The Dean’s messageenvironment so the answers we find will be very beneficial unding has been awarded to the Faculty of Engineering’s Instrumentation, Control and Automation (INCA)

s an alumnus of our Faculty of Engineering

and Applied Science, it is a great honour to

welcome you to this edition of Benchmarks,

our faculty newsletter. During 2003 our faculty, staff and

students have been very busy with a range of successful

teaching and research initiatives, entrepreneurial

ventures, outreach and community-oriented activities.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our

students, alumni, staff and faculty who have been

recognized with various awards for excellence in their

professional lives. This issue of Benchmarks includes a

selection of articles that highlight some of these

professional achievements, as well as articles that

highlight personal interests of some of our students

and staff.

The upcoming spring convocation marks the 30th

anniversary of graduates from our co-operative

engineering degree programs and we continue to offer

one of the few mandatory co-operative engineering

programs in Canada despite increased competition

from other engineering programs and uncertainties in

segments of the technological job market. Our ability

to continue to offer excellent academic and work

experiences to our students is a result of the

tremendous dedication of our staff and faculty,

as well as the exceptional support of our co-op

employers and supporters. It is a great pleasure to work

with such dedicated individuals.

As you read this newsletter, we will be busy

preparing for an accreditation submission later in

2004, undertaking a major review of the structure and

content of our undergraduate programs in order to

provide engineering education that will best serve our

future students and the engineering profession, and

developing a number of new professionally-oriented

graduate programs. We will be taking the new

initiatives described in this newsletter from successful

funding proposals to active research programs that

involve faculty, staff and undergraduate and graduate

students in exciting R&D in collaboration with local,

national and international industry.

I hope that you enjoy this issue of Benchmarks and

please feel free to contact me to arrange a visit to the

faculty or to get further information about any of our

activities.

With very best wishes,

Dr. Ray Gosine, P. Eng.

Class of ’86

2 BENCHMARKS winter 2004

The Dean’s message

Our faculty, staff and students are turning many successful

funding proposals into exciting research and development

projects in the upcoming months

A

or fishermen making a living in the unforgivingNorth Atlantic, running away remains a valid meansof self-protection. But now, with the help of two

Memorial engineering professors, the ability of fishharvesters to stay one step ahead of bad weather couldimprove significantly.

Professor Dag Friis and Dr. Don Bass have beenperforming vessel motion and resistance testing for a 65’catamaran design. The project is partly funded through theNational Research Council’s Industrial Research AssistanceProgram (IRAP) and the Canadian Centre for Fisheries

Innovation, with the majority of funding coming fromBon Pelley Enterprises of Springdale for whom the work isbeing carried out.

Pelley, who has been a fisherman for more than 30years, conceived the idea of using a high-speed, multi-hullvessel for the offshore fishery while working the stormyNorth East Coast – Funk Island Bank area. Pelley believesthe catamaran has tremendous potential as a faster vessel –a ship capable of getting to and from lucrative fishinggrounds twice as fast, while at the same time offering amuch more stable and safe working platform. Constructionof the prototype is currently underway and it is expectedto be in service for the 2004 season.

“The inshore fishery fleet is now being forced furtherafield,” Dag Friis said. “When bad weather comes up, theyneed to be able to get to sheltered waters more quickly.”

Fish harvesters risk their lives to stay financially viable, theprofessor explained, because of the federal fisheriesregulations limiting the length of inshore vessels. “The 65’limit on vessel length is driving the fishing industry toextremes. They’re pushing their boats – fishing with allsorts of different gear, coming to port and changing gear,trying to do processing on board, trying to crameverything into that space. The result is that you’re goingout in beam, down in depth and up in height, which isnot necessarily a good thing.”

“The rule might not have been too bad when they wereclose to shore but now that they’re going furtherafield because of their quotas – it’s a fisherythat’s much riskier. So this catamaran design isone possible way of trying to address theproblem.”

Operating at a speed of at least twice that ofmost 65-footers (up to 20 knots), the catamarancan halve the usual two to three days of traveltime out to the grounds – a difference, as Dr. Basspointed out, that also means an improvement inproduct quality. “You can get the product back toport very quickly,” he explained, “and that’s veryimportant for some species, like crab, wherequality is so important.”

The engineering professors are performingvessel motion and resistance testing oncomputer-generated models of the design andassessing its performance capability. They needto give the boat enough capacity for storage and

the proper-shaped hull to move it through the waterquickly and efficiently. Also collaborating on the projectwas Lee Hedd of Oceanic Consulting Corporation who wasinvolved in the modifications to the hull form to improvevessel performance and also constructed the originalmodel. “Because they have two hulls, catamarans tend tobe more stable,” Dr. Bass said. “However, there is a trade-off between stability, speed and carrying capacity in anyvessel design; a catamaran has the stability, but speed isgained at the expense of carrying capacity.”

Pelley is very optimistic about this new design andbelieves it will have a very positive impact on the localfishing industry. “This is what we as engineers should bedoing,” Friis said. “Being an engineer, you want to see thatlink between the theory that you’re working with and thepractical application.”

Research

F

winter 2004 BENCHMARKS 3

Stormrunners

Dr. Don Bass and professor Dag Friis

wo professors from theFaculty of Engineering and Applied Science were

recently awarded New Opportunitiesgrants to support their researchefforts. The Canada Foundation forInnovation (CFI) has awarded Dr.Faisal Khan $122,452 for alaboratory facility to investigateprocess safety and risk managementand Dr. George Mann was awarded$96,356 to further develop theIntelligent Systems Lab for researchinto co-ordinated robotics.

“Receiving such an award gives researchers renewedconfidence in the work that they’re doing and it providesthe infrastructure to carry out further research,” exclaimedDr. Khan. “I am also very excited about the opportunitiesthis funding presents for both graduate and undergraduatestudents here in the faculty.” Dr. Khan plans to use thefunding to purchase specialized equipment for studying thecharacteristics of oil and gas products and by-productsunder different operating conditions. He will be able to

examine chemical behaviour underpressurized conditions to see howthe physical state changes underhigh pressure, when chemicalsbecome unstable and what theconsequences of this instability are.“Ultimately we want to be able tosay with confidence what the bestoperating conditions are,” adds Dr.Khan. “This will lead us towardssafer designs and operationalactivities which can only serve tobenefit the oil and gas industry inthe long term.”

