About

Meet Andrew Szojka

A Senior Leader in Water & Infrastructure Management

Dedicated to building safe, reliable, and future-ready water systems and infrastructure.

Andrew Szojka is the founding Principal of Nuwater Projects Ltd. and a registered professional engineer in Alberta, BC, Saskatchewan, and Ontario. With over 35 years of consulting and industry experience, Andrew specializes in water management, dam safety, and full project life cycle delivery—from planning and design to construction and operations. His project work includes riverbank stabilization, debris flood management dams, and water supply reservoirs supporting hydropower, public and private industry, and municipal development.

Since 1998, Andrew has led and mentored multidisciplinary teams and contributed to strategic planning, technical oversight, and organizational controls. He has served in executive roles at the Canadian Water Resources Association (CWRA), is a member of the Canadian Dam Association (CDA) and the Project Management Institute (PMI), and has supported academic development as Industry Advisor to the University of Calgary Schulich School of Engineering.


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Professional Record

Principal, Incorporated. November

Specialist, Hydro, Commercial and Customer Growth

Director, Water Resources and Hydro

Senior Project Manager, Water Resources Lead – Alberta

Associate, Civil Design Group Director

Hydro Development Project Manager & Senior Civil Lead

Lead Hydrotechnical Engineer & Senior Dam Safety Engineer

Project Manager and Project Engineer

Hydro Development Project Manager & Senior Civil Lead

Professional Memberships and Affiliations

01

Registered Professional Engineer in Alberta, BC, Saskatchewan and Ontario.

02

CDA Membership Committee (Past-Chair), Conference Planning Committees (2005, 2014 <Chair>, and 2019).

03

CEA Technologies Inc., Dam Safety and Hydraulic Plant Life Interest Groups, Member (2005 – 7).

04

CWRA Branch / National Past President and Director, Member since ~1993.

05

American Water Resources Association (AWRA), former member.

06

PMI, Member

Education

Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, 1988, University of Alberta

Project Management Institute (PMI) – PMP Training: Knowledge Institute (2014 and 2019), PMP Certification Pending

Work Experience

TransAlta Corporation (Calgary)
Specialist, Hydro, Commercial and Customer Growth

Specialist engineer in project origination, development/design, construction/commissioning, and post construction performance monitoring/reporting with specific focus on TransAlta’s hydropower fleet (refurbishment) and renewable hydropower opportunities (acquisition or development – greenfield or brownfield development).

Canadian Projects Ltd. (A Tetra Tech Company)
Director, Water Resources and Hydro

Sr Management and leader of the Water Resources and Hydro business line within CPL. Responsible for Top Line strategic business and opportunities development for pursuits primarily in Canada and north America, and resource allocations and hire for effective and efficient project execution and delivery. Technical advisor/ reviewer, and

Qualified (Dam Safety) Professional. Named Lead Dams and Reservoirs to Tetra Tech’s global “One Water” StrategicInitiative, and Member to the “ME POWER” Strategic Initiative. Corporate Responsible Member.

Kerr Wood Leidal Associates Ltd. (Calgary)
Senior Project Manager, Water Resources Lead – Alberta

Senior Water Resources professional responsible for business development and water resources services expansion into the Alberta market; strategy shaper, staff mentor, and technical advisor. Provider of Qualified Professional services, senior technical reviewer, and project manager.

Golder Associates Ltd. (Calgary)
Associate, Civil Design Group Director, Project Manager & Technical Discipline Lead

Director and Responsible Member of the Civil Design Group. Responsible for ‘top line’ business strategy development and staff mentorship. Project Director for design of Teck’s LCO2, IVROL’s Kearl, and Total’s Joselyn, mine expansion projects. Project Manager for water supply dam/canal/spillway upgrade projects for the AAFC, and Alberta ESRD. Retained and directed onsite emergency mitigation response during the Alberta 2013 flood.

Canadian Projects Ltd.
Hydro Development Project Manager, Senior Civil Lead

Senior Project Manager and Civil Lead for a variety of IPP hydro power developments in various stages of approvals, design and construction in British Columbia and Ontario.

