Chief financial officer Mike O’Brien is leaving Suncor Energy Inc. after 27 years with the Calgary-based company.
O’Brien, who is also executive vice-president of corporate development, will step down effective June 30 next year, the company said. He joined the company in 1975 and held a variety of senior operating positions.
Suncor will undertake an external search for O’Brien’s successor.
Former Nortel Networks executive Peter Garrett has assumed the post of chief operating officer with Calgary-based Global Thermoelectric Inc. Garrett will be responsible for the commercialization of Global’s solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) based products.
Before joining Global, Peter was vice-president of Wireless Access Development for Nortel Networks, where he served as executive leader of an organization of 1,200 hardware, software and system designers and architects in six laboratories on four continents.
“Peter has a strong track record of taking leading-edge technology and delivering it to the market in a rapid time frame, which is an excellent match to our goals,” said CEO Jim Perry.
Global Thermoelectric Inc. is a world leader in the development of SOFC products. The company is also the world’s largest manufacturer and distributor of thermoelectric power generators for use in remote locations.
Wireless Matrix president John Herring is assuming the role of chief executive. The Calgary-based company announced last week that founder J.T. Knight, the CEO since 1993, will continue as board chairman and as a consultant.
Herring joined Wireless Matrix in February of this year when it acquired Norcom Networks, and was named president in May. He has worked in the technology sector for more than 23 years and founded Norcom in 1993.
Wireless Matrix develops and provides wireless data services for business operations involving mobile workforces and remote assets.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Alberta has appointed three Albertans as public representatives to its governing council. Named to the council are Cynthia Simmons (associate dean-academic, University of Calgary faculty of management); Al O’Brien (acting vice-president of finance and administration, University of Alberta and a former longtime deputy provincial treasurer); and Jack Donald (veteran president and CEO of Parkland Industries, Red Deer).
“Their presence on council will further protect the integrity of the profession through greater transparency in governance that helps to balance the public and professional interests,” said ICAA president Ken Rawson.
Charles Butterfield is the vice-president of sales for a new wholly owned subsidiary of Collicutt Hanover Services Ltd., based in Red Deer.
Butterfield will be in charge of sales and market development for Simpower, formed after Collicutt’s recent purchase of Simpson Power Products Ltd. of Maple Ridge, B.C.
Collicutt Hanover (COH-TSE) is engaged in engineering, designing, fabricating and servicing of natural gas compression and power generation equipment.
James K. Norrie is the new chief financial officer for Calgary-based Tathacus Resources Ltd. (TTC-CDNX).
Norrie will play a key role in the execution of Tathacus’s oil and gas strategy through its subsidiary, Crucero Resources. He will have a major involvement in the company’s alternative energy strategy.
From 1997 until recently, Norrie was president of United Industrial Services and prior to that helped found private companies in the United States hospitality industry.
Norrie is also a former founding vice-president of finance for Computalog Ltd., a Calgary-based public company involved in the service sector for the international oil and gas industry.
Tathacus Resources Ltd. is an Alberta-based energy company.
PricewaterhouseCoopers has appointed Barry James to head its Edmonton division. Born and raised in Edmonton, James has more than 20 years experience in the professional services industry. He joined PricewaterhouseCoopers’ audit practice in 1977 and was appointed tax partner in 1989.
James will hold the post of ‘city leader’ for the Edmonton operations for four years.
PricewaterhouseCoopers is the world’s largest professional service firm, with 26 Canadian offices and more than 5,900 partners and staff.
Two new faces are joining the executive offices of AltaCanada Energy Corp.
Donald Jackson will assume the role of executive vice-president and chief operating officer. Jackson has more than 31 years of experience in the oil industry, starting with Canadian Superior Oil in 1970.
He was formerly vice-president, production and COO of Questar Exploration and president and CEO of Sienna Resources, both TSE-listed junior oil companies, as well as founder and director of several other public junior investment companies.
Jackson has held a consulting position with AltaCanada since August 1999. As well, William Brimacombe has been appointed vice-president, finance. He assumed the controller functions for AltaCanada in February 1999.
For 11 years prior to that, he was an independent financial consultant for a number of Canadian energy companies, both in Canada and internationally. Brimacombe has also been treasurer and controller for a number of Canadian public oil and gas companies including Encor Energy and Aberford Resources.
Aaron Falkenberg has been elected board chairman of Calgary-based AVAC Ltd. Falkenberg – a AVAC board member since the company launched in 1997 – replaces founding chairman Ian Strang, who has retired. He operates Skyline Poultry Farms at Sherwood Park near Edmonton.
Falkenberg sits on the boards of the Agriculture and Food Council, the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation and Northlands.
AVAC’s mission is to provide knowledge and investment to expand Alberta’s value-added agricultural industry to $20 billion by 2010. To date, it has committed more than $12 million dollars to agrivalue initiatives.
