Fall 2012 - The Schulich School of Engineering - University of Calgary

Alumni News
A Citizen of the Department and the Province
Shauheen (Seyed Reza) Etminan, a Petroleum
Engineering PhD candidate, has received
several outstanding academic and research
awards from 2009-2011 including the
prestigious NSERC Alexander Graham Bell
CGS Award, Alberta Innovates (Formerly
Alberta Ingenuity Fund) Award, “Ingenuity
Student” in Alberta title, NSERC Michael
Smith Foreign Travel Award for studying
in Bureau of Economic Geology at the
University of Texas in Austin and a Society
of Petroleum Engineers Canadian Section
Scholarship for three consecutive years.
Shauheen has also been recognized by the
Alberta Government Graduate Citizenship
Award in 2011 for his excellent community
services record at the U of C.
In 2007, he won 1st place of the SPE
Student Paper Contest in both sub-regional
and regional sections in Tehran and Bahrain
for his research work on the role of connate
water saturation in VAPEX process and was
invited to take part in the International SPE
Student Contest of 2007 in Anaheim, CA
winning 3rd place in the MSc level.
Last year, he was 1st place in the PhD level
as a UofC student in the Canadian regional
SPE Student Paper Contest in conjunction
with CURIPC. In October, he was sponsored
by SPE to attend and compete in the
international level, during ATCE 2012 in San
Antonio,TX. His research interests include
fundamentals and application of solventbased
processes in heavy oil recovery and
shale gas.
Shauheen is also active in extracurricular
activities including volunteering and
community services, team building and
leadership. For two years he was the
president of Chemical and Petroleum
Engineering Graduate Students’ Association
(CPEG.)
From 2009 to 2011, Shauheen led
Male Allies team volunteers at the UofC
Women Resource Center (WRC) to raise
awareness for gender equality. As founder
and president of Persian Gulf Club (PGC)
at the UofC whose mission is to reflect the
interests of the current Iranian youth to the
North American communities, he and his
team encourage philanthropic acts toward
poor children in Canada and Iran through
PGC Charity Foundation.
Shauheen is known as a social entrepreneur
and has proved to be a genuine and creative
leader.
With 14 prestigious research chairs, including six NSERC Industrial Research Chairs, five
Canada Research Chairs, two endowed research chairs, and one university professorship,
the department of chemical and petroleum engineering at the Schulich School of
Engineering delivers one of the highest calibre engineering programs in the world.
Alumni, please keep in touch. Please send a story of your recent accomplishment, job
changes, or family events, and photos to cpe-alumni@ucalgary.ca. This newsletter is also
available online and by email.
One Door Closes, Another Opens
Petroleum graduate, James Arukhe was
profiled in March 3, 2012’s Calgary Herald
Article “One door closes, another opens” by
Joel Schlesinger.
The Nigerian-born Canadian citizen completed
his master’s in tight gas engineering
at the University of Calgary’s Schulich of
Engineering, the first graduate to complete a
degree in that field of specialty at the school.
Although on sabbatical from his previous job
to upgrade his skills as a petroleum engineer,
he ended up pursuing a master’s degree in
the new field of study. But upon graduation,
his former position with his employer was no
longer available.
However, when one door closes, another one
opens. While James came to Canada for
opportunities in the West’s thriving oil and
gas fields in 2004, by 2009 he was attending
an “international talent quest” in Calgary,
sponsored by Saudi Aramco (also known as
Saudi Arabian Oil Company) and was later
offered a petroleum engineer position at the
firm’s Manifa Production Engineering Unit,
the world’s fifth largest oilfield.
Having travelled the world for work and with
over 20 years experience in drilling and
production engineering positions in BJ Services,
ExxonMobil, Petro-Canada and Shell, it
seems that James’ experience and education
not only got his foot in the door, it pushed it
wide open.
“I believe my degree at Schulich - backed by
several years of relevant industry experience
- prepared me for a successful job interview
and subsequent placement with Saudi
Aramco,” he says.
CHEMICAL & PETROLEUM
ENGINEERING
Schulich School of Engineering
University of Calgary
2500 University Dr. NW
Calgary, AB, CanadaT2N 1N4
403-220-5751
Schulich.ucalgary.ca/chemical
Chemical & Petroleum Engineering
Department News
Message from the Department
Head – U. Sundararaj
Our city and
province
are facing
enormous
scientific and
technological
challenges
and in our
department,
we are
working on
solving some
of the major
technology problems in petroleum, chemical,
biochemical and environmental engineering.