Dr. George Mann will also be able to build upon hisresearch infrastructure and purchase equipment, enablinghim to do further work on co-ordinated robots, sensors and process control. “I have always believed in appliedresearch and have chosen to focus on the resource sector,particularly the mining industry. We have a lot to learnabout how to apply technology in a non-structuredenvironment so the answers we find will be very beneficial

unding has been awarded to the Faculty ofEngineering’s Instrumentation, Control andAutomation (INCA) laboratory for innovative

technology of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). TheRemote Aerial Vehicles for Environment Monitoring(RAVEN) is a model airplane that will be usedautonomously (i.e. you can control it without seeing it oryou punch in a flight path) for offshore applications. Theproject will be the first application of commercial UAVsurveillance in Atlantic Canada and will aid greatly in theareas of environmental monitoring, search and rescue, andnational security. Engineering professor Siu O’Young says,“The novelty is not in the hardware but in the combinationof innovative ideas to accomplish a variety of uniquemissions for lower costs than those of manned aircraft.”

RAVEN is a collaborative research project between theFaculty of Engineering, Provincial Airlines Ltd., the Atlantic

Canada Opportunities Agency and the two NationalResearch Council laboratories: Institute for AerospaceResearch and Institute for Marine Dynamics. It will allowresearchers to pursue research and development onautonomous vehicles over four different industrial sectors:aerospace, mining, marine and subsea, based on a commontechnology.

New Memorial partnership meansbetter food inspectionsThe Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science is partnering with a St. John’s company to research anddevelop innovative technology for inspecting food. TheAtlantic Innovation Fund has announced $2.9 million toBaadar-Canpolar Inc., which specializes in advanced foodinspection systems, to research and develop a multi-spectralsystem, integrating x-ray technology with machine vision.


New funding for research

Research

CFI continued on page 9

Funding continued on page 5

TCFI grants announced: Big news for faculty

Dr. Faisal Khan Dr. George Mann

Unmanned aerial vehicles come toAtlantic Canada

F

Visit our new Web site at: www.engr.mun.ca.


Although the initial focus will be onthe fishing industry, the technologywill be designed so that it can be usedin other food sectors, as well.

Industry trends are demandinghigher detection levels because ofworldwide competitive pressures forcost efficiencies and demands fromthe fast food industry. This willrequire food inspection systems tofunction faster and beyond thecapability of the human eye. AnIndustrial Research Chair will beestablished at Memorial as part of theproject, which will cost a total of $5.8million over a four-year period.

Paul Hearn, managing director andCOO of Baader-Canpolar Inc. says the establishment of an IndustrialResearch Chair to look at some of the technological needs of the fishprocessing industry is long overduefor the Faculty of Engineering andApplied Science. “I went through theengineering program at MUN in theearly 1980’s and I remember very littleresearch being carried out in fishprocessing technology. I believe thatthe same is true today. We are hopefulthat the establishment of this researchchair will change that.” Dr. RayGosine, dean of the faculty says theproject solidifies a much valuedrelationship with Baader-Canpolar.“Memorial will contribute to both thefundamental and applied research andwe will also work with Baader-Canpolar to apply the results of thisresearch to real products and servicesin the local technical community.” Dr.Gosine adds that the partnershipmeans more research capability; morehighly qualified personnel available in

the Atlantic region; and another linkbetween university-based research andthe long-term technological needs ofinnovative Atlantic Canada industry.

The world’s first

AIF has provided funding to EnerSeaCanada Inc. to establish a CompressedNatural Gas (CNG) Centre ofExcellence at Memorial University.The CNG Centre of Excellence is theworld’s first research and developmentcentre for large-scale marine transportof compressed natural gas. The centre,a partnership between Memorial andEnerSea Canada Inc., will conductinnovative research and developmentin CNG marine transportation andrelated issues with the goal ofadvancing technologies capable ofdelivering natural gas from offshorelocations where pipelines do not existor are impractical. It will address thetechnical challenges associated withdeveloping a complete transportationsystem (gas processing, loading/off-loading, storage and safety practices)for global applications. EnerSea andMemorial, including several membersof the engineering faculty, haveworked diligently over the past 18months to develop the centre and toobtain funding for this federallyincorporated not-for-profit entity.

Modeling and simulationof harsh environmentsDespite enormous strides in marineengineering and construction, humanerror accounts for 80 to 90 per cent ofall accidents of maritime shipping and

marine resource industries. Nowhereare the environmental and ecologicalstakes so high as in the exploration,production and transshipment ofhydrocarbons in harsh marineenvironments. AIF has recentlyannounced funding to our Centre forMarine Simulation to help reducethese risks. The funding will focus onresearch to improve the safety andefficiency of oil and gas operations inharsh maritime environments throughthe development of innovativemodeling and simulation capabilities.

This project will incorporate threehighly interdependent activities:simulation infrastructure, modeldevelopment and human factorsstudies. Among the key economicbenefits of the project aredevelopment of the world’s firstcomprehensive ice management and human factor modelling andsimulation capability with acorresponding increase in the sale ofnew products and services. Inaddition, the enhanced reliability ofhuman factor modelling andsimulation will benefit the oil and gasindustry through access to morequalified offshore personnel, andreduce significantly the likelihood ofaccidents stemming from humanerror. The work will be conductedprincipally within Atlantic Canada atcollaborator facilities, and at sea withHusky Energy and Petro-Canadasupport, with some activities assignedto the project’s internationalcollaborators in the U.K. and theNetherlands.

Funding continued from page 4

Research

Spot light

f you play squash and want to improve yourperformance you may have a unique opportunitythanks to the research and creativity of Dr. Leonard

Lye, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, andengineering graduate Chris Butt. The Footworker™ -S is a device designed for both novice and advanced squashplayers to improve movement around the squash court. Be prepared to work up a sweat because this device willchallenge even the best of players.

The Footworker™ -S is designed to help players performghosting routines more effectively. The purpose of ghostingroutines is to encourage good movement with correctfootwork in any corner of the court. The Footworker™ -S is placed at the front of the court, 10 lights are positionedon the device to reflect the typical positions from where a squash ball is hit and when a particular light isilluminated, the player moves to that position on the court and hits an imaginary ball. What follows is aproperly timed, according to your chosen level, pseudo-random pattern of flashing lights designed to simulate arally. Dr. Lye says the idea for a similar device forbadminton came to him about 20 years ago. When hestarted playing squash five years ago, the idea came backand he proposed it as a term 8 project for the electricalengineering students in 1999. “Chris accepted the projectand went to work right away programming and puttingthe hardware together. When we had something ready topresent, we took it over to Dr. David Behm in the School ofHuman Kinetics and Recreation and asked him to take alook at it. He tried it out, made a few suggestions, and wehave been refining it ever since.”

Since the beginning, the Footworker™ -S has changedfrom roughly constructed plywood to a real prototype,thanks to the help of Steve Foster of Memorial University’sTechnical Services. The device has been streamlined, theelectronics component has been made a lot smaller and it’sbeen given a more compact design. “We are still making some minor modifications and are always findingsomething that could be slightly tweaked. Having peopletry it helps us to make it even better,” adds Mr. Butt.

