Манукян Армен (Профессор)
Manoogian Armen*
Манукян Армен*
Prof. Armen Manoogian taught physics at Ottawa University. His principal research interest was the resonance and structure of crystals - ie. chemical engineering. Analyzing the crystalline structure of many materials, he had written some 60 articles in learned journals. During his last years he directed his research team towards the investigation of petroleum crystals - which made all Alberta oil enterprise directors most eager to follow his articles and findings. He established a formula linking petroleum crystal structure and intensity of energy produced by that crystal, when subjected to a certain pressure. This could be the key not only to cheaper extraction of petroleum from sands and bitumen, but also to deriving greater efficiency from oil, lesser pollution and less global warming. In his last months, when the Nobel Committee asked for his recommendation as to the most worthy person for the 1990 Nobel Chemistry Prize, he asked his wife, Anne Manoogian to pass that letter to his two children to remember him by.
Among his other interests, he was one of the founders and constitution writers of the Armenian Cultural Association of Ottawa. When the Ottawa Board of Educa- tion (OBE) attempted to establish a secondary school Human Rights course, he acted as the Canadian-Armenian committee’s chairman. The OBE attempt failed, because Canada did not recognize the Armenian Genocide until 21st April 2004 - by which time, the Board had been abolished.
