Engineers Canada hosted a building competition on Parliament Hill in honour of National Engineering Month.
University students compete to build the tallest and strongest structure on Parliament Hill; Engineers Canada announces development of new resilient infrastructure certification.
Ottawa, Ontario, March 26, 2015 — Engineers Canada hosted a building competition on Parliament Hill in honour of National Engineering Month. The event was championed by member of Parliament and engineer Pierre Lemieux, and paired Carleton University and University of Ottawa engineering students to see who could build the tallest and most resilient structure in the face of extreme weather out of everyday items. The winning team was a trio of Carleton University students: Colin Mackenzie, Jacob Lipohar and Patricia Anderson.
During the event, Engineers Canada announced the development of a new resilient infrastructure certification for engineers. The certified engineer will have the knowledge and competencies to apply a systems approach to threats on infrastructure services to maintain their safe operations. This certification will also provide infrastructure owners and operators, such as the government, and the public with confidence that the recommendations or approvals for designs, operations or maintenance have been made by an engineer with advanced training and experience related to vulnerability assessment and risk management. The certification will be officially launched in 2016.
“I am pleased to announce that Engineers Canada is developing a national certification program for engineers that recognizes additional skills and knowledge required for planning, designing and managing resilient infrastructure assets and their components in the face of extreme weather,” said Kim Allen, FEC, P.Eng., Chief Executive Officer of Engineers Canada. “Adapting infrastructure to improve its resilience to climate effects is the responsibility of engineers. An engineer who completes this certification will have the knowledge and competencies to apply a systems approach to evaluate and define threats from current and future climate to infrastructures to maintain their safe and continued operations.”
National Engineering Month is the largest national celebration of engineering. Over 500 events take place throughout March where young Canadians learn about the exciting, fun, and rewarding world of engineering. www.nem-mng.ca
Engineers Canada is the national organization of the 12 engineering regulators that license the country's 280,000 members of the profession. Together, we work to advance the profession in the public interest. www.engineerscanada.ca
For more information, contact:
William Meyer, Practice Lead, Communications
613-232-2474, ext. 249
will.meyer@engineerscanada.ca