According to Dr. Lye, there is no other device similar tothis available. Consequently, the endorsements have been

rolling in from those who have tried it. “The Footworker™is a great new tool for coaches and a fun way for players toimprove their game,” says Kathy Lundmark, level IV coachand former Canadian and World Masters Champion.

Dr. Lye and Mr. Butt have since formed their owncompany, Com-Adv Devices Inc., and are now working onmarketing their product. They have been in contact withplayers and coaches worldwide and they plan to startadvertising in magazines and other publications devoted tothe game. They are also working on a similar product forbadminton and are very optimistic given the interest theyhave received from the local community. “This devicemakes you work very hard. It challenges your footworktechnique and improves your overall fitness level,” pointsout Dr. Lye. “We know we have a winning product. Nowwe just need to show everyone what it can do for them!”

For more information, please visit their Web site atwww.footworker.ca.

Engineered forgreatness - TheFootworker™ -S

I

Engineering graduate Chris Butt and Dr. Leonard Lye, Faculty ofEngineering and Applied Science, inventors of The Footworker™ -S


ego is no longer just another children’s toy. Withthe advent of the Lego Mindstorm™ robotics kit,children of all ages are being exposed to science

and engineering principles by learning how to build andprogram a robot to do simple tasks. The potential for thesekits to excite young people about engineering and sciencecareers has not gone unnoticed. Teachers from the AvalonEast School District, working in collaboration with theFaculty of Engineering and Applied Science, are makingsure that full advantage is taken of this educationalopportunity.

For the past two years, junior high schools in the St.John’s area have been involved in an enrichment programin robotics. Operating out of the Instrumentation, Controland Automation (INCA) Centre and taught by bothengineering faculty and graduate students, the enrichmentprogram gives young students the chance to do hands-onrobotic design, be creative, and really work together as partof a team.

“The students who have been involved in theenrichment program love it! It is really amazing how muchthey learn in such a short time,” says Clarence Button, oneof the co-ordinators for the program and a teacher atO’Donell High School. “They get to see the applications ofscience first-hand and this often renews their interest inthe subject when they return to classes.”

Dr. Ray Gosine, dean of the faculty, could not agreemore. “Last year we had over 500 students show aninterest in the robotics enrichment course. Courses likethis leave a marked impression upon students. They are ata stage where they are forming impressions about what itmeans to be a doctor or an engineer. Having a hands-onlearning opportunity really helps to shape thoseimpressions and gives them a more solid understanding.”

This year, mechanical engineering student Nick Janesand engineering graduate student Rose Wilson got to helpout and teach the four-day robotics course. They say it wasnot only enjoyable, but also a chance to meet futureengineers. “The course is a great introduction to softwarefor kids. But best of all it is a lot of fun! They get to buildtheir own robots using the Lego Mindstorm™ kit, programthem to perform specified tasks and then compete in awrestling match,” says Rose. Their enthusiasm for the

subject was contagious, adds Nick. “Each student wantedto be there and it showed. They all said they wanted tocome back and they wanted the course to be longer. If wehave helped increase their interest in science, then that’ssomething we should be very happy about.”

The Avalon East School District and the Faculty ofEngineering and Applied Science plan to partner to offerthis and other courses. Making this connection with youngstudents is a part of the faculty’s plan to stimulate interestin engineering and its applications within the widercommunity. And it does not have to stop there,” says Dr. Gosine. “There are many other areas where we cancollaborate with the local schools and give youngerstudents the opportunity to come to Memorial and seewhat we do here. Opportunities like this are just thebeginning.”

Did you know that junior high school students

can now compete at an international level with

the First Lego League? For more information please

visit www.firstlegoleague.org.

From childhood toys to robots –Adventures in learning

L

Junior high students participating in enrichment program in robotics


News

?

emorial University istaking a great strideforward in becoming a

centre for world-class research thanksto an endowed gift from Husky Energy.There is a newly-established HuskyEnergy Chair in Oil and Gas Researchand it is the first time an endowedresearch chair has been bestowed uponMemorial. Many people are excitedabout the opportunities this presentsfor the university.

“It is this kind of support that willhelp transform Newfoundland andLabrador into an internationally-recognized leader in education,training, research and development inall facets of offshore oil and gas,”remarks Dr. Axel Meisen, Memorial’spresident and vice-chancellor. “Bypermanently endowing this dedicatedsenior research and teaching position atMemorial, Husky Energy has showntrue leadership and also support for thisuniversity’s contribution to the oil andgas industry.”

The establishment of an endowedresearch chair will, according to thoseinvolved, strengthen Memorial’sresearch in the area of oil and gas andbuild upon the expertise of facultymembers like Dr. Thormod Johansen,Canada Research Chair in PetroleumReservoir Engineering and Character-ization. The Husky Energy Chair willfocus initially on reservoir engineeringand the utilization of seismic imagingto enhance the interpretation ofreservoirs. “This is the start of a clusterof expertise in reservoir simulation andcharacterization that will enable us toconduct world-class research with aglobal impact,” says Dr. Chris Loomis,vice-president (research). “What is truly

remarkable about this chair is that it willexist virtually in-perpetuity meaningthat we will have a permanent researchchair in this area at Memorial for as longas the return on the endowment ispresent. It also sets a new standard bywhich we can hope to secure otherresearch chairs.”

Is this the start of a new trend forMemorial? Dr. Loomis hopes it is.“Collaboration between industry andthe university is something we wouldvery much like to encourage. It isnormal for research chairs to have anexpiration date, but this will not to becase with the Husky Energy Chair andthat is a significant advantage whenconducting research. We are verygrateful for Husky Energy’s support.”

This chair will also play an integralrole in further developing the Oil and

Gas Development Partnership (OGDP)launched in September 2000, byproviding additional research expertiseand teaching resources. “The HuskyEnergy Chair will bring us one stepcloser to realizing our goal ofspecializing in research that has animmediate impact upon both the localand global industry. We hope thisannouncement will act as a catalyst forother companies to see the benefits ofcollaborating and supporting researchhere at Memorial,” says OGDPexecutive director, Gerrit Maureau. “We are also optimistic that the chairwill act as a magnet for prospectivestudents in our flagship program – themaster in oil and gas studies.”


News

An historic partnership: HuskyEnergy and Memorial University

M

Dr. Axel Meisen (L) president, Memorial University and John C. S. Lau, president,Husky Energy, shake hands in front of the university’s gift to Husky, a hand-craftedchair marking the donation.

ennis Johnson is anelectronic technologist withthe Faculty of Engineering

and Applied Science, and has alwayshad an interest in building modelsand in aviation history. Now, a modelplane he worked on for more thantwo years is the star in a documentaryon The History Channel entitled TheGreat Atlantic Air Race.

