Marco Aurelio Satyro was the eldest of two children. Born February 4th 1962 in Sao Paulo Brazil. From an early age his inquisitive mind was introduced to chemical engineering through a friend of his father. This encounter catalyzed a successful career in chemical engineering and a lifelong passion for science.
He acquired his undergraduate and master’s degrees from the Politequinique University of Sao Paulo, Brazil and his Ph.D. from the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
For a time Marco was founder and co-owner of Consultema S.A., a software company based in his native Sao Paulo. His work attracted the attention of a Canadian company that in 1988 brought him to Calgary, Canada to work as a developer. During his last two years as a full developer and project manager with that company, Marco also worked and acquired his Ph.D. degree from the University of Calgary. Following his time at Hyprotech, Marco's career blossomed, starting as a founder and developer of Virtual Materials Group, Inc. as well as a full time professor at the University of Calgary. His passion for teaching led him to a position at upstate New York's Clarkson University. During his time as a professor, he was referred to as “a beast in thermodynamics”, “a f# (%!^+ great teacher”, “an inspiring awesome mentor”… among many other heartfelt compliments. Though his time at the University of Calgary and at Clarkson University was brief, Marco's impact on his students and in the academic departments were significant and he was deeply missed when he accepted his last professional pursuit as Principal Scientist at HTRI in Navasota, Texas.
Marco was a renaissance man. An outlier in his field. A disciple of science. He became regarded as an outstanding Thermodynamicist throughout the Chemical Engineering community and throughout the world. His discipline, loyalty and commitment to his work propelled him to a level that few get to experience. He would never leave a task unfinished and loved a challenge.
His colleagues have described him as, “One of the best in his area. A giant in his craft, and a genius in science.” His passion and devotion to getting better at his profession elevated him to a level of speciality in thermodynamics that became difficult to match. Marco was an accomplished professor, software developer, programmer, entrepreneur, chemical engineer, consultant, mentor, author, teacher and a terrific friend!
A ferocious reader, Marco’s love for books was all-encompassing. He taught himself English before leaving Brazil with the help of a Webster dictionary and Mathis songs for pronunciation. There were no unread books that passed through Marco's orbit. As a young man, he took pride in crafting and racing remote control boats in varsity competitions. His father introduced him to the hobby of making airplane models, which fostered a passion for and curiosity of aviation, war and history. He had a taste for the arts and also for disco music.
Marco possessed a photographic memory capable of retaining an amazing amount of information, which coupled with his love of movies allowed him to recall the names of actors, movie release dates, directors, and so on. He adored all things sci-fi and space related. From Thunderbirds, to 1999, to V, to Star Trek, just to name a few. However, Star Wars was his chosen universe! In his opinion, Star Wars had the best movies, books, music, games, plots, scripts, screen writings, themes, vision… he adored everything about Star Wars. The kids and I lost count on how often or how many times we sat all together to enjoy the Star Wars saga.
As a man, Marco was strong, responsible, reliable, honest, selfless, genuine, opinionated, virile, independent, determined, proud, humble, funny, honest, sincere, and so much more!
Passionate, dedicated, a relentless worker, who poured his heart and soul into all he did and never left a task undone. His curiosity was endless. His desire for knowledge unlimited and his capability to improve and to apply new and better ways were never marked by laziness or thinking in terms of impossibilities. He often was heard saying, “How hard can it be?”
Marco had an embracing and larger than life personality. He was a respectful professional. A loyal and trustworthy friend. A compassionate and fair boss, the kind that is not easy to find, but he made it look so easy. A son who brought so much pride and joy. A terrific, loving father. An amazing, loving, caring, passionate, humorous, adventurous, handsome, romantic and forever to be missed husband.
We normally up our praise to a person after they have passed. Sometimes out of respect, or in an attempt to disclose how much more a life could give, especially the lives that are cut short, like Marco’s was. This is not the case.
Our kids and I miss him so much.
Forever and a day my love!
Until we meet again.
Forever yours,
Malu Satyro
