eager to generate his own projects. Prochazka

handed in his letter of resignation and headed to Europe with his

identical twin, Andy (Computer ’01).

The Prochazka’ssoftware is designedto immediately notify

subscribers by e-mail, PDA, phone,

or pager when aproperty becomes

available.


mind when they started studying at the U of Ain the late 1990s. It was the era of dot.commillionaires, and they both figured they’dwind up with lucrative careers in SiliconValley, complete with signing bonuses thatincluded new cars and house down payments.

“I posted my resume on Monster.comduring the height of the boom and within oneday 15 recruiters had called and they weremaking offers,” recalls Sam, who switchedhis major from electrical to computer engi-neering because of the opportunities.

Andy, a self-described dot com era nostal-gist, was attracted to computer engineeringfrom the start.

“As I recall, it was the highest-demandengineering discipline in the Faculty. I envi-sioned a world of limitless opportunity aftergraduation.”

The brothers decided to stay in schoolrather than enter the job force early. Theyassumed the market would be even morefriendly to those with university degrees. Buttheir timing was off. Not long before theygraduated, the dot.com boom went bust.

“A lot of my friends who had lined up allthese prestigious jobs lost them even beforethey started,” Sam recalls.

“They had severance packages even beforethey began. It was pretty dramatic, and people were just struggling to find work.”

Sam and Andy gave up their Californiadot.com dreams and started a “boy band”with a U of A music student. They rentedthousands of dollars of recording equipmentto make a CD. The venture lasted two months.

“Once we put down the vocal tracks, afterputting in all this time and money, we realized

we could not sing in tune,” Andy says.It’s hard to tell if he’s kidding. According to

Sam, who is older by six minutes, Andy’s theone who inherited the musical talent fromtheir mother, cellist and U of A music profes-sor Tanya Prochazka, herself an identical twin.

Their father, Arthur Prochazka, is a neuro-scientist and professor in the Faculty ofMedicine. One grandfather was an engineerand the other was a businessperson, which could explain why the Prochazka broth-ers opted to study engineering and becomeentrepreneurs.

Their entrepreneurial spirit first manifest-ed itself at Edmonton’s Old Scona AcademicHigh School, where they set up a discountconvenience store to help students savemoney on lunch snacks.

“I’d ride my bike in with ice on my back,and Andy would have the soda,” Sam recalls.“We sold everything out of our lockers.

“We could have continued on,” Samadmits, “but we were adversely impacting theschool store and decided to shut down.”

Two years later, when the school storeceased operation, the boys were given a secondchance—this time, legit. In fact, the teachersread their daily specials along with theannouncements every morning. The brothersmade enough money to finance a subwoofersystem for their lockers which, as Andy puts it,“rumbled the foundations of the school.”

RealPageMaker has provided them with adifferent kind of success, a foundation onwhich to build their own future businesses.The nine-employee company has a mainoffice on Whyte Avenue in Edmonton, andsatellite operations in Calgary and Vancouver.

Sam travels between the three cities. Andy,who left Eleven Engineering in April 2005,was in Beijing from August 2005 to February2006. There, he studied Chinese and laid thegroundwork for Sam and Andy Inc.’s nextventure, a company that will manufacturemedical devices. The brothers kept in touchdaily, with Andy offering moral support andgraphics expertise for RealPageMaker.

“We’ve got a fairness thing going,” Samsays.

“Sam & Andy Inc., our corporation oper-ating RealPageMaker, will be the holder ofmost of these companies regardless of who isactually operating them, and that’s becausewe were raised having everything equal. Idon’t know whether that’s to our detriment

available. Potential buyers can log onto theiragent’s or broker’s website and arrange to benotified about new listings as well.

However, because the real estate board’sinformation is proprietary, agents or brokershave to give permission for clients to gainaccess to it. RealPageMaker has also simplifiedthat process with a patent-pending invention.The software is set up so that if a potentialbuyer wants access, the agent or brokerreceives a phone call, and with the press of abutton can grant the client’s request remotely.

“From the realtor’s perspective what itcomes down to is time-saving and automa-tion for me,” says Carter, who used to spendthree or four hours a day manually searchingfor properties for potential clients and thenforwarding that information, in separate e-mails, to each one.

Because RealPageMaker allows buyers tofind and weed out properties on their owntime, Carter shows only half as many homesas he used to.

“I had one client from the UnitedKingdom who found me over the Internet,”he recalls.

“We e-mailed back and forth over a cou-ple of months. He was doing all his researchon-line. He came here on a Friday andbought a place with cash on Saturday. Nowhe’s in a high-rise condo downtown.”

In November, Carter made a date with buy-ers from Nunavut who were coming toEdmonton on a house-hunting mission inJanuary with plans to move to town inFebruary.

“Without an interactive site, it’s hard todo that,” he says.

RealPageMaker is one of between 15 and20 software companies to have contractswith the residential sections of both theEdmonton and Calgary Real Estate Boards.

“Those boards don’t sign contracts withevery company that comes along,” says KeithMorrissey, the member service manager forthe Edmonton Real Estate Board.

Morrissey says he respects the Prochazkas. “They’re smart and they’re ethical. They

keep us informed with regards to upgrades totheir program and they clarify that theirupgrades remain compliant with our wishes.And they ensure that their product develop-ment is compliant with our rules.”

Designing technology to sell real estatewasn’t what the Prochazka brothers had in

RealPageMaker has provided them with a

different kind of success, a foundation on which to

build their own future businesses. The nine-

employee company has a main office on Whyte

Avenue in Edmonton, andsatellite operations in

Calgary and Vancouver.

Debby Waldman is anEdmonton-based freelance journalist.


or not, but to maintain good relations, thingshave to stay equal, and that’s one of the wayswe’ve discovered we can make that possible.”

The brothers haven’t always been socooperative.

“When we were young, there was a lot ofyelling and hitting,” Andy recalls.

“As we got older, there was more verbaltaunting. Whoever would react first was theloser, but it got to a point where neither of uswould respond, and so the verbal tormentbecame fruitless.”

Or, as Sam puts it, “We discovered in ourlate teens that rather than squabbling con-stantly, it was much more effective if weactually worked together. It was very simple:two minds were better than one and wecould out-compete most people if we workedtogether.”

It’s a philosophy that drives their currentbusiness and it is likely to play a role in eachsuccessive venture the brothers undertake.

“There are three types of twins I’m awareof,” Andy explains.

“There are the type who resent each other,who are constantly compared to each other andpitted against each other and grow up not real-ly speaking to each other. There are the twinsthat finish each other’s sentences and have a dif-ficult time making outside friends. And thereare the twins who get along, work well togeth-er, and are friends, and we are that type.”

The realtor presses “1” on the phone keypad to approve the request.

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

The website powered by RPM Professional™ processes therequest and dials out to therealtor’s phone to ask forpermission to display results.

A client submits a search request for MLS™ information directly from the real estate board (normally restricted to Realtors™).

The website processes the response, and then delivers the information to the client.

Clients

4.

3.

5.

2.

1.

UNLEASH THE POWER OF VOICE OVER WEB


Engineering’s Gainby Connie Bryson

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


“Iwent back and forth on that one:design a waste treatment plant orwork at a beautiful hotel in the moun-

tains. I ended up choosing the refinery. As itturned out, The River of No Return, a filmstarring Marilyn Monroe and RobertMitchum, was filmed in Banff that summer.My replacement was hired to teach MarilynMonroe to swim. It was the biggest mistake ofmy life. I still get a lump thinking about it.”

Maybe, but even by phone from his officeat the University of Delaware, Russell deliv-ers the story with a hint of a smile in hisvoice. Although he may have missed out onthe delights of Hollywood, he’s done verywell as an engineer.

Dr. Russell is the Allan P. ColburnProfessor of Chemical Engineering at theUniversity of Delaware. He is a renownedteacher, consultant for the chemical processindustry, and chief engineer for a majorresearch program on thin film photovoltaiccells. He has been elected to the NationalAcademy of Engineering and is a Fellow in theAmerican Institute of Chemical Engineers.

But engineering wasn’t always on his radar.As a high school student in Lethbridge, Russellhad planned on becoming a pharmacist.

“I had a very wise uncle who pointed outthat pharmacy was a job where you had todeal with a somewhat demanding public. Hedidn’t think that I had the patience to do soand suggested I get a part-time job in retailservice. I found a Saturday job at the meatcounter at Eatons and quickly learned thatcustomer service was indeed not my strongsuit. I cast about for what would be closest topharmacy; I hit upon chemical engineering.”

Russell took the train up to Edmonton in1952 and settled into a single room inAssiniboia Hall.

“Those were a great four years,” he recalls,“both for the academics and the social life.”

It was at the U of A that Russell met hiswife Shirley Ann Aldrich, who was studying

Marilyn Monroe might have changed everything for U of A engineering student T.W.

Fraser Russell (Chemical ’56, MSc Chemical ’58). In the 1950s, Russell was putting

himself through school by working summers at the British American refinery (now

Imperial Oil) in Edmonton. In the summer between third and fourth year, he was

offered a job as a lifeguard at the Banff Springs Hotel.

education. After graduation, Russell took ajob with the Alberta Research Council.

“It paid $300 a month, which was a littleless than the going rate, but you also got aMaster’s degree.”

Working with his supervisors Dr. GeorgeGovier (MSc Chemical ’45) and Dr. GordonHodgson, Russell studied the flow of oilsands crude oil in pipes. This research pro-duced the first papers published on liquid toliquid flow in pipes.

The work also brought him in contactwith Dr. Karl Clark, the oil sands pioneer. Dr.Clark thought that Russell and fellow gradu-ate student Al Sullivan should get to knowthe oil sands up close. So he took them on atrek to gather a “ton of oil sands” for labo-ratory research.

“Al and I wondered what we were going to do in the bush with this old guy,” recalls Russell.

After navigating down the ClearwaterRiver to the sampling site, the three men begandynamiting and digging out the oil sand.

“It was a hot day and I conked aboutnoon; Al lasted until 1:00 p.m. Clark, whohad stripped down to a pair of paisley boxershorts, continued on for the rest of the after-noon. After completing all the work, he madeus supper and set up camp. He ended uplooking after us two young tenderfeet.”

After earning his MSc degree, Russellwent to work as a design engineer for UnionCarbide in Montreal.

“There were only a few engineers work-ing for Union Carbide Canada at the time, sothose of us who were there were assignedprojects that engineers would normally onlybe assigned after they had five or 10 years onthe job.”

