My name is Zane Almeida, entering my 5th and final year this coming September, and I am completing an HBA dual degree with Chemical Engineering. Since a kid I have been involved in Scouts and Cadets where I fell in love with the outdoors and all it has to offer. I specifically enjoy hiking, canoeing, camping, and dog sledding. Doing these activities as a kid sparked my interest very early on around things like environmentalism, recycling, and sustainability. As I got older, I decided to pursue and learn more about more specific topics like ESG in business and renewable power’s role in a sustainable future.

What is your personal definition of sustainability? 

To me, sustainability is the act of ensuring any actions, practices, and/or beliefs result in long-term well-being for all stakeholders involved. This can range from business practices and its effect on the environment, to laws and regulations effects on humans. Typically, sustainability is applied only to an environmental setting, but I believe it also has a large role to play in social and economics settings. In essence, these aforementioned factors are closely intertwined and must be balanced to create long-term solutions for both professional and personal aspects of life that promote a prosperous future.

What role do you see sustainability playing in your professional career?

Currently, I see myself in a career centered around strategy and advisory services in an effort to learn and work with a plethora of industries and companies. With Canada committing to reach net zero by 2050, and many industry leaders bumping that up as early as 2030, I think many organizations and people will need support in the reduction and transition to more sustainable practices. I want to become an expert in this space, specifically in lowering carbon emissions and transitioning to greener energy sources so that I leverage my engineering degree. In an advisory job function, many companies will come to consulting firms and experts in need of these insight to integrate sustainability into their business practices. Exposing myself to sustainability, its practices, and future innovations around the subject is something I will do so that in my professional career I can impart some real impact that will affect millions of people, in Canada and beyond. Regarding the long term, I have hopes of getting into management and ideally that would be in a firm that is centered around consulting others on sustainable practices. In more of a management function, my hope is to spread, teach, and share the reasons why sustainability is so important.  

What sustainability projects have you been engaged in?

The majority of sustainability focused projects I’ve been involved with have been facilitated through my engineering courses. This past year I wrote an in-depth report for the design and creation of a Wind Park and also a Concentrated Solar Park, both with energy storage. Both these reports included in-depth literary analysis on sources of renewable energy, determination of location and climate factors, structural components, and engineering calculations regarding the energy output and the role it plays for surrounding communities. Another sustainability project I worked on was a presentation to the 3rd year chemical engineering students about Small Modular Reactors. This research project explored the technology, environmental benefits, social impact, and a life cycle analysis was performed. In addition, this past year,  I was able to attend a really insightful panel held by Ivey Energy and Resources Club which had industry experts from Calgary discuss emerging sustainable technologies and the complexity behind the energy transition. In the networking session that followed, I was able to discuss some very interesting topics with a few panelists and also learn about how their firms are incorporating sustainability into their everyday operations.  

Please list any sustainability-related interests you want to explore during the certificate. 

• Renewable Energy (Geo-thermal, SMR’s, Hydrogen Fuel, ect)
• Ocean Conservation
• Sustainable Finance
• ESG and Sustainability Consulting