Dennis built the replica of the VicarsVimy in 1994 to commemorate the75th anniversary of the first non-stoptransatlantic flight, made in 1919 byCaptain John Alcock and LieutenantArthur Whitten Brown. The originalVickers Vimy was built as a bomber forthe First World War but production wasnot completed in time. It was built

mainly of wood with fabric coveringand was powered by two Rolls RoyceEagle engines that could fly for 100hours before they needed to beserviced. After some alterations weremade it was put in crates andtransported to an airfield inNewfoundland on May 26, 1919.Alcock and Brown took off for theirfamous flight just weeks later on theafternoon of June 14, from Lester’sField. The crew faced many problems.Besides delays, their radio broke down shortly after take off and fogenveloped the plane, preventing thefliers from seeing anything for muchof the journey. The next morning,however, Alcock and Brown reachedIreland.

Dennis also faced a number ofproblems when building the model ofthe famous plane. There were noplans, so he started with 3-viewdrawings he got out of a book. “It was a challenge just finding all of the information I needed because itwasn’t just a scale model, but a flyingmodel. I did quite a bit of research.”Dennis says he got a lot of help fromfriends and colleagues in piecingtogether information.

Eighteen hundred hours and$1,000 later, he had duplicated theaircraft’s control systems, materialsand construction techniques. “I felt itwas important to recreate the historyaccurately so every knob, dial and

gage is like it appears in the originaland it all works the same way.” And it must have impressed the expertsbecause in 1996 there was a province-wide model contest held at the Artsand Culture Centre. Dennis didn’tshow up for the awards ceremony but when he came to take his modelhome, he had three trophies waitingfor him: Best in Show, TechnicalAchievement and Best in Category.

In 2002, the model plane was ondisplay in Labrador when someAmericans from Vimy RestorationsIncorporated saw it. They called TheHistory Channel, who in turn, calledDennis. He says he was very flatteredby the request because he has a lot ofrespect for the flight that “took airflight from infancy to young adult-hood in a single stroke and pioneeredthe transatlantic route that aircraftsstill fly today.” Filming took quitesome time but when he saw thefinished product, about 80 per cent of the shots used in the film were ofhis model.

In June 2004 the Vimy Atlanticteam of Vimy Restorations Incorp-orated will recreate the first directcrossing of the Atlantic by JohnAlcock and Arthur Whitten-Brown in 1919. The Great Atlantic Air Raceappeared on The History Channel on Dec. 17, 2003.

D

A model of the Vicars Vimy duringfilming of The Great Atlantic Air Race

News

to the industry.” He and variousgraduate students are working onautomating the underground vehiclesby developing models or mobilerobots which can simulate anunderground mine. They are alsoworking on a control system whichcan co-ordinate robots from thesurface. “The research that we are

doing is not limited to the miningindustry. It can also be applied tounderwater vehicles. We want to tryout advanced theories in intelligentcontrol and now we have the meansto do so.”

Both facilities will be open tovarious faculty members forcollaborative research in eachrespective area. Students at the

undergraduate and graduate level willalso have the opportunity to use theseresources to build upon their ownresearch interests. The grants wereofficially awarded at CFI's 25th boardof directors' reception and dinner, heldin St. John’s and hosted by Dr. AxelMeisen, on Oct. 9, 2003.

CFI continued from page 4


Model plane makes history


Connecting navigation to toilet papercience historian, author andtelevision writer/producer JamesBurke spoke to an enthusiastic

crowd of about 175 people whoattended the 2003 F.W. Angel MemorialLecture on Oct. 2. The topic of thelecture, which was held by the Facultyof Engineering and Applied Science,was Innovation and Change and Mr.Burke managed to deliver his theorieson the complicated and chaoticpatterns of history while frequentlymaking the audience laugh with hiseclectic approach. He spoke on severaldifferent topics (each one seeminglyconnected to the next) from how wecame to hunt animals for food andhow this led to our current democraticsociety, to how we must use technologyto help solve the world’s environmentalcrisis. He even connected the need forbetter navigational tools, which lead toimproved steel springs for machinery,the patent for which was bought by thesame company which, on the same day(just because it was available), boughtthe patent for a continuous processmachine for making wallpaper whichled to the invention of toilet tissue.

Mr. Burke’s infectious passion forhyper-connections was obvious as hebrought audience members on journeysthrough knowledge, explaining howtechnology has shaped our culture.“The brain appears to be naturallyconfigured for innovation to work, tohave new ideas because its job is to useinformation about the world andinnovate by modeling new ways inwhich the state of the world out theremight be put together,” remarked Mr.Burke. “Much of innovation, however,is unpredictable and uncontrollableuntil it emerges and as a result, in anincreasingly interconnected world, bythe time the innovation emerges andgiven the reductionism lag in gettinginformation to the general public, it’s

too late to rethink. We cannot un-invent goodies like plutonium or nervegas… There may be a real danger if wecontinue to leave innovation to theaccidental and serendipitous nature ofreductionism.”

Mr. Burke also spoke about the roleof institutions in innovation. In hisopinion, most institutions were set upto solve problems of the past, not toinnovate new solutions for the futuresaying they act like sign posts telling uswe’re going in the right direction byobliging us to look backwards all thetime. But, he says that’s the nature ofinnovation. “The problem with howinstitutions such as democracy, politicalestablishment, education, the legalprocess, international relations,diplomatic guidelines or boardmeetings keep up with innovation ismade harder by the fact that even backin history when things were simple,innovations often ended up with anentirely unexpected secondary effect.”

Mr. Burke also gave the audience apreview of an Interactive KnowledgeWeb he’s creating, which is due onlinenext year. With this tool, students cantrace just about any innovation toeveryone in history to which theinventor was connected. As anexample, he used the software toconnect Mozart to the invention ofhelicopters in about a minute.

Educated at Oxford and holdinghonorary doctorates for his work incommunicating science andtechnology, Mr. Burke attributes hissuccess to being in the right place atthe right time. For over 30 years Mr.Burke has produced, directed, writtenand presented award-winningtelevision series on the BBC, PBS andThe Learning Channel. These includeConnections, which achieved thehighest-ever documentary audience,The Day the Universe Changed,

Connections2, The Burke Special, a one-man science series, The Neuron Suite, a mini-series on the brain, After theWarming, a series on the greenhouseeffect, Masters of Illusion, a special forthe National Art Gallery on Renaissancepainting, and Connections3. Mr. Burkewas also the BBC’s chief reporter on theApollo moon missions and has writtenseveral books. His publications include:Tomorrow's World, Tomorrow’s World II,Connections, The Day the UniverseChanged, Chances, The Axemaker’s Gift(with Robert Ornstein), The PinballEffect, The Knowledge Web and Circles.His latest book, Twin Tracks: TheUnexpected Origins of the Modern World,focuses on the surprising connectionsamong the seemingly unconnectedpeople, events and discoveries thathave shaped our world. In addition, hehas written a series of introductions forthe book Inventing Modern America:From the Microwave to the Mouse. Burkehas also written and hosted a best-selling CD-ROM titled Connections: A Mind Game, and is a currentcontributor to Time magazine.