Russell was put in charge of the econom-ic evaluation, process design, design drafting,

Working at Alberta Research Council in 1957, Russell adjusts the pilot pipeline used to study oil to water flow. EDITOR’S NOTE: This photo is taken from the book Athabasca Oil Sands – FromLaboratory to Production by Mary Clark Sheppard, published by Geoscience Publishing.

Connie Bryson is an Edmonton-based freelance journalist.


construction, and start-up of chemical unitsto manufacture ethanolamines and glycolethers.

“I enjoyed the work and appreciated theexperience, but I could see that the corporatelife was not going to give me the freedom andflexibility that Shirley and I desired. Besidesthat, I really wanted to teach. A PhD seemedto be the sensible choice.”

In 1961, Russell enrolled in the PhD pro-gram at the University of Delaware. The fam-ily, now including three young boys (Bruce,Brian, and Carey), moved to Newark,Delaware.

Although Delaware was supposed to be athree- to four-year proposition, it presented anenvironment that offered the intellectual free-dom Russell craved, combined with the oppor-tunity to work on practical problems. In hislast year as a graduate student, he was asked toteach the senior-year design course. His successwith that course convinced the administrationto hire him as a faculty member. He has beenwith the University of Delaware ever since.

Russell’s early research efforts focused onmulti-phase reactor design problems. Thiswork led to consulting opportunites—first forUnion Carbide Canada and later for manycompanies including the DuPont Company. In2005, DuPont presented Russell with itsEngineering Excellence Award, recognizinghis guidance and technical leadership during30 years of service as a consultant. This wasthe first time the award had been given to anengineer from outside the company.

In 1979, Russell was asked to take on the

I’m not going to embarrass them. That’swhen you can have an effective dialogue.Students will learn a lot more this way, com-pared to classes where they just sit and copymaterial that the instructor presents from ablackboard or from PowerPoint.

“And this takes time. You have to engagestudents. You must know them by name. Youmust draw them out. At first, you’ll get two orthree of them interested. They’ll get the othersinterested. It’s greatly satisfying to have awhole class coming in to actively learn.”

While Russell’s teaching has won numer-ous awards, his most valued feedback is e-mails and letters from former students—and he receives a lot of them. Other treasuredcomments came from his wife, who was alsoa teacher. She took one of his engineeringcourses when she was doing her Master’sdegree in education.

When Shirley Russell died in 1998,Russell wanted to commemorate her in a waythat acknowledged both their contributionsto teaching. He created an endowment for ateaching fellowship at the University ofDelaware—the Fraser and Shirley RussellTeaching Fellowship. The award gives achemical engineering graduate student, usual-ly in the last year of his or her PhD, an oppor-tunity for a supervised teaching experience inthe undergraduate program. The student ismentored by an established professor.

“I thought that for the 50th anniversaryof my graduation I’d do that same kind ofthing at the University of Alberta. The Fraserand Shirley Russell Teaching Fellowship isbeing set up now, and we will have the firstteaching fellow selected by September 2006.

“A good teacher can make a huge differ-ence in their students’ lives. Teaching canturn someone around so quickly—someonewho is struggling or someone who doesn’tknow what they want to do. I’ve alwaysloved teaching. I understand there is a greatdeal of pressure on faculty these days to raisemoney for research—so much so that teach-ing can take a back seat. It’s a shame. I hopethat in a small way this fellowship can dosomething to change that.”

directorship of the university’s Institute ofEnergy Conversion (IEC), which specializes inresearch on photovoltaic cells, used to convertsunlight to electricity.

“I recognized that a key issue for the pho-tovoltaic industry is figuring out how to man-ufacture large quantities of photovoltaicmodules cheaply. Otherwise, the electricitythat comes from these modules is just tooexpensive. So we worked on laboratory-scaleexperiments to provide essential informationfor the commercial-scale manufacture of pho-tovoltaic modules.”

As a result of this focus, the IEC mademany significant contributions to thin filmphotovoltaic technology. In 1992, the labora-tory was designated as a University Center ofExcellence for Photovoltaic Research andEducation, an award previously given to onlytwo institutions in the U.S. Russell continuesas the IEC’s chief engineer.

He is also involved in the commercializa-tion of new photovoltaic technology as a

member of the board of directors ofColorado-based Ascent Solar Technologies.This development-stage company is workingon photovoltaic modules for use in satellitesand spacecraft. It is planning an initial publicoffering sometime this year.

“It’s exciting to see research move out ofthe lab,” says Russell. “I’d like to see thistechnology make a big impact.”

However, Russell considers teaching to behis greatest contribution.

“Of all the things I’ve done, I think teach-ing is where I’ve had the most positiveimpact. I truly enjoy interacting with stu-dents. My approach is to get each class to apoint where they trust me, where they know

Dr. Russell poses with the first reactorbuilt to deposit photovoltaic semiconduc-tor continuosly on a moving substrate.

“A good teacher can make

a huge difference in their

students’ lives. Teaching

can turn someone around

so quickly—someone who

is struggling or someone

who doesn’t know what

they want to do. I’ve

always loved teaching.”


NOVA’S

One day during the early 1940s, ayoung Ukrainian student namedTimothy Mirosh was striding along-

side the fast-flowing Dnieper River. Suddenly,a thrumming sound drifted down through the clouds.

Then ear-splitting noise, chaos. Dust,shrapnel, and flying debris. Before Mirosh’sblinking, disbelieving eyes, a Germanbomber had taken out a strategic bridge inhis home district, near the historic city ofPoltava, Ukraine.

Within another blink of an eye—or so itseemed in retrospect—the same student andhis youthful bride, Anna, found themselvesbeing shoved aboard a westbound boxcar,German soldiers prodding at their backs. Forthe next three years, the newlywed couple

SupernovaBy Tom Keyser

Val Mirosh(Chemical ’68)


endured a punishing life of Nazi slave labournear the city of Dresden.

So it happened that Walentin (Val)Mirosh (Chemical ’68) was technically borninto slavery. Fortunately, the infant’s captivi-ty proved to be brief and temporary. Lessthan a month later, the Allies won control ofwhat later became East Germany.

“My mother and father wound up walk-ing for 300 or 400 kilometres, with me bare-ly a few weeks old, all the way to theAmerican zone,” explains Mirosh, now theCalgary-based vice president of NovaChemicals Corp. and the company’s seniorofficer in Canada.

“My parents were among millions of eastern European refugees who becameknown as displaced persons,” says Mirosh.

“After the liberation, my father was smartenough to realize he could never go back towhat was then Soviet Russia. In Stalin’s view,those who’d been apprehended by theGermans had betrayed their country. It’s like-ly my parents would have faced a minimumof 20 years in Siberia.”

After a year or two in West Germany, the Mirosh family left Europe to join émigré relatives who had long since settled in Coleman, near southern Alberta’sCrowsnest Pass.

Today, in his early 60s, Mirosh considershimself a citizen of the world, with amplereason. An avid amateur historian, fluent inRussian and Ukrainian, he holds German,Russian, and Canadian citizenships. He hasdone business throughout Latin America,Asia, and Europe. And, in one of life’spiquant twists, he returned to Russia duringthe late 1980s, and bore witness to the crum-bling of the government-controlled, central-ized Soviet economy under MikhailGorbachev’s perestroika.

Mirosh’s low-key style belies the corpo-rate influence he has wielded over the years.His multi-faceted career has taken him fromthe Mackenzie River Valley to theArgentinian pampas, from Taipei to Moscow.

An eclectic education equipped Miroshfor his kaleidoscopic professional life. Afterhis father moved from Coleman to Calgary,to take a job as a steam engineer with theCanadian Pacific Railroad, young Valbecame a member of the first graduating classat Henry Wise Wood High School. Diploma

in hand, he continued on to earn his chemicalengineering degree at the U of A.

Like most U of A engineers, Mirosh looksback with awe when he considers the sheerintensity of the program.

“As a youngster, you certainly have youreyes opened. The studies are a shock. I’llnever forget that first year: 44 hours of classa week, including a half-day on Saturday.There wasn’t a lot of slack time.”

Dean Don Robinson and the rest of thefaculty of the day made an indelible impres-sion, helping the young gung-ho studentgrasp that textbook solutions aren’t alwaysas important as a firm command of themethodology.

“It was a rigorous program. But to mymind, it’s one of the best groundings a personcan have. When I went into law, my engineer-ing methodology was absolutely applicable.”

After adding an Master’s degree in easternCanada, Mirosh eventually returned to theEdmonton campus for his law degree. Thusuniquely armed with a double-barrelled CV,he set out on a colourful career path thatinvariably took him where the action was.

As a fledgling lawyer with MacleodDixon, a prestigious Calgary firm specializ-ing in international law, Mirosh helped nego-tiate the original agreements for theconsortium which evolved into SyncrudeCanada Ltd. Mirosh’s client was the Albertagovernment. He spent several years hammer-ing out organizational details for the project,which initially set out to determine the tech-nical and economic feasibility of extractingbitumen from the Athabasca oil sands.

During the mid-1970s, Mirosh served ascounsel for Canadian Arctic Gas Pipeline Ltd.(CAGP), one of the companies pushing hard forthe controversial Mackenzie Valley pipeline.

“I was specifically involved with the engi-neering, financial, and environmental areas,”recalls Mirosh. “My engineering training wasa great help because I could communicate withour technical experts on technical issues.”

The rising engineer/lawyer also preparedevidence, attended hearings, and conductedcross-examinations on behalf of CAGP dur-ing the federal Berger inquiry, which evaluat-ed the potential impacts of such a pipeline.After three years of patient investigation,Justice Thomas Berger effectively killed theproject, recommending that no pipeline bebuilt along the Mackenzie for at least 10years. Berger cited environmental concerns,while suggesting that any economic gainswould certainly be offset by the potential vio-lation of rights of Aboriginal Canadians liv-ing along the proposed route

“Looking back, (Berger’s recommenda-tions) may not have been such a bad thing.But I was disappointed at the time,” Miroshsays today.

“After putting that much time and effortinto a project, you like to see it come to a suc-cessful conclusion.”

Subsequently, Mirosh occupied a numberof senior executive chairs at what’s nowknown as TransCanada Corporation, andalso put in a productive stint as president ofAlberta Natural Gas Co. Ltd.

Then came Moscow. When Mirosh firstarrived in the U.S.S.R., few in the internation-al community had the slightest clue howGorbachev’s startling plan for economic, polit-ical, and social reform would shake down.

