Startec Team

Joe Cawthorn
Chairman of the Board of Directors

Joe Cawthorn founded Startec Engineering Ltd. in 1976 with another well-known refrigeration engineer. In 1983, Joe purchased his partner's interest and established Startec Refrigeration Services Ltd.

Joe served as President and General Manager until 1996 and in response to the needs and the growth of the business he elected to pass on the duties of General Manager in order to focus on his role of President.

In 2006 Joe executed his management transition plan and announced that he would now be taking on the role of Chairman and provides leadership to the Startec Board of Directors.

The success of Startec today can be attributed to the customer first philosophy that Joe instilled in the company he founded. From Joe's early beginnings as a Journeyman Refrigeration Mechanic through to his completion of the Owner Manager Program at the University of Calgary, his dedication to the industry and to the ongoing success of his company has set an example for everyone at Startec to follow.

Compression & Process Division

Kristi Zadderey, CA
Director, Compression & Process

Kristi Zadderey joined Startec in 2002. Kristi holds a Chartered Accountant designation and a Bachelor of Commerce (With Distinction) Degree from the University of Calgary.

Prior to joining Startec Kristi held management positions within a large national public accounting firm where she was able to gain valuable business knowledge and management experience. Subsequently, Kristi held a management position at a publicly traded oil and gas producer, providing her with insight into the workings of an oil and gas company and an understanding of our customers' perspectives.

In her role as Director Compression and Process, Kristi is leading the expansion of this operating group with the goal of providing our customers with industry leading compression and process solutions. As a major shareholder of the company she also serves on the Startec Board of Directors.

Malcolm Campbell
Production Manager

Malcolm has extensive experience in all aspects of production, with over 18 years of progressive management experience within the industry. In his most recent position he was responsible for production, quality, safety and cost control for over 400 shop staff and supervisors within major production plants .

Malcolm oversees our Compression and Process production, including our QC and QA functions. He is focused on streamlining our production processes to ensure our customers can count on superior product quality and "On time" delivery. Malcolm has previously been involved in several shop expansions, and will be instrumental in helping Startec to execute our growth plans as we move forward.

David Leahy, P. Eng.
Project Engineering Supervisor

David brings with him over thirteen years of experience. His background spans both equipment design and fabrication as well operating in an EPC environment.

In this role, David is able to apply his professional project management skill to ensure our customers receive high quality product, delivered on time. He is responsible for overseeing the execution of all Startec projects with a focus on ensuring quality while balancing the needs and schedules of all customers.

Michael Tearoe
Business Development, Compression & Process

Mike brings to Startec a 15 year career in the Oil and Gas market along with a strong history in the Processing Industry. Mike has been a key contributor to the main growth areas of the Canadian Natural Gas Market in recent years.

Major project developments include the Horn River and Montney Shale Gas 2000 usgpm Amine Treating Facilities for EnCana Horn River, Dawson Creek for Spectra Energy, Tupper for Murphy Oil and the 150 mmscfd Membrane facility for Apache Canada/Honeywell UOP. Mike will be a key player in support of our growth strategy for our Compression and Process division, with a specific target on Startec's Gas Processing solutions.

Will Van Den Elzen
Technical Sales, Compression & Process

Will has been active in the compression and process industry for over 20 years. He is able to utilize his vast experience to craft solutions specific to our customer's needs. Will focuses on designing solutions ensuring a proper balance between economy and functionality, while keeping in mind the total cost of ownership for customer's operations.

Will has led Startec to expand our product lines to include Centrifugal Compressors and Liquid Ring Pump/Compressors. He is always on the lookout for new ways to provide solutions to our customer's compression and process needs.

Dominic Gaudette, P.Eng.
Senior Process Applications Engineer

Dominic holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Quebec and has over 7 years of experience in the design of custom gas processing and refrigeration equipment.

Dominic has knowledge in all aspects of simulating, sizing and designing gas plants. His solid background on the process simulation side combined with his good equipment packaging experience allows him to generate adequate and functional solutions capable of suiting the customer needs.

Michael Harrison
Senior Compression Applications Technician

Michael has knowledge in all aspects of sizing, designing and packaging equipment for use in natural gas and process applications, and has a solid background in both screw and reciprocating compression.

Michael has extensive experience gained during his 26 years in gas compression and has developed compressor solutions that are versatile and can fit a large number of design conditions. His experience extends to both Domestic and International (Europe, Russia, China, Africa, Australasia) applications and this enables him to understand our customer's needs, including high specification requirements, and work to bring effective, practical solutions to light.

