News

7th December 2000 - Peter Robinson joins Quintessa

Quintessa is pleased to welcome Peter Robinson. Peter brings with him over 16 years of experience in the development and application of methodologies, mathematical models and associated software for:

• assessing contaminant migration in engineered barriers, permeable and fractured rock, and the biosphere, particularly for problems related to radioactive waste disposal;
• finite-element software for groundwater flow and oil reservoir modelling;
• performance assessment of complex systems including scenario development, sensitivity analysis and uncertainty analysis.

23rd October 2000 - Richard Little joins Quintessa

Quintessa is pleased to welcome Richard Little. Richard brings with him 15 years' experience in the assessment of the environmental impacts of radioactive and non-radioactive contaminants including:

• the review, development and practical application of methodologies for the assessment of waste disposal facilities and contaminated land
• the specification, development and application of contaminant migration and fate models
• the provision of consultancy and training services for organisations such as the International Atomic Energy Agency
• the provision of technical and scientific secretariat services for the international meetings and programmes

12th October 2000 - Agreement to Develop and Support AMBER

Quintessa and Enviros Quantisci have signed an agreement to work together to develop and support AMBER.

AMBER is a flexible modelling tool that allows users to build their own dynamic compartmental models to represent the migration, degradation and fate of contaminants in the environment.

1st October 2000 - Philip Maul joins Quintessa

Quintessa is pleased to welcome Philip Maul to its Henley-on-Thames office. Philip brings with him over 20 years of experience in strategic and quantitative assessment studies related to energy production and the environment, including:

• atmospheric transport of pollutants;
• routine and accidental radioactive discharges to the environment;
• radioactive waste management and decommissioning strategy and policy;
• performance assessment for geological disposal;
• effects of low-level radiation;
• comparative environmental impact assessments.

21st August 2000 - Quintessa involved in successful CO2 sequestration bid

Quintessa is involved in a successful bid to the European Community to study the potential for the sequestration of CO2 in an oilfield employing enhanced oil recovery techniques at Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada. The project which will run for 42 months is led by the British Geological Survey and involves researchers from the UK (BGS, Quintessa, IEA Greenhouse Gas programme), France (BRGM), Denmark (GEUS), Italy (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica) and Canada (Petroleum Technology Research Centre).

The project is to enable researchers from the EC to learn from an internationally-funded project based in Canada, how CO2 may be sequestered in an oilfield undergoing enhanced oil recovery. The overall objective is to enhance knowledge and understanding of the underground sequestration of CO2 associated with enhanced oil recovery, and the role it could play in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

Quintessa will use its experience in the assessment of the safe disposal of other wastes to investigate the long-term safety and storage potential of CO2 at Weyburn and similar sites. For more information, please contact David Savage.

4th July 2000 - Quintessa signs agreement with the British Geological Survey

Dr David Hodgkinson, the Managing Director of Quintessa and Dr David Falvey, Executive Director of BGS sign the agreement at BGS Headquarters, Keyworth, UK in the presence of David Holmes (Assistant Director, BGS), Dr Richard Shaw (Principal Scientific Officer, BGS) and Dr David Savage (Principal Staff Consultant, Quintessa).

On 4 July, Quintessa and the British Geological Survey (BGS) signed a 'memorandum of understanding', agreeing to work together on commercial projects, particularly those relating to the geological disposal of toxic, hazardous, or radioactive wastes, and also on projects relating to hydrocarbon exploration and production. David Hodgkinson, Quintessa's Managing Director said: "this agreement will benefit our clients worldwide by providing the highest quality solutions to environmental and energy-related problems". David Holmes, BGS's Assistant Director responsible for programmes relating to Environment and Hazards concurs: "this arrangement will maximise the capability of each organisation, linking Quintessa's expertise in safety assessment and modelling with those of the BGS in earth sciences".

Quintessa Limited is an Anglo-Japanese scientific consultancy company and provides quantitative scientific solutions in partnership with government, industry and commerce from offices in the UK and Japan. Quintessa aims to provide the highest quality contract and scientific research, founded on a fundamental understanding of mathematics and science. Quintessa has particular strengths in environmental safety assessment, mathematical modelling, and geochemistry.

The British Geological Survey (www.bgs.ac.uk) is the UK's national centre for earth science information and its foremost supplier of geoscience solutions. It acquires and maintains up-to-date knowledge of the UK and its continental shelf by means of systematic geological, geophysical, geochemical, hydrogeological and geotechnical surveys underpinned by high quality research. The BGS has 760 staff, of which 480 are scientists including geologists, mineralogists, engineering geologists, palaeontologists, chemists, hydrogeologists, mathematicians, biologists, computer specialists and information technologists. The BGS is a component body of the UK Natural Environment Research Council.