In 1987, the Soviets had tentatively begun to invite foreign commercial interestsinto the country to explore joint ventureopportunities. Canada, a more or less neutralplayer in the now-thawing Cold War, was welcomed with particular warmth. Butno matter where they came from, visitingentrepreneurs never knew quite what toexpect or how to proceed.

Nevertheless, Mirosh soon discovered com-mon ground. As he puts it, the Russians werehungry to access Canadian technology,Canadian capital, and good old-fashionedCanuck know-how. Meanwhile, Canadiancompanies saw enormous opportunities in thenew Russia, although they were hobbled byalmost total ignorance of the country’s legal sys-tem, business practices, customs, and culture.

Technically born in slavery, Mirosh considers himself a citizen of the

world. He has done business throughout Latin America, Asia,

and Europe.


“We took a position that said, ‘Let’sinvest some time and money and try tounderstand this thing, to evaluate the busi-ness potential,’” Mirosh remembers.

He started by working his contacts with-in Gazprom, the state-owned natural energymonopoly. He checked in with the Canadianembassy, while simultaneously extendingfeelers to bureaucrats within the Soviet min-istries of trade and development.

“Until that time, all Russian business hadbeen conducted through government min-istries,” recalls Mirosh.

“But they were confused too. They hadno idea what perestroika meant. They under-stood that the economy was to open up, butnobody had a clue about specifics. It waschaotic. People had no idea and many peoplein Moscow seemed dead set against it.”

In spite of the negatives and the uncertain-ty, Macleod Dixon smelled opportunity and,in the end, was able to seize and exploit it.

As a multilingual lawyer, Mirosh played arole that now sounds deceptively simple. Heand colleagues such as former diplomat PaulDrager, recruited from the commercial sectionof Moscow’s Canadian embassy, acted as bro-kers, commercial matchmakers anxious to bringtogether business players from east and west.

“Initially it was a slow process,” Miroshsays. “Those who tried to jump in and get rich quick didn’t fare so well. We shied

away from that approach. We were able tosee that this opportunity and this commit-ment had to be long-term. We wanted to dothings right.”

Not surprisingly, Macleod Dixon spentmost of its time fostering relationshipsbetween oil and gas concerns, as well asforestry and mining companies. Before long,things were rolling smoothly enough to con-vince the Calgary office to open a permanentMoscow branch, which they did in 1990.Meanwhile, Mirosh returned to his Calgarybase, making innumerable Russian trips inthe years that followed.

These were confusing, exciting, stimulat-ing times. And Mirosh clearly relishes thememories—even of the ubiquitous conartists, who seemed to turn up on everydimly-lit street corner.

“You’d get two or three people trying tosell you leases to the same resource,” Miroshlaughs. “Each would say, ‘I have the franchiseto develop this oil field. Sign a contract withme and we’ll both go to heaven together.’ Oh,there were hucksters all over the place.”

During those early days, North Americanvisitors were typically sequestered in onelarge hotel in downtown Moscow. It was cor-doned off with barbed wire, with KGB agentsstationed every few feet.

“It was upsetting for some,” recallsMirosh, citing a particular U.S. businessper-

son who “was so spooked he wouldn’t leavehis hotel room.

“He left town after a single day. He toldme, ‘I’ve got to get out of here, I can’t take it.’I suppose he had bought into the myth thatthe communists were determined to subvertthe world.”

In 2004, Mirosh returned to Calgary tojoin Nova Chemicals.

In the meantime, to bring things full cir-cle, he had made it a personal priority to takehis father home as well. After the Berlin Wallcrumbled in 1989, the elder Mirosh began tofeel comfortable with the prospect of revisit-ing his roots. Three years later, Val and hisfather returned to Ukraine, where the elderMirosh tearfully reacquainted himself withlong-lost cousins, nephews, nieces, andfriends. Although much had changed, the oldman was overwhelmed to discover that thehouse he grew up in, the old house near theDnieper, was still intact.

“His first visit home was very emotional,”nods Mirosh. “I still remember his words aswe flew back to Alberta. My father said,‘This is like a dream. I still can’t quite believeI’ve really been home.’”

calendarblurb

call forimages

Tom Keyser is a Calgary-based freelance journalist.

engineeringperspectives

20

06

Thanks for your contributions to the2006 Engineering Perspectives Calendar.

The calendar has been well received andyour donations are greatly appreciated.

If you have not yet made a donation, it is not too late!

If you were missed in the mailing, pleasecontact [email protected] for

your copy.

Do you have feedback on the 2006 calendar? Are you interested in

participating in the 2007 calendar?Contact [email protected] for

further information.

errors and omissionsAndrea Collins, writer, would like to

acknowledge the valuable research

found in Marilu Walters’ book, CKUA:

The Mouse that Roared, which assisted

greatly in the development of her article

on page 34 of the winter 2006 issue.

There was an error in the photo caption

on page 24 of the winter 2006 issue. The

ATCO Electric team responsible for the

Dover to Whitefish transmission line pro-

ject are from left to right: Ben Korbutiak

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

Steve Brusselers (Electrical ’84); Tom

Bradka (Civil ’96, MSc Civl ’97), Stan

Sladen (Electrical ’93), Sett Policicchio

(Electrical ’79), Daryl Park (Electrical ’92),

and Sik-On Yu (Civil ’74).


resh out of high school, an aspir-ing rock ’n’ roller who grew upnear the banks of the NorthSaskatchewan River was castingabout for career options. He

wondered whether his affinity for hot licksand power chords might not be his ticket to aprosperous future.

But in his heart, youthful keyboardistLarry Benke (Electrical ’73) was less thanconfident that his Edmonton garage bandcould scale the musical heights.

Benke considered architecture but, in theend, chose to advance an interest in the thennewly emerging field of electronics by apply-ing to the University of Alberta EngineeringFaculty. At the very least, he reasoned, hecould acquire enough know-how to wire uphis own vacuum-tube amplifier, somethingwith enough oomph to coax maximum vol-ume from his keyboards.

Before long, Benke was assembling andselling homemade amps as rapidly as he couldcrank them out, a cottage industry that subsi-dized his studies. As the years passed, howev-er, rock music fell by the wayside. Instead,Benke's entrepreneurial aptitude and lifelonglove of building things led him through a seriesof career-building milestones and ultimately tothe leadership of the Colt Companies, one ofCanada’s largest hydrocarbon process andindustrial facility engineering firms.

A pair of entrepreneurial visionariesnamed Ben van Zutphen and JakeHalldorson founded Colt in 1973, the sameyear young Benke aced his final exams at theU of A, turning in his last exam an hour early.Hired by Halldorson in 1977, the energetic

honour student climbed aboard as a designengineer. He distinguished himself on his firstmajor assignment, planning and building anEdmonton distribution terminal for Colt cus-tomer Imperial Oil.

Elected president of the privately heldcompany 22 years later, Benke added the titleof chief executive officer in 2006. And, glanc-ing in the rear-view mirror, it's fair to say thathe and Colt grew to maturity together. As hemoved up the ladder, the company evolvedfrom a start-up operation above a weldingshop to the single largest employer of profes-sionals in the APEGGA register. Total staff(professional and non-professional) recentlytopped 3,500.

Based in Alberta with offices in Toronto,Sarnia, and Anchorage, Colt was among thefirst Canadian firms to stake a claim toAlberta's burgeoning oil and gas develop-ment in the mid-1970s. Today, Colt contractsfor the engineering, design, and constructionof projects in heavy oil and oil sands,pipelines, refineries, gas plants, petrochemi-cal plants, and power-generating facilities.

“When I graduated from U of A, therereally weren't any significant Canadian engi-

neering companies working in the field ofhydrocarbons,” Benke says.

“But as the years have gone by, our com-petency levels have really picked up. Today,I'd match Canadian firms up against anybodyin the world. We have the experience andskills to match anyone. And it's all really hap-pened in the course of a single generation.”

A casual scan of Colt's job list turns up atruly star-studded roster of clients and high-profile contracts in the country's mostdynamic sector, including:• Genesee 3, the country's most energy-effi-

cient coal-fired power generator, built forowner EPCOR;

• MacKay River, the $290-million SteamAssisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) in-situextraction project, launched by Petro-Canada in September 2002;

• The $1 billion Long Lake SAGD project,south of Fort McMurray. As of March,2006, Colt was winding down engineer-ing for Nexen Inc. at the jobsite, whereNexen and Opti Canada will operate asjoint-venture partners.Meanwhile, Colt maintains strong busi-

ness ties with such major oil sands players asSyncrude, Shell Canada, and Suncor.

“Oil sands production projects are veryfacility intensive, requiring a great deal ofengineering,” notes Benke.

“Obviously, we're very much involvedwith a lot of the work going on near Fort McMurray.”

It's no accident that the Colt ranks arecrowded with U of A engineering alumni.More than 70 grads work out of the Calgaryoffice, with at least another 100 based in the

Top Jockey atby Tom KeyserColtF

“Today, I'd match Canadian firms up against anybody in the world. We have the

experience and skills to match anyone. And it's all really

happened in the course of a single generation.”


lt

Larry Benke (Electrical ’73)


provincial capital. Beyond that, Colt hasdemonstrated its respect for school ties in anumber of tangible ways, including develop-ment of the Certificate in Oil SandsTechnology Program and a $125,000 gift tofinance the Engineering Faculty's ColtEngineering Design Laboratory.

“The number one thing I learned in engi-neering school is that you never give up,”muses Benke, leaning back in a boardroomchair at Colt's Calgary headquarters.

“Just keep at it. You'll figure it out. Eventhings that seem impossible at the time can beaccomplished.”

With a passion to learn and a low-keystyle, Benke has always been a good listener.

Hired out of school by the California-based company C.F. Braun, Benke soonfound himself in the thick of the action,working on design and construction forImperial Oil's new $300 million StrathconaRefinery. Benke now describes that job as an“absolutely wonderful” learning experience.

Following a stint with SNC, Benkehooked up with Colt in 1977, quickly findinghis own comfort level. With the hip, energeticfounders setting the tone, Colt's closely-knitteam shared an edgy, can-do attitude that hefound congenial in the extreme.

“At Colt, they tended to commit to jobs itwould be easy to perceive were beyond theircapabilities,” Benke chuckles.

“They were always reaching to do some-thing more and had a knack for delivering it.”

In turn, Benke’s own demonstrable abilityand obvious self-confidence convinced hisbosses to give their rising star increasedresponsibility.

Asked to design a state-of-the-art distribu-tion terminal for Imperial Oil, Benke travelledwith the client to its terminals throughout thecompany, to learn exactly what they were after.

“The technology was all the latest thing,except they were using traditional, pre-tran-sistor switching devices known as relays,” he remembers.

