Ms. Maja Veljkovic

Director General, NRC Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation

Mrs. Maja Veljkovic was appointed Director General of the NRC Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation (NRC-IFCI), formerly the Innovation Centre and of the National Fuel Cell Program in June 2001. Mrs. Veljkovic comes to NRC from Syncrude Canada, following 21 years experience as a senior engineer, R&D manager and Senior Advisor, Upgrading Research Program. She was responsible for major R&D and engineering projects, such as the Coker Technology step outs. Under her leadership the following technologies were improved or developed and successfully commercialized: Inclined Plate Settler, Naphta Recovery unit and Froth Recycle Technologies. Over the years, she has worked with NRC and an extensive network of industrial and academic researchers: the Universities of Alberta, Calgary, British Columbia, Western Ontario and Toronto; CANMET Energy Technology Centre; the National Centre for Upgrading Technology (NCUT); Exxon, Amoco and Criterion Catalyst.

Mrs. Veljkovic holds an M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the University of British Columbia (1976) and a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Belgrad, Yugoslavia (1972). Besides being a member of professional associations, Mrs. Veljkovic is also a fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada, and of the Engineering Institute of Canada. She served as President of the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering and Chair of the Upgrading Technical Planning Group of the Canadian Oil Sands Network for R&D (CONRAD). Mrs. Veljkovic has received several awards including the 1997 YWCA Women of Distinction Award for Science and Technology and Syncrude Executives Awards in 1997 and 1998.