Biographies

Biographies



Youmna Ahmed Youmna Ahmed is the Station, Measurement and Corrosion (SMC) Technician Manager in the Hamilton District at Union Gas. As the SMC Technician Manager, Youmna is accountable for ensuring the continuous and efficient flow of natural gas is achieved in a safe, reliable, compliant and cost effective manner. Within this position, Youmna is accountable for transmission, distribution and customer stations with a focus on accurate gas measurement and system reliability. Youmna began her career at Union Gas in 2010 as a Corrosion EIT in the Engineering department. Since then, she has taken on the role of District Engineering in Hamilton until she accepted the position of the SMC Technician Manager in 2015.

John Anderson John has been with Emerson Process Management for over 30 years specializing the last 27 years in Gas Regulators, Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA), and Remote Telemetry Units(RTUs) used in the natural gas industry. His positions with Emerson include international assignments in Singapore and Bologna, Italy. He graduated from the University of Minnesota, Duluth with a Bachelor of Science in both Electronics Technology and Manufacturing Technology and from Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting. He also has a MABS from Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, TX. John lives in Zimmerman, MN. and is currently a Regional Manager for Canada and the New England area of the USA with the Emerson’s Regulator Technologies division in McKinney, Texas.

Dallen Baugh Dallen Baugh has been working in the metrology community for 23 years. Dallen has an Electrical Engineering degree from Weber State University and an MBA from the University of Phoenix. Dallen spent 14 years with Hart Scientific where he was the US Sales Manager, 4 years with ThermoWorks as the Sales Manager, and is currently the VP of Sales for Additel Corporation. Dallen and his wife Katherine have 3 children and 1 grand daughter. He loves the outdoors including hunting, fishing, and motorsports.

Bryden Berkvens Bryden is currently the Manager of Corrosion Engineering at Union Gas. Since joining Union Gas in 2005, Bryden has held various roles throughout the Operations and Engineering groups. Currently, Bryden focuses on leading the corrosion team in design and maintenance of the company’s steel piping systems as well as being instrumental in the development and execution of the company’s integrity programs. Bryden holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from Dalhousie University, and his interests outside of work include travelling, snowboarding, assisting with the local minor football program, and being and amateur rock musician.

Salman Bin Tayyab Salman Bin Tayyab is responsible for Siemens interests in Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) projects. Salman is an MBA and expert of LNG financial modeling with extensive LNG experience from Qatar, the largest LNG export country. He deals with the LNG developers, International Oil Companies, FEED and EPC Contractors. He is also actively supporting the government, universities, environmental organization with state-of-the-art technologies supporting Climate Leadership Plans, Innovations, NOx, GHG and Carbon Tax related issues. Siemens is a fortune 50 company and is in Canada for over 100 years and supporting with their rotating equipment, automation, electrification and digitization.

David Blanco David Blanco serves as SCADA Security Adviser for AUTOSOL, where he has worked on the development and implementation of SCADA technologies and systems since 2011. In his current capacity, he guides the development of cybersecurity technologies for AUTOSOL and is part of the wider industry discussion through conferences. Blanco is a member of the FBI’s InfraGard and the Gulf Coast Gas Management Society. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems from the University of Texas and a Master’s of International Relations from Texas A&M University.

Daniel Blata Daniel Blata is currently a Measurement Engineer-in-Training (EIT) at Union Gas (2 years), specializing in odourant. Daniel graduated from the University of Windsor with a Bachelor of Applied Science, Honours Mechanical Engineering with Materials Option Co-operative Education With Great Distinction in 2015. As a Measurement EIT, Daniel is responsible for the management of 70 odorant injection systems and 145 bypass odourant systems across the province of Ontario. He is also responsible for odourant system design and sizing, pre-odourization of new pipelines, development and management of the Odourant Systems Upgrade budget, as well as the supervision of any odourant related projects (tank replacements, building remediation, and system upgrades).

Martin Bouska Martin Bouska works for Welker, Inc. in the Territory Development group. His role/responsibility is business development and expansion in Northeast of USA (Marcellus and Uttica Shale region) and Western Canada region. He received his B.A. in International Business & Trade and B.A. in Business Management from Florida Atlantic University, Florida and consequently received his MBA from the University of St. Thomas, Texas. In his role, he serves as a key point of contact to many mid to downstream oil and gas companies that seek optimal sampling solutions. He is also responsible to train and develop Welker Representatives that service those territories. In addition, he provides technical support to many international representatives and oil and gas companies.