Our faculty members continue to excel and
receive recognition for education, research
and mentoring.
Our students continue to excel at both the
graduate and undergraduate levels. Our
students won several graduation awards and
the University of Calgary’s Student Chapter
of the Society of Petroleum Engineers was
given the Gold Standard Chapter Award.
We are very proud of their accomplishments.
Our incoming grade point averages continue
to increase and the Chemical and Oil and
Gas programs continue to be the most
sought after programs. Our students are the
cream of the crop in academics and also
lead in many ways outside of the classroom.
In this newsletter, we give a summary of the
events over the past year and also recognize
some of the folks in the department who had
key accomplishments.
As always, as a friend of our department,
I encourage you to keep in touch with us
and share your news.
Alumni, we would love to hear from you.
Send us your story of a recent
accomplishment, job changes,
or family events, and photos to
cpe-alumni@ucalgary.ca.
Faculty and Staff SSE Awards
The Schulich School of Engineering
recognized faculty and staff for their
dedication and excellence in the areas of
teaching, research, mentoring, and service
to the school.
SSE Teaching, Research and
Service Awards 2012
Schulich School Outstanding
Researcher Award of Excellence
Dr. Brij Maini has published many peerreviewed
papers, and he is well known and
respected throughout the energy industry
for his research involving enhanced oil
recovery and new recovery techniques.
Dr. Maini also won the Departmental
Researcher Award of Excellence and was
chosen from the five department winners
as the overall Schulich School outstanding
researcher.
Other Department Award Winners
Teaching Excellence Award:
Dr. Jalel Azaiez
Graduate Educator Award:
Dr. John Chen
Service Excellence Award:
Dr. Ayodeji Jeje
Donna Geekie Service Award:
Dr. Mark Hancock
Award-winning professors as chosen by the
students:
Second year: Dr. Jalel Azaiez
Third year: Dr. Ian Gates
Fourth year: Dr. Michael Foley
2012 APEGA Summit Awards
The Women in Engineering and
Geoscience Champion Award
Josie Hill/Jim Smith, past president of APEGA
Photo by APEGA
Dr. Josephine Hill, Zandmer/Canada
Research Chair in Hydrogen and Catalysis,
has had a positive influence on women in
engineering through her work as a volunteer,
mentor, educator and researcher. Since
joining the University of Calgary, Dr. Hill has
been involved with Women in Science and
Engineering (WISE), a student organization
that is dedicated to supporting and
encouraging women interested or engaged in
pursuing careers in engineering or science.
The Excellence in Education Award
Arin Sen/Jim Smith, past president of APEGA
Photo by APEGA
Dr. Arindom Sen, Associate Professor and
past recipient of several teaching excellence
awards at the Schulich School of Engineering,
is noted for being a passionate educator who
uses a variety of creative teaching techniques
to motivate his students. His teaching
methods have a tremendous impact on his
students. Besides being a great teacher, Dr.
Sen spends much of his time advising and
mentoring students about their education
and career goals.
Schulich.ucalgary.ca/chemical Fall 2012

Department News
Killam Annual Professor Award
Uttandaraman (U.T.) Sundararaj, PhD,
Department Head, has received a Killam
Professorship. Recipients are recognized
widely for their research and have
demonstrated excellence in the areas of
research, student mentoring and teaching.
Dr. Sundararaj has received previous awards
for teaching and research excellence. In
March 2010, he was a named a 3M National
Teaching Fellow, an honour that goes to 10
professors across Canada each year.
Career Panel Lunch Event
The Career Panel lunch event was held on January 16, 2012. Undergraduate students had
an opportunity to interact and learn about what it takes to prepare for a specific career and
to be successful in the engineering field. The panel featured the following speakers: Mr.
Charlie Fischer former CEO of Nexen and member of Petroleum Hall of Fame (far right,) Mr.
Dale Dusterhoft CEO of Trican Well Service, Ms. Liana Thornbush Senior Reservoir Engineer,
Enerplus, Mr. Cam Kramer Senior Vice President-Operations, ARC Resources.
Department Retreat - Banff, July 2012
Faculty and staff gathered at the Department’s annual retreat July 5/6th in the beautiful town of Banff. Participants discussed strategic plans
and best practices in a variety of sessions. There was also opportunity for team building with activities such as hiking, a volleyball tournament
and a banquet dinner for participants and their families on Thursday evening. A big “thank you” to all who made this a productive and enjoyable
time together!
