Board Members
Karen (Gillis) Santillana
Past Chair
ksantillana@suncor.com
Karen Santillana (PEng) is a Production / Project Engineer with Suncor Energy Inc. Karen has 11 years of industry experience, including 3 years as a Reservoir Engineer for the Jedney field and 7 years as a Production Engineer for various natural gas properties. Additionally she spent 8 months as a co-op student in Petro-Canada's Oil Sands department where she worked on numerical simulations addressing gas production during SAGD. She co-wrote and presented a paper entitled "Simulation of Gas Production in SAGD" at the 2000 SPE/Petroleum Society of CIM International Conference on Horizontal Well Technology in Calgary, Alberta. Karen received her diploma of Engineering from St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and her Bachelor of Chemical Engineering degree from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She is registered as a Professional Engineer with APEGGA.
Ramez Hanna Alla
Chair Elect
Ramez.HannaAlla@Encana.com
Ramez Hanna Alla is currently working as a Production Engineer for the Fort Nelson Business Unit with Encana Corporation. As a recent graduate from the University of Calgary, he has successfully received a BSC in Mechanical Engineering with an Energy and Environment specialization. His past leadership experiences have ranged through numerous volunteer roles including the Inaugural Alberta Student Energy Conference and the Canadian Association of Drilling Engineers' Student Industry Night. In addition he has been involved with many leadership and mentorship roles throughout his university career including the Petroleum & Energy Society, the Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering Student Society, the Formula SAE team and chairing events such as the Schulich School of Engineering Open House. After spending 4 month on an international travel expedition after graduating, Ramez is eager and dedicated to develop his career in the energy sector and is committed to educating and supporting others who wish to be involved in this vast and vital industry. With 2 years of industry experience prior to graduation, he is well versed in the sector and currently holds volunteer positions with today's leading organizations such as the Society of Petroleum Engineers and APEGGA. Ramez is a strong supporter of natural gas and continues to work towards bringing light to this fundamental and prospective fuel.
Erin van Boeschoten
Treasurer
Evanboeschoten@Fekete.com
Erin van Boeschoten is a senior member of the Business Development team at Fekete Associates. As a Corporate Account Manager for North American and International companies, Erin’s role includes identifying new business opportunities, evaluating technical training requirements, working to resolve technical questions with reservoir and production engineers and grow Fekete’s presence within these companies. Erin graduated from the University of Calgary with a Bachelor of Music and continues to grow by taking in depth training from Fekete’s highly acknowledged engineers as well as being enrolled in the Upstream Petroleum program at SAIT.
Jessie Thompson
Social Coordinator
Jessie.Thompson@Corelab.com
Jessie graduated from the University of Calgary with a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Cellular Molecular Microbial Biology. She is currently employed at Core Laboratories as a Technical Service Representative for the past year. Core Laboratories provides reservoir description, production enhancement, and reservoir management services to the oil and gas industry worldwide. It engages in determining quality and measuring quantity of the fluids, such as natural gas, crude oil, and water and their derived products in the oil and gas fields. Jessie is responsible for building and developing client relationships as well as maintaining old ones to facilitate commercial development. In University she was President of the Science and Engineering Undergrad Society (SEUS) where she was responsible for coordinating social events, career fairs and mentoring programs. This is Jessie first year on the SPE YP Calgary board.
Jarrett Dragani
Day in the Life of Coordinator
Jarrett.Dragani@cenovus.com
Jarrett currently works for Cenovus Energy as a Project Engineer in the Christina Lake Oil Sands Asset. Jarrett has over 24 months of working experience in the energy industry through various roles including: field operations, drilling, reservoir simulation, drilling fluid processing and now project engineering. Jarrett earned a BSc. in Mechanical Engineering, including specialization in Energy and the Environment from the University of Calgary Schulich School of Engineering in April of 2011. Prior to joining the Canadian Association of Drilling Engineers, Jarrett served many roles inside academics gaining volunteer experience, including: President, University of Calgary Petroleum and Energy Society - SPE Student Chapter (2010-2011); Chair and co-founder of Alberta Student Energy Conference (2009-2010); VP Sponsorship, University of Calgary Petroleum and Energy Society - SPE Student Chapter (2009-2010); and Director of External Relations with the ISEEE Students Association (2008-2009).