Loren Card Loren Card is a professional engineer registered in Manitoba, Canada. He is currently a Gas SCADA Engineer and the Gas SCADA Operations Supervisor at Manitoba Hydro. He has been working with natural gas SCADA systems since 2015 and with SCADA systems at Manitoba Hydro since 2008. Prior to his career with Manitoba Hydro Loren has held positions in software development test and validation. Loren holds bachelor's and master's degrees in computer engineering from the University of Manitoba. Loren currently ranks 3nd in household Mario Cart 8 standings, behind his son and daughter but ahead of his wife.

Doug Christie Doug has worked in the Natural gas industry for the past 27 years with the last 4 years being with Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc. in the Network operations Measurement and Regulation department. As a Field Supervisor for the M&R Toronto area I was responsible for the completion of any station work, all Measurement work and manage the use of the Compressed natural Gas vehicle (CNGV). My current role in Network operations is as the Field Supervisor Gate Stations. I am responsible for the safe delivery of NG in the Central Ontario Region, from the Toronto Mississauga border to our eastern station in Campbellford. I am also responsible for the NetOPs portion of inline inspections for the Central Ontario region.

Randy Clarke Graduating Devry in 1988 as an Electronic Engineering Technologist, Randy Clarke has spent the majority of his career programming computing equipment for a wide variety of applications related to the Oil & Gas industry. After graduating he went directly to work for Daniel Industries specializing in programming of the 2500 series flow computers for AGA3 & 7 applications. Hired on as a SCADA specialist in 1990 by Galvanic Analytical Systems, Randy spent several years installing, supporting and writing drivers for the RealFlex SCADA system. During this period he picked up programming skills for the Bristol Babcock 3330 series of RTU’s and aided TransCanada Pipelines in the rollout of their new (at the time) Canada-wide SCADA systems based on those devices. While at Galvanic he began to work in the R&D department writing code for several microprocessor based analytical products as well as flow computing equipment. In 2005 Randy left Galvanic and became one of the owning partners of Envent Engineering Ltd. Since then he has continued to work in the R&D sector building a suite of analytical devices for the Oil & Gas industry. With an intense passion for computing technology and machine based communications Randy continues to strive to build better analytical products with increasing capability and accuracy, designed for present and future use.

Michel Couillard Michel has been a technical training adviser at Gazmetro since 2007. Michel is a specialized tech. instructor in advanced pressure regulating. He is also instructor to the newly hired junior technicians that repair and maintain the distribution and transmission network pipeline. This is all part of Gazmetro’s pipeline management and maintenance training program. Michel also works with engineering as tech support and is involved in the production of working procedure manuals used by the technicians in the field. Before Gazmetro, Michel worked as an automated systems electro-mechanic (sometimes called robotics) for 20 years and was specialized in pneumatic automation environments. Finally, he worked between 2003 and 2007 as a teacher instructor in automated systems at the best rated trade school in Quebec.

Rob Dolhai For many years, Rob has supported Gas utilities nation-wide in their efforts to expand and improve their infrastructure. Previously product Manager at General Electric for Mooney & Becker products. He continues his passion by offering turn-key solutions through the growing team at A.F. Hall.

Pierre Dufour Pierre joined Honeywell in 1996 and has held several positions including Design Engineering, Project Manager, solutions Specialist and product Marketing Manager. Pierre joined the Mercury instruments organization four years ago as product marketing manager and is based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Pierre holds and electronics engineering degree and an MBA from the University of Picardie.

Timothy Egan Timothy M. Egan became President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Gas Association in September 2010. Prior to his appointment he was President of High Park Group (HPG), a public affairs consulting firm. Mr. Egan serves as Canada’s representative at the International Gas Union, sitting on the Executive Committee and as the Regional Coordinator for North America. Mr. Egan is publisher of the Energy Regulation Quarterly, and editor of the magazine Energy. He has an undergraduate degree in history from the University of Ottawa, and common and civil law degrees from McGill University. He was called to the Ontario bar in 1995. He is married to Patricia (nee Armstrong) and they have five daughters.