From the left,
Front row: Diana Kislitsyna, Maureen Brost,
Jerry Jensen, Nancy Chen, Jennifer Lawtey,
Jamie Tymstra, Jinny Kim, Ayo JeJe,
Karan Kunal, Tony Settari, Nader Mahinpey
Second row: Arin Sen, Ian Gates,
Michael Kallos, Joule Bergerson,
Arlene Wallwork, U. Sundararaj, Brij Maini,
Kary Duque, Michael Foley, Anil Mehrotra
Third row: Lorne Abbey, Bernie Then,
Matthew Clarke, Jean-Marc Labonte,
Hassan Hassanzadeh, Daryl Kowalchuk,
Richard Then, Andrew Sutton,
Harvey Yarranton, Mingzhe Dong
Schulich School Block Party
On May 24, 2012, the Schulich School of
Engineering welcomed nearly 600 guests
to the engineering complex for the biggest
party in its history. In addition to celebrating
our growth, the event featured the unveiling
plans for the new SSE building including
enhancing teaching and learning space with
new research labs, student homerooms and
lecture theatres. Among many engineering
showcases, the Chemical & Petroleum
Engineering’s “Schulich Jeopardy” game
highlighted the evening. Participants
answered a variety of questions about
the school’s history as well as answered
questions that may have appeared on
exams over the years.
June 2012 Convocation
Every year, our Chemical & Petroleum Engineering students celebrate a major milestone
in their lives with the completion of their degrees. Congratulations to all our graduates on
your remarkable achievement! The following students were recognized with a record of
outstanding academic achievement at the convocation ceremony that took place at the
University of Calgary on June 4, 2012.
Chemical & Petroleum Engineering
Joseph Lagasca, Brendan Clark, Calvin Gee, Petar Lachkov, Evan Klimick
The APEGA Gold Medal Award for Chemical Engineering,
and Muriel Kovitz Prize went to Brendan Clark.
The Senate Service Award went to Evan Kimick
(BSc in Chemical Engineering with a minor in
Petroleum Engineering.)
Oil & Gas Engineering
Grahame Smith, Azat Latpov, Christopher Lomheim, Cody Weiss
Alumni Spotlight
Department Student Juggles Offers From Top
By Rob Deptford
Graduating chemical engineering student Joseph Lagasca recently had a tough decision to
make. Really tough. He knew he wanted to pursue graduate studies in petroleum engineering.
He just didn’t know where. Many students could only hope for an offer from at least one
prestigious school like Cambridge, MIT, Stanford or Yale. The trouble was Lagasca received
offers from all four.“It was a really hard decision to make,” Lagasca said, as he explained
he was initially leaning towards MIT, but he later changed his mind based on his interests in
a very specific niche of the petroleum industry. “At first, I didn’t really understand what the
energy industry was all about. There’s an urgent need for sustainability in the energy sector.
We need to be able to keep up with changes in the way we live, operate and do things. We
need to be able to adapt,” Lagasca said. “I chose my school based on the opportunity to
specialize in the area of energy sustainability because I wanted to make a difference.”
Striving for improvement is nothing new for Lagasca. He came to the Schulich School of
Engineering as a recipient of a Schulich Scholarship—the largest engineering entrance
scholarships in Canada—awarded for his academic achievements. And yet, he doesn’t
always study. This year, Lagasca found time to be the president of the University of Calgary
Petroleum and Energy Society, one of the largest energy clubs on campus. “Whatever your
passion is, focus on that and stay true to yourself,” he advised. “Having goals outside of the
classroom fosters friendships and leadership skills.”
So, where will he go? After much discussion, debate, and even some agony, Lagasca will
hang his hat at Stanford this fall. Rest assured that hat will be to keep the sun off rather than
keep the heat in. And if the warm climate didn’t provide Lagasca any additional incentive
to move to California’s Silicon Valley, perhaps a familiar face did. Joseph’s older brother,
John Lagasca—also a Schulich School of Engineering alumnus and an alumnus from the
department—began his graduate studies at Stanford last year.
Last row: Peter Basnak, Apostolos Kantzas,
Raj Mehta, Gord Moore
Joseph Lagasca
Schulich.ucalgary.ca/chemical Fall 2012
Schulich.ucalgary.ca/chemical Fall 2012