History & Governance

Alumni Making a Difference

U of A Engineering Alumni have demonstrated that our programs provide much more than a professional education. Our Alumni confirm that education continues well after graduation and many have contributed substantially and broadly to endeavours outside their immediate fields, based on know-how, problem-solving, and ethical and professional discipline initially honed during their education.
Several establish themselves as leaders in research, industry, government, not-for-profit organizations, and society. Together, the companies of which our Alumni are founders, CEOs, and leaders account for over 40 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product of the province of Alberta. Generation after generation, our Alumni emerge as responsible citizens who continually renew connections between education, research, industry, and local, national and global communities.

The contributions of our 20,000 alumni to industry and society are too numerous to mention; among them are role models such as:

Bob Stollery (Civil '49; LLD Hon '85) made significant contributions to the university and the greater community, most notably by spearheading the Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton.

Linda Van Gastel (née Biswanger) (Chemical '67; MSc Chemical '72) became one of the first female engineers hired at PanCanadian Petroleum, rose to Vice President of Applied Reservoir Development in offshore and international operations at EnCana Corporation and was the second woman to serve as president of the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists, and Geophysicists of Alberta (2004-2005). Where she was once the sole female student in our Faculty, today, one quarter of Alberta's engineering students are women.

Ray Rajotte (Electrical '71; MSc Electrical '73; PhD Electrical '75) a pioneer in biomedical engineering and a leader in the development of the Edmonton Protocol treatment for Type 1 diabetes, setting a new world standard for diabetes treatment.

Amit Monga (PhD Mechanical '96) hails from New Delhi and did his undergraduate work and master's degree in Moscow. In 2003 he became Vice President of Technology Investing at MDS Capital Corporation, a leading North American venture capital company which supports emerging life science companies. Monga's primary interest is the "convergence of engineering, life sciences and information technology," confirming our graduates' application of traditional skills to create new fields and important innovations.

Young alumni, such as Jamaal Montasser (Mechanical '08) are continuing the tradition of applying their education to the benefit of society. Montasser served on the U of A Students' Union and as president of the campus chapter of Engineers Without Borders. He participated in a four-month EWB fellowship as a liaison between small-scale farmers in Ghana and the country's Ministry of Food and Agriculture.