As the Engineers Canada Board convenes this week, chairing the meeting is Michael Wrinch, the 82nd president of Engineers Canada.
A director from British Columbia, Wrinch joined the Board in 2019 following terms as President and Past-President of Engineers and Geoscientists BC (EGBC). But long before this, he fought forest fires while studying undergraduate physics at the University of British Columbia.
“I got to see how valuable it is for trusting strong teams with single, goal-focussed work,” says Wrinch. “Your objective is to fight this fire. You have this team, they are trained, you trust each other, and you’re accountable to each other to ensure the safety of yourself, the team, and everyone who is in the area you’re operating.”
As Wrinch continued his studies, eventually he moved to the other side of the country, completing an engineering undergraduate degree and Masters at Memorial University. He ultimately returned to British Columbia to complete a PhD. Throughout this period, he continued to fight forest fires all over the country for several seasons.
“We got to work with different crews all across Canada, and we saw the power of what unity and focus gets you.”
When he started his engineering company, Hedgehog Technologies, he immediately became involved with EGBC.
“Throughout my career the values of accountability, collaboration, diversity, remain strong—just like in the forest fire fighting.”
Wrinch has witnessed the differences across the country, whether they’re geographical, cultural, or regulatory. But within those differences he sees what binds the profession and the country together, “Everybody wants to get up and have a safe place to live. Everyone wants infrastructure that lasts.”
It is this sense of unity amid diversity that drives Wrinch’s role with Engineers Canada.
“Our job is to bring together these interest holders, and to recognize that even though we have different culture values and unique differences, we have a lot of similarities,” says Wrinch.
When he looks at his term as President, Wrinch is committed to advancing collaboration across the country.
“The best interest for Canadian engineers and for Canadians is to have a system that’s harmonized, where Canadians are working together to make the lives of one another better.”
In Wrinch’s eyes, the timing is ripe for a focus on deepened collaboration.
“Ten years ago, harmonization was a non-starter.”
What’s changed? Wrinch says regulators and Engineers Canada have embraced a contemporary mindset and a focus on inclusivity.
“Engineers Canada has done a better job of bringing everyone together, sharing differences, and reiterating the importance of working together. Everyone needs to understand that their point of view is valuable,” says Wrinch. “Engineers Canada is a conduit to improve and increase that understanding.”
What Wrinch wants people to understand is how regulation underpins the entire engineering profession. He uses the analogy of baking an apple pie. What’s the most important ingredient? Is it the apples? The flour? Butter? The oven you bake it in? While you can’t have an apple pie without apples, nor can you have it without a single one of the other constituent elements,” says Wrinch. “Regulation is like the pie plate or the flour. No one thinks about it because they’re focussed on the apples.”
“Without regulation you don’t have a profession that understands its purpose and its role.”
