THe summIT serIes The Carpenter Within How much does apeGGa Honorary member Wendy Cooper value the work of engineers? Well, you could always ask her granddaughter — whose playhouse has stamped designs in its dNa by CHrIsTINe COTTreLL The PEG APEGGA Honorary Member Wendy Cooper. As the CEO of the Consulting Engineers of Alberta, Wendy Cooper spends her days digging deep into a toolbox of experience and skill as she promotes the industry that pays her salary. But when the office door closes and the door to her home opens, it’s a literal toolbox she rummages through. That’s the toolbox that lets APEGGA’s most recent honorary member become an amateur carpenter. The hobby has progressed to more and more challenging projects, from bookcases and planters to a playhouse she bought for her granddaughter, Halle, in 2006. Ms. Cooper thought, How hard can that be? The plans were too small for a playhouse, so – proving that she holds APEGGA professionals in high regard – she enlisted the services of a structural engineer to create the blueprints for a unique environment for her favourite little girl. “We may have the only garden in Edmonton with a playhouse that’s at least partially custom designed by an engineer,” she says with a laugh. And yes, she has the engineering drawings to prove it, placed prominently within a binder of photos she’s willing to show anyone who’s interested. Engineering is, of course, an even bigger part of her day job. Ms. Cooper doesn’t practice it, but she’s accomplished plenty for the profession and the consulting industry. APEGGA recognized these contributions by awarding Ms. Cooper an honorary membership during the 2009 Summit Awards, last April in Calgary. “Wendy has been a true friend of our Association and our professions,” said APEGGA Executive Director & Registrar Neil Windsor, P.Eng. “I can’t think of a more deserving recipient.” Perhaps her accomplishments stem from what she brought to the job. Many executives take on their roles with only an inkling of what they are going to face. Ms. Cooper, however, knew much of what she was getting into when she accepted the position 10 years ago. She first worked for the CEA as an executive assistant, on a practicum for her advertising and public relations diploma at Grant MacEwan College, now MacEwan University She fulfilled her practicum requirement and gained full-time employment at CEA as an EA. Little did she know where it would lead. And then the vacancy came. Armed with her solid grounding in the group’s key issues, goals and initiatives, Ms. Cooper applied for and was appointed to the position of chief executive officer. That made her the CEA’s fourth CEO, the second one without a P.Eng. designation. In a seamless transition, she continued the work of her predecessors. “I knew how the organization functioned — the staff, the events, the clients, the relationships and, most importantly, the larger engineering community.” A decade later, Ms. Cooper is proud of what she and her four-person staff have achieved so far. “It’s been a lot of hard work advancing the profile of the engineering community, but it’s been very rewarding.” Currently, Ms. Cooper’s main focus is to attend the association’s zone meetings in urban, municipal and rural Alberta. She travels the province to give presentations on procuring professional services under the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement, known as TILMA. This agreement came into force in April 2009, with the aim of removing trade barriers between Alberta and B.C. Consulting engineering companies are able to consider project opportunities for work in both provinces. However, amid reams of misinformation, the new rules are causing confusion, not only to the consulting industry but also to the public-sector 36 | PEG February 2010