February 2007 ISSUE
NEWSMAKERS
Associated Engineering Gathers Project Awards
COMPILED BY FRANCINE MAXWELL
Editorial Assistant
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WINNING WALK |
Associated Engineering Alberta Ltd. is on a winning streak. The Alberta-based permit holder has won two awards for two different projects in as many months.
First up was the Schreyer Award from the Canadian Consulting Engineers for the design of the Edmonton Gold Bar Waste Reuse Facility. The Schreyer Award is presented to the best technical entry. In this case it goes to a great example of how consulting engineers are working to protect the environment and resources such as fresh water.
This project also won an APEGGA Summit Award in 2006.
Next is a commendation from the Institution of Structural Engineers. This award in the pedestrian bridge category is for Associated’s work on the Whitemud Creek Arch Bridge Pedestrian Walkway on the Anthony Henday Bridge.
The Institution of Structural Engineers, based in the United Kingdom, has some 21,000 members from 109 countries.
Rockslide Warning System
Earns Recognition for AMEC
AMEC Earth and Environmental has won a 2006 Canadian Consulting Engineers award
of excellence for its work on a project to warn the public in advance of a rockslide.
The Turtle Mountain project was selected from 50 entries. The project, which also won an award earlier in 2006, involved the creation of a high-tech rockslide monitoring and warning system for the south peak of Turtle Mountain — the site of one of Canada’s worst natural disasters, the Frank Slide.
Life Member Receives Honour
Dr. Om Malik, P.Eng., has been inducted into the Order of the University of Calgary.
Dr. Malik has given 35 years of service to the Schulich School of Engineering. He’s worked in administration at the faculty and department levels, he’s been a professor and the associate dean of student affairs, and he’s coordinated transfer programs between Alberta colleges and the engineering department.
Though Dr. Malik is formally retired, he still supervises 13 doctorate and graduate students.
The Order of the University of Calgary was established to recognize individuals who have made distinguished contributions to the university or contributions to the community that bring honour to the university. Inductions take place at convocation ceremonies throughout the year.
Royal Honours for
U of C Professor
His Royal Highness Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, welcomed Gerard Lachapelle,
P.Eng., into the Royal Institute of Navigation.
Mr. Lachapelle, a professor at the University of Calgary, was elected to the institute and formally inducted at a ceremony held in London. Prince Philip is a patron of the institute.
The Royal Institute of Navigation was formed in 1947. Its objective is to unite under one body those concerned with or interested in navigation, and to further the development of navigation.
By the institute’s definition, the word navigation covers motion of all kinds, as well as command and control. It embraces subjects traditionally associated with navigation such as astronomy, mathematics, cartography, electronics and information technology.
Barlow Medal Awarded
Vancouver member Garth Kirkham, P.Geoph., has been awarded the Canadian Institute
of Mining’s Barlow Memorial Medal. The medal is given annually for the
best paper on economic geology published by the institute.
Mr. Kirkham’s award winning paper is titled, An Integrated 3D GIS Model of the Yellowknife Camp: A Tool for Efficient Development.
CEA Collaboration
Nets Alberta Venture Award
A recruiting collaboration by members of the Consulting Engineers of Alberta has earned the organization an Alberta Venture Most Enterprising Employees Award. CEA won the team participation award from the magazine, after nine firms worked together to recruit new employees from the U.K.
Said Wendy Cooper, CEA executive director: “I witnessed firsthand the collaboration and cooperation these firms exhibited throughout this initiative. I’m very proud to be part of a group that makes things happen instead of just talking about them.
“It was a risky undertaking, but one that was amazingly successful. These nine firms set aside their naturally competitive nature to do something for the good of the whole industry.”
For a complete story on the initiative, see The Keyser File on page 17 of this edition of The PEGG.
Women of Vision
Global TV Calgary has named two APEGGA members as Women of Vision.
Dr. Elizabeth Cannon, P.Eng., dean of the Schulich School of Engineering at the U of C, was named in October. Kathy Sendall, P.Eng., Petro-Canada’s vice-president, North American natural gas, followed in December.
The pair were recognized as women who have inspired others while implementing their passion.
LRT Train Station
Wins More Awards
The people who take the LRT from Shawnessy in Calgary may not realize how special a station it is that they use. But those who collaborated on it and the organizations that give out awards certainly do.
The City of Calgary, CPV Group (now part of Stantec Consulting Ltd.), Lafarge Precast, the University of Calgary, Speco Engineering, Strudes, Inc., and Kassian Dyck Associates all collaborated on the design, production and construction of the station in 2004. Since then the project has gone on to win six awards, including a 2005 APEGGA Summit Award.
The most recent of these awards came at ceremonies in Washington, D.C., and Naples, Italy.
The Charles Pankow Award for Innovation, presented by the Civil Engineering Research Foundation in Washington, recognizes a collaborative effort demonstrating an innovative approach to design.
The Award for Outstanding Concrete Structures is presented every four years by the International Federation for Structural Concrete. Winning structures must demonstrate the versatility of concrete as a structural medium.
The challenge was to develop a canopy system using 24 uniquely shaped, thin-shelled canopies supported on single columns. Instead of using steel, the Shawnessy LRT Station’s canopy system is the first thin-shelled structure in the world constructed from Ductal, an ultra-high-performance concrete.
This system is also the first known use of injection mould-casting techniques for producing structural precast elements in Alberta.
Who’s Moved Where
Alfred Guebert, P.Eng., of Calgary has been elected international vice-president
of the Institute of Transportation Engineers. Mr. Guebert’s appointment
begins a a three-year term, during which he will move up to president in 2008
and then become past-president in 2009.
Dr. Rainer Iraschko, P.Eng., has been appointed vice-president of research at TRLabs in Calgary. Dr. Iraschko, technology strategy team, will now provide leadership in TRLabs evolution of research programs.