“When I added up all the features theywanted in the new terminal, I would haveneeded a cabinet of relays 2.4 metres tall and about 21.3 metres long.”

Benke shakes his head. “Today, the chipin your pocket calculator could do that job.”

To Benke's mind, the use of relays wasn'tfeasible. So he dug in his heels and argued infavour of programmable controllers, then aspanking new technological toy. But the cus-tomer balked. So did Halldorson.

“Within a week, I got a call from Imperial.They sent out two senior instrument guys toaudit my design,” recalls Benke.

“After a meeting that lasted all afternoon,they gave me their blessing. Then Jake calledand asked for a meeting. I had to pass histest, too.”

In the end, Benke got his way and Imperialwound up with a fully functional terminal. Inthe mid 80s, while working as a Colt projectmanager, Benke led a series of projects forSyncrude. The company was experimentingwith changing their mining technology to truckand shovel.

“It was very exciting. We were applyingnew technology—everything was either thefirst time, or the biggest, or maybe both. Itamazes me today to see how those initial, ten-tative steps have now become the standard for

all oil sand mining operations. It was a veryrewarding part of my career.”

Having established a reputation as anentrepreneurial builder, Benke was nextasked to establish a Colt Engineering beach-head in Toronto—his toughest assignment.He flew out on his own in 1988, “just me andmy suitcases. I remember the whole experi-ence rather vividly. It was a much-prizedchance to test myself in the way Jake and Benhad.” Benke pauses for effect.

“I wasn't there terribly long before I real-ized there was no oil industry in Toronto!”

Today, Colt’s thriving Ontario offices inToronto and Sarnia employ 300 peopleapiece. But back then, the company was facedwith building a customer base from scratchwhile simultaneously attracting fresh recruits.

“It’s not something I think you’d volun-teer to do twice” says Benke.

Restricted by a tight budget, Benke remem-bers sweet-talking his brother, then employedby Edmonton Telephones, to fly east and wireColt's new office because he thought the quotefrom local installers was “highway robbery.”

After managing to land a couple of key con-tracts, Benke was able to breathe somewhatmore easily, particularly after the Torontooffice came in under budget on a job thatincluded “a substantial risk/reward element”for joint venture owners Suncor and Ultramarin the early 1990s. Another high-tech distribu-tion terminal, the task took 40 new staffersabout 18 months to complete.

“That's the job that set us seriously rollingalong in the east,” he says.

“Today, we'd handle several similar, evenmore complex, jobs simultaneously.”

Colt's president/CEO uses his own earlyexperiences as a template for staff develop-ment strategies.

“I do try hard to perpetuate the can-dospirit that Zutphen and Halldorson brought tothe company in the early days. My executiveteam is always trying to create opportunitiesfor our younger people to grow their careers—just the way my bosses did for me. Being ableto perpetuate that Colt value would be a wonderful legacy!”

“The number one thing I learned in engineering school is that you never give up. Just keep at it.

You’ll figure it out.

Tom Keyser is a Calgary-based freelance journalist.

The EPCOR Genesee 3power generator.

EPC

OR


What has been your career path fromgraduation to now?

All through my career I have been work-ing in the field of transportation engineeringwhich comprises transportation studies,urban highway engineering, traffic engineer-ing, and urban planning, and related fields.

What has been the mostmemorable/exciting/disappointing/chal-lenging/rewarding aspect of your careerthus far?

In the profession, I got to be quite good atwhat I was doing, and gathered much experi-ence to the point I was appointed assistant pro-fessor in the Central University of Venezuela, aposition I held for four consecutive years.

What has been your proudest achieve-ment, personally, professionally orsocially?

It has been 38 years since graduation. Ispent at least 30 of these years actively in theprofession. I gained many rewards and nom-inations. As well, as I wrote three books onengineering-related subjects. Now I havedecided to explore other fields in the world ofart (painting and sculptures) which is a veryimportant aspect of my life. I have alsoembarked on a world tour with my own sail-boat and visit many countries and cultures. Iam also preparing a virtual magazine to sharemy experiences.

What is so important and being good inEnglish language and writing?

This is a very important subject. Mostengineering students and, for that matter,graduated engineers give little priority to the

English language and writing. As I found outlater in life and in practising the profession,good writing is just as important as the tech-nical skills. If you can’t write, you can’texpress your thoughts; therefore, you can’twrite good reports, and thus you will be con-sidered an engineer with little opportunity inthe profession.

What have been your greatest disap-pointments or lessons learned?

An important lesson learned is that whenasked to define alternatives to a specific pro-ject I came to the conclusion that there can’tbe alternatives to an engineering project,since there is only one that is the best and theonly one that works exactly as required. Allother alternatives have some kind of consid-eration of economy, political aspect, personallikings, simplicity, corruption of some sort,etc. Most alternatives have nothing to dowith engineering. Other alternatives fall shortof the best thing.

How did your education or experience at Faculty of Engineering/University ofAlberta equip you for your work?

In the Faculty of Engineering you aretaught the academic principles of engineer-ing. If you need to know more in a specificfield you must go to graduate school or gothrough the “University of Life.” You mustbe very consistent, autodidactic, and getinvolved in as many associations as possibleand be a promoter of projects and soundpolicies.

What are the greatest challenges facingthe engineering profession in the yearsahead?

The Engineering profession auto-generatesits own challenges because life without engi-neers would not be possible in the modernworld.

What emotional/sentimental/intellectu-al/professional connections/associationsstill remain with the Faculty ofEngineering/University of Alberta?

There is always the spirit of the professionthis is the basic aspect of the pride of being anengineer. It takes some doing, especially tograduate and to become an engineer in the firstplace. I have always regarded being an engi-neer as the most important decision in my life.

What messages do you have for poten-tial students, undergraduates, and youngprofessionals just entering their fields?

I’d like to provide encouragement foryoung engineers. Perseverance in improvingthe profession is paramount. Challenges willcome. Watch for them, spot them in time tocatch them, because if you don’t, the challengewill quickly be taken up by someone else.

Be patient. Progress in the field of engi-neering comes all by itself. No new graduatecan expect big responsibilities right awaybecause it takes experience to master the pro-fession. There is absolutely no substitute forexperience.

EngineerVirtual

U of A Engineering alumni are making an impact acrossCanada and around the world. “Virtual Engineer” featureson-line interviews with alumni working outside of Edmonton.

PedroGluecksmann

(Civil ’67)


FORBESthe

500

By his own estimate, Forbes has (orshares) about 500 patents, all held bycompanies for which he’s done con-

tract work during his 40-year career. Mostare held by Micron Technology, an Idahosemiconductor memory manufacturer. Forbeshas consulted for the company since 1996.

Micron was a new company then, lookingfor people with experience in semiconduc-tors. By that time, Forbes had spent yearsworking with some of the best people in theindustry, something that might not have hap-pened had it not been for the U of A.

“I was very fortunate,” he recalls. “There were a couple of guys who had

gone to the University of Illinois and hadcome back and were professors at the U of Ain 1961. That’s where I learned about theUniversity of Illinois.”

Forbes spent a year in Illinois earning hisMaster’s degree before leaving to serve in theCanadian Air Force for three years. In 1966,he returned to Illinois to earn his PhD.

There were about a dozen students in thelab where Forbes worked, all given the free-dom to study various aspects of semiconduc-tors. About a year-and-a-half into the PhDprogram, Forbes discovered a technique forcharacterizing impurities in semiconductors.The technique involved applying a stimulusto a diode and observing the time-dependentresponse of the subsequent electrical signal.The length of the response indicated a partic-ular impurity.

And so, instead of sticking with his origi-nal dissertation topic, equivalent circuit sim-ulation, Forbes focused on gold doping insilicon, a process to introduce gold into thesemiconductor silicon to control the lifetimeof electrons in the material. It was his firstpatent-worthy work, and it would have last-ing implications on science.

“We were fairly young and we weren’tbeing too careful about who we told aboutit,” he recalls.

“Some other people picked it up and ranwith it, and ran way ahead of us and made asignificant refinement.”

Those other researchers were at AT&TBell Labs. They had the experience andresources to make a difference. They also hadthe sense of responsibility to credit the origi-nal sources, something for which Forbes isstill grateful.

USA Today reported late last year that Len Forbes (Engineering Physics

’62) was 10th on a list of the top utility patent-holders in the United

States.The announcement took the Oregon State University professor by

surprise—though, in truth, it shouldn’t have. BY DEBBY WALDMAN


“They referenced us,” he says. “It was good, in the sense that it became

well known. Over my career, I’ve gotten a lotof credit for it.”

But credit isn’t the reason Forbes keepscoming up with idea after patentable idea.He’s a problem solver at heart. He’s been onesince his childhood in Hythe, in northernAlberta, when an interest in electronics ledhim to experiment with building electronicdevices. It’s what drew him to the U of A and,eventually, south of the border.

Forbes’ first job after earning his U of Adegree was at IBM in suburban New York.From there he went to IBM in Manassas,Virginia, where he specialized in semiconduc-tor integrated circuits. While in Virginia, hetaught one day a week at Howard Universityin nearby Washington, D.C., where hisappetite for an academic acareer was whetted.

“I preferred to have the freedom of a freeschedule and the freedom to go wherever Iwanted, whenever I liked,” he says.

“My preference is always for an academ-ic life. Even though the hours may be muchlonger, I get to set the hours and go where Ilike, for the most part.”

Where he went next was the University ofArkansas in Fayetteville. There he made hisproudest discovery, and also received his firstpatent—but not for the same thing.

The patent was for work he did withTelex Computer Products in Tulsa,Oklahoma, on a process to make memorydevices. The discovery that he feels is hismost significant was a circuit for transistors,now known as a pseudo-nMOS.

That said, Forbes doesn’t really thinkabout patents much these days.

“Basically what I do is pick a topic and letmy mind wander on that topic and see whatit might come up with that might be useful,”he says.

He gets his ideas from attending confer-ences, reading, and searching the Internet.

“Nowadays you can search several mil-lion technical publications on-line in myfield. Even now, Google has an amazing number of technical items because people are posting their research on the Internet. Soyou have access to millions of documents,publications, or patents.”

Forbes himself hasn’t kept track of everyone of his patents. Many are for processes or

discoveries that may not be used, and othersare for processes and patents that were onlyused for a short time. Also, because the rightsare held by companies and not by him per-sonally, he doesn’t stand to profit from them.

“If someone comes up with a particularnew process and they patent it and personallyown the patent rights to it, and that processbecomes widely used in the industry, they cancollect royalties and fees from any industrythat uses it and can become, literally, quiterich,” he says.

