What’s New (March 01, 2002)

Several major Canadian engineering organizations, including the Association of Consulting Engineers of Canada and the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers, once again joined forces to promote National Engineering Week (NEW), March 2-10. NEW is designed to raise the profile of the engineering profession by making young people aware of engineering, its diversity and the personal satisfaction an engineering career can bring.

NEW’s popularity is growing as volunteers organize an ever-widening range of activities for youth. This year’s events included the Science Olympics in Alberta, with judges from the Edmonton Oilers hockey team, and an audiovisual presentation and videoconference on engineering in Quebec for more than 20,000 youth. Other communities held engineer-for-a-day contests, ever-popular bridge building competitions, media trivia contests, classroom visits by engineers, mall displays, and some produced newspaper supplements about engineering.

The NEW executive committee maintains a Web site at www.new-sng.com. Geared toward youth, it contains information on Canadian engineers and engineering, links to NEW events in local communities, and fun activities.

At the community level, NEW is organized in large measure by the 12 provincial and territorial associations/ordre that regulate the practice of engineering and license professional engineers in Canada.