Engineering: issues, challenges and opportunities for development ...

ENGINEERING: ISSUES CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR DEVELOPMENT The Confederation Bridge(see box).© Strait Crossing Bridge Limited■■■■■■Engineers CanadaThe Canadian Academy of EngineeringThe Association of Canadian Engineering CompaniesThe National Council of Deans of Engineering and AppliedScienceThe Engineering Institute of CanadaThe Canadian Federation of Engineering StudentsThese organizations are linked through the Canadian EngineeringLeadership Forum, which brings together the presidentsand chief executives of each body to address nationalengineering matters.Established in 1936, Engineers Canada (Engineers Canada isthe operating name of the Canadian Council of ProfessionalEngineers) is the national organization of the twelve provincialand territorial associations that regulate the practice of engineeringin Canada and license the country’s more than 160,000professional engineers. Engineers Canada serves members bydelivering national programmes that ensure the highest standardsof engineering education, professional qualifications andprofessional practice. It facilitates the national mobility of engineersthrough an inter-association mobility agreement thatenables engineers to obtain a license to practice in other provincesand territories. Engineers Canada represents its membersin national and international affairs, and coordinates thedevelopment of national policies, positions and guidelines onbehalf of the engineering profession. It also promotes greaterunderstanding of the nature, role and contribution of professionalengineers and engineering to society, and undertakesfederal government relations and national media relations.Through its Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board, EngineersCanada accredits Canadian undergraduate engineeringprograms that meet the profession’s high education standards.Through its Canadian Engineering Qualifications Board,Engineers Canada develops national guidelines on the qualifications,standards of practice and ethics expected of professionalengineers. The International Committee is responsiblefor keeping Engineers Canada’s Board of Directors abreastof new opportunities to maintain or enhance internationalmobility for Canadian engineers, and for monitoring the useand viability of Engineers Canada’s existing mutual recognitionagreements on the full or partial recognition of engineeringqualificationsThe Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE) was foundedin 1987 and was one of the highlights of the celebration ofthe centennial of engineering as an organized profession inCanada. The academy is an independent, self-governing andnon-profit organization established to serve Canada in mattersof engineering concern, and which comprises many of thecountry’s most accomplished engineers. In 1991, the CanadianAcademy became a full and active member of the InternationalCouncil of Academies of Engineering and TechnologicalSciences ( CAETS).The Canadian Federation of Engineering Students (CFES)is a community strengthened and enriched by a nationallydiverse engineering student body. To enhance student life,the CFES facilitates communication, the sharing of ideas, andthe exchange of information between member schools. Toensure that students grow both personally and professionally,the CFES keeps abreast of the changes taking place in societyaffecting engineering students and the engineering profession.CFES is a unified voice for students both nationally and internationally,and assists in ensuring that Canadian engineeringstudents grow and prosper in the twent-first century.The Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC) is an umbrella organizationfor twelve engineering technical societies that organizeinter- society cooperation in activities such as advocacy, continuingprofessional development and interaction, and eventssuch as the Canadian Conference on Climate Change Technology.The National Council of Deans of Engineering and AppliedScience represents many of the forty academic institutions inCanada that offer accredited engineering programmes. Thedeans meet bi-annually to exchange information on engineeringtrends that impact education delivery in the short,medium and long-term.The Association of Canadian Engineering Companies wasfounded in 1925. ACEC is the national association of consultingfirms that provide engineering and other technology-basedintellectual services to the built and natural environment.Member companies offer professional engineering servicesworldwide to private sector and government clients. TheAssociation’s membership consists of approximately 600 independentconsulting engineering firms and twelve provincialand territorial member organizations who offer, collectively,thirty-five types of services in 273 specializations.The Confederation Bridge has been named one of the five mostsignificant Canadian engineering achievements of the twentiethcentury. The 12.9 kilometre bridge connects the eastern Canadianprovinces of Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, across theNorthumberland Strait. When the bridge opened in 1997 after threeand a half years of construction, it replaced the existing ferry servicewith a faster and more efficient transportation link. Built and operatedby Strait Crossing Development Inc., the Confederation Bridgeis the longest bridge over ice-covered saltwater in the world.240