“Some of them are worth a lot of money,but that’s the exception, not the rule.”

Then there’s the issue of collecting royaltypayments if other companies use thoseprocesses or devices without permission. Thisrequires enforcement, which isn’t always pos-sible or done.

“The problem in high technology is it’sextremely difficult to ascertain if someone isusing that process or technology. Particularlyif it is a process, because there are many dif-ferent ways of arriving at the same product.”

At Micron, most of Forbes’ patents havehad to do with nanoscale memories, in whichparticles consisting of a few atoms are used tostore an electrical charge. Forbes is not yetsure how and where many of the patents willbe used.

Most of his academic work focuses onnanoscale devices and the limits imposed bynoise. In electrical engineering, noise isdefined as the electrical signals that resultfrom the random motions of electrons in awire or device, or the random trapping andrelease of electrons from impurities. Asmicroprocessors grow smaller and voltagesdecrease, fundamental limits will be imposedby noise; there are likely to be more glitches,

or error rates. Forbes is trying to ascertainwhat the limit is—how small the devices canbecome before error rates become a problem.

His interest in nanoscale memories wasreinforced by a visit to Dr. Michael Brett inEngineering Physics at the U of A, and alsoby a tour of the National Institute forNanotechnology at the U of A.

“It’s really impressive,” he says. “All thatmoney they’re spending on electrical engineer-ing and nanoengineering, we could never hopefor anything like that. Maybe some of the top10 schools in the U.S. might have instituteslike that, but the smaller schools wouldn’t.”

But Forbes believes that students studyingat the U of A will likely face the same prob-lems as those at any U.S. institution, which isthat much of the work for which they’rebeing trained has moved overseas, particular-ly to China and Korea.

Forbes is curious, but not eager, to addregular trips to Asia to his schedule. At 66, hehas come to see travel as more burdensomethan exciting.

Travel perks and credit have never beenthe driving force in his work. In fact, whathe’s most proud of isn’t the number of papersand patents to his name; it’s that, after 40years, he’s still productive.

“I think when you reach the end of yourlife,” he says, “you’d like to look back andsay you made some positive contributions tothe world.”

It’s probably safe to assume Forbes will beable to do just that.

Debby Waldman is an Edmonton-based freelance journalist.

This is part of one of Forbes' U.S. patents, a memory array with vertical nanoscale transistors.


s an urban people, we spend much ofour lives indoors. A substantialchunk of our environmental impactderives from our buildings: the landthey use, the energy we consume to

heat or cool them, the water we use while we’rein them, and the effects of harvesting and man-ufacturing building materials.

Yet most of us probably don’t give muchthought to the environmental implications of buildings.

Not so for Ian Theaker (Mechanical ’86),a U of A engineer near the heart of Canada’semerging green building movement. Theakeris the program manager for Leadership inEnergy and Environmental Design (LEED),for the Canada Green Building Council.

Sharing a small, environmentally-friendlyoffice at Vancouver Island Technology Parkin Victoria, Theaker has within reach of hisdesk the plans for 112 building projectsacross Canada that are seeking LEED certifi-cation as green buildings.

Before Theaker and his colleagues certifya project for LEED, they carefully assess thebuilding and its site. They look at the energythe building will consume for heating and

lighting, as well as water consumption bothinside and out. They calculate how the natur-al light is used in work spaces and how solarheat is stored away in a thermal mass forwinter. They look at the landscaping (lush,green lawns are a no-no) and what happensto the runoff oil drippings from cars in theparking lot. Inside, there are other issues toconsider, such as air quality and the environ-mental impact of building materials—evenhow the toilets flush. It all adds up.

Using a point system, they assess theplans. The first step is LEED registration,awarded provisionally to the building if plansare up to scratch. Then, once the building iscompleted, it is certified as a LEED building.Successful projects are rated as either silver orgold buildings.

“From our point of view, a green buildingis first and foremost a very high-qualitybuilding,” says Theaker.

“Green buildings are also commerciallysuccessful, because companies and peopleprefer to lease space in green buildings.”

Portland, Oregon is the North Americanbeachhead for the green building movement.A major developer in Portland has decided

to green all its buildings. Nike, the runningshoe company based there, will have a green headquarters. And a Honda car manu-facturing plant near Portland is a LEED gold building.

While green movements are nothing newto the west coast, they’re now popping up inthe most surprising places, including theMotor City itself.

“Ford Motor Company’s original Model-T plant, the River Rouge plant, their biggestfacility—they’ve decided they’re going tohave the largest green building in the world,”Theaker says.

LEED is reaching takeoff velocity inCanada as well. The City of Calgary has a pol-icy of designing all new buildings over 5,000square metres to LEED certification standards.Vancouver also has adopted LEED, and otherCanadian cities will soon follow.

Thomas Sutherland, a partner withEdmonton-based architecture firm CohosEvamy, says LEED is on the verge of becom-ing mainstream in the public sector, but lagsa bit in the private sector.

“Where you see it most on the private sideis at the higher end,” he says.

greenbuildingA Child of the 60s Helps Change the Worldb y B r u c e W h i t e

A

Blue

fish

Stud

ios


nding

Ian Theaker(Mechanical ’86)


In Edmonton, LEED projects include soft-ware developer Intuit Canada’s headquartersand construction giant PCL’s new CentennialLearning Centre.

While LEED has its champions in thedesign community, it still takes some sellingfrom an architect to convince clients to go green.

Fees charged for LEED certification (cur-rently between $3,500 and $16,000) can bean issue, as well as the documentationrequired for the certification process. Criticsdismiss LEED as a “points-chasing exercise”and claim that its standards can be met with-out the expense and bother of registering.The biggest sticking point, however, is thatgreen buildings are more complex to designand construction costs are higher.

“Clients whose budgets are stretched tothe max are always at the end of the day try-ing to balance off whether they would ratherpurchase more space or would they ratherpurchase better space,” Sutherland explains.

Currently, government and major corpora-tions are the biggest adopters of LEED becausethey are willing to look at costs through theentire lifecycle of a building. But Sutherland,

The BC CancerResearch Centre

Blue

fish

Stud

ios

PCL’s CentennialLearning Centre


one of more than 25 LEED-accredited profes-sionals in his firm, predicts that LEED standards will become a mandatory part of allnew buildings.

“Groups like the Green Building Councilhave an important role in making that happen.They’re like a standard-bearer, an avant-gardefor the movement.”

Theaker has championed the cause ofgreen building since his high school days inthe 1970s, when he skipped classes to godown to the University of Toronto library toread about solar energy.

During a hiatus in his formal educationbetween high school and engineering school,Theaker learned about buildings and energyfrom the ground up. He framed houses for acouple of years. He went to Fort McMurrayto work for Bechtel as a construction assistanthelping to build Syncrude. In the 1980s, hemoved to Edmonton and went back to school.

In his final year at the U of A, Theaker wasa research assistant for Dr. David Wilson,doing work for the Alberta Home HeatingResearch Institute. They tested six houses ofvarious construction for their energy con-sumption in prairie conditions—doing auto-mated blower-door tests to measure theleakiness of buildings.

“It’s probably one of the best databasesaround on what happens with building leak-age when winds are from different directions,at different temperatures outside and differentconditions inside, and different kinds of con-struction,” Theaker says.

After he graduated, Theaker threw every-thing he could fit into a pickup truck and drove to Toronto. His grasp of a newsoftware application, AutoCAD, helped himget a job with MCW Consultants, a mechan-ical, electrical, and building engineering firm.He spent three years in Toronto and twomore in MCW’s Vancouver office working onbuilding mechanical systems before leavingthe firm.

“They weren’t doing, to me, very interest-ing projects,” says Theaker. “I wanted to findthe people on the coast who were doing solarbuilding. In the course of that summer, I ranacross the pioneers of this business in B.C.”

He began doing contract work, and soonhad a long-term client in BC BuildingsCorporation (BCBC). For BCBC, Theakerworked on natural lighting for offices and didone of the first studies of the energy consump-

tion and heat output of office equipment.“Working with a group like BCBC is

particularly rewarding because you’re work-ing on actual problems with real buildings,”says Theaker.

“It wasn’t academic research, but gettingout there to measure how things work in thereal world.

“With building energy simulations, you’retrying to figure out how everything in a build-ing affects its energy consumption—what thewalls are made of, what the windows are,how much airflow there is, how much it leaks,how much water is used. In order to accu-rately model a building’s energy consumption,you have to know that building really, reallyintimately—ideally to three decimal places onseveral hundreds of parameters.”

In the 1990s, Theaker joined SheltairScientific Ltd., a new environmentally orientedfirm in Vancouver. That led to the opportunityto help write urban design guidelines for SantaMonica, California, a green island in the greaturban sprawl that is Los Angeles.

“They are serious about reducing theircity’s environmental impact in every way—waste management, energy consumption,water consumption, planting more trees,”Theaker says.

The resulting Green Design Guidelines forSanta Monica is one of the pioneering docu-ments of its kind. Completed in 1999, it con-tains 14 guidelines on water consumptionalone, including collecting rainwater andgrey water to irrigate landscaping.

After finishing the California project,which involved working for three years witha team of 13 people spread from the GulfIslands to Texas, “I was pretty seriouslycrispy around the edges,” Theaker admits.

It was time for a sabbatical. Theaker want-ed to meet the people who design and operatethe world’s most advanced green buildings.Germany, Scandinavia, Holland, and to someextent Britain, are a decade ahead of NorthAmerica in green building design.

Despite the movement’s current vogue,Theaker discovered many green building con-cepts aren’t really new.

“One of the hot issues right now is natur-al ventilation,” Theaker explains.

“You bring fresh air in under the floornear where the people are, and they breathethe freshened air and it picks up heat andcontaminants as it rises up to get sucked out

of the top of the room. For the past six years,people have been touting this as the latest andthe greatest. Well, this was done in the BritishHouses of Parliament in the 1870s.

“Another thing we’re telling people nowin terms of day lighting and passive solar is to make your ceilings tall and your windowstall so that light penetrates deep into theroom and you don’t have to use electricity forlighting. Well, British cathedrals have beendoing that for centuries—bringing light deepinto a space.”

From Europe, Theaker took the long wayhome via southeast Asia, posting a 47,000-word green building and travel journal on theInternet as he went.

Returning to Vancouver, he worked on apilot project for the B.C. government to buildfour primary schools across the province.

They even talked about doing a green prisonin Abbottsford, but that never happened, toTheaker’s great disappointment.

