Ian D. Gates PEng, PhD, FCAE (BSc UCalgary, MASc U British Columbia, PhD UMinnesota, all in Chemical Engineering) is Professor in the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering and Associate Vice President Innovation at the University of Calgary, as well as Director of UCalgary’s energy-focused Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF) program, the Global Research Initiative, a $75 million program focused on sustainable low-carbon unconventional resources research. His research spans heavy oil, hydrogen, methane, and material science of energy systems; outcomes include >260 peer-reviewed journal papers and >65 patents (36 awarded, 15 pending, rest abandoned). Ian has also been entrepreneurial, having co-founded several companies, including Gushor (sold to Schlumberger in 2013), Proton Technologies (a company that converts petroleum into hydrogen), Solideum (a company focused on non-fuel uses of heavy oil), and several consulting firms.