Movers & Shakers
LATITUDE
Mr. Gomes was born and raised in Edmonton, attending the U of A for a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. He joined Stantec Inc. as an urban land project manager, working through many roles and operational and practice areas. In 2009, after 20 years with the company, Mr. Gomes became President and CEO. The economy was slumping, but five years after Mr. Gomes took over, revenues and net earnings for Stantec reached record heights. In September he announced the purchase of Desseau Inc., a Montreal-based engineering firm, expressing optimism about Stantec’s role in some of Quebec’s massive infrastructure projects, being built through public-private partnerships. At home in Edmonton, Stantec is building the city’s tallest tower for its new headquarters. The 62-storey, $500-million building will be located in the new downtown arena district and offer more than 30 floors of luxury condo units. Mr. Gomes is a past-president of the Consulting Engineers of Alberta and a past-chairman of the Edmonton Non-Profit Housing Corporation. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation. Also named in the Edmonton Journal , as Edmonton’s Titans, were Ralph Young, P.Eng. , and Eric Newell, P.Eng. The Titans were noted for being citizens who shaped the city
and received numerous awards for their contributions. Regular readers will know that those awards earned them many mentions in this space.
GIVING IT THE MAX EARNS THE MAX
Alberta Venture describes him as a unique combination of lab- honed precision and in-the-field creativity. The founder and CEO of Laricina Energy, Glen Schmidt, P.Eng. , received the 2014 Haskayne Management Alumni Excellence (MAX) Award in October. Mr. Schmidt had an early passion for chemistry, so naturally he enrolled in the chemistry program at the U of C. But after working in the lab, he discovered that he wanted to work more on practical work and moved over to chemical engineering. After graduation he began a career-defining rotation of field work and academics, spending time working with Getty Oil and Precambrian Shield Resources while completing an MBA part- time at the Haskayne School of Business. At Precambrian, he had moved up to Vice-President in 12 years, learning and integrating all aspects of the business. After graduating with his MBA, Mr. Schmidt headed up Canadian operations at Pioneer Natural Resources and gained experience in capital markets. He soon began investing in small oil and gas companies, which led to his founding of Laricina Energy Ltd. in 2005. A private company, Laricina received approval for the first commercial project to tap the Grosmont carbonate formation in northeastern Alberta. The $520-million Saleski project has identified the company as a leader in the largely untapped carbonate formation. In September, Laricina received a Canadian patent for its SC-SAGD process, which reduces bitumen viscosity and the amount of steam required per barrel of output. Mr. Schmidt plans to sanction the project this year. Colleagues describe Mr. Schmidt as quiet yet demanding, and focused more on improvement than outward achievement. His engineering and business backgrounds have allowed him to combine creativity and field knowledge with marketing and strategizing. Last year Laricina Energy received the APEGA Summit Project Achievement Award for its advancements in the Grosmont and Saleski pilot.
TRAFFIC EXPERTS HEAD IN RIGHT DIRECTION, AWARDS SUGGEST
One is focused on managing traffic, the other on navigating it. And the two U of C professors have something else in common: they’re both recipients of Killam Research and Teaching Awards from the Schulich School of Engineering, Lina Kattan, P.Eng. , an associate professor in civil engineering, received the Killam Emerging Research Leader
H. NEIL WINDSOR, P.ENG. . . . . .building named in his honour -file photo
SPRING 2015 PEG | 61
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