CEPA Foundation Pipelines 101 Series Opening Night Event Recap: My Favourite Myths About Pipelines

Event Summary:

On September 9th, 2021 the Young Pipeliners Association of Canada (YPAC) hosted the opening night of the CEPA Foundation Pipeline 101 series. The evening began with a presentation by Claudia Villeneuve titled My Favourite Myths About Pipelines. After this, a networking session was held to meet new people and learn more about the pipeline industry. If you missed the session a recording can be found below, other sessions in the series can be found here.

About The Presentation: 

The pipeline industry is one of the most regulated industries in Canada and their safety record is 99.999% or near perfect. Yet this is one industry filled with myths and misinterpretations about its safety. Canada’s network of pipelines encompasses more than 840,000 kilometres across the country. These highly sophisticated “energy highways” are the safest, most environmentally responsible, and most efficient way to transport large quantities of natural gas and oil across long distances. If you choose to work in the pipeline industry, nine times out of ten, you will be asked to defend the safety of pipelines by family, friends, or strangers. This session will review common myths about pipelines, so you are ready to answer them.

About the Speaker:

Claudia Gomez-Villeneuve is a professional engineer, university professor, and EDI champion. Before switching to academia, she worked in industry managing petroleum pipeline projects for over 15 years. The largest pipeline project she ever led was a $120M petroleum tank farm complete with steel tanks, pumps, valves, and associated facilities.  Today, Claudia works in 4 different universities teaching engineering and project management in both English and Spanish. In April 2019 she shared the APEGA Summit Award, as a Champion for Women in Engineering and Geoscience; and she is also the founder and two-time Chair of WES, Women in Engineering Summit Ltd, a non-profit organization, whose mission is to support the 30 by 30 Initiative by Engineers Canada.