S

James Burke speaking at the F.W. AngelMemorial Lecture

News

ore often than not, graduates leave New-foundland and Labrador to find work.Graduates from the Faculty of Engineeringand Applied Science find employment all

over Canada and sometimes around the world. But SeanRyan is a graduate who did not go west; he went east,about as far east as you can go. Sean found his niche righthere at Hibernia. He graduated with a bachelor ofengineering (mechanical) in 1993, but started working for Hibernia in 1991. His first job was assisting in site roadbuilding at Bull Arm, and he worked a number of co-opterms there providing field-engineering support during theconstruction of the Gravity Base System (GBS).

Once the GBS was installed offshore, he worked in avariety of jobs with increasing responsibility. Now, Sean isproduction supervisor and is responsible for productionoffshore, accountable for process and utility systems, and isdeputy installation manager. For 12 years, Sean was also amember of the Reserves, receiving militaryengineering officer training and, as an officerin the 56th Field Squadron, involved inconstructing many bridges in communitiesthroughout the province. He attributes themilitary with helping him to learn leadershipand teaching skills and to accept responsibilityat an early age. At Hibernia, he uses these skillsto succeed in extremely responsiblemanagement positions on an offshore platformthat currently produces an average of 206,000barrels a day.

Sean says Memorial's program is at a veryhigh standard. “What I learned fromengineering is that problems are solved in thesame manner regardless of the discipline. Ifound the program at Memorial challengingand a test of your capacity to learn while at thesame time getting an early appreciation for thedemands that the work place will place ondecision makers. I think the co-operative

education and early apprenticeship and mentorship arecritical for the development of a young engineer. Theyallowed me to gain valuable practical experience, helpedfinance my tuition and allowed me to exploreopportunities for my career path.”

Sean recently received the Early AccomplishmentAward from the Professional Engineers and Geoscientists ofNewfoundland and Labrador in recognition of outstandingwork-related achievement and notable leadership early inhis career. “I did not make a conscious decision that I hadto stay in Newfoundland and Labrador. The opportunity Ihad to return to Bull Arm was very fortunate. When wefinished work at Bull Arm I had offers of employment inAlberta, British Columbia and here and given a choicewhat better place to live than home. Heather and I lookback now that we are married with two children and weare very happy with our choices. This is our home.”



Alumni profile

MMaking it happen: Right here

Engineering alumnus Sean Ryan


eith Pike believes verystrongly in making the most out of your university

experience and his six years atMemorial are proof of this. Keithbegan at Memorial University in thefall of 1996 with the intention ofstudying architecture, but laterdecided to pursue civil engineering.When he realized he was a chemistrycourse short of advancing into termone of the program, he took a year todo the course, along with every otherarts/humanities course that he wasinterested in, trying to figure out ifengineering was what he wanted topursue. When that year was up, hecame back more determined than everto pursue civil engineering. And inbetween starting engineering andgraduating, he found time to refereesoccer and perform in several musicgroups including a jazz band. How isthat for multi-tasking?

To say that he is organized wouldprobably be an understatement. AsKeith points out, “It is a schedule Ihave gotten used to because I have

been doing it for so many years. Eversince I can remember, I have beeninvolved in sports, music andacademics. There are definitely timeswhen it gets very hectic, but I love thepace. It works for me.” Keith has beenplaying soccer for a long time and inMay he travelled to Toronto to writethe national referee exam. Passing thatexam has gotten him one step closerto becoming one of the few nationallycertified referees in the province. Infact, Keith was fortunate enough tohave his biggest appointment yet thispast summer when he refereed aprofessional-level game in Montreal infront of 8,300 spectators. Keith says itwent very well. Being a referee issomething he takes very seriously,training in the gym or on the trackfive times a week. He says it hashelped him tremendously to becomemore confident, a skill he has carriedover into engineering.

His other pastime gives him achance to kick back and play the kindof music he enjoys most – jazz. Forthe past three years he has played in

Memorial’s concert band. Now as thebusiness manager for Jazz East, he isquite busy playing at special eventsand performing in various festivals.Since graduating in April, Keith hasbeen working on the Hibernia projectwith ExxonMobil. But, he says, therewill always be time for soccer and jazz.

ngineering alumnus MarkGillingham is one of threesemifinalists in Atlantic

Canada and Quebec for the CIBCstudent entrepreneur of the year. Mark,a 27 year old from Rodgers Cove,Gander Bay, is one of the owners ofCathexis Innovations Inc., whichprovides wireless asset managementsolutions that allow for rapid andefficient deployment of barcode, RadioFrequency Identification (RFID). Thefounders of Cathexis, Mark Simms,Colin Power, Steve Taylor and Mark,are all graduates of Memorial’sundergraduate engineering program

in electrical and computer engineering.The idea to start a company grew outof a term six robotics project and thefour then formed the company in2001, a year before graduating.Cathexis now has about 14 people onstaff and they have just signed aninternational contract to grow theirbusiness. There is a $2,000 prize forthe winner, but Mark says the mediarecognition for the company andbeing recognized by his peers ashaving succeeded in his entre-preneurial goals is worth just as much.Mark is currently working on an MBAat Memorial.

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One to watch

Alumni profile

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A multi-tasker par excellence

Engineering alumnus Keith Pike

Engineering alumnus Mark Gillingham

he primary responsibility of a dean is to providethe leadership, management, encouragement,support and rewards necessary for a faculty to

reach its full potential in serving the needs of societythrough its teaching, research and outreach activities. InJuly 2003 Memorial University announced that Dr. RayGosine had been selected as the new dean of engineeringand he took up this new role in November 2003.

Dr. Gosine has a strong personal commitment to theFaculty of Engineering and Applied Science and toNewfoundland. He was born in St. John's and attendedschool and university in St. John's. Following completionof an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering atMemorial in 1986, he attended Cambridge University inEngland where he completed a PhD in robotics. During1990/91 he was a research fellow at Selwyn College,Cambridge, and a research associate in the Department ofEngineering at Cambridge. His work during 1990/91 waslargely involved in the application of his PhD work andgave him the chance to spend time in various parts ofEurope. Also, his PhD work on human-robot interactionled to a commercial product through a robotics companycalled OxIM.

