Lakehead Students Take Top Spot at Chemical Engineering Competition
Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2014 – Thunder Bay, ON
A team of Lakehead University chemical engineering students placed first in the SNC-Lavalin Undergraduate Plant Design Competition held in Niagara Falls from Oct. 19-22.
Comprised of Nathan Blundon, Eric Czaczkowski, Travis Roske and Matt Smith, the Lakehead team came first in the finals against teams from the University of Waterloo and the University of Ottawa.
The Lakehead team designed a hydrogen plant that used a new process to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 28 percent compared to existing plants.
“I felt very prepared and confident,” said Matt Smith, who graduated from Lakehead in May and now works as a Process Engineer-in-Training in Shell Canada’s Oil Sands Upgrader in Alberta.
“We were all in different locations before the conference and we rehearsed by conference call, but then we practiced together several times in Niagara Falls and things went very well,” Smith said.
Travis Roske, who also graduated in May and is now a Field Engineer for Baker Hughes in its fracturing operations in Alberta, said this was the most important competition he has ever participated in. He’s excited about coming in first.
“It felt pretty awesome. It was amazing to see the work the four of us did being rewarded,” Roske said. “It was a true team effort and we would not have been as successful without the help of everyone involved, including Dr. Lionel Catalan and Dr. Siamak Elyasi, who were mentors to the team.”
The winning team receives $1,000 and a one-year CSChE undergraduate membership.
“Everyone in our department is very proud of our winning plant design team,” said Dr. Lionel Catalan, Professor and Chair of Chemical Engineering. “These students have worked very hard and they are an inspiration for future generations of Lakehead engineering students who will continue to excel in design competitions at a national level.”
Dr. Moira McPherson, Provost and Vice-President (Academic), said she was very impressed by the team’s achievement. “This remarkable achievement in such a high level competition attests to the top quality chemical engineering education offered at Lakehead University,” Dr. McPherson said.
The annual competition is hosted by the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering (CSChE). Each year, chemical engineering departments from across Canada are invited to submit their top capstone design project reports to the competition. A panel of judges from industry, government and academia evaluates all entries. In the first round of the competition, the judges select the top three entries.
In the second round, the top three teams present their projects at the annual CSChE conference, and the judges make their final decision.
From left to right are Matthew Smith, Travis Roske, Nathan Blundon and Eric Czaczkowski, members of the Lakehead University team that came first in the SNC-Lavalin Undergraduate Plant Design Competition.
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In 2015, Lakehead University will celebrate 50 years of exceptional education. Guided by its Strategic Plan (2013-2018), Lakehead is known for providing an education focused on independent thinking, unconventional scholarship, and a close sense of community. About 9,700 full-time equivalent students and 2,000 faculty and staff learn and work in ten faculties at two campuses in Orillia and Thunder Bay, Ontario. Lakehead University is a fully comprehensive university: home to Ontario’s newest Faculty of Law in 44 years, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, and faculties of Engineering, Business Administration, Health & Behavioural Sciences, Social Sciences & Humanities, Science & Environmental Studies, Natural Resources Management, Education, and Graduate Studies.
Maclean’s 2015 University Rankings places Lakehead University 2nd in Ontario and among Canada’s Top 10 undergraduate universities, and 1st among Ontario’s undergraduate universities for Total Research Dollars, Social Sciences & Humanities Grants, and Library Expenses. In 2014, Re$earch Infosource ranked Lakehead 2nd in Ontario and 3rd among Canada’s undergraduate universities.
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