The PEGG

November 2001

ASTech Honours Ranks of APEGGA

Calgary Soil Researcher, E-finance Firm,
Wireless Maker Among Winners

BY BRONWEN STREMBISKI
Public Relations Coordinator

Alberta's professional engineers, geologists and geophysicists use their expertise in a wide spectrum of areas, including resource development,

Dr. Jocelyn Grozic, P.Eng. studies soil mechanics at the University of Calgary.

construction, public works, transportation, agriculture, manufactuing and processing. It's no wonder, then, that when awards for technological achievement are handed out, APEGGA members and permit holders are well represented.

It's happened again. APEGGA congratulates 11 member finalists in the annual ASTech Awards, among them five that went on to win. More than half the 19 nominees are from APEGGA's ranks.

The ASTEch Awards are presented by the Alberta Science and Technology Leadership Awards Foundation to outstanding individuals and organizations that have contributed significantly to the success of science and technology. Nominated for the awards, which were presented Oct. 19 at the Telus Convention Centre in Calgary, were APEGGA members or permit-holders Alterna Technologies Group Inc., BioWare Corp., CSI Wireless Inc., John Doucette, E.I.T., Fifth Dimension Information Systems Inc., Global Thermoelectric Inc., Jocelyn Grozic, P.Eng., Dr. Gerard Lachapelle, P.Eng., Dr. Om Malik, P.Eng., Donald Sheeran, P.Eng., and Dr. Robert Stewart, P.Geoph. (an APEGGA councillor).

The following five APEGGA finalists won ASTech awards or prizes.

Alterna Technologies Group Inc.
NRC/ASTech Innovation in Industrial Research Prize, north of Red Deer
Alterna Technologies Group Inc. is a global provider of e-finance solutions that focuses on streamlining the financial services supply chain. From its corporate headquarters in Calgary, the company's innovative e-finance software platform connects corporations, their subsidiaries and trading partners with the global banking system. This allows companies to reduce costs, optimize working capital and significantly increase the visibility of the organization to its cash position globally.

One of Alterna's newest R&D projects consists of finding, evaluating and integrating appropriate technologies that allow customers to create and run advanced reports within Alterna's ASP environment. The NRC/ASTech prize will be used to finance a graduate student to join the Alterna's team in this challenging task.

Incorporated in 1996, by Gonzalo Naranjo, Louba Rapaport and Niels Voll, Alterna launched the world's first internet-based liquidity management platform in 1997. It has since grown to an impressive 190 employees, with offices in Canada, the United States and Europe.

BioWare Corp.
Outstanding Commercial Achievement in Alberta Science and Technology Award, corporations having gross sales less than $25 million per year.

BioWare Corp. is a world-class developer of computer games and animation. With the combined entrepreneurial spirit and commercial achievements demonstrated by its leaders, BioWare is poised for success.

Founded in 1995, in Edmonton, by medical practitioners Dr. Greg Zeschuk and Dr. Ray Muzyka, Bioware has since grown to a 100-person operation. Although both founders had no formal business or technical training when starting up BioWare, they discovered that programming and software development fulfilled their needs for creative expression. Their intense interest in video games, animation and comics led to the formation of the company. Six years later, BioWare earned revenues of over $10 million and held assets of approximately $9.3 million.

BioWare and its co-founders have proven to be outstanding contributors to the Alberta science and technology community. Their numerous successes have given Alberta's high technology industry the international recognition it deserves.

CSI Wireless Inc.

Outstanding Commercial Achievement in Alberta Science and Technology Award, to corporations having gross sales more than $25 million per year.

CSI Wireless Inc., Calgary, designs, manufactures and markets high-accuracy differential global positioning system, wireless and combined DGPS-wireless products. The company's products are widely used in Canada, the US and almost 20 other countries.

During the early stages of the emerging differential global position system industry, CSI was founded in 1990 by Stephen Verhoeff, president and CEO, and soon established itself as a leader in the industry. Throughout its history, the company continually introduced a steady stream of innovative products and repeatedly achieved phenomenal success.

CSI has created meaningful employment, helped diversify the provincial economy, enhanced Alberta's high-tech reputation and developed new technologies with several patents in place and pending.

Dr. Jocelyn Grozic, P.Eng.
Leaders of Tomorrow Award

Dr. Jocelyn Grozic, P.Eng., one of the few researchers in the world studying "gassy" soils, has emerged as a future leader in engineering academics. Through her research at the University of Calgary, she is making fundamental contributions to the field of soil mechanics.

Dr. Grozic conducts collaborative, multidisciplinary research aimed at developing these innovative technologies. Her work is being recognized and supported by numerous organizations worldwide. Recently, she was selected as one of only two delegates to represent Canada at the International Young Geotechnical Engineers Conference in the U.K. She has published 10 refereed journal and conference papers, authored numerous consulting reports and presented her research findings at prominent national and international conferences.

She is strongly committed to education, and Dr. Grozic's teaching abilities have not gone unnoticed. She has received numerous university teaching awards and is currently spearheading a new workshop aimed at bridging the gap between junior and senior academics in the field across Canada.

Dr. Donald E. Sheeran, P.Eng.
Syncrude/ASTech Innovation in Oil and Sands Research Prize

Dr. Donald Sheeran, P.Eng., is an industry leader whose contributions have significantly impacted the oil sands extraction process. He was instrumental in developing an innovative system designed to alleviate a tailings pond dilemma that threatened the oil sands industry.
Dr. Sheeran led a group of scientists and engineers from industry, academia and research organizations in finding a solution to the problem. He and his colleagues developed the composite tails process, which significantly reduces tailings segregation and facilitates reclamation of tailings landforms. Further research is now being conducted on the self-sufficiency of the new landforms.

With more than two decades devoted to the oil sands industry, Dr. Sheeran has a long-standing reputation for excellence in his field. He has authored or co-authored over 25 publications, primarily about the properties and behaviour of clay soils. A leader of several research and development activities, Dr. Sheeran's extensive knowledge and expertise has made him a true champion in the oil sands industry.