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Dr. Frank G. Bercha, PhD, PEng
Dr Bercha
completed his PhD (Civil
Engineering, Continuum Mechanics) at the University of Calgary
in
1972, preceded by his 1963
BASc (Physics) at the University of British Columbia.
More recently, in 2012, he completed a DSc in Architecture by
correspondence at the Atlantic International University. Dr Bercha has been the principal engineer and president of
the Bercha Group since 1975. Additionally, he has served as
principal engineer or project manager for over 400 engineering
and risk assessment projects over a 50-year period in Canada and
internationally. He has had responsibility for up to 150
employees and subcontract personnel in national and
international locations. Currently his specialized consulting practice provides national and
international engineering and risk and reliability
services.
Dr. Bercha provides principal
engineering services on projects requiring technical
specialization in oil and gas engineering, ice mechanics, risk
and reliability assessment, integrated human factors and
reliability, advanced statistical methods, offshore engineering,
pipeline engineering, and constructability for unique
conditions. He has successfully provided innovative solutions to
complex engineering problems and developed new methods for
better assessment and management of risks associated with large
industrial projects and machine-man interactions. Dr Bercha is at the leading edge of development of safety
systems for offshore oil and gas installations. He has served as
chair
of the ISO WG8 Technical Panel 2a developing international
standards for Arctic offshore reliability, and actively participates in
various national and international professional technical
societies. He has authored over 150 refereed publications, and
has written two books: Risk Analysis Methods and Applications
and Building Safety Architecture.
His general background includes
over 50-years varied engineering
experience involving project management, design, resident
engineering, research, teaching, technology transfer, and expert
consulting and testimony. Principal project applications include
offshore structures in open water and marine ice and iceberg
polluted waters, exploratory drilling, offshore oil and gas
facilities, hydrocarbon pipelines, road, marine, and air
transportation systems, and power generation facilities in North
America and worldwide. Dr. Bercha is experienced in polar,
temperate, and equatorial onshore and offshore environments,
with extensive experience throughout Canada, US-Alaska, Gulf,
and California locations, and the Russian Arctic. Dr. Bercha has
also carried out projects in southeast Asia, Australia, South America, and Europe.
As president of the Bercha Group since 1975, he has
substantial experience in business management, finance,
negotiation, technical writing and presentations, and business
development. Dr. Bercha was previously employed in executive and
technical positions by leading engineering or research
organizations, including Acres Consulting Services Limited
(1972-5), University of Calgary Faculty of Engineering
(1969-72), Pipeline Technologists Ltd (1966-9), and Foundation
Engineering Corporation (1963-6). |
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Milan Cerovsek, BSc, MSc, PEng
Mr.
Cerovsek has over 25 years experience in risk and reliability
engineering in a variety of transportation, oil and gas,
offshore production, aeronautical, and civil and municipal
projects with emphasis on engineering reliability, risk
analysis, economics, and statistical methods. He completed his
BS. in mechanical engineering in 1983, and MSc in
mechanical engineering in the area of reliability analysis at
the University of Belgrade in his native Yugoslavia. He is a
member of APPEGGA, and has participated in over 50 projects
primarily in risk assessment with the Bercha Group
since his association began in 1993. He has been
responsible for the development of computer simulation models,
including probabilistic and Monte Carlo algorithms, for risk,
reliability, and cost-benefit assessments. Major projects in
which he has participated have included the EER systems and human
performance reliability analysis for Transport Canada, the Sable
Offshore Energy Project Safety Case, risk assessments of various
pipeline and multi-modal transportation systems, and economic
risk and cost-benefit analyses for transportation systems,
offshore projects, pipelines, and multi-modal systems. He has
over 15 national and
international technical publications, and has co-authored
numerous project reports. His general engineering experience
includes design of mechanical systems, avionics, risk and
reliability analysis, HAZID and HAZOPs, ergonomic simulation,
and project management. |
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Dr. John Morrall, PhD, PEng, Transportation
Dr. Morrall
is adjunct professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Calgary
and provides specialist transportation consulting services to
the Bercha Group. Following graduation from Carleton
University in 1966, he was employed as a Transportation Engineer
with the Metropolitan Toronto and Region Transportation Study
and the Department of Highways of Ontario. He joined the
University of Calgary after completing his Ph.D. at the
University of Waterloo. He was a visiting fellow at the
Australian Road Research Board in 1984 and 1985. In 1996 he was
a visiting professor at the School of Mountain Highway
Engineering at the National University of San Juan, Argentina.
His research and professional interests include all aspects of
the planning, design, and economics of rural and urban highways.
In particular, his highway interests have focused on rural
two-lane highways. He has been on project teams evaluating the
need for and location of passing lanes in Alberta, B.C., the
Mountain National Parks, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Montana and
California. Other projects of note have included risk
assessments for posted, FLB, gated, and other typical level
road-railway crossings (with Bercha), assessment of risks and
operational impacts of natural gas pipelines in road right of
ways (with Bercha), an investigation of side friction demanded
and margin of safety on horizontal curves, a study of long
combination vehicles on two-lane highways, development of slow
moving vehicle model for Highway 63, and determination of
passenger car equivalents for recreational vehicles for Alberta
Transportation and Utilities. Studies for Parks Canada have
included development of a system of passing lanes for the
Trans-Canada Highway, Kootenay Parkway and the Icefields Parkway
in the Mountain National Parks. Also for Parks Canada he
developed a traffic management plan for traffic control during
avalanche stabilization in Rogers Pass.
He is a registered professional engineer in
Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario, a
member of numerous national and international professional
societies, including the Transportation Association of Canada,
and has published or presented over 80 papers in his areas of
specialization. |
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