TransAlta Energy Corporation, Technical Services Lead Hydrotechnical Engineer

Lead Hydrotechnical Engineer, with focus on TransAlta’s Hydropower fleet through the provision of technical analyses and risk assessment support to Major Maintenance, Plant Engineering, Technical Information, Management, Reliability and QA-QC groups. Responsibilities included technical diligence of the current fleet through Conditions Assessments (CA), and the provision of support and technical oversight on growth opportunities. Responsible Member for Technical Services Engineering Group.

TransAlta Utilities Corporation, Hydro Operations
Lead Hydrotechnical & Senior Dam Safety Engineer

Senior Dam Safety Engineer administering all day-to-day matters related to the successful execution of TransAlta’s Dam Safety and Monitoring Program. Key successes included the development and implementation of a new Dam Safety Management and audit program, successful mitigation of 2005 flood damages, development of Corporate Emergency Management systems and training, and successful mitigation numerous emergent Dam Safety Issues.

UMA Engineering Ltd & Klohn Crippen Consultants Ltd.
Project Engineer & Project Manager

Consultant with progressive experience in the multidisciplinary aspects of Water Resources development projects and dam safety through involvement in concept planning, design and construction, and safety review of over two dozen earth fill dam projects.

Presentations and Publications

Contributing Presenter, CDA Webinar Series: “Inspection and Surveillance of Dams”, Feb. 2022
CDA conference co-chair and organizational chair and moderator for Workshop #5 – “Failure Modes Identification & Risk Assessment – Approaches and Lessons to be Learned”, 2019 CDA Conference, Calgary, Alberta.
Presenter, CWRA AB Branch Conference, April 2019, “Exploring Opportunities for Local Leadership in Flood Risk Management”, Red Deer, Alberta
Key organizer and presenter, Design & Project Delivery Division Mandatory Safety Workshop, “Safety by Design”, 2014, Calgary, AB.
Presenter, The Canadian Institute – Managing Risks in Construction Contracts, November 2013, “Environmental Considerations in Construction Contracts”, Edmonton, Alberta.
Panel Speaker, American Water Resources Association (AWRA), November 2011, “The Canada Wide Water Strategy – Update and Lessons Learned”, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Panel Speaker, American Water Resources Association (AWRA), November 2010, “Developing a National Water Vision and Strategy – A Canadian Perspective”, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Guest Speaker, Canadian Water Network – Board of Directors Meeting, June 2010, “Canada Needs a National Water Strategy”, Calgary, AB.
Panel Speaker, Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP) – Working Lunch, “A National Water Strategy for Canada”, November 2009, Calgary, AB.
Speaker, Alberta Environment Workshop, “Emergency Preparedness and Response Planning”, 2007, Calgary and Edmonton, AB.
Sobkowicz, J., Cullum-Kenyon, S., Szojka, A., 2006. “Seepage Mitigation at TransAlta’s Rundle Intake No. 2.” In Proceedings, Canadian Dam Association Conference, Quebec City, QC.
Panel Speaker, HydroVision 2006; Dealing with Canal Safety Issues, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA.
Cullum-Kenyon, S., Sobkowicz, J., Woytiuk, M., Szojka, A., “Improved Dam Performance Monitoring Using Data-Logging Pressure and Temperature Sensors”. In Proceedings, Canadian Dam Association Conference, St. John’s, NL, 2005.
Emergency Preparedness and Response Training – Internal/External Functional Exercises, 2003 – 6, TransAlta (Hydro Operations, Centralia, Alberta Thermal).
Dams in Canada, ICOLD 2003, Contributor to CD-ROM Commemorative Book featuring TransAlta’s Bighorn and Brazeau hydropower/dam developments, Montreal, Quebec.
Flood Action Plan – Hydro Operations Staff Training, 2002 – 2006, TransAlta Corporation.

Certifications and Skills:

01

Municipal Emergency Operations Centre Lev II Training (City of Calgary)

02

Fall Protection / Confined Space (TB renewed)

03

First Aid CPR/AED (renewal training required)

04

H2S Alive (renewal required)

05

Extensive public speaking experience

06

Media Training (TA ~2004)