Our Team

Ranjith (Ran) Narayanasamy

Ranjith (Ran) Narayanasamy

M. ENG, MBA, P. ENG.

Chief Executive Officer and President

Ranjith Narayanasamy comes to the PTRC from a senior management position at SaskPower. He has been working in the utility industry since 2005 in Canada, and has over 16 years of versatile experiences in SCADA Cyber Security, Engineering and Operations, Corporate Finance, Business Transformation, Green Field Hydro Electric Development and Indigenous Business Development. He has also worked on SaskPower’s Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Mobilization to India Initiative to build partnerships with Indian thermal utilities. He successfully created more than $350 million dollars of new indigenous economy by implementing an Indigenous Procurement strategy at SaskPower and won the Premier's Award for Public Service Excellence in 2019. Ran was chosen that same year as a CBC Saskatchewan Future 40 Finalist. 

In December 2022, Ran received the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal from the Lieutentant Governor of Saskatchewan for his contributions to the Province and to Canada.  The Jubilee medal recognizes outstanding contributions from individuals of all ages and walks of life who have built and continue to build a strong and vibrant Saskatchewan/Canada through their service, contributions and achievements.

Ran has strong board governance experience and has served on the Board of Gradworks Inc (Crown Investment Corporation) as vice-chair and as a Board member for Government of Saskatchewan’s Community Investment Fund (CIF). He has also served on boards for non-profit organizations including as President of the India Canada Association of SK and President of the Regina Hindu Temple. At present he is serving on the Computer Engineering Technology - Program Advisory Committee for Saskatchewan Polytechnic, and on the University of Regina's Engineering Advisory Board.  Ran was elected to the Board of the province of Saskatchewan's largest credit union - Conexus - in March of 2022.

Ran has a Masters in Electronic Systems Engineering and a Masters in Business Administration from University of Regina, as well as a Masters Certificate in Project Management from York University’s Schulich School of Business. He is a registered professional engineer with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan (APEGS).

Erik Nickel

Erik Nickel

M.Sc., P. GEO.

Chief Operating Officer

Erik Nickel graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a degree in Geology in 1994 and obtained his Master of Science in geology from the University of Regina in 2008.  After a 5 year tour as a wellsite geological consultant, Erik spent 15 years as a research geologist with the petroleum geology branch of the Saskatchewan Geological Survey.  His research interests, while there, were primarily in the Mississippian carbonates of southeast Saskatchewan, performing some of the original Midale reservoir characterization for PTRC’s Weyburn project starting in 2001.  Erik also studied many other aspects of Saskatchewan’s petroleum and natural gas resources, most notably an extensive body of work on the geology of Bakken tight oil reservoirs.  Erik joined the PTRC in 2014 and is primarily responsible for the management and delivery of enhanced oil recovery research programs, including STEPS and HORNET, as well as managing the Centre’s carbon capture and storage project (Aquistore).

Majid (Matt) Nasehi

Majid (Matt) Nasehi

M.Sc., P. ENG.

Director, Energy Innovation

Matt has over 24 years of experience in engineering and management, energy research, GHG emissions management, as well as environmental and energy-related policy and regulatory development.  He studied Industrial Engineering at the University of Massachusetts, and completed his Master of Science in Petroleum Systems Engineering at the University of Regina.  For the past 15 years, his work has been mainly focused on sustainable development of energy resources, GHG emissions reductions, carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS), and CO2 applications in enhanced oil recovery.  Matt has also been actively involved in the development of Canadian and international CCS standards since 2010.  He is a member of the ISO Technical Committee (ISO/TC-265) developing the international standards for CCS, and currently serves as the vice-chair of the Canadian CCS Technical Committee.  

Zeinab Movahedzadeh

Zeinab Movahedzadeh

B. Sc., P. ENG.

Project Manager

Zeinab graduated from the University of Regina with a degree in Petroleum System Engineering. She is responsible for coordinating the PTRC’s Aquistore CO2 Sequestration Project’s measurement, monitoring and verification program as well as the Heavy Oil Research Network projects. Zeinab is registered as a professional Engineer with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientist of Saskatchewan (APEGS) in Canada. 

Marziyeh Kamali

Marziyeh Kamali

M.Sc., Ph.D.

Post Doctoral Intern

Marziyeh joined PTRC in January 2023 and started her internship with the company as a part of her postdoctoral work. She is studying the subsurface for geothermal modeling to extract geothermal energy from a binary system for district heating purposes. She is so passionate about contributing to carbon zero emissions, especially assisting in development of CCUS. She finished her PhD studies in the Petroleum Systems Engineering program at University of Regina on fabrication of polymer microstructures carrying renewable energy via a microfluidic system, applicable in EOR. Marziyeh has a MSc and BSc in Chemical Engineering. She enjoys sharing her experience and knowledge gained through the years of studies with others and she really liked her instructing experience. 

Brittney Musleh, BBA

Brittney Musleh, BBA

Business Development Officer

Brittney Musleh comes to the PTRC from the University of Regina's Vice President (Research) office, as Projects Coordinator, where she led multiple projects that supported the U of R’s strategic advancements. Brittney graduated from the University of Regina with a Bachelor of Business Administration, majoring in Marketing. She went on to pursue a professional certificate in Project Management from the University of Regina and holds a certificate in Nonprofit Lifecycle Consulting from the Nonprofit Lifecycles Institute. Brittney is currently pursuing a Master’s Certificate in Indigenous Nation-Building from Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy and First Nations University of Canada. Brittney is committed to giving back to the community by developing and leading multiple recreation programs over the last ten years. She brings deep knowledge in communications, stakeholder facilitation, and stakeholder relations. With leadership experience in management consulting, community development, and post-secondary research advancements, Brittney is passionate to grow business opportunities in sustainable energy. 

Norm Sacuta

Norm Sacuta

M.A., M.F.A.

Director of Communications

Norm has been Director of Communications at the Petroleum Technology Research Centre (PTRC) in Regina, Saskatchewan since 2008.  Over the past years he has managed communications for the IEAGHG Weyburn-Midale CO2 Monitoring and Storage Project, the Aquistore deep saline CO2 storage project, and has worked with PTRC’s Heavy Oil Research Network (HORNET).  Norm has an MA in English from the University of Alberta in Edmonton and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He is an accomplished writer, and his fiction, poetry and journalism have appeared in various newspapers and magazines.  His poetry collection, Garments of the Known, has been published by Nightwood Editions.

Haley Solie

Haley Solie

Financial Operations Coordinator

Haley is responsible for the day to day financial activities at the PTRC, as well as the administration and execution of contracts. She received a diploma in office administration and comes to the PTRC with seven years of administrative experience. 

 

 

Wanda Russell

Wanda Russell

B.A.

Administrative and Communications Coordinator

Wanda joined PTRC in 2022 from the Regina Catholic School Division.  She provides assistance in administrative and communications duties.  She convocated from the University of Regina in 1996 with a BA, and brings with her 13 years of office managerial experience.  In her spare time she enjoys watching and contributing towards her kids' sports activities.

Megan Sigmeth

Megan Sigmeth

CPA, CMA

Chief Financial Officer

Megan Sigmeth graduated from the University of Regina with a degree in Business, and later completed her accounting designation in 2014 from the Certified Management Accountants of Saskatchewan. Her accounting career began in 2009 where she worked in the Enterprise and Tax department at KPMG in Regina before joining The Corner Office in 2016 where she is now a Senior Associate, and contract CFO for PTRC. With over 10 years experience working with not-for-profits and small businesses, it has become a passion of hers to help them find success through a solid understanding of their financials, and implementation of technologies to provide additional insight with their reporting.