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EES Specialization Alumni

Graduates of ISEEE's Energy and Environmental Systems (EES) Specialization are in high demand by industry, government and academia.

Here are mini-profiles of graduates of the EES Specialization and some of their thoughts about the quality and value of ISEEE's graduate program:

2011 Alumni

	Nicolas Choquette Levy MSc Chemical and Petroleum Engineering CURRENTLY: Upon graduating, Nic got a position with the Oil Sands Leadership Initiative (OSLI) in Alberta.
	Ganesh Doluweera PhD Electrical Engineering Website: http://www.ucalgary.ca/~dgdoluwe CURRENTLY: Ganesh is doing post-doctoral research with ISEEE.
	Sharif Mahmood Masters in Geographic Information Systems (MGIS) CURRENTLY: Sharif is pursuing a PhD in the Department of Geography at the University of Calgary.
	Rahul Nakhasi Masters in Geographic Information Systems (MGIS)
	Mehdi Zeidouni PhD Chemical and Petroleum Engineering CURRENTLY: Mehdi is now a Research Associate-Reservoir Engineer the University of Texas, Austin. Website: http://www.beg.utexas.edu/personnel_ext.php?id=219

2010 Alumni

Michael Gestwick 

Mike Gestwick completed an MEDes in the Faculty of Environmental Design with the EES specialization, supervised by Jim Love, Chair, Sustainable Building Technologies. Mike also served as technology team leader for the 2009 Alberta Solar Decathlon Project, a student-led initiative to design, build and operate a completely solar-powered and solar-heated home in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon completion. His thesis was: “Field Validation of ASHRAE RP-1051: Calibration Method for Building Energy Simulation.” Mike is currently a research engineer with the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. He works in the Residential Buildings Research Group, conducting research on energy efficiency opportunities in the residential sector. His current research focus is on evaluating the retrofit potential of existing buildings.

"The EES program brings together some of the world’s leading thinkers on issues of energy and environment in a way to communicate effectively to students the highly complex world in which we live and the problems we face. In doing so, it encourages interdisciplinary thinking towards effective and creative solutions to complicated issues. This specialization greatly enhanced my graduate experience at the University of Calgary and has informed the way I think about energy systems both casually and professionally. I feel as though EES prepared me more than anything else for my career and has had a lasting effect on my understanding of the world in which we live.”
– Mike Gestwick
Email: mikegestwick@gmail.com

Sarah Jordaan 

Sarah Jordaan completed a PhD in the Faculty of Environmental Design with the EES specialization, supervised by David Keith, then Canada Research Chair in Energy and the Environment. Her thesis was: “The land use footprint of energy extraction in Alberta.” Sarah also worked on the EES graduate student project, “Life Cycle Assessment of Oil Sands Technologies,” supervised by ISEEE faculty member Joule Bergerson. Sarah is currently doing post-doctoral research on the environmental impacts of shale gas development, in the Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group at Harvard University.

"The EES program provides an unparalleled experience for students where they can gain expertise from not only their own department, but also from a group of top academic researchers in the upcoming field of energy and environment. The program is both challenging and exciting. It provided me with a rich learning environment where I gained leading-edge skills that are necessary to tackle projects in this field.” – Sarah Jordaan
Email: sarahjordaan@fas.harvard.edu

Eduard Cubi

Eduard Cubi completed an MSc in the Department of Mechanical Engineering that included several EES specialization courses, co-supervised by David Keith, then Canada Research Chair in Energy and the Environment, and Jim Love, Chair, Sustainable Building Technologies. His thesis was: “Performance of Underfloor Air Distribution Systems: Temperature Stratification and Ventilation Effectiveness in the Child Development Centre.” Eduard is currently working as a researcher on integration of energy systems in the thermal energy and building performance group at the Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC) in Barcelona, Catalonia in Spain. IREC (http://www.irec.cat/) is a new institute that does research in various areas, including power electronics, materials for energy systems and offshore wind power.

“The EES program provided me with a very strong background on energy systems, which I use every single day at work. There are many specialists out there who are very good in their fields of research, but very few people have the overall perspective that the EES program provides.” -- Eduard Cubi
Email: ecubi@irec.cat 

Geoffrey Holmes

Geoff Holmes completed an MSc in Physics and Astronomy in the Faculty of Science with the EES specialization, supervised by David Keith, then Canada Research Chair in Energy and the Environment. Geoff’s thesis focused on developing technologies to capture carbon dioxide emissions directly from the air. He also worked on a team with three other EES students on a project that investigated reducing emissions in Calgary using combined heat and power energy systems. Geoff is now working at Carbon Engineering, a private Calgary company spun off from David Keith's research that is working to commercialize air capture of CO2.

“In the Energy and Environmental Systems Group, both the faculty and the students do robust and technical academic research, and are often engaged with the ‘outside’ world on topical and policy-relevant issues.” – Geoff Holmes
Email: gholmes@carbonengineering.com