Dr. Gosine returned to Canada in July 1991, after beingappointed assistant professor of mechanical engineeringand NSERC Junior Chair of Industrial Automation at theUniversity of British Columbia (UBC). At UBC he was theassociate director of the Industrial Automation Laboratoryand a faculty member at the Centre for IntegratedComputer Systems Research (CICSR). Dr. Gosine wasprimarily involved in applied research into automationtechniques to improve the efficiency of the fish processingindustry, mainly salmon and herring roe processing. Hewas also involved in research toward improved methods ofmotion planning for robot path following operations suchas welding, and in biomedical engineering research on newapproaches to designing a powered orthosis. The positionat UBC was a great combination of the flexibility ofacademia and the excitement and pace of industry.

In 1994, Dr. Gosine had the opportunity to come hometo a position at Memorial University through research

collaborations with C-CORE. Like the position at UBC, hisresearch at Memorial involved a balance of academic andindustry-oriented research and development.

Dr. Gosine feels that research in engineering shouldaddress the longer-term needs of industry with industryinteraction helping to determine research priorities andnew opportunities for research funding and technologytransfer. “The Faculty of Engineering must be aggressive inpursuit of industry for collaboration in teaching, researchand outreach that is of mutual interest and benefit,”remarks Dr. Gosine. He says the next five to 10 years willbring considerable change to the faculty and the province.“The resource industries are particularly important toNewfoundland and Labrador and there is an opportunityfor the Faculty of Engineering to undertake significantresearch and development that leads to innovativetechnologies and services required for these industries toremain competitive. Over the next few years, the facultywill have opportunities and challenges with respect toeducation and research programs. As the only Faculty ofEngineering in Newfoundland and Labrador, it’s veryimportant to remain cognizant of obligations to help both Memorial, and the province, achieve their greatestpotential.”

Most of Dr. Gosine’s research is in the areas oftelerobotics, machine vision and pattern recognition forapplications in the resource industries (i.e. mining, oil andgas, aquaculture and fisheries, and forestry). He won thePresident's Award for Outstanding Research (1997/98), the Petro-Canada Young Innovator Award (1998), and the PEG-NL Early Achievement Award (1998). Prior tobecoming dean of Engineering, Dr. Gosine held the J.I.Clark Chair of Intelligent Systems for Operations in HarshEnvironments, which was sponsored by C-CORE, and hewas a professor of electrical and computer engineering atMemorial. Dr. Gosine currently serves on the Council ofthe Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Newfound-land and serves as a director or adviser to severaltechnology-based companies.

Profile of a new dean –meet Dr. Ray Gosine, B. Eng., P.Eng.Memorial Class of 1986

Faculty news

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Faculty news

Dr. Mohamed Hossam AhmedAssistant professor, electrical and computer engineering

I joined the Faculty of Engineering andApplied Science in April 2003 afterobtaining my PhD at Carlton Universityin Ottawa where I also worked as asenior research associate for two years.Prior to Carlton University, I received mymasters in engineering in electroniccommunications and my bachelor of engineering with a major in

electronics and communication from Ain Shams Universityin Cairo, Egypt. During my time at Carlton, I was fortunateenough to be part of a virtual institute called the NationalCapital Institute of Telecommunications, which consisted ofvarious universities across Canada and industry partners.

My specialty is wireless communications. I work in thedesign of wireless networks, increasing their capacity,enhancing the quality of service, planning for new servicesand increasing client satisfaction. I am also working ondesigning admission control policies for the wirelesscommunications industry. I was attracted to MemorialUniversity because it meant starting a new area of researchhere with support from industry partners. Good partnershipsbetween industry and academia are essential to shaping thenext generation of wireless communication. I also thinkNewfoundland and Labrador is unique because there are alot of remote areas and this makes it necessary to havealternative techniques for wireless coverage.

New faculty membersDr. Khaled KandilAssistant professor, civil engineering

I have a bachelor of science and a masterof science in civil engineering from AinShams University in Cairo, Egypt and aPhD in civil engineering from CarletonUniversity.

Since graduation I have gainedexcellent practical and researchexperience. Immediately after my B.Sc. graduation in 1993, I worked as ahighway engineer for almost five years, in differentconsultant firms, and I participated in several researchprojects in the field of highway engineering at Ain ShamsUniversity, Carleton University and the National ResearchCouncil Canada.

During my graduate studies I was awarded a number of scholarships, which included Carleton UniversityScholarship, Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Fonds pour laformation de Chercheurs et l’Aide à la Recherche, andTransportation Association of Canada graduate scholarship.

After my PhD graduation in 2002, I worked as a researchfellow at Carleton University before joining the Institute forResearch in Construction, National Research CouncilCanada, as a postdoctoral fellow.

My research interests include pavement design andconstruction, pavement rehabilitation, winter maintenance,geometric design and traffic safety. My teaching interestsinclude highway geometric design, pavement analysis,highway materials and traffic engineering.

o-operative Engineeringprogram manager PaulBatstone passed away

suddenly on February 15, 2003. Pauljoined the faculty in 1982 as a co-ordinator in Co-operative Education.Paul played a significant role inbuilding the program to its presentreputation as one of the best in thecountry. A scholarship has beenestablished in memory of Paul. If youwould like to contribute or would likemore information, please call WallyJacobs at 737-8817.

Joining our team…

Bill Parsons joined the faculty thisyear as manager of IndustrialOutreach and Engineering Facilities.

Rob Coish is our newest co-ordinatorin Co-operative Education.

Craig Mitchell, Shawn Organ andBrian Tucker have joined the facultyas engineering technologists.

Alex Gardner, Michael Snow andLeon Tracey were recently hired asproject engineers.

Caroline Koenig is now the assistantto the Chair for Women in Scienceand Engineering (CWSE).

Michelle Osmond is our newcommunications co-ordinator andeditor of Benchmarks.

Welcome everyone!

CFaculty notes

r. Rangaswamy Seshadri hasbeen given an honouredaward by his peers. The

Professional Engineers and Geo-scientists of Newfoundland andLabrador (PEG-NL) have conferred the Teaching Award on Dr. Seshadri in recognition of his significantcontribution to engineeringeducation. Originally from India, Dr. Seshadri graduated with bachelor’sand master’s degrees in mechanicalengineering, the latter achieved at theUniversity of Calgary. He subsequentlygained his doctorate in mechanicalengineering at the same university,before moving to Edmonton in 1974.

In 1983, he joined Syncrude Canadabefore switching to academia in 1987,

as associate professor at the Universityof Regina. He became dean ofengineering at that university in 1989,and moved to Newfoundland in 1993 to take up the position of dean of the

Faculty of Engineering and AppliedScience. In 2002, he assumed theResearch Chair in Asset IntegrityManagement.

