Helen Wojcinski, P.Eng.

“As practising engineers, we have a duty of care to the public. My philosophy is to apply that same duty to serving the public in other ways. I take the notion of being a P.Eng. beyond engineering to see how I can make a difference for the betterment of society.”

Helen Wojcinski’s “dual” careers—one in civil engineering, and another, subsequent one in organizational behaviour, are closely linked in her thinking. Drawing on an impressive civil engineering track record, which included the western extension of the Highway 407 ETR—the world’s first all-electronically tolled highway — in her consulting practice, Wojcinski more recently facilitated a major organizational change for Defence Research & Development Canada, an agency of the Department of National Defence, as the Canadian Forces’ research focus transitioned from a peacekeeping mission to an active combat role during the Afghanistan War. She has brought this same approach to helping numerous causes in her community, serving on boards for the Canadian National Exhibition Association, Surrey Place, and Southlake Residential Care Village, among others, in addition to advocating for gender equity in engineering by serving on Engineers Canada’s Equitable Participation in the Profession Committee.  She describes her volunteer work for the most vulnerable in Canadian society as not just a way to give back, but an integral part of the responsibilities she’s internalized as a professional engineer.