Here is your monthly dose of my Canadian engineering news created for licensed and aspiring engineers, geoscientists and technicians in Canada.
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Dr. Kerry Rowe, a civil engineer at Queen's University in Canada, has won the NSERC Donna Strickland Prize for his innovative work in geoenvironmental engineering, which has transformed landfill barrier systems globally. His research focuses on preventing and remedying groundwater and surface water contamination, ensuring environmental protection. Dr. Rowe's $250,000 grant will support his future research, and his work has profoundly impacted regulations, design, contaminant remediation, and landfill construction worldwide, benefiting millions of people worldwide.
- Stephanie Thompson, an engineer at General Motors in Canada, has won the Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award for the third year in a row. Thompson was recognized in the skilled trades category for her efforts to inspire women to choose careers in non-traditional fields. Her contributions include leading engineering teams in the manufacturing of engines and transmissions, and founding a social enterprise called Women in STEM Experiences (WISE) to break down barriers for women and make STEM subjects more accessible.
Proto Founder and CEO David Nussbaum have been recognized by Canadian patent #3146969 as the inventor of a holographic display device, which is a portable, self-contained, human-sized hologram device that runs on a proprietary OS and software platform and comes with new software features and applications constantly being updated. Proto won its 4th Innovation Award from CES and was named to Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies list for the second year in a row.
XGO-Mini, an advanced quadruped robot with AI modules, became the most popular robotic dog on Kickstarter in 2021. Its successor, XGO 2, is the world's first Raspberry Pi desktop robotic dog with an arm, allowing users to explore and manipulate their surroundings at an affordable price.
The development of ReO2, a groundbreaking contact lens cleaner, was a collaboration between ophthalmologists, hardware engineers, and software engineers. This FDA-approved solution can provide comfort for contact lens wearers in just 10 minutes, with a protein removal rate of 94.7% and a bacteria-killing rate of 99.9999%. They pooled their clinical experience, engineering skills, and feedback from contact lens wearers to create this innovative product.
What technology or gadget are you currently enjoying and would recommend to other aspiring and licensed engineers? Let us know in the comments below.
Here are the news links to every Canadian Association. If there is anything beyond the standard stuff (elections, new appointments), I'll try to list them below. The news tends to slow down during certain parts of the year (e.g. Summer, X-Mas).
- APEGA News
- APEGS News - Changes to funding for societies. The APEGS council approved a policy that changes the way APEGS funds the societies effective January 1, 2024.
- APEY News
- ASET News
- EGBC News - Annual Reporting Opens May 1. This year EGBC is introducing a new Account Dashboard
- Engineers Nova Scotia News
- Engineers PEI News
- NAPEG News
- PEGNL News
- PEO News - The EIT program will no longer be offered to new applicants as of May 15, 2023
Having career conversations can assist you in effectively communicating your individual career objectives, and it is not always necessary for these conversations to center around a promotion. Read about How to be Well-Prepared for a Career Conversation with your Manager.
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Engineering Job interviews can be a nerve-wracking experience, however, with some research and practice, you can improve your interviewing skills and increase your chances of success. Learn more about the types of Interview Questions for Engineers (With Example Answers).
- The inside story of ChatGPT's astonishing potential- In this talk, Greg Brockman, OpenAI co-founder, discusses the design principles of ChatGPT and showcases unreleased plug-ins for the chatbot. Chris Anderson, the head of TED, later joins Brockman to discuss ChatGPT's development timeline and the potential risks of releasing such a powerful tool.
- Through the Eyes of an Engineer- In this TED talk, Grady Hillhouse, a civil engineer and science communicator, teaches how to discover excitement in our daily surroundings and how curiosity can help solve significant problems.
"The ideal engineer is a composite... He is not a scientist, he is not a mathematician, he is not a sociologist or a writer, but he may use the knowledge and techniques of any or all of these disciplines in solving engineering problems."
--N.W. Dougherty
Thanks for reading and have a great month!
Gavin Simone, P.Eng., PMP, LEED AP
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This month’s question is: At home or work, what angles do you have to measure precisely?
At home, while working on DIY wood based projects, I usually have to measure a lot of angles to make sure that the final product works as per requirement.
I have to measure angles for our ‘abstract’ art at home, and have to make sure the slope is appropriate on our flare lines at work! They must be precise to ensure project success and compliance.
At work, I need to precisely measure the angles of sanitary and storm sewer pipes to ensure they are sloped to drain appropriately. I also need to measure the angles of curb gutters and drainage swales to ensure that surface water can flow as designed.
I have to measure lots of different angles between circular LEDs as I work with LED based purification devices. The oreintation of these LEDs has to be really precise for the best purification efficiency with the parts delivered.
I like to measure the internal angles at the site to be sure its as the required.
I used one at work today to measure change in angle on a support strut leg for a given number of turns of the supporting threaded rod eye
Don’t often need to measure angles, but I have a manual protractor to do the job.
Wall mounting shelves, counter tops, wall mounting TV, etc. 🙂
I used it for wall mounting TVs.
At home, every angle I have to measure is never precise so I always eyeball it.
I have not measured angles much for the longest time at work. Nonetheless, recently, one of the pieces of equipment we use to spray paint needed one of the components replaced because the original piece broke. The parts are made of plastic and the small broken piece was irreplaceable alone. The whole equipment will have to be bought just to get the needed small piece. Due to this problem, I was tasked with designing the small piece in NX. I had to measure lengths, width, and angles precisely to guarantee that this part will work seamlessly with other parts once 3D printed. I was able to make precise measurements, including angles and the part functioned well in an assembly.
As with many of the others, mounting anything on walls needs good leveling…