During his tenure as dean here heintroduced a number of new options tothe engineering program, including:oil and gas engineering; computerengineering, within the electrical andcomputer engineering discipline;manufacturing and robotics, withinmechanical engineering; and heestablished a number of chairs,including the Terra Nova Junior Chairin Environmental Risk Management,and the Senior and Junior ResearchChairs in Intelligent Systems andAutomation.

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Dr. Rangaswamy Seshadri receiving theTeaching Award from PEG-NL

r. Leonard Lye, professor ofcivil engineering, has beengiven a prestigious honour,

the President’s Award for DistinguishedTeaching, recognizing teachingexcellence in the university community.The winner receives a $5,000 grant fromthe Memorial University AlumniAssociation. Dr. Lye’s research includesstatistical and stochastic hydrology,environmental statistics, data analysis, and applications of design ofexperiments methodology in civilengineering.

“The award is of course a greathonour for any university professor. Itmeans a lot to me, it means that myteaching is appreciated and it is a greatmotivator for me to continue in mysearch for better and better teachingapproaches and techniques,” says Dr. Lye. In addition to teaching, Dr. Lye is also one of the creators of TheFootworker™ -S, a revolutionary device

for footwork and fitness training insquash and the DOE-GolferTM, a funtoy for teaching design of experimentconcepts and methodology. Dr. Lye isalso the founder of the local chapter oftwo charities: the Taoist Tai Chi Society,and the Tetra Society of North America,which won a provincial citation awardfor contributions made to the physicallydisabled in 2003.

Engineering professor receivesDistinguished Teaching Award

Dr. Leonard Lye accepting the President’sAward for Distinguished Teaching fromDr. Axel Meisen, president and vice-chancellor of Memorial University

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Faculty news

Faculty member honoured by his peers

Ms. Yvonne Raymond accepting the Dean’sAward for Exemplary Service from Dr. EvanSimpson, vice-president (academic)

The recipient of the 2003Dean's Award for ExemplaryService in the Faculty ofEngineering and AppliedScience is Yvonne Raymond,administrative staff specialist.


r. Radu Popescu is anassociate professor in theFaculty of Engineering and

Applied Science. He completed his PhDat Princeton University and, prior tojoining Memorial, he held teaching and research positions at the TechnicalUniversity of Civil Engineering inBucharest, Princeton University and C-CORE. Here, Dr. Popescu isresponsible for teaching and

supervising graduate students in theareas of geotechnical and hydro-technical engineering. Currently, his research is mainly related tocomputational geomechanics. He has also worked in various areas ofexperimental geotechnical engineering;especially centrifuge modelling, in situand laboratory soil testing and sitecharacterization. While at the faculty, he has developed a research program in

numerical modelling of geotechnicalsystems, which is funded by bothindustry and government agencies, and includes a laboratory for numericalmodelling in geomechanics. Dr. Popescualso contributed a chapter to Hazards andDisasters, entitled Seismic Soil Liquefaction:Effects of Loading Rate, which is currentlyin press.

r. Bose is a professor withthe Faculty of Engineeringand Applied Science, as well

as the Canada Research Chair inOffshore and Underwater VehicleDesign, and winner of the President’sAward for Outstanding Research,1992-1993. He graduated in navalarchitecture and ocean engineering,and obtained a PhD in hydrofoildesign from Glasgow University wherehe taught from 1983 to 1987 when hejoined Memorial University. He wasdirector of the Ocean EngineeringResearch Centre from 1994 to 2000,and chair of Ocean and NavalArchitectural Engineering at Memorialfrom 1998 to 2003. Dr. Bose says hehas been fortunate to be involved inoutstanding, world-renowned researchin the field of ocean engineering,marine propulsion and marinehydrodynamics performanceevaluation in Canada.

Population growth over the years has placedsuch a demand on the earth’s primary availableenergy resources that there has been a constantsearch for additional sources to meet theincreasing needs. Wave Energy Conversionexplores the potential of the ocean’s energy fromwaves, an energy source known historically for its immense strength anddestructive power. Yet this energy source, as this text shows, can be convertedinto useful work. Wave energy, together with other renewable energy sources, isexpected to provide a small but significant proportion of future energyrequirements without adding to pollution and global warming. Dr. Neil Bose wasone of 13 members of the International Working Group, Engineering Committeeon Oceanic Resources, who published Wave Energy Conversion. Dr. Bose was alsoinvolved in editing and providing diagrams for Wave Energy Conversion and wasthe primary author on some sections, including appendix 4 on Wave Propulsion.He says the book, which is Volume 6 in the Elsevier Ocean Engineering BookSeries, is meant to be a snapshot of wave energy conversion up to 2003. Theseries was created in order to help engineers more knowledgeably andconstructively exploit the oceans and to give experts in various areas of oceantechnology the opportunity to relate their knowledge and expertise to others.

This volume contains a collection of about 160 papers presented at the InternationalConference ICPMG ‘02 held in St. John’s, NL, in 2002, and organized by the CanadianGeotechnical Society and the Technical Committee TC2 on Geotechnics of PhysicalModelling and Centrifuge Testing of the International Society of Soil Mechanics andGeotechnical Engineering. Physical modelling is widely accepted in various geotechnical fields both forresearch and practical design. The volume provides a useful source of reference for information on recentdevelopments and application of physical modelling.

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Recommended reading


Wave Energy ConversionJohn Brooke, editorDr. Neil Bose, contributor

Physical Modelling in Geotechnics-ICPMG ‘02R. Phillips, P. J. Guo and R. Popescu, editors

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News briefs

Memorial University’s engineering students are reaping thebenefits of years of professional experience through a newprogram. The Co-operative Engineering Associates Program(CEAP), which is a collaborative effort with the ProfessionalEngineers and Geoscientists of Newfoundland andLabrador (PEG-NL), began last winter as a pilot project. Itinvolves retired professional engineers reviewing work termreports and presentations of current students. The idea is toget feedback, including constructive suggestions, tostudents early in the academic term so they have time toconsider improvements early in their term.

Leo White is the program manager for co-operativeeducation in the faculty. He says they were looking forways to involve professionals in the program and alsolooking at the work loads of the co-op co-ordinators. Hesays the idea caught on right away with six engineersparticipating in the first term reviewing an average of fivereports each. By the summer, 14 engineers were taking part

in the program. Leo adds the engineers get orientation andtraining before reviewing the reports, which are firstreviewed by co-op co-ordinators, to ensure consistency andknowledge of the review process. “It’s an involvement rightin the heart of the program and it’s a very positiveinvolvement because the reviewers are not asked to pass orfail the reports, just give suggestions or comments. It alsogives us much wider technical expertise than we wouldnormally have because in our department there are onlysix engineers and the profession has 2,500.”