Like a rolling stone, Theaker’s career wassoon on the move again—this time to theCanada Green Building Council and theLEED program.

In a way, he’s where he always wanted to be.

“I was born at the tail end of the babyboom in 1957,” he says.

“I grew up with all of the values of the1960s—the central ones that resonated withme were ecological. It seemed obvious to methat the way we lived then, and now, was notsomething that we would be able to maintainas a species.

“One thing that resonated with me wasbuildings. They are a third of the ecologicalfootprint of our society. Here’s a place whereI could contribute, could use some creativity,and it was very worthwhile doing.”

Blue

fish

Stud

ios

Bruce White ([email protected]) is anEdmonton-based business writer and editor.

“I grew up with all the values of the 1960s–the central ones that resonated with me were ecological.”


on HistoryCross Hairs

Southeast Alberta—vast tracts of aridland, sagebrush and cacti, little rain,evaporation from heat and wind,runoff over the hard-packed

ground—not a promising place to farm. Or isit? That’s the question the Canadian govern-ment officials set out to solve a century ago. They encouraged a business partner,Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), to sink itsresources into the case and invest in buildingan irrigation system to rival ancient Rome.After spending millions of dollars, the CPRthrew up its hands and flung the land and theirrigation system back at a stalwart group ofAlberta pioneers who continue to operate itto this day.

That engineering challenge, at the begin-ning of the last century, led to the building ofwhat was then the “world’s greatest irriga-tion system,” featuring the largest humanmade lake, second largest dam (after theAswan Dam in Egypt), and largest raisedaqueduct since Roman times.

But let’s start at the beginning. The firstrecorded construction of an aqueduct was inAssyria in 691 BC, consisting of a dam andmasonry channel that sometimes bridged val-

leys on arches. It was 56 metres long andwatered the fields and palace gardens northof Ninevah. The Greeks built their first aque-duct on the island of Samos in 530 BC, butthe Romans perfected the art and engineeringfrom 200 BC on. Although ravaged by time,ancient aqueducts were built to last centuries.Roman engineers carefully chose appropriatematerials, designs, and skilled workmen, andorganized these complex forces to maximizethe results.

The CPR engineers who built the BrooksAqueduct should have heeded that example.CPR got involved when the Canadian govern-ment offered it incentives, mostly land, tobuild a transcontinental railway. But the landin southeastern Alberta appeared useless—sodry (with an average rainfall of less than 30centimetres a year) no one wanted to settlethere—and the railway would not have beenable to profit from land sales or the trans-portation of goods.

The federal government convinced CPRthat the land only needed water to becomefertile, and that CPR could obligingly providethat water if it became a licensed irrigationcompany. CPR fell for the ploy and, in an

agreement signed in 1902, was given 15 yearsto complete one of the modern world’slargest irrigation projects.

Fired with enthusiasm, driven by dead-lines, and motivated by money, CPR engi-neers completed a number of small canalsand wooden siphons before they began theHerculean task of building the massiveBassano Dam and the innovative BrooksAqueduct over a span of four years. Thedesigns were daring for the day and drew theattention of engineers and media fromaround the world.

The Bassano Dam consists of a dam andconcrete spillway, designed to trap the watersof the Bow River at a horseshoe shaped bend.Built in 1910–14 at a cost of $17 million, thecomplex project involved the removal of overhalf a million cubic metres of earth by horseand wagon, building a spillway comprised of42,000 cubic metres of concrete and more thanfour million kilograms of reinforced and struc-tural steel, and constructing a dam 2,200metres long. The Bassano Dam remains thelifeblood of the Eastern Irrigation District (EID).

The water from the Bassano Dam flowseast eight kilometres and then splits north and

From Parched Earth to Fertile Field:The Story of the Brooks Aqueduct

by Andrea Collins

The Brooks Aqueduct,July 24, 1915.

E.I.D

.Arc

hive

s &

Lib

rary


east. Most of the water in the eastward leg endsup at Lake Newell, believed to be the largesthuman-made lake in the world with 225 billionlitres of water contained in a depression 16kilometres long and 6.5 kilometres wide.

But how to get the water from the reser-voir to the land without losing elevation overthe many small valleys along the way? Thiswas the problem Hugh Muckleston, CPR’schief engineer on the irrigation project, had toresolve. Though there were several optionsavailable, Muckleston made a startling choicegiven the remote location and lack of men andmachines: an elevated canal or aqueduct.

Not only had there never been a canal solong (3.2 kilometres), there had never been anelevated structure of such magnitude (20metres high) built of concrete. Muckleston pro-posed a new design, a flume with a hydrostaticcatenary curve mounted on 1,030 columns,complete with an inverted siphon to go underthe CPR main line. A catenary-shaped flumehad never been used in an aqueduct before, ortested in a water channeling system. However,Muckeston believed it would provide maxi-mum stability and allow for a greater flow ofwater. He also chose to suspend the barrel,rather than support it from below. And he pro-posed that the barrel be constructed from rein-forced concrete made from the newlydeveloped Portland cement, a recreation of thehydraulic cement of ancient Rome. Portlandcement was still at the experimental stage andwas, as one engineer historian notes, “a mater-ial regarded with some suspicion”.

Their failure to test the materials or designwould come back to haunt the CPR engineers,as would their inadequate supervision during

construction. With money on the table, con-tractors grabbed whatever materials and menthey could find, and went to work. Pay wasdoled out by the quantity of work, not thequality, so corners were often cut. With only13 supervisors for 300 men allocated to 38construction crews in the whole far-flung dis-trict, there was no one to blow the whistle.(One study, conducted years later, showedthat where the specs call for a concrete pourof 20 centimetres deep in the barrel, manyplaces measure only eight to 10 centimetres.)

According to F.G. Cross in a 1928 report,“Hustle was the order of the day and con-tractors were urged on to expediency by apenalty clause hanging over their heads incase they failed to fulfill their contract by astipulated date. In other words—to take adeep breath was fatal.”

The nearest lab for testing concrete was inWinnipeg, but impatient contractors rarelywaited for the results and did not replace faulty

materials when the results were negative. In thefirst weeks of work in 1912, they used localgravel of inferior grade that soon caused crum-bling. There was also little water at the site formixing the cement, so it had to be hauled in bytrain from Suffield, 65 kilometres away. Steelreinforcing bars were also in scarce supplylocally and were shipped out from Winnipeg atgreat expense.

But still the great edifice went up, metreby metre, to its completed length. Its rein-forced concrete flume was 3,195 metres, withdouble expansion joints made of copperevery 24 metres. The perimeter of the barrelwas 10 metres, the top more than 6.86metres, and the depth nearly 2.6 metres. Ninehundred thousand kilograms of reinforcingsteel were used, and 18,579 cubic metres ofconcrete was poured. It took three seasons(1912–1914) to complete, at a cost of$600,000. It supplied enough water to irri-gate 50,600 hectares of land.

The aqueduct’s construction riveted theattention of engineers worldwide. ScientificAmerican published praise and details of theBassano Dam, Lake Newell, and the BrooksAqueduct in 1916, as did Engineering Newsand Canadian Engineer.

The glory was short-lived. The aqueductwas never able to deliver the 900 cubic feetper second (cfs) flow anticipated by itsdesigners. It reached only a maximum of 640cfs, mainly due to blocking and leaking of itstransverse beams. It required major repairsshortly after its completion because of thedesign (which encouraged a concentration ofalkali at lower elevations), faulty construc-tion and materials, and the frost action andsevere weather conditions of prairie Canada.

CPR maintained the aqueduct until 1935,and then proposed closing this gigantic whiteelephant. Drought-stricken farmers panickedand rallied, proposing to take over the owner-ship and operations. CP agreed, turned overthe land, and gave them an operating loan of$300,000. They surprisingly hired the originalengineer, Muckleston, then a private consul-tant, to inspect the structure and make recom-mendations to their Irrigation Council prior topurchase. His report ends on an optimisticnote: “I have been surprised at the excellentcondition of this structure. …I do not antici-pate any further concentrated expenditure on

Brooks Aqueduct Technical StatisticsTop width of barrel 6.86 m

Depth 2.6 m

Length 3186 m

Elevation drop (approx.) 1.7 m

Maximum height 18.6 m

Anticipated capacity 900 cfs (25 cms)

Achieved capacity 640 cfs

Perimeter of barrel 10 m

Walkways 2 feet (61 cm) on each side

Shell thickness 5 inches (12.7 cm)

Transverse girders 35 x 30 cm

Twin columns 6 m spacing

Expansion joint spacing 6 m

Footings (spread type)

top 0.5 m x 0.5 m

bottom 2.5m x 2.5 m

depth 2.6 m

Mean velocity 1 meter/sec.

Amount of concrete 18, 349 cubicused metres

Amount of 900,000 kgreinforcing steel

Construction costs $600,000

E.I.D

.Arc

hive

s &

Lib

rary

The beginning of the construction of the aqueduct pedestals in 1924.

ject almost as taxing, and much more expen-sive, than building the original structure.

Despite this ingenuity, effort, and expense,the case proved hopeless. Nothing could compensate for the flawed design and con-struction. As White concluded in his 1983historical review of the aqueduct, “The aqueduct was an engineer’s dream, but anoperator’s nightmare.”

The Brooks Aqueduct was abandoned in1979, replaced by an earth-filled canal thatcan carry 50 percent more water. However, itshistoric and engineering significance will notbe forgotten. As David Finch, author of Brainand Sinew, says, “The Brooks Aqueduct wasa major testimony to the ability of a group ofpeople to triumph over a natural obstacle andbring huge sections of near-desert into bloomthrough irrigation.”

It can still be seen today, rising like a giantmonolith off the surface of the prairie, eightkilometres southwest of Brooks. The basicstructure has not shifted; its catenary curvedesign has withstood time and weather asMuckleston hoped. Named a national his-toric site in 1983 and designated as “one of10 outstanding engineering milestones inAlberta” in 1987, it is now maintained by theAlberta government.

The aqueduct’s story is told in an inter-pretive centre nearby, and in the film “FromDust Bowl to Prairie Oasis”, written and pro-duced by White’s granddaughter, SheenaWhite in 2004. At the film’s end she wrote,“It was the sheer perseverance of man andhorse that brought the monumental structurefrom a vision into a reality.”

To fully appreciate this engineering marvel,travel to Brooks and stand in the aqueduct’smajestic shadow. When you look up, thebrooding silence is broken by the imaginaryecho of hammers striking metal, the creak ofwagon wheels and harness, the shouts of mencalling orders, and by the triumphant whooshof water tumbling through the flume.


