Following completion of graduate studies at the University of Alberta in 1974, I began a career in industrial research that quickly diverted into management in Alberta's rapidly expanding resource sector. A full resume of my experience is available through a link below.

Since returning to University I have focused on five areas:

1. Teaching
   
   
   • Develop two new courses at the undergraduate level, ENGG 401 and ENGG 405. ENGG 401 is an advanced course in financial and investment analysis for undergraduate engineers with an interest in the commercial aspect of engineering. ENGG 405 covers a wide variety of areas that undergraduate engineers would benefit from prior to entering the workforce: an overview of social vs. commercial values, marketing, contract law, the anthropology and sociology of work, and people management.
     
     
   • Develop a graduate level course, ENG M 655, focused on the application of personality theory and social psychology in the management of others.
     
     
2. Reactivating the Graduate Program in Engineering Management

   In 2000 the Graduate Program in Engineering Management at the University of Alberta, offered through the Department of Mechanical Engineering, was reactivated and takes in about 20 students per year. The program confers the M. Eng. and M. Sc. degrees in Engineering Management, with the M. Sc. degree being a research / thesis based program. Participants include full and part time students.
    

3. Publication

   I have published in the area of management practice, with a focus on performance management (performance appraisals), and in the area of alternate transportation fuels, with a focus on the factors that limited acceptance of natural gas as a vehicle fuel in Canada.

    

   I have an active research program in the areas of:

   • Analysis of power price volatility in deregulated markets. Many jurisdictions around the world have deregulated electrical power, and the price of electrical power has become highly volatile because it is not effectively storable and supply must match demand on an instantaneous basis. We are applying wavelet analysis and other statistical techniques to compare volatility patterns within various markets.
     
     
   • Assessment of the effectiveness of alliances between operating companies and engineering contractors for work in ongoing plants. This kind of alliance is critical to cost effective capital and turnaround projects in operating plants. We are comparing five alliances to assess success factors, problems, and problem resolution techniques.
     
     
   • Greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation. There is a critical shortage of good data on the cost and impact of GHG mitigation alternatives. One thrust of our research is the evaluation of the cost of offset ($/tonne of CO2) for biomass usage in Alberta, generating electrical power from wood, wood waste, and agricultural residue (straw and corn husks). We particularly focus on the impact of scale on the economics of biomass utilization; we have found that "capital trumps transporation", i.e., the most economic biomass projects are typically large and involve moving biomass to a capital efficient facility. A second thrust of our research is an early stage assessment of the potential to enhance natural processes for increasing the carbon content of the deep ocean. The deep ocean is a vast reservoir of carbon with the potential to readily mitigate the impact of increases in atmospheric carbon from the use of fossil fuels.
     
     
   • The feasibility of pumped storage as a price modulator in the Alberta electrical power market. Pumped storage (pumping water into an elevated reservoir during periods of low price / demand, and generating power from that water during periods of high price / demand) has been used to deter the construction of primary generation capacity in regulated markets. Our research will focus on its cost effectiveness in the deregulated Alberta electrical power market.
     

     Future research interests may include an assessment of implicit wealth transfers within defined benefit pension plans. Other interests include long-term trends in relative compensation and project management practices on medieval large projects.

    

4. Research 
   
   
5. Community and University Service

   I serve on a number of boards, including the Balancing Pool, one of three entities created to make deregulated power function within Alberta, iCORE, a Alberta research funding entity focused on information and communication technology, Capitol Region Housing Corporation, which operates low cost housing in the Edmonton region, and Fort Edmonton Historical Foundation, which raises funds for capital projects at Fort Edmonton Park, a "living history" museum. In addition, I participate in several University governance and administration roles, and in the past I serve on the Board of Epcor, a large integrated electrical power utility, through mid-2002.

    

• Biocap Report on Anaerobic Digestion
• Generalized Anaerobic Digestion Model - Centralized
• Generalized Anaerobic Digestion Model - Farm Based
• User's Manual for Anaerobic Digestion Models
• Resume

• Return to Mechanical Engineering Home Page