Consulting engineers from around the world meet in Quebec City

Canada hosted an international meeting of consulting engineers on September 7-10.
Over 500 delegates from all over the world came to the historic city to attend the FIDIC 2008 Conference.
The event was well timed because the capital of Quebec is celebrating its 400th anniversary this year. The old town around the Chateau Frontenac hotel where the conference was held had never looked more charming, with its narrow cobbled streets, steep hills and French-influenced architecture. As someone at the conference remarked, there is no better evidence of the value of good quality engineering than to see that these streets are still functioning well after centuries of wear and tear.
The town has refurbished itself for the 400th anniversary, including large new public spaces along the waterfront, and a spectacular cinematic night projection across a huge grain elevator that is “the largest exterior architectural projection ever created.”
The FIDIC conference was co-hosted and organized by the Association of Canadian Engineering Companies (ACEC) and the Association des Ingenieurs-Conseil du Quebec (AICQ).
John Boyd of Golder Associates is currently the FIDIC President. He and ACEC chair Leon Botham, and AICQ Chair Michel Lalonde, welcomed the delegates at the opening session at the Palais Montcalm, along with the Mayor of Quebec City. The theatre was recently refurbished theatre with outstanding acoustics, which made for a delightful musical performance by pianist Alain Lefevre.
Among the over 500 delegates were from 60 countries. Almost 100 were from Canada. The next largest contingent was from China, with 48 listed delegates. The U.S. listed 27 delegates, as did Korea. The rest came from small and large countries on every continent, from as far afield as Malawi, Iceland, Iran and Australia.