@ualberta.caengineer.alum

Civil Engineering

Cumming, E. Keith (Professor emeritus)

Walter Riva was one of my students whenI taught at the U of A. Like many othersin those immediate post-war years, he hada distinguished career. Many of his class-mates distinguished themselves as seniorexecutives in energy and construction cor-porations. Perhaps the most successful ofall was Bob Stollery, who was responsiblefor developing PCL into a world classconstruction company and has had anoutstanding philanthropic record.

I also have a personal interest in my sonKevin Cumming’s career. His bio could dowith an update. He is now president ofATCO Midstream and has several awardsfor several projects for which he wasresponsible.

Finally, I wish to mention two of my class-mates when I attended the U of A beforegoing on to McGill: Harry Hole and hisnow deceased brother Bob. They builtLockerbie and Hole into a major mechan-ical contactor and have been very gener-ous supporters of the U of A and theCitadel Theater.

Matheson, W.G. (Bill) (Civil ’68)

Whenever I come across any article deal-ing with NA337 (published in the U of AEngineer summer 2005 issue) I am alwaysreminded of my first visit to see her. Atthat time she was still in pieces and theshell holes were apparent.

Having been a navigator on that otherbomber, the Lancaster, I was more inter-ested in all the instruments that had beenremoved from her and laid out on a tablethan I was in the whole remarkable recon-struction scene around me. As I was iden-tifying the navigational equipment andvarious other items that I recognized to mycompanion, I began to realize that I had anaudience of volunteers who busy makingnotes of what I said. It was a remarkableexperience for me and I relate it only toemphasize just how dedicated those volun-teers were (and are!).

Andrea Collins is an Edmonton-based freelance writer and communications consultant.

this structure which has behaved far betterthan I ever expected it to do.”

The massive repairs required in subse-quent years belie that optimism, and suggestthat Muckleston was trying to protect theCPR and his own reputation. However, theEastern Irrigation District (EID), as it becameknown, carried on and is today widelyknown for its knowledge and expertise.

One of the EID engineers who tried totame the “white elephant” was R.T. (Bob)White (Civil ’49), now deceased. White was aBrooks boy from birth. Like many locals, heviewed the Brooks Aqueduct’s graceful arch-es and sheer magnitude as his passion, hispride, and his nemesis. Though he moved toEdmonton to study engineering at theUniversity of Alberta, each summer saw himback in Brooks, labouring on the aqueduct’smaintenance crews.

White’s first degree was mining engineer-ing, which made him a valuable asset duringhis wartime service (1942–46), but on hisreturn he completed a second degree, thistime in civil engineering. His first civilian jobdrew him back to Brooks in 1949, where hewould eventually serve as assistant engineer,chief engineer, assistant manager, and manag-er of the Eastern Irrigation District.

“Bob spent 40 years with the company,”recalls his widow Wanda White.

“He knew more about EID than anyone inthe world. Even today, his grandchildren call it‘Grandpa’s aqueduct.’ The aqueduct was hisbiggest challenge—he always worried it wouldfall down in the middle of the irrigation season.He was always trying to find ways to fix it.”

Early in his tenure, White was helped bythe data for a major study of the aqueductconducted by T. Blench from the Faculty ofEngineering. Blench was able to identify thecause of the short discharge capacity and offera few practical solutions. Many of the expan-sion joints were replaced by galvanized metalin the 40s and by hot-rolled copper V joints inthe 50s, but the measures provided only tem-porary improvement. In the 1960s, EID begana major maintenance project under White’sdirection to add additional reinforcing andreplace all the concrete in the structure, a pro-

on HistoryCross Hairs


Just a small point . In the RAF/RCAF ourflights were known as “operations,” not“missions,” which is an American term.

In any event congratulations to all involved inthe rebuilding of NA337. A remarkable jobwell done.

Electrical Engineering

Verret, Sean (Electrical ’00, MSc Electrical ’04 )

I was part of anadventure racingteam that went toChile and competedin the PatagoniaExpedition Race, a 12-day, 795-kmrace by foot, moun-tain bike, andkayak. Our teamfinished in second place. Recently articleshave been published in the Calgary Sun andthe Medicine Hat News.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Verret’s guest column isarchived on the Engineering website atwww.engineering.ualberta.ca.

in memoriamThe Faculty of Engineering sincerely regrets the passing of the following alumni and friends.

Batcheller, Derek (Chemical ’54, MScChemical ’62)

Horne, Douglas (Civil ’57)

Graham, Michael (Electrical ’82)

Helmer, Ronald (Chemical ’46)

Honey, Ronald (Chemical ’60)

Houg, Chester (Electrical ’62)

Ibrahim, A. Majid (Civil ’53)

Law, Dennys (Chemical ’43)

Phillips, Sidney C. (Electrical ’41)

Reiten, Stanley (Electrical ’43)

Schienbein, Lawrence (Mechanical ’68, MSc Mechanical ’70, PhD Mechanical ’74)

Strum, Herbert (Electrical ’51)

Wasylyk, George (Electrical ’69)

Yuskiw, Ernest (Mining ’61)

The Faculty of Engineering was recentlymade aware that the following alumnipassed away more than a year ago.

Baker, Andrew (Mining ’37)

Hindle, Walter (Electrical ’37)

In memory ofHerbert Allan Strum,P. E. (Electrical ’51)Herbert Allan Strum, aged 81 of FortMyers Beach, Florida passed away onAugust 30, 2002. Strum was born May9, 1921 in Edmonton, Alberta toHarvey Allan and Ella Manetta Strum.He became a King’s Scout in 1937 withthe Boy Scouts Association. DuringWW II he proudly served for five yearsin the Royal Canadian Air Force andwas discharged as a flight lieutenant.

He received the prestigious WebbAward for a paper he presented whilestudying at the University of Alberta.Strum immigrated to the U.S. in 1953to assist with the implementation of thedial telephone system. For many years,before moving to Florida, Strum oper-ated his own engineering firm, H.A.Strum & Associates, in NorthMuskegon, Michigan. His iron ringwas one of his most valued possessions.

(Mechanical ’68, MSc Mechanical ’70, PhDMechanical ’74) passed away January 8, 2006, after a lifetime of distinguished research inCanada and the United States. During his career, he worked on a wide range of projects, includ-ing utility-scale wind turbine generator design, wind turbine and wind/diesel hybrid systemsresearch and development, shipboard helicopter landing systems, and underwater and airborne-towed bodies, to name only some of the areas in which he worked.

Schienbein also co-founded Sustainable Energy Technologies, a wind energy business, wherehe was responsible for prototype development that led to the commercialization of technologyfor fuel cell and photovoltaic applications.

Among his achievements, Schienbein was especially proud of his contribution to wind energy; in the 1980s, he was regarded as the foremost Canadian authority in that field. He heldmanagement positions at wind energy firms in Ontario and California, frequently travelingbetween both countries.

“Lawrence always believed that the University of Alberta offered the highest standards in collegiate education and was very proud to have the U of A as his alma mater,” says his wife,Gwen. “Lawrence kept up with his former classmates both from his undergraduate courses aswell as those who were in grad studies when he was working on his Master’s and beginning hisDoctoral studies.”

LAWRENCE SCHIENBEIN

Mechanical Engineering

Marks, Andrew (Mechanical ’02)

I have been accepted into the commercial ani-mation two-year diploma program at CapilanoCollege in North Vancouver. I am one of 24applicants to be selected based on a 30-pageportfolio which includes life drawing, still life,animals, caricatures, locations, etc. The pro-gram is highly competitive, with many localand international arts students applying.Graduates from this program go on to careersin film and television, usually working at ani-mation houses in Vancouver, Toronto or theU.S. I am very much looking forward to thisnew direction.

Schubert, Leigh (Mechanical ’68)

It is with real sadness that I inform you of thepassing of a friend and former classmate onJanuary 8, 2006. Lawrence A. Schienbein(Mechanical ’68, MSc Mechanical ’70, PhDMechanical ’74) died in Seattle after a longfight that ultimately overcame him. He wasrecognized worldwide as an expert in renew-able energy and many related fields, and hisearly demise is a great loss to his family andfriends as well as the whole world.

UofA E n g i n e e r38

T a k i n g p r i d e i n a c h i e v e m e n t

ANSLEY, RALPH DR.(Civil ’59, PhD Civil ’63) has been appointed to the advisory board of PetaquillaMinerals Limited.

CAMARTA, NEIL (Chemical ’75) PEng

has been appointedvice president, cor-porate communica-tions and planningwith Petro-Canada.Mr. Camarta will

lead Petro-Canada’s businessplanning activities and commu-nications with the public,employees, government, andinvestors. Camarta has 30 yearsof experience with Shell Canadain a variety of senior leadershiproles.

ENGEL, CORY(Chemical ’94) PEnghas joined the leadership team atPAS, a leading provider ofadvanced automation solutions,with immediate responsibilitiesfor all of the Americas solutionssales. Engel brings experience inthe sale and delivery of softwaresolutions for the process indus-tries, having establishedMatrikon in the U.S. and easternCanada—regions accounting fornearly half of all Matrikon’sglobal sales. Further, he has per-sonally led margin improvementinitiatives in these regions toreach gross margins of over 60percent—the highest for anyMatrikon region and division.Engel originally joined Matrikonas employee number 15 and hasbeen instrumental in leading itsgrowth since the late 1990s. Histrack record and extensive back-ground in the markets served byPAS helps ensure that PAS canexceed its 39 percent revenuegrowth record of 2005 andachieve its 52 percent growthgoal for 2006.

GARDINER, GARY(Petroleum ’86) PEng has been appointed president andchief executive officer and directorfor Peregrine Energy Limited.Gardiner has over 20 years of

experience in the oil and gasindustry. Prior to joining PeregrineEnergy Ltd., Gardiner was withAEC/EnCana Corporation wherehe held various positions ofincreasing responsibility, mostrecently the position of vice presi-dent of the Fort Nelson businessunit. In his career, Gardiner hasprepared and managed operatingand capital investments in excessof $500 million per year and wasresponsible for the management ofseveral multi-disciplined technicalteams to exploit and produce oiland gas assets. Gardiner hasextensive experience in oil and gasexploitation, production, and longrange planning, as well as acquisi-tions, drilling, completions, andoperations. Previous employersinclude the City of Medicine Hat,Suncor, and Home Oil.

