March 2008 Issue
NEWSMAKERS
NEXEN NETS PROJECT OF YEAR
COMPILED BY FRANCINE MAXWELL
The PEGG
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HALL OF FAMER - Canadian Mining Hall of Fame inductee Chuck Brawner, P.Eng., left, is shown with John Udd from Natural Resources Canada. Mr. Udd is the principal scientist of mining in the Mining and Mineral Science Laboratories.-Photo courtesy the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame |
For a North Sea success story, Calgary’s Nexen Inc. has been named 2007 Energy Engineering Project of the Year. The honour came at the Platts Global Energy Awards in New York.
The award recognizes Nexen’s massive yet delicate Buzzard oil development project in the Outer Moray Firth, 100 kilometres northeast of Aberdeen and 55 kilometres from nearest landfall.
Buzzard, which began pumping oil in January 2007, boasts living quarters, as well as the on-site capability of processing and filtering oil and gas. The project took three years to complete.
Each year, Platts receives more than 200 nominations from around the world for its awards. Five nominations were accepted for Energy Engin-eering Project of the Year. Award criteria include technical excellence, superior handling of safety, and environmental challenges.
Summit to Hall
Chuck Brawner, P.Eng., may not have become the architect he originally set out
to be — but he couldn’t have drafted a better career plan.
Mr. Brawner, winner of APEGGA’s Frank Spragins Technical Summit Award in
2006, was recently inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame. It is an honour
bestowed on only a handful of people every year. Inductees are recognized for
out-standing lifetime achievements to the benefit of the
Canadian minerals industry.
Mr. Brawner is known around the world as an expert in geological engineering. He’s authored some 90 technical papers and 10 textbooks, and he consulted for Syncrude when its megaproject was in its infancy.
He has won more than 21 awards for his work and has travelled the globe lecturing about the science of soils and rock. He has also authored an auto-biography called Engineer... Around the World in Fifty Years.
Stantec Founder Honoured
The late Don Stanley, P.Eng., a bright star in the engineering community, has
posthumously won the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce Northern Lights Award of Distinction.
The honour is bestowed for leadership and economic and cultural impact. The family
of Dr. Stanley accepted the award on his behalf.
Dr. Stanley, the founder of what is now known as Stantec Consulting, has been the recipient of many awards. They include the Carson F. Morrison Award for accomplishments in technical design, leadership in business, ethics and service to the engineering profession; the Beaubien Award, the highest mark of distinction for a Canadian consulting engineer; and the Engineering Institute of Canada’s Julian C. Smith Medal for achievement in the development of Canada.
Who’s
Moved Where
Charles Baumgart, P.Eng., of Calgary, has agreed to act as consulting vice-president
of infrastructure and business development for Montello Resources Ltd. Mr. Baumgart
brings with him over 25 years of experience in the oil and gas industry.
Jim Chinnick, P.Eng., of Okotoks, has been appointed as vice-president of engineering for Hemisphere GPS Inc. Mr. Chinnick has more than 36 years of experience and technical depth in communications, satellite technology and product development.
Byron Lutes, P.Eng., of Calgary, has joined Southern Pacific Corporation as president. Mr. Lutes offers the company more than 21 years of Western Canadian oil and gas industry experience.
Al Alasaly, P.Eng., of Richmond, B.C., has been appointed principal engineer for Acclaro Management Corporation of Vancouver. Mr. Alasaly brings with him more than 25 years of professional global engineering experience in civil engineering.