04-26-01

Chair
Paul Hagar, P. Eng.

Past Chair
Greg Gaudet, P. Eng.

Vice Chair
Gerry Lobb, P. Geol.

Treasurer
Mitch Azmier, P. Eng.

Secretary
Kim Farwell, M.I.T.

Outreach Coordinator
Allyson Hadland, M.I.T.

Members -at-large
Swami Swaminathan
Mike Sneath
Shannon Hardy
Peter Fisher
Prakash Mullick
Marc Riendeau
David Fudge
Victoria Fudge
Andrey Pawelczak
Jacob Oommachan
Rattan Garcha

One of my last duties as my term as Branch Chair draws to a close is to report to council the activities of the Branch since the February Council Meeting.

Branch Activities

We had a very successful President's Visit on February 21st. Sue Evison, Dale Miller, and Neil Windsor met some of the Branch Executive at the Branch Luncheon. Michelle Hayward conducted an excellent tour of Syncrude's North Mine and Composite Tailings areas for Sue, Dale, Neil and myself. The evening dinner was attended by about 60 people. Seven new members were inducted and one life member was recognized. Also, the local MLA, Guy Boutillier addressed the crowd. I would like to thank Rattan Garcha, for his outstanding effort in organizing the President's Visit, especially with all the "last minute" changes in the itinerary.

Sue stands beside one of the tires used by SCL's TIREX trucks.

Mike Sneath P.Eng, Allyson Hadland, M.I.T. Shannon Hardy, MIT and I had the pleasure of judging at the Oil Sand's Discovery Centre's Fifth Annual Science Olympics as part of National Engineering Week. The nine (9) junior high school teams, which participated in the event, had to design and construct paper airplanes, a water filter (using only materials found in nature), and a chair (using only newspaper and tape). The youngsters created some very deadly paper jet fighters (the judges should have worn protective equipment as they made for inviting targets). The teams should great ingenuity and imagination in the Water Filter designs. The paper chair designs were quite interesting and unique in design. One team's chair held 6.4 kg. of weight (could of held more but we run out of weights). The Good Shepherd Minebenders finished first, the Daring Dickensfield Designers finished second, and the Good Shepherd Skillbillies finished third. I would like to thank Nancy Dodsworth and the staff at the Oil Sands Discovery Centre in organizing the event.

We held our Annual General Meeting April 3rd., which was attended by about 20 people. A new executive was elected , and the Branch Chair presented the Year-End Report and the Treasurer presented the Financial Report. I would like to thank Marc Riendeau for his efforts in organizing the AGM.

We also held our annual Planning Session to plan out the activities over the next eighteen months.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to the Branch Executive for their dedication and efforts making this year enjoyable and successful.

Paul Hagar, P. Eng.
Branch Chair, Fort McMurray Branch