It would have been easy to follow his father’s footsteps into the family plumbing and heating business, but the young northside  Fredericton native took what he learned from his Dad’s work ethic and decided to make the leap into engineering instead.  During his time as a student at UNB, he bolstered his admittedly average marks with experience that pushed him to expand his horizons: a study and work exchange in Athens, Greece, where we worked with their water department; and extensive leadership extracurricular activities on campus. He became President of the Engineering Undergraduate Society and founded the Pillar Pub, a beloved student tradition that endures to this day. It was during this time that the UNB engineering logo from the EUS was created, showcasing and representing the University of New Brunswick as the oldest engineering school in Canada.

After graduation, he was hired by Atlas Construction Maritimes and had the opportunity to work on the Hibernia Oil development project off the coast of Newfoundland. This was his foray into the oil and gas arena, in which he’s worked ever since while pushing the traditional boundaries of the industry. He moved to Calgary in 1993 and gained more experience in geological and petroleum engineering, and even co-founded his own oil and gas development company during three of his years in Alberta.  

He was then recruited by OMV Group out of Vienna, Austria and he pushed through his comfort zone once again by relocating to Romania. He recounts the excitement he felt at the opportunity to view 100-year-old oil and gas fields from a He was then recruited by OMV Group out of Vienna, Austria and he pushed through his comfort zone once again by relocating to Romania. He recounts the excitement he felt at the opportunity to view 100-year-old oil and gas fields from a 300-meter deep underground mine. “It’s amazing to actually get to see the nature of an oil reservoir below the ground and observe the oil flow from the ground into the pumping mechanism.  There are a limited number of people in the world that get to experience this phenomenon. You don’t have new experiences like that if you stand still.”

Michael worked in Romania for four years and was then asked to move to the company’s Pakistan office, which was again a leap into a new culture and the unknown. What he found were extremely smart engineers and good people, and that with different cultures come new perspectives that can be advantageous. This year, he made the move to Abu Dhabi, his home base for helping grow OMV’s assets in Libya. And just as Michael has personally gained from always pushing the envelope, he plans to do the same for the oil and gas industry. Libya has one of the highest solar concentrations in the world, and Michael is pushing executives in his industry to find a way to integrate renewable solar energy into oil and gas production. “We need to make the evolution in our industry to integrating renewables into our systems and strategies, and investing in the technology that will make that possible. There is an ongoing debate over fossil fuel development or renewable development. Why not combine the two concepts to support one another in order to provide an environmentally sustainable method  of supplying energy to meet our ever-increasing global demand .”

Michael has never stopped pushing the boundaries of his learning either. To understand more about the shift to renewables he is currently earning a Master of Renewable Energy and Sustainable Systems at Penn State, and a few years ago he completed an Executive MBA in Global Energy at University of Calgary's Haskayne School of Business while working abroad. “We must think toward the future, think globally, and never stop learning or we’ll get left behind,” he affirms.

“Balancing work, study, home life and living abroad is definitely challenging at times," Michael admits. His wife has played a key role in supporting and raising their two children while he is away; their daughter recently made Canada’s World Junior Figure skating team and their son is on the verge of graduating from the University of  Toronto, where he was a competitive swimmer on the varsity team.

The career he’s been building and the places he’s experienced are impressive, but this humble Fredericton native, who still visits home at least once a year to visit his parents, shrugs it off. "The world is really not so big anymore. You can now interact so easily with people across the world using technology.  You will always find friendly, smart and kind people wherever you go. When you expand your horizons and step outside the boundaries of your comfort zone, you realize it’s not so difficult to do whatever you dream of.”