2023 Finalist: Environmental Applications in Energy
Finalist: Nashaat Nassar, Professor, Dept. of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Calgary
Initiative: Nanoparticle Technology: A Game-Changer for Enhanced Energy and Environmental Efficiency
Dr. Nassar is a professor in the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering in the Schulich School of Engineering at the University of Calgary. He is an internationally recognized leader in the fields of nanotechnology and its application in energy and the environment. His work develops methods of mimicking nature for synthesizing naturally derived nanoparticles at ambient conditions for energy and environment applications.
Discoveries made in his laboratory have a wide range of practical applications of nanoparticles to provide viable, clean alternative technologies. Nanoparticle technologies developed by Dr. Nassar provide substantial benefits to industry and society in terms of process simplification, reduced cost, energy efficiency, and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. His work shows that naturally derived nanoparticles are equally effective for both enhancing bitumen recovery from oil sands and treating oil sand process-affected water by improving tailings settling and consolidation and can provide a better alternative to the existing oil recovery and produced water treatment.
