Awards
summit award® recipients
THE EARLY ACCOMPLISHMENT AWARD
DR. ALAN E. NELSON, E.I.T.
This award is presented to members of APEGGA in recognition of exceptional achievement in the early years of a professional career as an engineer, geologist or geophysicist.
Dr. Alan Nelson, E.I.T., established the first research program in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Alberta focused solely on surface science and engineering. This area is essential to improving the efficiency of oil sands, Heavy oil and coal processing, which are areas of strategic Importance to Alberta.
Dr. Nelson’s extraordinary and rapid success as a faculty member with the University of Alberta has earned him the respect and trust of his colleagues. He is also recognized across North America as a rising star in Chemical Engineering.
Dr. Nelson, who joined the University of Alberta only three years ago, already has an impressive range of accomplishments to his credit. As an undergraduate, he was very involved with research and development work at the Potlatch Corporation in Minnesota. This work led to the development of a coatedpaper product which is still the major revenue generator for the company. As a graduate student and faculty member at the University of Alberta, his interests have shifted to catalysis, particularly in the context of the upgrading of heavy oil. His research work has been recognized by peers in the form of extensive funding and a strong publication record. He is also emerging as a leader in the education of undergraduates, with extensive presentations and workshops to his credit and recent recognition with the Teaching Unit Award at the University of Alberta.
Of particular note with respect to Dr. Nelson’s work over the last three years is his rapid success in obtaining the very high levels of funding needed to establish a research program in the area of catalytic hydrotreating of petroleum feedstocks. He has obtained equipment which will allow him to immediately start working at an international level with a substantial research group.
Dr. Nelson’s research funding at the University of Alberta totals over $1 million as the sole principal investigator. Additional funding with collaborators totals $1.3 million, plus two major centres totalling $24 million. Recently, he has begun to apply his insights not only to the area of heavy oil upgrading, but also in the area of the production of nanoparticles in collaboration with Umicore, Fort Saskatchewan.
Dr. Nelson was recently recognized, along with five of his colleagues, for his excellent work in the teaching of thermodynamics with the University of Alberta Teaching Unit Award. This award is given to a group of individuals who consistently work together to deliver a course of exceptional quality to a large group of undergraduates. Dr. Nelson has been very active in this course and has presented the successes in this course to the American Society of Engineering Education so that other engineering educators across the continent can benefit from this work.
Dr. Nelson has also taken on several positions that recognize his leadership in the profession. He is Co-Chair of two programming divisions for national conferences in the U.S.: one in engineering education and one in catalysis. He is also Associate Chair of Graduate Studies in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Alberta.
Honours, Awards and Distinctions
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University of Alberta Teaching Unit Award – ChE 243: Engineering Thermodynamics, 2004
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Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Doctoral Scholars Fellowship, 1999, 2000, 2001
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U.S. DOE Graduate Automotive Technology Education Fellowship, 1999-2001Michigan Technical University CII Endowed Fellowship, 1997-1998
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Omega Chi Epsilon, Chemical Engineering Honor Society, 1997
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University of Minnesota, Duluth Engineering Academic Excellence Scholarship, 1996
Professional Affiliations and Activities
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Member, APEGGA, 2002-present
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Member, American Chemical Society, 2002- present
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Member, Canadian Society of Chemical Engineering, 2001-present
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Member, American Society for Engineering Education, 1999-present
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Member, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, 1997-present
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Order of the Engineer, 1997-present
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Community and Professional Outreach:
– APEGGA Technical Exam Author: prepared and marked technical examinations for APEGGA in the subject areas of process balances and chemical thermodynamics and chemical reactor engineering, 2003- present
– Oil Sands Educational Opportunity for High School Teachers: coordinated an onsite
oil sands group of 18 teachers from Edmonton public and Catholic school systems. The purpose of the tour was to acquaint educators with the many significant engineering-related career opportunities for students in the vast oil sands operations -
Faculty and Departmental Service:
– Co-Chair, Oil Sands Engineering Advisory Panel, University of Alberta, 2003-present
– Chemical Engineering Graduate Coordinator, University of Alberta, 2002- present
– Departmental Safety Committee, University of Alberta, 2001-2002 -
Conference Session Organization:
– Session Chair, [01G01] Fundamentals of Surface Phenomena on Extended Solids and Nanomaterials, 2004 AIChE Annual Meeting, Austin, TX, 2004
– Session Chair, Applications of Surface Science in Catalysis, 18th Canadian Symposium on Catalysis, Montreal, 2004
– Co-Moderator, [2275] Tricks of the Trade: Inside the Classroom, 2004 ASEE Annual
Conference, Salt Lake City, UT, 2004
– Co-Moderator, [3575] New Engineering Educators (NEE) Potpouri, 2004 ASEE Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, UT, 2004
– Conference Organizing Committee, 2003 Canadian Fuel Cell Systems Symposium, Calgary, 2003
– Session Chair, [01G01] Surface Chemistry of Oxides, Nitrides, Sulfides and Other Non-Metallic Surfaces, 2003 AIChE Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 2003
– Session Chair, [01G01] Fundamentals of the Mechanical, Chemical and Tribological Properties of Surfaces, 2002 AIChE Annual Meeting, Indianapolis, IN, 2002
– Session Vice-Chair, [09008] Green Reaction Engineering, 2002 AIChE Annual Meeting, Indianapolis, IN, 2002