An Indigenous engineer is advocating for decolonizing engineering design. Prime minister Justin Trudeau announces Suze Youance as an independent senator. Engineer's report finds removal of supports caused Kingston causeway bridge to buckle. These were the most-read stories in the Daily Media Report at the beginning of October.
Advocating for decolonizing engineering design. Danilo (Giniw) Caron, the recipient of the Indigenous and Black Engineering and Technology Momentum Fellowship, researches the architecture, engineering and construction industries. Caron advocates for civil engineering that works with the environment holistically and better serves indigenous communities.
Suze Youance announced as an independent senator. Suze Youance, originally from Haiti, has made a name for herself in the fields of engineering, teaching, and research. The Governor General, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, appointed Suze Youance as an independent senator to fill a vacancy in the Senate for Quebec. She has worked for several engineering firms and has taught for many years at the École de technologie supérieure in Montréal. She is also a dedicated volunteer, a television personality, and the recipient of several awards, including the Casimir Gzowski gold medal from the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering.
Removal of supports caused Kingston causeway bridge to buckle. Workers tasked with repairing the LaSalle Causeway bridge removed critical supports from the top of a member that helped bear its massive counterweight as well as some off the bottom, reducing its strength to less than half and causing it to buckle, which ultimately led to the demolition of the century-old span in Kingston, Ont. The report concluded deviation from the work procedure — not following directions in the prescribed order — contributed to the bridge failure. However, it also found the work procedure "omitted a necessary step" and that drawings prepared by Parsons did not show extra bracing would be needed after the supports were removed.