Refrigeration & Service Division

Joel Cawthorn - B. Sc. Ch. Eng.
Director, Refrigeration & Service

Joel has over 20 years of industry experience. A combination of hands on involvement in the business from the ground up and an engineering degree from the University of Calgary, are further complemented with his strong management skills. In keeping with Startec's steady growth over the years Joel has taken on new roles and increased responsibilities and now provides leadership within the organization.

As the Director, Refrigeration and Service, Joel oversees the operations and performance of both the Industrial Refrigeration and Field Service Divisions.

Joel is also a major shareholder of the company and serves on Startec's Board of Directors.

Brad Barros
Business Development Manager, Service Division

Brad brings to Startec more than 20 years of experience in the service industry for the Oil and Gas market. As a heavy duty technician Brad gained a great deal of field experience before taking on a technical role with a company specializing in rotary screw compression. Subsequently Brad moved to a large compression provider where he held a number of management roles culminating in a business development role. Brad will be a key player in support of our growth strategy in the service market for the Oil and Gas market.

Alan Briggs
Service Manager, Southern Operations

Alan has over 18 years of experience in natural gas compression manufacturing and field service. In addition, he had spent many years in the Auto/Marine and heavy transport truck repair industries as a journeyman Automotive Mechanic.

As the Southern Alberta Service Manager Alan's responsibilities include directing and coordinating Startec customer service activities, including customer care, corporate services, relationship management and human resource management.

Trevor Christensen
Northern District Regional Manager

Trevor has over 16 years of experience in ammonia and propane refrigeration. Many of these years were spent in gas compression field service.

As the Northern Alberta Branch Manager Trevor oversees Startec’s customer service activities in the region, providing technical support in a timely manner to satisfy our customer's requirements and specifications.

Chris Reinhardt
Northern Alberta Sale Representative

Chris has over 7 years of comprehensive experience in all aspects of field service from Gas Process/Compression to Industrial/Recreational sectors. A willingness to put the customer first and provide custom solutions to their unique problems. Whether it's providing technical support to field mechanics or customers, he is always available to help.

He brings a customer driven approach complimented with field service experience, assisting our customers in locating areas in their facilities for improvement to increase their potential revenues (Gas Plant Optimization).

Larry Bentley
Manager of Ammonia, Refrigeration Division

Larry Bentley joined the Startec group in 1986. His area of training is in the highly specialized field of refrigeration. Larry gained vast experience in working with new installations, supporting existing systems and the troubleshooting of complex propane and ammonia based refrigeration systems.

As business has expanded Larry has taken on ever increasing levels of responsibility for the design of the equipment and the management of projects that have ranged up $8M in value and a staff of approximately 40 personnel working in various capacities. Larry's contribution to the industry includes innovative approaches to refrigeration designs that have resulted in increased efficiencies, reductions in energy consumption and greatly improved reliability.

Mike Kelly
Technical Sales, Refrigeration Division

Mike has 18 years of experience in Industrial and Recreation Refrigeration. He has worked both in the field performing service and construction installation. His previous experience has benefited his sales role to help customers identify problems and solutions. Mike has been involved with Project Management on new installations for both the Industrial and Recreation sectors.

Mike's extensive industry background assists him in overseeing activities associated with new unit commissioning, establishing preventative maintenance programs and responding to the demands of customers in his service area in a timely and efficient manner.

Russ Craig
Construction Superintendent

Russ has been with Startec since 1983 and offers over 26 years ofexperience as a Journeymen Mechanic. His direct involvement with construction has involved bidding tenders, project management, sizing equipment for customer's specific application. His experience and knowledge are utilized to assist in new construction projects, existing facility modifications and start up and commissioning. He also deals with ongoing construction issues and providing assistance in troubleshooting difficult process related problems.

Terry Wudrich
Service Sales Manager & Technical Support

Terry Wudrich has been with Startec since 1983 and offers over 26 years of industry experience. His direct involvement in the maintenance, repair and commissioning of compression equipment in field settings has provided Terry with an intimate understanding of rotating equipment.

Terry's current role is to provide Startec personnel and customers with Service Sales & Technical Support as may be required. His experience and knowledge are utilized to assist in new unit commissioning exercises, equipment start-ups, dealing with ongoing service issues and providing assistance in troubleshooting difficult process related problems.