HAAS, DR. RALPH(Civil ’61, MSc Civil ’63) PEng

has recently beenawarded theProfessionalEngineers OntarioEngineering Medalfor Research and

Development for his work intransportation and infrastruc-ture. He has also recently beenelected a Fellow of theEngineering Institute of Canada.Previously, Dr. Haas was namedas a Member of the Order ofCanada (1998), a Fellow of theRoyal Society of Canada (2001),and a Fellow of the CanadianAcademy of Engineering (1990).Haas is The Norman W.McLeod Enginering Professorand Distinguished ProfessorEmeritus at the University ofWaterloo.

HARRIS, KEVIN(Engineering Physics ’95) PEng

has been appointedtechnology leaderresponsible for suc-cessful delivery oftechnology-basedsolutions for Sierra

Systems’ clients in the Edmontonbranch. Harris is a senior archi-tect with 10 years of industryexperience delivering softwaresolutions. As a technology leader,

he brings in-depth expertise insoftware architecture, web-basedsolutions, and systems integra-tion. He has worked across abroad client base in both thepublic and private sectors includ-ing Workers’ CompensationBoard, Alberta GovernmentServices, AADAC, City ofEdmonton, Alberta HumanResources and Employment, andOwens Corning. Over the pastfour years, Harris has focused onsuccessfully delivering advancedMicrosoft.NET solutions forSierra Systems’ clients. His excel-lent team leadership abilities pro-vide strong technical guidance tothe Edmonton branch.

KABARCHUK, JOE(Civil '94) PEng has been appointed director forthe City of Edmonton transporta-tion and infrastructure division.

MACLEOD, MICHAEL (Mining ’75, MEng Mining ’76)PEng has been appointed to the boardof directors for Adanac. Macleodhas been an active mining engi-neer for 25 years. He has beenresponsible for major capital pro-jects, feasibility assessments, andmarketing and environmentalstudies. He will be responsible forall project development and oper-ational activities, and for assem-bling and leading the team ofprofessionals that will advancethe Ruby Creek Moly project.

MORGAN, GWYN(Mechanical ’67) PEng

has become execu-tive vice chair ofEnCana. He hasalso been named adirector of AlcanInc. In addition,

Morgan is the director of HSBCBank Canada, a director of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., and a mem-ber of the energy advisory boardof Accenture Ltd. In 2005, hewas named the most respectedCEO in Canada by a survey ofthe country’s leading CEOs.

ROZAK, ALAN (Mechanical ’89) PEng

has been appointedvice president ofgas gathering andprocessing forATCO Midstream.

SEMCHUK, MARK (Mechanical ’81) PEng

has been appointedvice president busi-ness developmentand corporate ini-tiatives for ATCOStructures.

SPADY, DARCY(Petroleum ’86) PEng

has been appointedvice president, oper-ations of PetroGlobeIncorporated, a pub-licly traded compa-ny with operations

in Central Alberta, Canada andthe Palo Duro basin of WestTexas. Until November 2005, hewas director of production opti-mization and vice president ofCanadian operations forColumbia Natural Resources,LLC. based in Charleston, WestVirginia. Before that, he was gen-eral manager of Columbia’sCanadian subsidiary based inFredericton, New Brunswick.Spady joined CNR in 2000, afterworking as sales manager forSchlumberger Oilfield Services inthe Eastern United States, and wasdistrict manager for DowellSchlumberger in the Illinois Basinand in several areas of Canada,including off-shore, the Maritimes,Quebec, and Ontario. Prior tothis, he held various engineeringand management positions forDow, based in Calgary and Red Deer, Alberta, and forSchlumberger Wireline inEdmonton, Alberta.

SYMINGTON, WAYNE (Mechanical ’78) PEng

has been appointedsenior vice presidentfor development,engineering, andconstruction forATCO Power.

Kudos

U of A E n g i n e e r 39U of A E n g i n e e r 39

Time to CelebrateTime to Celebrate

REUNION 2006BY ALLYSON HAUG

Come one, come all! If you graduated from U of A in a year ending in a 6 or a 1, 2006 is your year to

celebrate! Join us September 29–October 1 for Reunion 2006—the perfect opportuni-ty to reconnect with former classmates, professors and friends, and to share school-daymemories and future plans.

In addition to the many campus-wide events, the Faculty of Engineering will hostseveral complimentary activities specifically for Engineering alumni and their guests.Plan now to join us for an unforgettable Reunion 2006. We look forward to seeing youin September!

Friday, September 29

Dean’s Reception* 4:30–7:00 p.m.ETLC Solarium, 2nd Floor, Engineering Teaching and Learning Complex (ETLC)

Start off Reunion Weekend by reconnecting with Engineering classmates and col-leagues. Dean David Lynch and Mrs. Lynch invite all Engineering alumni and theirguests to join them for complimentary hors d’oeuvres and refreshments in the ETLC Solarium.

*Watch your mailbox for your invitation to celebrate the Faculty’s latest nanotechnology initiatives.

Saturday, September 30

Dean’s Brunch 9:00–11:00 a.m. ETLC Solarium, 2nd Floor, Engineering Teaching and Learning Complex (ETLC)

All Engineering alumni who graduated in 1961 or earlier and their guests are invited to a complimentary hot brunch, hosted by Dean David Lynch and Mrs. Lynch.Dr. Lynch will celebrate the accomplishments of our alumni and will speak on the past,present, and future of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Alberta.

Engineering Open House, Tours, and Lectures10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. Engineering Teaching and Learning Complex (ETLC)

The Faculty of Engineering is pleased to welcome alumni, prospective students,and guests to Engineering Open House 2006. Take in displays from the fourEngineering departments and numerous student groups, and attend free lectures ona variety of engineering-related topics. Tours of the engineering buildings will beavailable. The alumni hospitality lounge will be open to provide a quiet place to enjoya coffee and catch up with old classmates.

For more information on any of these events, contact Allyson Haug at [email protected] or by phone at 780.492.4159 (toll-free 1.800.407.8354).

Class Organizers

To make Reunion 2006 as memorable aspossible, we need volunteers who will act asclass organizers. If your class is not listed andyou’d like to help organize a special reunionfor your class, please contact Allyson Haugat [email protected] or by phone at780.492.4159 (toll-free 1.800.407.8354).

Class Organizers (as of May 3, 2006)

’46 Electrical EngineeringMuriel Cheriton and Robert Proudfoot’46 Chemical EngineeringJack Cuyler and Doug Love’46 Civil EngineeringHenry Kasten’51 Chemical EngineeringArt Davison’56 Civil EngineeringHarry Anderson’56 Chemical EngineeringDr. Ron Brown and Dr. T. W. Fraser Russell’56 Electrical EngineeringMathew Romanow’56 Petroleum EngineeringStanley Harper and Leonard Maier’61 Chemical EngineeringAl Patterson’61 Electrical EngineeringGordon Domeier and Robert McLean’66 Chemical EngineeringJerry Lack’66 Mechanical EngineeringDale Brossert’66 Metallurgical EngineeringJohn Scheffer’71 Civil EngineeringMike Yakemchuk’71 Chemical EngineeringRobert Burns’76 Chemical EngineeringMatt McCaffrey and Glen Tanaka’76 Electrical EngineeringGlenn Stowkowy’81 Chemical EngineeringMark Semchuk’81 Mechanical EngineeringPaul Dusseault and Duane Evans’86 Chemical EngineeringBrian Harrison’86 Mechanical EngineeringJim Funk’86 Petroleum EngineeringDarcy Spady’96 Mechanical EngineeringTim Humpke’96 Metallurgical EngineeringFenna Poelzer’96 Mining EngineeringFenna Poelzer’96 Petroleum EngineeringFenna Poelzer

The Formula SAE race car is one example of an undergraduate student project you couldsupport as a donor. This project provides students with valuable hands-on experienceapplying their textbook education to a real-world engineering design problems. The skillsacquired not only include engineering design,drafting, and optimization, but also project

administration, communication, cooperation,problem solving, time management, and men-torship. Costs of this project are considerable;thus, project sponsors become an essentialcomponent of the team's success. Sponsors notonly provide the team with much-needed fundsand mentorship, but also provide product,technical advice, and public exposure.

David M. Petis, Assistant Dean

External Relations, Faculty of Engineering

University of Alberta

E6-050 Engineering Teaching & Learning Complex

Edmonton, AB T6G 2V4

Tel: 780.492.5080 Fax: 780.492.0500

E-mail: [email protected]

Help support student

projects

Postage paid Port payé

Publications Poste-Mail publications

40051128EDMONTON, ALBERTA

Publications Mail Agreement No. 40051128

Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to:Faculty of Engineering,University of AlbertaE6-050 Engineering Teaching & Learning ComplexEdmonton, AB T6G 2V4

e-mail: [email protected]

01879

✃

U n i v e r s i t y o f A l b e r t a ENGINEERING

Your donation$100 $500 $1,000 $2,500to the U of A

Your tax credit$42.00 $209.00 $418.00 $1,045.00for your gift:

I wish to make a gift of:

$100 $500 $1,000 $2,500 Other $________

Cheque (made payable to the University of Alberta) VISA MasterCard

__________/___________/__________/__________/ expiry date: __________

Name (please print): ________________________________________________

Signature: _______________________________________________________

I have also enclosed:

a corporate matching gift form from my (or my spouse‘s) employer

If you were an Alberta resident on December 31, 2005 and have already given $200 elsewhere, your combined income tax savings will be:

* To best meet Faculty of Engineering’s needs, donations may be directed to endowed funds. Donations made to endowment funds are invested in perpetuity and the investment earnings are used to advance the specified purposes of the fund within the University.

I would like my gift to support:

$ __________ Faculty of Engineering in support of undergraduate student projects,new educational initiatives in all disciplines, and general student life enhancement activities.

$ __________ Chemical and Materials Engineering Fund*

$ __________ Civil and Environmenetal Engineering Fund*

$ __________ Electrical and Computer Engineering Fund*

$ __________ Mechanical Engineering Learning Laboratory Fund*

$ __________ Mining and Petroleum Engineering Fund*

I would like information on how to make a gift of publicly traded securities to support the Faculty of Engineering at the U of A.

I would like information on how to include the Faculty of Engineering at the U of A as part of a will, life insurance, or other planned gift instrument.

I have provided for the Faculty of Engineering at the U of A in a will or trust agreement.

Please return to:Office of the Dean, Faculty of Engineering University of AlbertaE6-050 Engineering Teaching & Learning ComplexEdmonton, Alberta T6G 2V4

uofa engineer sum06

Documents

e n g i n e e r2f e

n e e r i n g

biggest alumni

engineering community

t u r e s6

b e r t

engineer alumni magazine

goal of encouraging