A History of the Saskatoon Chapter of ASHRAE

2010-2011

The 2009-2010 year was a significant year for the Saskatoon chapter of ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning Engineers).  Andrew Thomson (our VP / Programs Chair) passed away in October 2010.  The ASHRAE President visited our chapter.  Our ASHRAE Saskatoon website got up and running again with regular updates.  There was a students-only tour of the Cameco Operations Centre.  We toured an energy-efficient house, which then won ASHRAE Technology Awards at the chapter and regional levels.

Andrew Thomson

Andrew Thomson, ASHRAE Saskatoon’s Vice President and Programs Chair, passed away on October 3, 2010.  Andrew was cheerful, kind, and selfless.  We will miss him.  Andrew’s obituary is below.

THOMSON, Andrew Dean Sunday, 03 Oct 2010

Red Deer Advocate Red Deer

THOMSON 
Andrew Dean 
1976-2010 
We are heartbroken to announce the passing of Andrew Dean on October 3, 2010 at the age of 34 years. Andrew was born July 30, 1976. He was a loving son, faithful brother, joyful uncle, and loyal friend. Andrew loved nature, walking with a backpack, energy efficient living, and being there for his family and friends. He had a quirky sense of humour, a brilliant mind and a deep and kind heart. He is survived by his mother, June; his brother Dave (Denise) and nieces Brooke and Paige; his sisters Lynn and Sandra; and by many relatives and friends who were like family. Andrew was predeceased by his father Allan and two uncles. Funeral services will be held for Andrew on Saturday, October 16th at 11:00 at Eventide Funeral Chapel Red Deer, 4820 - 45 Street, Red Deer, Alberta, with interment to follow in the Blackfalds Cemetery. If so desired, memorial donations can be made to the Trans Canada Trail at 43 Westminster Avenue North, Montreal Quebec, H4X 1Y8, or online at: tctrail.ca.

In Andrew’s absence, Jeff Frie stepped up to fill the role of ASHRAE Saskatoon Chapter VP and Programs Chair and Chris Watt took on extra Treasurer duties.  Thank you Jeff and Chris.

Presidential Visit:  On January 10, 2011, ASHRAE President Lynn Bellenger visited the Saskatoon chapter of ASHRAE and spoke on “Modeling a Sustainable World”.

Left: 2010-2011 ASHRAE President Lynne Bellenger speaking to the Saskatoon chapter of ASHRAE.

Right: ASHRAE President Lynne Bellenger met with YEA (Young Engineers in ASHRAE) members in Saskatoon.

Communications / Webpage

Thanks to the efforts of Mike Nemeth, the ASHRAE Saskatoon chapter now has a full-fledged website, updated on a roughly monthly basis.  Our electronic newsletter (POWUr, for Saskatoon’s Potash, Oil, Wheat and Uranium industries) is now available online, via www.ashraesaskatoon.ca.

Programs / Membership Promotion / Student Activities / CTTC

For our CTTC (Chapter Technology Transfer Committee) course, we had the “Fundamentals of Heating and Cooling Loads” course in December 2010. Once again, we had two Membership Promotion / Student Nights, one in November and one in February.  Mike Nemeth and Chris Conley led U of S students in a tour our Cameco’s new Operations Centre.  (This tour was for students only, so the regular chapter members did not get to go.)  In March, the Saskatoon chapter toured the VerEco Home.  The VerEco Home incorporates many energy saving features and is a showcase of sustainability innovation.  (This was literally a showcase of sustainability, as the VerEco Home was set up in the Western Development Museum parking lot, so the public could tour it and get ideas.)  The VerEco Home went on to win ASHRAE Technology Awards at the (Saskatoon) chapter and regional levels.

2010-2011 ASHRAE Saskatoon Chapter Board of Governors

President:  Jonathan Bushman

Vice-President / Programs Chair:  Andrew Thomson / Jeff Frie

Treasurer / CTTC Chair:  Chris Watt

Secretary:  Brent Wolfater

Research Promotion Chair:  Chris Conley

Membership Promotion Chair:  Ryan MacGillivray

Student Activities Chair:  Mike Nemeth

Refrigeration Chair:  Manfred Gerber

Historian:  Jack Scott

Webpage / Newsletter Editor:  Mike Nemeth

ASHRAE Saskatoon Chapter History

Life Member - John Daniels (Daniels Engineering)

(This history article originally appeared in the February 4, 2008 issue of the ASHRAE Saskatoon chapter’s newsletter POWUr News and was written by Jack Scott, Saskatoon Chapter Historian.)

John was born and raised in Clavet, Saskatchewan and his elementary school years were spent in a one room schoolhouse in Clavet.

John got his high school education at Tech in Saskatoon and upon graduation from high school, John went straight into Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan here in Saskatoon, graduating in 1956. He and Donna were married during his third year in university and they have two sons Bob and Dan.

John’s first job after university was working for the Patent Office in Ottawa.  John realized after a short summer in Ottawa, amongst the beaurocratic multitude, that this job of patenting agricultural equipment he had seen used for the previous ten years on the farm was not for him.

Upon his move back to Saskatoon in the fall of 1956 he got into the consulting field with Douglas, Michelenko, Dupuis.  When Dupuis left the firm in 1962, John and Glen Pearson became partners creating the firm of Douglas, Michelenko, Pearson, Daniels.

In 1970 when Michelenko left the firm the name was again changed to Douglas, Pearson, Daniels, Fossey.

In 1972/73 they were approached to partner with Montreal Engineering hence the firm name of Saskmont Engineering.

John decided that more hands on design would be more to his liking than the administrative work he was doing and parted ways with Saskmont to become Daniels Engineering in 1980.

During his career some of John’s more memorable projects were the Sturdy Stone Centre because of the uniqueness of the building at the time, University Hospital, and the Engineering Building on campus because of the more intricate technical aspects of those jobs.

John retired in 1998 and now spends time with his family and grandchildren.  He spends time at Turtle Lake in the summer and looks after some pastureland he purchased (almost by accident) in the vicinity of their cabin.  John decided a few years back that his hockey career had run its course.  He intends to play golf forever, or until he figures it out, whichever comes first.

                When you think of history, what do you think of?  Do you think of lists of names, places, and dates?  Do you think of stories?  Do you think of history as being the background of where we came from and a place to gain insight into where we are going?  I hope to provide some answers for each of these views about the history of our Saskatoon chapter of ASHRAE.  Here are some of the things I hope to put on the history page.

1.       Summary of the History of the ASHRAE Saskatoon Chapter

2.       List of ASHRAE Saskatoon Chapter Presidents (may be modified to include chapter officers later)

3.       Spreadsheet of Meetings and Speakers

4.       Random Stories Collection

5.       Significant Events

So far, I only have the list of presidents and a few ideas for stories (e.g. the head shaving as an ASHRAE Research Promotion fundraising idea a few years back).  If you have ideas of what you want to see here for ASHRAE Saskatoon history, then please send me or Jack Scott (our lead historian) an email.  Hopefully, I can put lots of good history tidbits on this page and get it organized too.  Thanks for reading.