Oilsands Power & Process Engineering Lab ground-breaking celebrated
Fri, 01/06/2012 - 4:00pm | by Anonymous
L-R: Mayor Melissa Blake, Dave Connolly, VP, Oilsands, Spartan Controls, Phil Keele, VP, Mining, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Dale Unruh, Chair, Keyano Foundation, Jim Arnold, Senior VP, Nexen Inc., John Wilson, Chair, Keyano Board of Governors, Scott Sullivan, President & CEO, Syncrude Canada Ltd., Dr. Kevin Nagel, President & CEO, Keyano College, Christian Houle, GM, Shell Albian Sands, Linda Bucke, Manager, Community Engagement, Total E&P, Jarrod Saunders, President, Students' Assoc. Keyano College, and the Honourable Don Scott, Assoc, Minister of Accountability, Transparency and Transformation and MLA Fort McMurray-Conklin. Photo: Sean McLennan, Keyano College. ShareThis
For immediate release
June 1, 2012
Full steam ahead – Keyano College’s Oilsands Power & Process Engineering Lab ground-breaking celebrated – campaign goal completed!
Keyano College and the Keyano Foundation celebrated the ground-breaking ceremony of the Oilsands Power & Process Engineering Lab on June 1. The $22 million project, the first phase of the Oilsands Trades & Research Centre, is now full steam ahead. The event was doubly celebrated as the Foundation announced they had exceeded their $5 million campaign goal.
Thanks to partners Syncrude Canada Ltd.; Nexen Inc.; Athabasca Oil Sands Project joint venture owners: Shell Canada, Chevron Canada Limited and Marathon Oil Corporation; Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL); Spartan Controls; Total E&P Canada; and United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local Union 488 the total donations will be just over $5.4 million.
L-R: Mayor Melissa Blake, Dave Connolly, VP, Oilsands, Spartan Controls, Phil Keele, VP, Mining, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Dale Unruh, Chair, Keyano Foundation, Jim Arnold, Senior VP, Nexen Inc., John Wilson, Chair, Keyano Board of Governors, Scott Sullivan, President & CEO, Syncrude Canada Ltd., Dr. Kevin Nagel, President & CEO, Keyano College, Christian Houle, GM, Shell Albian Sands, Linda Bucke, Manager, Community Engagement, Total E&P, Jarrod Saunders, President, Students' Assoc. Keyano College, and the Honourable Don Scott, Assoc, Minister of Accountability, Transparency and Transformation and MLA Fort McMurray-Conklin. Photo: Sean McLennan, Keyano College.
Syncrude Canada’s lead gift of $3 million started things off for the campaign in 2010. Scott Sullivan, CEO & President, Syncrude Canada Ltd. dubbed the facility the “next step in providing quality education in our region.”
“Syncrude Canada wants to make sure the young people in Wood Buffalo have access to quality education. I look forward to having many of these graduates come work for us,” Sullivan said.
The Honourable Don Scott, Associate Minister of Accountability, Transparency and Transformation and MLA for Fort McMurray-Conklin brought greetings on behalf of Premier Redford. He said the collaboration between Keyano College and industry is critical for the success of the region.
“Whenever I’m in Edmonton I talk about this region, and about Keyano College. I commend Keyano College for finding innovative ways to leverage their assets. This facility will produce more skilled workers who in turn will enter the work force,” Scott explained.
The training and retaining of local workers emerged as a theme for the event, and the goal behind this facility. Mayor Melissa Blake applauded Keyano College’s commitment to ensuring students don’t have to leave town for post-secondary education.
“As a Keyano student I never had to leave town, and I thank all the sponsors for investing in students, and investing in this region, which is not possible without collaborations,” shared Mayor Blake.
The Lab, which is 16469 square feet has an interior, which features steam turbine generators, high pressure boilers and turbine steam condensers aligned as in an actual oil sands facility. The learning environment is supported by two classrooms having direct visibility into the laboratories. Support offices, service and mechanical shops, and a lunch room complete the overall design.
Dr. Kevin Nagel, President & CEO, Keyano College, cited the Lab as an example of Keyano’s “entrepreneurial and collaborative” efforts.
“The construction of this Lab, the first phase of our bigger project, the Oilsands Trades & Research Centre, will enable Keyano College to triple our student capacity. It will be used by our students and our industry partners,” he said.
Currently, Keyano College instructs 165 students per year in the power engineering and process operations programs. The construction of the Oilsands Power and Process Engineering Lab will dramatically increase instructional capacity to 468 students per year.
Expected completion for the Lab is slated for fall 2013 and the first intake of students is expected in January 2014.
For more information, please contact:
Kiran Malik-Khan
Communications Specialist
Marketing & Communications
Keyano College
780-791-8971