February 2007 ISSUE

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national engineering & geoscience week

PROFESSIONALS BUILD FUTURE

BY ALTHEA ADAMS
Public Relations Coordinator

FUTURE ENGINEERS? National Engineering & Geoscience Week offers fun and challenges for all ages, as these two participants demonstrate at one of last year’s events.

Roles of the engineering and geoscience professionals who are Building the Future will be recognized and celebrated during the 15th annual National Engineering & Geoscience Week, Feb. 22 to March 3.

NEGW is an opportunity to increase public awareness about the important role that engineers, geologists and geophysicists play in the everyday lives of all citizens. “The celebration of National Engineering & Geoscience Week continues to grow throughout Alberta,” says APEGGA President David Chalcroft, P.Eng. “It is a great way to celebrate the professions.”

This year’s theme, Building the Future, will highlight the significant contributions engineers, geologists and geophysicists have made to building Alberta’s future through industry and innovations.

For the 12th year in a row, an NEGW special supplement will be published in both the Calgary Herald and Edmonton Journal, this time on Feb. 22. The insert features engineers and geoscientists from across the province and highlights their contributions to building the future in Alberta.

As part of the celebrations, APEGGA has several activities planned for NEGW 2007. To launch the week, APEGGA is organizing kickoff events on Feb. 22 in Calgary, hosted by Bantrel, and in Edmonton, hosted by ATCO Electric. The kickoff is a great opportunity for permit holders and members to submit a team — to compete in a mystery challenge and show off their amazing science skills.

Other organizations are also planning activities in celebration of NEGW. Fluor Canada in Calgary, for example, will host its second annual Canstruction Calgary. This event brings together engineers, geoscientists, architects, designers and others from the engineering, geoscience and construction communities.
They will work as teams to build structures using canned food. The sculptures will be judged, put on public display and then “de-canstructed.” All of the food goes to the Calgary Interfaith Food Bank.

This event requires creative designs with structural integrity, and eye for picking the right cans to match their designs. “It’s like a little project that requires teamwork, project management and creativity, and it’s all for a great cause,” says Dan Burns, P.Eng., Canstruction Calgary co-chair.

Would you like to get involved?  There are many ways to celebrate NEGW. You can

• plan a challenge between departments within your organization or with other companies or technical societies

• host a breakfast, coffee session or brown bag lunch presentation for fellow employees and tell them about NEGW

• visit a school in your area to talk with students about your profession.

If your organization plans to host an event during NEGW, please feel free to contact APEGGA and have it added to the events list on the APEGGA website.

Celebration with Students
APEGGA will continue the tradition of science olympics for 2007. This year the science olympics will take place in Calgary on Feb. 24 at the Stampede Grounds and March 3 in Edmonton at the Shaw Conference Centre. APEGGA will also sponsor science olympics in Grande Prairie, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Lloydminster and Red Deer. APEGGA members also volunteer for the Fort McMurray science olympics.

APEGGA sponsors these events to promote excellence and innovation in science learning for students. Science olympics are fun-filled and stimulating events, during which pre-registered student teams discover firsthand the connection between classroom concepts and their practical, everyday applications. Students compete in a series of pre-planned and mystery events, all designed to test their knowledge of scientific processes, challenge their skills and consider practical and unconventional solutions to unique problems.

Elementary science nights have become an integral part of APEGGA’s celebrations in Calgary and Edmonton. APEGGA organizes evenings at elementary schools throughout the week for a fun night of hands-on science and science demonstrations. APEGGA is expanding this program beyond NEGW, specifically for schools with large Aboriginal populations.