In addition to his volunteer record, Jarrett has also earned a list of valuable industry experiences. These include: 2011 CAODC Drilling Conference Publication; 2011 World Heavy Oil Congress Business Session Moderator; 2010 Sandy Purdy Research Award at the American Association of Drilling Engineers Premier Fluids Conference; 2010 SPE Petrobowl Team Captain and Competitor, University of Calgary; 2009 co-editor The Uplift Magazine; 2008 recipient for the National In-Course Awards Canadian Millennium Scholarship; and the 2008 APEGGA Green Energy Conference presenter.
Brian Fong
High School Visits | Website
Brian.C.Fong@ConocoPhillips.com
Brian Fong is a recent graduate from the University of Calgary Schulich School of Engineering. He currently works with ConcoPhillips Canada with Production Operations in the Deep Basin evaluating mainly sweet gas properties. He was actively involved with the University of Calgary SPE Student chapter - the Petroleum and Energy Society (PES), and served as President for the 2009-2010 school semester. Other initiatives Brian has been involved in include serving as Vice-Chair organizing the first Alberta Student Energy Conference (ASEC 2010), and working with the Canadian Association for the World Petroleum Congress (CAWPC). Brian has a great passion with working with students in providing career direction and mentorship, and is a strong supporter of the Student Ambassador Program.
Natasha LeDrew
High School Visits
Natasha.M.Ledrew@ConocoPhillips.com
Natasha graduated from the University of Calgary with a degree in chemical engineering and is currently employed at ConocoPhillips in the Oil Sands department as a Production Engineer in Training. During Natasha’s time at University she was activity involved in the oil and gas industry through the student branch of the SPE, the Petroleum and Energy Society or PES, and ConocoPhillips’ Student Social Network. Natasha completed a five year engineering degree including a 16 month internship at ConocoPhillips in tight gas reservoir engineering. Throughout Natasha’s internship she became President of ConocoPhillips’ student social network and currently sits on their new graduate networking committee, FRESH, as Communications Coordinator. During Natasha’s internship she was an internship representative for PES, and later became VP of Finance in her final year of studies. Both extracurricular opportunities gave Natasha experience organizing social events from mixers to ski trips, along with budgeting and tracking finances. Outside of the oil and gas industry, Natasha has been an active member in the Cyber Mentor program, which is a program aimed towards inspiring young girls interested in science and engineering. With PES and the Cyber Mentor program Natasha has made multiple presentations about her experiences in engineering and the oil and gas industry. Moving forward will be looking to continue to give back to younger individuals seeking advice and guidance. Natasha’s involvement in the SPE YP council stems from her firm belief that networking and knowledge sharing are integral components to a successful career and contributes many of her professional and educational opportunities to organizations such as the SPE.
Sara Lakness
High School Visits
Sara.Lakness@dvn.com
Sara graduated Chemical Engineering with a minor in petroleum engineering from the University of Calgary in April 2011. She completed a 16 month internship as a Facilities Engineer for Devon Canada in their thermal heavy oil department. She was hired back in August 2011 in the same department as an operations engineer. As of March 2012 she will be one of the field engineers for Jackfish 1, one of Devon's SAGD facilities. Sara has been involved with the petroleum industry for the past four years and has contributed by volunteering with different organizations. She was the facilities chair for the Alberta Student Energy Conference in 2010 and was on the council of the Petroleum and Energy Society (PES) at the UofC. She was the VP of Internal Relations in her last year of school for PES. She is also involved with other extra ciricular activities such as ball hockey, women's soccer and volunteers with the Millarville Therapeutic Riding Association.
Dejan Ristic
Technical Luncheon Coordinator
Dejan.Ristic@huskyenergy.com
Dejan Ristic is a SAGD Production Engineer with Husky Sunrise with 7 years of thermal heavy oil experience; including 6 years as a Process Engineer designing and operating SAGD plants such as Firebag and Foster Creek. He is currently pursuing an MSc in Petroleum Production Engineering part time and his thesis project is entitled "Maximizing Rhourde-el-Baguel Production - Evaluation of ESP Installation and Targeted Fracturing". In 2004, he graduated with a BSc in Chemical Engineering (Petroleum Minor) from the University of Calgary. Dejan has been living in Alberta since 1994 and has been an SPE member since 1999.
Eirenne Rawson
Secretary
eirenne.rawson@cnrl.com
Eirenne Rawson currently works for Canadian Natural Resources as a Gas Analysis Administrator. Previously, she was employed by Core Laboratories for 5 years in various positions. Eirenne graduated from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology with a Chemical Engineering Technologies Diploma. This is her first year on the SPE YP Calgary board.