Jonathan Fiedler Jonathan Fiedler joined KROHNE in 1995, and has worked in various product management and technical support roles for both flow and level instrumentation. Currently, Mr. Fiedler is the Business Development Manager of PipePatrol Leak Detection System for KROHNE, Inc. in the NAFTA Region. Mr. Fiedler has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Rhode Island as well as 25 years experience with process control instrumentation.

Olivier Griperay Olivier Griperay is the Market Manager for Arkema’s Gas Odorants business in North America since January 2013. Olivier is born in France where he graduated from Reims Business School and specialized in International Marketing and Strategic Alliances. In 1994 after his MBA, Olivier moved to Shanghai, China where he helped French companies expand their business locally for three years. In 1998, Olivier moved to the USA for the Invest in France Agency, first in Los Angeles then in New Work City as their VP, Life Sciences Markets. In 2005, Olivier was hired by the New York City Economic Development Agency as their VP of International Business Development, under the Bloomberg Administration. From 2008 to 2010, Olivier worked in the Medical Devices industry, first as COO of Medicrea in Hoboken (Spinal implants), NJ, and then as General Manager of Vygon Neuro (Brain implants) in Audubon, PA. In 2011, Olivier was hired by Arkema as their Global Market Manager for Ethyl Mercaptan, which among other things is used in propane odorization. Olivier now lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and two children.

Duane Harris Duane has logged over 30 years of experience in the natural gas industry, with 17 years as Manager of Measurement with Panhandle Energy. As such, he was involved in all aspects of measurement technology, including implementation of new gas measurement systems. As Vice President of Business Development and Customer Support at Flow-Cal, Duane coordinates the implementation and installation of major Enterprise customer projects. Mr. Harris has led and holds a number of prestigious positions within the various industry measurement schools and committees around the world. These positions include General Chairman and Board member of the American School of Gas Measurement and Technology as well as President of the Gulf Coast Gas Measurement Society. Duane has presented technical papers to AGA, CGA, ASGMT, ISHM, CSHM, and Entelec.

Crystal Helbrecht Crystal Helbrecht is the Manager, Learning & Development at AltaGas Utilities, based in Leduc, Alberta. In her role, Crystal oversees learning programs ranging from technical training to leadership development. She is the Chair of the CGA’s Measurement & Regulation Technician Training Task Force. Prior to joining AUI in 2014, Crystal worked as an Employee Development Consultant with the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission. Crystal is a Chartered Professional in Human Resources and has a Master of Education degree in Educational Policy Studies, specializing in Adult, Community and Higher Education. She is currently an MBA Candidate at the University of Alberta.

Eric Kaert Eric Kaert is a Gas Utilities Specialist with Spartan Controls serving Western Canada and is based out of Edmonton. He graduated from the University of Alberta with an Engineering degree and has been working with the natural gas industry for 5 years. His background has focused on regulators, control valves and related instrumentation.

Stephen Kelly Stephen is the Western Regional Manager, working out of Edmonton, Alberta. He has been with the Cameron Instruments team since 2004. Stephen has been working in instrumentation since 1991 and has actively been involved in both ISA and ASET. Cameron Instruments prides itself in being a solutions and service provider. Stephen possesses a keen understanding of the needs and requirements of the client and consistently works to build strong long lasting customer relationships. He looks forward to meeting and hearing from you soon.

Anthony Kohlsmith Anthony is the Supervisor, Gas Measurement for AltaGas Utilities where has been working since 2011. He graduated from NAIT’s Instrumentation Engineering Technology diploma program and holds Journeyman Certificate with Interprovincial Red Seal.

Safinur Majumder Safinur Majumder is a recent grad from University of Toronto Mining Engineering. He is currently working as Sales Engineer at Romet Limited pursuing a career in sales and business in the natural gas industry. His hobbies are Gym and Sports (soccer, badminton, table tennis). He hopes to demonstrate the benefits of Romet Rotary Meters.

Rick Marsh Richard Marsh is a Senior Facilitator with Union Gas and currently reports to the Distribution Operations Program Support Group. He has been with Union Gas for 30 years and has held roles in Storage and Transmission, Technical Training, Distribution Program Support. Recently he has lead the development of the M&R training plan and the CAP program and is also a member of the CGA M&R Curriculum Development Taskforce. Richard has received his B.A , (Sociology), C.E.T ( Electronics) and is a Certified Technical Trainer.

