Board Members

Company: Insituform / Aegion Corporation

George Bontus, P.Eng. is Director of Engineering with Insituform Technologies Limited. George is involved in all aspects of pressure pipe lining including marketing, design, estimating, and project managing installations throughout North America. He is responsible for design and reviews for CIPP liners in gravity applications across Canada. He is involved in product development, testing and quality assurance.

George has been a NASTT member since 2004. He is currently Vice-Chair of NASTT NW and involved with the local technical luncheons committee. He has presented at NODIG North and NODIG venues over the past 15+ years, and has participated on associated conference planning committees.

George is currently active on AWWA’s Manual M28–Rehabilitation of Watermains committee, as Chair of the Service Reinstatement Section and Chair of the CIPP Lining Section. As a member Pipeline Rehabilitation Standard #257 Committee, he is Chair of the Sliplining and Close-Fit Sliplining Standard Committee and contributed to the development of AWWA C623 Pressure Pipe Lining Standard. George is a member of the CSA’s sanctioned Canadian ISO/TC138/SC8 committee, which is focused on rehabilitation standards for both gravity and pressure pipe rehabilitation.

Prior to joining Insituform in 2004, he was a senior project manager with municipal consulting firms for over 15 years focused on water resources and infrastructure rehabilitation, as well as 5 years as Senior Hydraulic Engineer with the City of Edmonton Drainage Services. He is currently a registered professional engineer in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia.

Company: City of Selkirk

Raven Sharma is a highly experienced and accomplished professional in the water and wastewater industry, currently serving as the Manager of Utilities for the City of Selkirk. With over a decade of experience, she has operated and managed various water and wastewater facilities, including treatment plants, collection systems, and distribution networks.
 
Sharma holds a Bachelor of Science in Geological Science and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Manitoba. She has a Business Management diploma from Red River College Polytechnic.  Raven has also dedicated time to teaching, instructing courses for Red River College’s water and wastewater certification programs and environmental science and law courses in partnership with the University of Manitoba and the Manitoba Environmental Industries Association.
 
Her passion lies in mentoring and teaching operators throughout Manitoba, helping them tackle challenges such as climate change and aging infrastructure. She is particularly focused on troubleshooting operational issues and optimizing wastewater processes, with research on ammonia removal in wastewater treatment.
 
Additionally, Raven’s background includes a 6-year stint as a volunteer firefighter and a leadership role as the vice chair for the National American Society of Trenchless Technologies in water and wastewater. In 2010, she was awarded an NSERC grant as part of the Canadian Astrology Training Program for two years, where her research focused on geotechnical and hydrogeology issues. She is a board of director for the Manitoba Water and Wastewater Association.
 
Raven’s involvement in groundbreaking scientific endeavors is noteworthy, as she contributed to rover simulations conducted by NASA and the Canadian Space Agency. These simulations aimed to investigate the possibility of water and life on Mars. Her diverse expertise and commitment to environmental science, infrastructure management, and mentoring have made her a respected figure in her field.

Company: Digital AECOM

Shane Cooper is a Municipal Technical Lead and Customer Success Manager (Canada) for Digital AECOM’s award-winning PipeInsights SaaS platform. Shane has been a member of NASTT since 2009, on the NASTT-NW board since 2018, and currently sits as the Chair of the Northwest Chapter.

Shane is a C.E.T. and has been involved in consulting engineering and contracting in the trenchless industry since 2002, specializing in sewer condition assessment, linear infrastructure asset management and pipeline rehabilitation. His experience includes project management for condition assessment programs and sewer and water rehabilitation and replacement programs, as well as organization management for a large sewer cleaning and inspection company. As Customer Success Manager (Canada) for PipeInsights, he regularly presents the benefits of condition assessment programs and the development of rehabilitation programs with an emphasis on the use of trenchless technologies as well as the use of Artificial Intelligence for Automatic Defect recognition in sewer pipelines.

Shane is active on the 2023 No-Dig North Program and Technical Program committees and was part of the Program committee for No-Dig North 2022. He regularly attends the annual NASTT No-Dig Show and the No-Dig North Shows since its inception in 2019.

