Dr. Samarasekera, age 64, brings to the Board a proven record of technical expertise, demonstrated leadership, tangible success in building international relationships and a long standing commitment to R&D/innovation, which is one of the company’s top priorities. Dr. Samarasekera is a corporate director and Senior Advisor at Bennett Jones, LLP, who most recently served as the President and Vice Chancellor of the University of Alberta (2005 to 2015). Dr. Samarasekera is internationally recognized as a leading metallurgical engineer, including for her work on steel process engineering for which she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada. Prior to becoming the President of the University of Alberta, Dr. Samarasekera was Vice President Research and held the Dofasco Chair in Advanced Steel Processing at the University of British Columbia (1996 to 2001). Among other things, Dr. Samarasekera formerly served as Chair of the Worldwide Universities Network and was previously a member of Canada’s Science, Technology and Innovation Council as well as Canada’s Global Commerce Strategy. Dr. Samarasekera has an M.Sc in mechanical engineering (California), as well as a PhD in metallurgical engineering (British Columbia) and is a professional engineer (P.Eng. – British Columbia) who has been elected as a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Engineering in the U.S.

 Mechanical Engineering, Polymers , Metallurgical Engineering.