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Chevron, Memorial University of Newfoundland and Research & Development Corporation Announce Partnership to Benefit Students

A partnership between Chevron Canada, Memorial University of Newfoundland and the Research & Development Corporation (RDC) announced today in St. John's will result in a new Process Engineering Design and Research Laboratory on the Memorial University St. John's campus. Each of the three partners will contribute $50,000 to make the laboratory a reality

Chevron Canada's Atlantic Canada Manager, Mark MacLeod, also announced that Chevron Corporation has selected Memorial University to join its University Partnership Program (UPP), which includes approximately 100 schools worldwide. Memorial is the first university in Canada selected for this program.

The mandate of the Chevron UPP is to explore with select universities around the world ways in which collaborative work can be done to deliver tomorrow's energy by cultivating mutually beneficial relationships. Chevron's intent is to make this partnership a multi-year arrangement, subject to annual budgetary appropriations.

"Chevron is very pleased to partner with Memorial in this manner and the university was selected for a number of reasons," said Mr. MacLeod. "Memorial has been a key source of Chevron employee talent in recent years, it has a range of undergraduate and graduate programs relevant to our industry, and it will be a key partner in our research and development plans."

To initiate the partnership with Memorial, $50,000 has been allocated from the Chevron UPP. Coupled with the matching contributions from the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science at Memorial and RDC, the total investment of $150,000 will be used to develop the laboratory facility, provide required computer hardware and software, support design projects, and pay stipends to students and engineers working on projects.

"It is a distinct honour for Memorial to be selected as the first university in Canada to be a partner in this worldwide program," said Dr. Christopher Loomis, President and Vice-Chancellor, pro tempore, of Memorial. "This new Process Engineering Design and Research Laboratory will help students prepare for work in the energy sector and connect the work of senior researchers at Memorial with our industry partners. It is a welcome development which will pay dividends to the university, our faculty and most importantly, our students."

"Research and development in this new laboratory will help address the unique technical challenges that process industries face in Newfoundland and Labrador given our harsh environment," said Glenn Janes, Chief Executive Officer of the RDC. "Through the Industrial Research and Innovation Fund (IRIF), we are pleased to partner with Chevron and Memorial to invest in the province's growing process engineering industry."

About Chevron Canada
In offshore Newfoundland and Labrador, Chevron has significant interests in the Hibernia Field, the Hebron Development as well as exploration acreage in the Orphan Basin and on the Labrador shelf. For more information about Chevron Canada, go to www.chevron.ca. 

About Memorial University
Founded in 1925 as a memorial to Newfoundland's war dead, Memorial University College was elevated to degree-granting status in 1949 as Memorial University of Newfoundland. Today, the university is the largest in Atlantic Canada, with approximately 18,000 students. Memorial provides excellent undergraduate, graduate and professional programs in virtually all disciplines. With locations in St. John's and Corner Brook in Newfoundland, Happy Valley-Goose Bay in Labrador, the French-owned island of Saint-Pierre, and Harlow in England, Memorial is committed to experiential learning. The university's many interdisciplinary programs abound with opportunities for experiential learning, ranging from on-campus employment to work terms around the world.

Outstanding research and scholarship, extraordinary teaching and a focus on community service are the university's hallmarks. Many teaching and research activities reflect our mid-North Atlantic locations; these unique settings and our cultural heritage have led to the creation of highly-regarded academic programs and specialized facilities in areas such as music, linguistics, folklore and human genetics, as well as earth sciences, cold-ocean engineering, rural health care and archaeology. For more information about Memorial University of Newfoundland, please go to www.mun.ca. 

About the Research & Development Corporation
The Research & Development Corporation is a provincial Crown corporation that was established to improve Newfoundland and Labrador's R&D performance. The RDC works with R&D stakeholders including industry, academia and government agencies and departments. For more information about the RDC, go to www.researchnl.com. 

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BACKGROUNDER
Process Engineering Design and Research Laboratory

The new Process Engineering Design and Research Laboratory (PEDRL) will provide a unique space to researchers, which will include undergraduate and graduate students, co-op students, and research engineers to work as a team to study the challenges faced by industry and to develop technical solutions. The laboratory will provide a unique facility in the university to catalyze process engineering design research, to develop a culture of team work in applied research related to process design, and to respond to the challenges faced by the process industries.

PEDRL will house a facility for process modeling, process design, group meetings, and a pilot plant development. It will be equipped with required hardware and software to undertake the research and development projects.

The research team members for the lab will be the faculty's process engineering team, which include Drs. Faisal Khan, Kelly Hawboldt, John Shirkoff, and Shafiq Alam, as well as two new faculty members currently being recruited. These members will supervise design and research projects of co-op students, and process engineering design teams completing Term 7 and 8 design projects.

2010 02 19                                                11:25 a.m.