Company: Westlake Pipe & Fittings

Keith Moggach is the Manager of Westlake Pipe and Fittings’ Specification Engineering Team. The Specification Engineering team is designed to work with contractors, engineers and municipalities across North America to ensure the proper design, specification, installation and utilization of Westlake’s pipe and fittings products. Keith has a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Waterloo with a focus on trenchless pipe repair and is a registered professional engineer in the provinces of Alberta and Ontario. He has a long history of participation in Trenchless organizations from his early involvement with CATT to his current position on the board of the NW Chapter of the NASTT.

Company: EPCOR

With 12 years of experience in designing and constructing underground infrastructures, Chaoshi Hu is an accomplished project manager at EPCOR Utilities Inc. He has overseen the successful completion of numerous high-profile projects, including the design and construction of 16 kilometers of drainage tunnels and over 60 deep shafts, totaling over $400M in value. In addition, he is a recognized expert in his field, having authored two papers on no-dig technologies for the North American Society for Trenchless Technology (NASTT).

Company: University of Alberta

Dr. Ali Bayat is Professor and Ralph Haas/Stantec Fellow in Civil Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. Dr. Bayat is also the Director of the Canadian Underground Infrastructure Innovation Centre, which focuses on advancing research, education and innovation in the underground sector through collaboration of all stakeholders, including researchers, manufacturers, suppliers, contractors, consultants, utilities, municipalities, and non-profit agencies. Finally, Dr. Bayat holds the NSERC Associate Industrial Research Chair in Underground Trenchless Construction.

Company: The City of Calgary

Zulfiqar Khowaja is a Senior Project Engineer in the Infrastructure Services – Utilities Delivery department of the City of Calgary, Alberta. He holds a Master of Engineering degree in Civil Engineering from Ryerson University (TMU), Ontario, as well as a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Sindh Pakistan.

With over 22 years of experience in managing and designing projects both in Canada and abroad, Zulfiqar has worked with leading EPC companies and Municipal Governments. In his current role, he is responsible for managing linear capital projects of water, sanitary, and drainage systems, from conceptual design to completion.

Zulfiqar is involved in leading Growth Community Projects for deep utilities, ensuring land developers receive the land services on time for development. He manages Construction Finance Agreements and Construction Agreements, working closely with Law and Planning to ensure capital infrastructure is delivered under these agreements and meets City requirements. He also mentors EITs and assists Junior Engineers with proposals, specs, design reviews, and specifications.

Zulfiqar is experienced in reviewing RFPs and RFSO to recommend Consultant Engineering Firms and Contractors to carry out design work of capital infrastructure and construction. He has also managed various trenchless projects from design to completion, including HDD, Auger boring, and microtunneling installations.

His professional accomplishments include being awarded Project of the year by TAC (Tunneling Association of Canada) in 2021 for his work on the Rangeview Sanitary Trunk Phase 1 project. Zulfiqar has attended five NASTT conferences in the past few years and has been a three-time recipient of Municipal Scholarships. He is also the author of 2 papers and co-author of one paper for NASTT’s No-Dig North conferences.

Company: Associated Engineering

A consultant in the field of civil engineering with over twenty years of experience include project engineering, project management and contract administration.

Primary areas of focus are: civil construction, linear infrastructure, surface water management and retrofit projects for industrial and municipal clients. Through project experience and training, applies engineering knowledge to optimize constructability and achieve project goals.

I am a proponent of trenchless construction methods and my project experience includes HDD, micro tunnelling and pipe bursting.  I have been active with the NW Chapter since 2011 on various boards, hosting lunches and providing technical presentations at conferences.  I am technical co-chair for No Dig North 2023 in Edmonton.

Company: City of Regina

Allison is a Professional Engineer and a Project Management Professional specializing in municipal engineering. With 18 years of extensive experience in project engineering, project management, planning, and contract administration, she has excelled in both the public and private sectors. Her expertise extends to leading the condition assessment and trenchless rehabilitation programs for wastewater and stormwater networks.

In addition to her impressive career, Allison has been an active participant in various committees and boards throughout her professional journey. Currently, she is a dedicated volunteer with Girl Guides of Canada, where she strives to inspire young women to pursue fulfilling careers in STEM.