2010 Nominees For Council
Suzanne Kresta was raised in P.E.I. and completed a B.Sc. in chemical engineering at the University of New Brunswick in 1986. She went on to complete an M.Sc. in 1987 (design of chemical plant, Leeds, UK) and a PhD at McMaster University in 1992.
Suzanne moved to Edmonton in 1992 to join the faculty at the University of Alberta in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering. She teaches process design, material and energy balances, and industrial mixing on a regular basis. She co-edited the Handbook of Industrial Mixing (Wiley, 2004) and leads an active research group on topics related to turbulent mixing.
While she has been actively involved in professional leadership of one kind or another since moving to Alberta, the opportunity to interact with other engineering professionals and to contribute to development of the profession locally, particularly at times of massive economic and environmental developments, is compelling.
APEGGA Activities
Member, Board of Examiners (1997-2000)
Member (1993-present)
Affiliations, Corporate or Community Service
President-Elect, North American Mixing Forum (2010)
Vice-President, North American Mixing Forum (2007-2010)
Treasurer, North American Mixing Forum (2003-2007)
Warden, Camp 6 Iron Ring Ceremony (1999-present)
Technical Program Chair, American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE; 1998-2001)
Program Coordinator, Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science and Technology (WISEST; 1996)
Past-President, Association of Women in Engineering and Science (AWES; 1995)
Director, AIChE (1995-2006)
President, AWES (1994)
Vice-President, AWES (1993)
Liaison, WISEST (1992)
University Liaison, Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering, Edmonton Chapter (1992-1994)
Is the concept of professional self-regulation of engineering and geoscience an outdated concept or an efficient and effective means of protecting public safety and well-being and the environment?
The concept of self-regulation is central to professional practice of any kind. It allows the profession to define its own best practice standards and to guide its own ethical behaviour. This gives us both the high technical standards demanded by our colleagues and an arm’s length relationship with the corporations and public we serve.
Should the need to facilitate international mobility of skilled knowledge workers to ensure Canada’s continued well-being and prosperity outweigh the need for due-diligence in evaluating the education and experience of internationally educated applicants for professional licenses?
Due diligence is often more complicated than it appears. While some foreign engineering schools offer very narrow programs others have been judged too harshly, and many of us have at least one story of a talented colleague who suffered at the hands of over-zealous immigration and accreditation bodies. The processes for examination of foreign applicants must continually be scrutinized and reviewed so that the interests of the province, the public and new applicants are balanced.