Rose Santia Rose has been with DuPont for 18 years and has spent the past 11 years with DuPont Protection Solutions as National Account Manager for Tyvek(r) and Tychem(r) Garments, as well as Business Development Manager for Nomex(r) FR Apparel Segment .

Martin Schlebach Martin Schlebach is Director, Global Business and Technical Development at Daniel Measurement & Control. He has a Diploma in Electronic Engineering from SAIT Polytechnic BA Commerce University of Phoenix. Martin has 25 years of custody transfer measurement experience. His last 20 years were spent focusing on the development, testing, approval and use of ultrasonic meters in gas and liquid applications. He is experience in custody transfer measurement of natural gas and hydrocarbon liquids, specifically using ultrasonic flow meters. Martin is a Committee Member with CGA ,AGA TMC, AGA 9, ISA, PRCI,CSHM and has presented at ISHM, WGMSC, AGA, CGA, Appalachian school, CSHM, CEESI USM, NEL, IFFS.

John Scroggie John Alexander Scroggie is an Technical Sales Representative with Foothills Industrial Products in Calgary, Alberta. Still a relative newcomer to the industry, John has just under 3 years of experience working in the field of Natural Gas Distribution and Transmission Systems. John is a graduate of the Aerospace Engineering program at Carleton University where he focussed on Aerospace Structures & Systems.

Rob Sterling Rob Sterling is a P.Eng in the Station Engineering department at Union Gas Ltd. He holds the title Station Engineering Technical Guardian and as part of this position, holds the responsibility for large station design projects and maintaining knowledge of advanced station design concepts. During his 7 years at Union Gas, Rob has been responsible for hundreds of station designs and has played an active role in many initiatives including the Standard Station Design Project and Station Asset Integrity Management Program. He received his Mechanical Engineering degree in 2010 and his Master’s in Management Science in 2015, both from the University of Waterloo.

Wade Stinson Wade has been involved with Technical Sales of measurement products and systems for over 30 years. He has experienced the transition of mechanical metering to electronic metering, from orifice and positive displacement devices to Coriolis and ultrasonic devices. From circular chart recorders to single run and multiple run flow computers. From the portable bag phone to the smart phone. For the past 5 years he has been the Canadian Sales and Product Manager for the well respected SICK brand of ultrasonic gas meters and other quality SICK process automation products.

Paul Tang Paul Tang is a registered Professional Engineer in the province of British Columbia, Canada. He is currently a Senior Engineer Specialist with Fortis BC Energy. Paul has more than forty years of experience in various aspects of the natural gas industry. He holds a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Electrical Engineering, and a Master of Science degree from the University of British Columbia. Paul joined the Gas Division of BC Hydro, the predecessor of FortisBC Energy, as a control and instrumentation engineer in 1975. He has since led and managed many projects in process control, instrumentation, telemetry, radio communications, SCADA, and gas measurement both in Canada and abroad.

Isabelle Tremblay Isabelle Tremblay is a graduate of the University of Ottawa in Physics and has twenty years of experience in metrology, working as a either a Metrologist, Laboratory Manager, Program Officer, and currently as the Manager of Utility Metering Division for Measurement Canada (MC). Mrs. Tremblay oversees the development and updating of electricity and gas legislation, specifications, policies, and programs, and is a permanent member of the MC/industry Electricity and Gas Process Advisory Committees. She has experience in mass, thermometry, length, gas, electricity and volume measurements. Previously attended US-Canada Workgroups contributing to the development of international type-approval and verification specifications for the National Conference of Weights and Measures. She was also the Canadian member for the ISO TC-158 for gas analysis.

