The PEGG

September 2001

Class Out of Class

New Award Recognizes Engineering Students Who Demonstrate Social Consciousness

Outstanding undergraduate Canadian students whose volunteer, employment, or personal initiatives enhance the image of the engineering profession and demonstrate a social consciousness will be eligible for a new national award in 2002.

The Gold Medal Student Award was established by the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers this year to recognize outstanding undergraduate engineering students whose extracurricular activities benefit society and enhance the profession's public image, as well as develop the students' non-technical skills. It is one of the eight Canadian Engineers' Awards presented annually by CCPE.

"We believe it is important for engineering students to understand and appreciate the social and professional responsibilities of engineers, and how our work contributes to the health, quality of life and safety of Canadians," said Marie Lemay, P.Eng., CCPE's chief executive officer. "By recognizing and providing financial support to engineering students who act as role models for their peers and public ambassadors for our profession, this new award will help to create greater student awareness of what it means to be an engineer, as well as public awareness of engineering's many contributions to society."

Recipients of the Gold Medal Student Award will receive a $2,000 scholarship to assist them in their studies. In addition to being effective communicators and role models within the engineering student community, they must have demonstrated strong leadership skills, professionalism and ethics. These qualities must have come through community involvement, participation in engineering student societies, institutes or other professional bodies, or in activities that enhance the image of engineering students and the engineering profession in Canada, or increase public awareness of engineering career opportunities.

Nominations to the 2002 Gold Medal Student Award began being accepted last month. They can be made through the Canadian Federation of Engineering Students, the deans of engineering at Canadian universities that offer accredited undergraduate engineering programs, or the provincial and territorial associations that regulate the engineering.

More information on the Canadian Engineers' Awards and the nomination process is available on CCPE's website at www.ccpe.ca.

In addition to the Gold Medal Student Award, CCPE presents a number of other awards. Those are the Gold Medal Award for exceptional individual achievement and distinction in a field of engineering; the Young Engineer Achievement Award for outstanding contribution in a field of engineering by an engineer 35 years of age or younger; the Meritorious Service Award for Professional Service for outstanding contribution to a professional, consulting or technical engineering association or society in Canada; the Meritorious Service Award for Community Service for exemplary voluntary contribution to a community organization or humanitarian endeavor; the Medal for Distinction in Engineering Education for exemplary contribution to engineering teaching at a Canadian university; the National Award for Exceptional Engineering Achievement for outstanding engineering projects or achievements in which Canadian engineers were involved; and the Award for the Support of Women in the Engineering Profession for outstanding support of women in the engineering profession and engineering excellence.