July 2006 ISSUE
NEWSMAKERS
Farmhouses to Skayscrapers: 100 Years of PCL
 |
LITTLE SHACK, BIG FUTURE |
COMPILED BY
FRANCINE MAXWELL
Editorial Assistant
What started out as a simple building contractor has grown into Canada’s biggest and most diverse construction conglomerate, with everything from bridges to skyscrapers on its resumé.
In 1906 Ernest E. Poole began what would become PCL family of companies. Back then it was Mr. Poole and his partner James Martin, and no one else, who operated the business in Stoughton, Sask. Their first project was a Saskatchewan farmhouse.
Today the company employs some 7,500 staff in 27 locations in Canada, the United States and the Bahamas. It has built or been part of the construction team on well-known chunks of the Calgary and Edmonton skylines. Included in the list of achievements are the Calgary Tower, West Edmonton Mall, the Dome Tower at TD Square and TELUS Plaza. PCL has also been involved with the Fairmont Palliser renovations as well as the building the extension on the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald.
To celebrate its centenary, PCL built a 2,700-square-metre learning centre in Edmonton. It houses a state-of-the-art training room, meeting rooms, a reception area and various offices.
The new Centennial Learning Centre boasts a number of environmentally friendly features, including specially treated windows to harness the sun’s ability to heat or cool. As the temperature inside rises, warm air is directed through louvers while cool air from the adjoining garden enters. This allows for less reliance on mechanically produced cold air, lowering energy costs.
Lighting is used selectively, meaning hallways are dimmer than work areas. The centre also features a reservoir, which holds rainwater for use in its gardens.
EnCana A Green Winner
EnCana Corporation took home an award in the large business
category of the Emerald Awards, June 14, for its part in helping the environment.
EnCana’s Bantry gas processing facility is the world’s first to introduce and commercially operate a biological process technology that safely and efficiently removes hydrogen sulphide emissions from natural gas streams. Since its introduction, the technology has eliminated flaring, improved sulphur recovery efficiencies and purified the natural gas stream.
The awards are presented annually to businesses and individuals that go out of their way to keep environmental responsibility at the forefront.
Exploration Leader
Wins CSPG’s Top Award
Gerry Macey, P.Geol., has won the Stanley Slipper Gold Medal,
the highest award of the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists.
The CSPG medal is awarded annually to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to petroleum exploration in Canada and has been personally identified as having played a crucial role in a major Canadian hydrocarbon discovery.
Mr. Macey certainly fits the bill. He led the foothills exploration for Gulf Canada in 1979 and moved to the plains in 1981. It was there that he found one of Gulf’s most productive and profitable well sites ever.
In his career, Mr. Macey either led or has been part of numerous successful exploration projects for such companies as BP Resources Canada, PanCanadian and Gulf Canada. These projects led him to the Gulf of Mexico and the U.K.
He was also instrumental in the formation of EnCana, then continued to look after the company’s international exploration, notching successes in Chad and Brazil.
Mr. Macey, who retired in 2004, remains on three boards of directors focusing on exploration in Nigeria, Libya, France and Thailand.
Suncor Takes Home
Globe Award
Suncor Energy Inc. has been recognized by the Globe Foundation
of Canada at its annual awards for environmental excellence. The awards are presented
to those companies that take a proactive approach to sustainable business strategies
and have made significant strides towards developing progressive technologies
and services.
In the category of corporate competitiveness for efficiency and mitigation, Suncor was recognized for its work in balancing the increasing demand for hydrocarbon products with the need for better care of the environment. The company was cited for its steadily decreasing environmental impact while increasing production.
Who’s Moved Where
Life Member Peter Woloshyn, P.Eng., has been appointed chief
executive officer of the Natural Resources Conservation Board. Mr. Woloshyn brings
with him 22 years of experience from his time at Alberta Agriculture, Food and
Rural Development.
Duane Sniezek, P.Eng., has been appointed director, Calgary operations, at TRLabs. Mr. Sniezek will also retain his title of chief operating officer for Network for Emerging Wireless Technologies. NEWT was founded in 2002 with support from TRLabs.
Enterra Energy Trust has appointed two APEGGA members as their directors. Peter Carpenter, P.Eng., and Roger Giovanetto, P.Eng., join Enterra with varied professional experience. Mr. Carpenter been a senior partner in the financial advisory firm Claridge House Partners Inc. and has provided financial advice to such clients as American Electric Power, Pengrowth Energy Trust and the Lundin Group. Mr. Giovanetto was president of R&H Chemical Engineering Ltd.
David Marchioni, P.Geol., has been appointed vice-president, exploration, for Pacific Asia China Energy Inc. Mr. Marchioni is also the president and principal consultant of Petro-Logic Services of Calgary. Mr. Marchioni’s specialty of coal geology and coal technology meshes well with Pacific Asia’s development of coalbed methane projects in China.
Ken Tsang, P.Eng., will lead environment, health and safety for the Asia Pacific Region of Dow Chemical Company. Mr. Tsang will provide leadership in his new area at existing Asia Pacific Operations as well as new plants when they are constructed and manufacturing commences.
Garth Kirkham, P.Geoph., has joined the board of Cusac Gold Mines Ltd. Mr. Kirkham is also a member of the board for Romios Gold Corp., and is currently on the technical advisory board of North America Tungsten Corporation Ltd. Mr. Kirkham has been the principal of Kirkham Geosystems Ltd. for the past 10 years.