The PEGG

September 2001

A Tale of Two Rings

A Canadian Tradition Heads South,
APEGGA President Receives Second Ring

APEGGA President Dale Miller, P.Eng., "may be the only person in the world to be wearing two Iron Rings, both the Canadian and the U.S. rings." So said NCEES outgoing President Dick Cottingham, P.E., at the closing session of the Annual Meeting of the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying held in Little Rock, Ark., recently.

Mr. Miller was invited to attend the private ceremony and, much to his surprise, he was inducted into the Order of the Engineer and presented with his new Iron Ring. This recognized that he has recently been registered in four U.S. states, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon.

"My work with UMA in Lethbridge takes me to these states frequently and they represent a substantial and growing part of our market," says Mr. Miller. "It just made sense for me to be registered in all four and be able to practice in each of them independently.

"It took some work to satisfy the requirements of each state, which vary somewhat, but in the end it was worth it. My goal now is to find a way to streamline this process and have Canadian engineers and geoscientists recognized in the U.S."

A delegation from APEGGA attended the NCEES Annual Meeting as part of their ongoing efforts to negotiate bilateral mobility agreements with U.S. states. The plan is to make reciprocity of engineers between Alberta and participating states a reality.

A memorandum of understanding signed with the U.S. and Mexico in 1995 has not worked as well as expected. While all Canadian jurisdictions and Mexico have honored the agreement, to date only Texas has signed on. Responding to input from members, APEGGA Council identified mobility of professionals as a top priority issue and has been actively pursuing potential agreements with a number of adjacent states.

Mr. Miller says: "The meeting in Little Rock was an opportunity to talk to all the players, state and national, at the same time and get a better understanding of where each is coming from. It was clear from the meeting that, although their system of licensure is different from ours, we have much in common and professionals from both countries are highly qualified. Agreements should be achievable once mutual understanding and trust is solidly established and that takes time."

In the meantime the APEGGA president proudly wears both rings, a symbol of the success that the mobility initiative has achieved so far and of the similarity between the two systems of licensure.