Cochrane's own, David Kaytor is part of a team of two that is one of seven finalists for the Association of Science and Engineering Technology Professionals of Alberta’s (ASET) Capstone Project of the Year Award.

Kaytor and his teammate, Jason Single developed a green project for industrial boilers to make them more cost-effective, energy-efficient, and to curb their contribution to global warming.

“We aim to take an older boiler, say something that's about 30 years old, and apply some new equipment and new techniques to bring its efficiency up by significant amounts” explains Kaytor.

“Essentially our project was the proof to say why don't we just do a little bit of intelligent design and make these things work a lot better instead of trying to scrap the whole thing, and install a new one.”

boilerExample of an industrial boiler.

The ASET Capstone Project of the Year Award is a province-wide initiative that celebrates deserving engineering technology students. 

Both Kaytor and Single are former SAIT students who were part of EET Blended Delivery, which means they developed this project during evening/weekend classes while also working full time.

“It was a big undertaking at the end of the program, but it gave us a good opportunity to showcase what we've learned throughout that entire program.”

The award will be presented later this fall and Kaytor hopes that even if they don't win, their project can help the industry. “ It's not a patentable device, I think it is more of a proof of concept, but I think Jason and I will always keep our eyes open for an opportunity. One of the hopes that we have is that the industry recognizes that there's a big potential for upgrading their older systems and reducing their emissions significantly.”