Pamela Nadin-McIntyre (BASc 1986) was introduced to the importance of innovation and its role in business at a young age. The daughter of a Windsor tool and die business owner, she remembers watching her dad brainstorm and execute countless ideas to drive business and stay competitive.

Decades later and three provinces away, she is the innovation lead — in addition to safety, technical safety, and risk management — for Canada’s largest independent crude oil and natural gas producer, Canadian Natural Resources Limited. For someone who is passionate about the environment, it’s more than just a job.

“We see there is still a need for fossil fuels for quite some time, which is why it’s so important to continuously improve and ensure the smallest environmental footprint,” says Nadin-McIntyre. “Canada has world-leading standards for responsible development of our resources, including safety, asset integrity, and environmental protection.”

She is particularly proud of her company’s field pilot project on an alternative bitumen extraction method. Unlike previous methods, the In-Pit Extraction Process involves a relocatable, modular extraction plant that processes ore and separates bitumen in the mine pit rather than at facilities further away on the site, eliminating the need for material transportation by truck, pipeline length, tailings ponds, and the energy needed to pump material.

Nadin-McIntyre says she enjoyed her time at the University of Windsor.

“I loved the one-on-one interactions with my professors,” she says. “I felt very much a part of a community and it really helped me with grounding and learning.”

Although she now lives in Calgary, she maintains close ties with Windsor Engineering and has established scholarships in honour of her parents — the Eric and Mary Elizabeth Nadin Memorial Bursaries are distributed annually to students in engineering and education.

Read the full article in the 2019 issue of Windsor Engineering (WE).