Dr. Siauw Ng, Natural Resources Canada

Leadership in Technology Transfer Award

Dr. Siauw Ng, Natural Resources Canada

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In recognition of outstanding leadership in technology transfer and dedication to the ideals of collaborative and continued teamwork.

Steeped in the intricacies of catalytic crackers and fractal geometry, Dr. Siauw Ng is a world-travelling scientist who has left an indelible Canadian mark on the global oil and gas industry.

At the National Centre for Upgrading Technology (NCUT) in Devon, Alberta, colleagues and clients alike regard Dr. Ng as 'the deal clincher' — the indispensable problem-solver whose very presence on a project creates a level of confidence that inspires success.

A world authority in Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) technology — a major conversion process he pioneered to transform Canadian feedstocks into transportation fuels — Dr. Ng epitomizes an ideal of leadership in federal technology transfer.

Demonstrating time and again how public and private interests can work together to stimulate economic growth in Canada, his wide-ranging accomplishments illustrate the value and depth of federal research and development. More critically perhaps, his dedication to continued research underlines the importance of collaborative teamwork to implement and enhance federal innovations and services even after they are commercialized.

Nowhere are Dr. Ng's leadership talents more evident than in his relationship with Zeton Inc. of Burlington Ontario, the world's largest designer and constructor of research pilot plants.

While at CANMET in the mid-1980s, Dr. Ng worked with Zeton to design the company's first microactivity test (MAT) unit. Over the years, he worked alongside Zeton to turn MAT technology into the most powerful and versatile reaction system on the market.

Providing technical assistance and his authoritative sales pitch, he then helped Zeton sell more than a dozen MAT units in petroleum-producing countries around the world, including Malaysia, Kuwait, Vietnam and China.

Other milestones of Dr. Ng's 23-year career include groundbreaking research into the conversion of low-value pitch to premium fuels as well as studies of the pore systems of Canadian coals, chars and cokes and a fractal model to characterize their unique surfaces.

Equally at home in both the industrial and academic research communities, Dr. Ng has published more than 100 scientific papers. Transferred from CANMET to NCUT in 1995, he promptly diversified his research to include the upgrading and refining of bitumen and has since worked with every major Alberta oil sands company.

Sponsored by:
Canadian Innovation Centre