The new program also benefits the engineers involved.Steve McLean is the executive director of PEG-NL. He saysit helps the engineering profession keep in close contactwith the faculty. “They get the latest information about theresearch that’s happening in the industry and theirexpertise is invaluable. We want to take advantage of thatand give students the best start they can get.”

The Faculty of Engineering, in co-operation with NorthAtlantic Refining Limited, recently gave those who work in oil and gas facilities and oil refineries a lesson in safety.The five-day course entitled Safety in the Design,Operation and Maintenance of Oil and Gas Facilities andOil Refineries, which took place at Memorial University,was taught by leaders in the field. Roy Sanders, a chemicalengineer and compliance team leader for PPG Industries ofLake Charles, Louisiana, has specialized in process safetyfor 30 years and is author of Chemical Process Safety:Learning from Case Histories; Brian Kelly, a senior riskassociate with Syncrude Canada Ltd., Corporate LossManagement in Fort McMurray, Alberta, is responsible forcompany risk programs and standards and has beeninvolved in engineering design, plant startup and longrange process development studies; and Asit Hazra is aprofessional engineer who has been with EnvironmentCanada since 1972. He is currently the chief of theEmergencies Prevention Division in Ottawa.

Participants in the course reviewed real-life casehistories, with images of fires, explosions and damagedequipment and then determined how to approach thosesituations within their organizations. They also reviewedprocess safety, process hazards, design practices for

addressing process safety and process safety managementsystems. The course helped identify and assess possiblelosses in oil and gas industry operations such as collection,refining and downstream processing. Tracy Smith is aprocess engineer with North Atlantic Refining Limited. She says she found the course very interesting and veryinformative. “The course made me realize how much Ihave to consider when I’m at work. We have to step backand analyze something and think about how a certainchange will affect the current conditions and theconsequences of that change.”

For more information on courses being offered, pleasecontact our Continuing Engineering Education office at(709) 737-3056 or [email protected].


Engineering students get new support from industry

A lesson in oiland gas safety

Participants in the Safety in the Design, Operation andMaintenance of Oil and Gas Facilities and Oil Refineries course

The Society of Petroleum Engineers ofMemorial University, Student Chapter,held their second annual IndustryNight on Nov. 27. The night includedtwo industry speakers: Freeman Ralphspoke on Offshore Ice Management andDr. Rafiq Islam spoke on Policy Makingin the Information Age.

The purpose of the evening is toprovide a learning opportunity forpost-secondary students interested inthe oil and gas sector. The event alsoprovides a venue for industryprofessionals and students to socializein an informal atmosphere.

News briefs

IEEE 13th Annual Newfoundland Electrical andComputer Engineering Conference

Participants in the NECEC

Industry Night a success

The Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) held its13th annual Newfoundland Electricaland Computer Engineering Conference(NECEC) at the Holiday Inn in St.John’s on Nov. 12, 2003. Over 100professionals took part and listened toguest speakers Steve Rosenberg,

systems engineer with Cisco Systems,and Byron Dawe, president of RutterTechnologies.

NECEC 2003 is a forum whereprofessionals in electrical, electronicand computer engineering as well asinformation technologies present theirwork to the growing technical

community within the province. The conference focused on technicalconcepts, innovations andimplementations. Proceeds from theevent were used to sponsor many IEEEinitiatives including the IEEEEngineering Scholarship Fund in theFaculty of Engineering.


www.engr.mun.ca

FOR ALUMNIVisit our new Web site for a special message

just for alumni

News briefs

Engineering graduatestudents clean upThree graduate students from Memorial’s Faculty ofEngineering and Applied Science went home with firstplace honours in the student category from the OffshoreOil and Gas Environmental Effects Monitoring (EEM)workshop held at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Haibo Niu, WorakanokThanyamanta and Vanessa Pennell won best posterpresentation for their work, “An Integrated Approach forEnvironmental Decision-Making for Offshore Oil and GasOperations.” Haibo Niu also won for best oral presentationfor his paper titled, “Transport Properties of DischargedSynthetic-Based Drilling Wastes.” Both prizes had a value of $500 and were sponsored by EnCana and Petro-Canada,respectively.

All three graduate students are actively involved in anNSERC strategic project spearheaded by Dr. Neil Bose,principal investigator and Canada Research Chair in Off-shore and Underwater Vehicle Design, which is examiningthe potential of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) foroffshore environmental effects monitoring. Haibo Niu hasbeen investigating the settling characteristics of drillingcuttings from offshore platforms; Worakanok Thanyamantahas been evaluating various drilling waste treatmenttechnologies; and Vanessa Pennell has been working onAUVs equipped with sampling and analysis instrumen-tation capable of detecting the presence of variouschemicals.


The CCPE call for entriesThe Canadian Council of Professional Engineers (CCPE)has announced a Call for Entries for the 2004 NationalScholarships. Six scholarships totaling $55,000 will rewardexcellence in the Canadian engineering profession andsupport advanced studies and research. The scholarshipsare as follows:

Three CCPE-Manulife Financial Scholarships valued at$10,000 each for engineers returning to university forfurther study or research in an engineering field.

Two CCPE-Meloche Monnex Scholarships of $7,500each for engineers returning to university for furtherstudy or research in a field other than engineering. The field of study should favour the acquisition ofknowledge that enhances performance in theengineering profession.

One CCPE-Encon Scholarship of $10,000 will support an engineer returning to university for further study orresearch in the field of civil engineering.

The deadline for applications is April 1, 2004. Pleasecontact Elizabeth Santos for more information. She can be reached at (613) 232-2474, Ext. 246; fax (613) 230-5759; or at [email protected].

Upcoming eventsThe Oil and Gas Development Partnership of MemorialUniversity is hosting an executive seminar titled SustainableDevelopment: Getting it Right the First Time from March 10-12, 2004, in St. John’s. This workshop will assist bothcorporations and communities in their understanding ofthe sustainable development concept and how it isdefined. Participants will work with several key speakers toexplore the options for creating a sustainable developmentplan. During the workshop sessions, the participants will

construct a framework for dialogue and create a set ofbenchmarks for measuring success of the plan.For more information or to register, please call Louise Green at (709) 737-4519 or [email protected].

The MUN Engineering Alumni Advisory Group will be holding a gala dinner Celebrating

Memorial Engineering Alumni on Sept. 25, 2004.For more information, please contact

Adam Stanley at (709) 737-0640


Documents

The Dean’s messageenvironment so the answers we find will be very beneficial unding has been awarded to the Faculty of Engineering’s Instrumentation, Control and Automation (INCA)