François Trofim-Beuer Francois Trofim-Breuer is the director of technology and innovation for Union Gas Limited. In his role, Trofim-Breuer leads a group whose mandate is to identify and implement new technologies, innovations, business models, partnerships and investment opportunities that will help the company better serve its customers and contribute to Ontario’s climate change goals. Before joining Union Gas and the energy sector in 2013, Trofim-Breuer worked in a variety of industries including direct marketing, medical technologies, consulting and manufacturing, and brings great experience and perspective to his current role. His career began over two decades ago in Germany, as the director of operations for a direct marketing firm. In a subsequent role with a consulting firm, he delivered the company’s first contract with Bombardier Transportation Continental Europe. This relationship would lead to a position with Bombardier Transportation, where Trofim-Breuer stayed for more than 15 years, working on projects in Europe, Asia and the Americas and holding increasingly senior roles in strategy, project management, operations and supply chain management. Trofim-Breuer earned a bachelor’s degree in communication sciences from the West German Academy for Communication in Cologne, Germany and an M.B.A. from the University of Western Ontario’s Richard Ivey School of Business. He has completed the executive development program at Montreal’s McGill University and is fluent in five languages. Trofim-Breuer has a passion for sharing his experiences with the broader community. He enjoys being involved in community activities such as Union Gas’ annual program of employee-led volunteer projects for charitable and non-profit groups. When he’s not working, Trofim-Breuer enjoys spending time with his family, traveling, skiing and golfing

Jim Tweedie James Tweedie is the Vice President, Operations and Markets at the Canadian Gas Association. In his role at CGA, Jim is accountable for addressing all operational and market development affairs associated with the safe, efficient, innovative, environmentally responsible, reliable & resilient delivery of natural gas to Canadians by CGA member organizations. He has been involved in files such as energy security, damage prevention, innovation, health and safety, RNG, asset management, system renewal, RNG, mutual assistance and integrity just to name a few. Before joining the CGA, Jim had an extensive 35 year career with Enbridge Gas Distribution. From 2004 to 2008, Jim was Manager of Operations, Eastern Region for Enbridge, where he garnered much of his knowledge and expertise in the natural gas distribution industry. Prior to this, Mr. Tweedie was a Manager of Construction and also acted as Regional Manager of Enbridge’s Eastern Region. Additionally, he has worked on a number of international gas distribution feasibility studies and construction evaluation projects in Turkey, Mexico, and Malaysia. Jim is currently the co-chair of NRCan’s Critical Infrastructure; Energy and Utility Sectors Network and a past Chair of the Board & current Executive Committee member of the Canadian Common Ground Alliance.

Carlos Uribe Carlos graduated in 2005 from “UIS" in Colombia with BS in Industrial Engineering. In 1997 he completed the "Advanced Industrial Marketing Strategies" course at the INSEAD Business School in France. Carlos has worked for the last 25 years in various management positions in the natural gas industry. He moved to USA in 2000 after joining Mercury Instruments as the Sales Manager Latin America, and for the past 11 years has served as Regional Manager North & South American with Pietro Florentini. As such, he’s responsible for business development, marketing and sales activities for measurement and pressure control solutions in 11 countries.

Eric VanRuymbeke Eric VanRuymbeke is a P. Eng in the Asset Management department at Union Gas Ltd. In his current role Eric supports the review and development of maintenance plans along with asset information management. During his 9 years at Union Gas, Eric has worked as an Engineer in Training in the Storage & Transmission Pipeline department and as a Shift Manager in the master control room at the Dawn Operations Compressor facility. Prior to his current role Eric was a team member on the Enterprise Asset Management project, which implemented the Plant Maintenance module of SAP in 2015. He received his Mechanical Engineering degree in 2008 from the University of Waterloo.

Rich Weinert Richard Weinert serves a Solutions Specialist for Southern Cross Inc. based out of the Atlanta, Georgia, US. Southern Cross is a support service provider with currently over 400 technicians in gas, power, and water companies in the US and Canada. Southern Cross is also a manufacturer of natural gas detection devices. Richard specializes in training and qualifying technicians in various aspects of inspection services, primarily leak and corrosion survey. He has worked with Southern Cross for just over 12 years managing such departments as Operations, Training, Quality, and Auditing.

Chris Wykle Chris Wykle has 23 years of natural gas industry experience and is currently the Senior Director of Gas Marketing for Sensus. Prior to joining Sensus, Chris worked in multiple engineering and marketing positions with Itron, Schlumberger, and Actaris. Chris has served on the AGA Distribution Measurement committee since 2001 and actively participated in the ANSI B109 task group. Chris holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech and Masters of Business Administration from Xavier University.

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