Canadian electrical engineer Dr. John A. Hopps, working with medical col-leagues at the Banting and Best Institute in Toronto in 1949, discovered that a gentle electrical stimulus would restart a heart that had stopped beating.
In 1950, Hopps developed the first heart pacemaker at the National Research Council. The pacemaker helps millions of people to lead normal, healthy lives. Dr. Hopps was in the vanguard of biomedical engineering in Canada.
The Challenge of the 21st Century
Today’s engineers and geoscientists have knowledge and assistance that pre-vious generations could barely imagine. Every design office has computer hardware and software for analysis, design, and visualization that are unmatched in history. The tools to carry out the designs are also more pow-erful and versatile than ever before, from giant excavators and cranes, to numerically controlled machine tools, to satellite communication. However, your generation will face one of the greatest challenges ever: countering the effect of greenhouse gas emissions on global warming. This challenge is dis-cussed in Part 4 of this text, but a brief overview is appropriate here.
In 2007, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published their fourth report.6The report concludes that global warming is unmistak-able and inevitunmistak-able; moreover, most of the increase in global temperature since the mid-20th century is very likely due to human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. The effects of global warming occur slowly, but will alter life as we know it.
Unless changes are made in our greenhouse gas emissions, the gradual rise in surface air temperatures will increase severe weather events, such as heavy rainfalls, heat waves, droughts, hurricanes, and so forth, and will even-tually melt Arctic and Antarctic ice, and raise sea levels. Insect-borne diseases will be able to move further north, and many animal species will face extinc-tion. Fish stocks may be seriously depleted, creating food shortages in some nations. To avoid the most serious effects, the report indicates that the average global temperature rise must be kept below 2°C. The challenge will be to see if we can reverse the trend without experiencing a devastating impact on our standard of living.
Every nation in the world is affected, so political, economic, and social changes will also be necessary if populations are to be convinced to reduce their consumption. However, a huge task will likely fall on engineers and geoscientists—key professionals who know how to reduce emissions by In 2007, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) publllisisisishehehedddd their fourth report.6The report concludes thhat glggobal warmingg is unnnmimimii tsttak-kk ab
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increasing efficiency of existing processes, machinery, buildings, and infra-structure. We must reduce energy waste, especially energy wasted in trans-portation, in heating buildings, and in electrical production and delivery, and we must increase efficiency by re-using materials and recycling waste into useful energy or products.
Photo 1.2 — The Blackberry®Handheld. The Blackberry®is a well-known Canadian communications invention that converges the features of a wireless tele-phone, computer, and geographical position sensor (GPS) into a single, hand-held personal digital assistant (with calendar, to-do list, and telephone book). The Blackberry sends and receives secure e-mail immediately, permitting users to remain instantly available, wherever they may be. The handy device proliferates in all levels of industry and government. Research in Motion (RIM) the Waterloo, Ontario inventor and manufacturer, reports that over 21 million Blackberry owners subscribe to the RIM service (as of February 2008).
Source: MAGNUM/Peter Marlow.
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The IPCC report gives an extensive list of areas where engineers and geo-scientists should change technology or where new technology should be developed. Part 4 of this textbook discusses these topics in more detail. A challenging task awaits the engineers and geoscientists of the 21st century, but with the knowledge and tools at your disposal, you are well equipped to meet that challenge!
E N G I N E E R I N G A N D G E O S C I E N C E I N C A N A D A
Engineering and geoscience are recognized as professions in Canada.
Engineering was first regulated as a profession during the 1920s, and geo-science (specifically, geology and geophysics) was first regulated in Alberta in 1955. All provinces and territories now recognize, license, and regulate both professions, with a few minor exceptions. The two professions are closely related, so most provinces and territories regulate them under the same laws (as explained in detail in Chapter 2).
Provincial and Territorial Licensing Laws
Each province and territory of Canada has passed a law or “Act” that estab-lishes engineering and/or geoscience as a profession. Each Act, in turn, creates an Association of Professional Engineers and/or Geoscientists (in Quebec, the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec or the Ordre des géologues du Québec). These Associations are the licensing bodies that are responsible for setting and enforcing high standards of practice in engineering and geoscience. That is, the Associations enforce the qualifications for admission into the profession, set standards of professional practice, and discipline members who fail to meet these standards. They also prevent the misuse of titles and/or the illegal practice of the profession by unqualified individuals.
Entering the Professions
Academic and experience requirements are very high to enter either engi-neering or geoscience. Obtaining a licence in Canada typically requires both a four-year university degree and an internship—usually four years of accept-able experience. (See Chapter 2 for a detailed explanation of admission pro-cedures.)
Distribution of Engineers and Geoscientists in Canada
In 2006, about 160,000 practising professional engineers were licensed in Canada, according to Engineers Canada.7The number of professional geosci-entists increased sharply in recent years, from about 6,500 in 2001 to approx-imately 7,700 in 2007, and is expected to reach 10,000 in a few years, according to the Canadian Council of Professional Geoscientists (CCPG).8
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The numbers of both engineers and geoscientists are both approximate: Many individuals (about 12 percent) are licensed in more than one province or ter-ritory, or are licensed as both engineers and geoscientists, and professionals born in the 1945 “baby boom” are now rapidly retiring. The distribution of professionals is also changing, as resource developments in Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan attract them.
The distribution of professional engineers across Canada, shown in Table 1.1, is not uniform: Most are clustered in the industrially developed regions of Ontario (39 percent) and Quebec (23 percent), with the next-largest number in the resource-rich province of Alberta (17.6 percent). When we com-pare the coasts, we find that British Columbia (with 9.09 percent) has many more engineers than the four Atlantic Provinces combined (5.9 percent).
TA B L E 1 . 1 — Licensed Professional Engineers and Geoscientists in Canada Professional Engineers Licensed Percentage of
Engineers in 2006 Total Engineers
Ontario 60,987 39.22%
Quebec 35,368 22.75%
Alberta 27,422 17.64%
British Columbia 14,137 9.09%
Saskatchewan 3,559 2.29%
Manitoba 3,556 2.29%
Nova Scotia 3,548 2.28%
New Brunswick 3,391 2.18%
Newfoundland & Labrador 1,814 1.17%
Northwest Territories 894 0.58%
Prince Edward Island 413 0.27%
Yukon 396 0.25%
Total—Professional Engineers 155,485
(See note 1) 100.0%
Total—Professional 7,700 (Estimate for 2007) Geoscientists
(See note 2)
Note 1: Professional Engineers: The number of professional engineers does not include non-practising engineers, engineers-in-training, or engineering students, but includes some duplicate members, since about 12 percent of professional engineers are licensed to practise in more than one jurisdiction.
Note 2: Professional Geoscientists: The number of professional geoscientists is approximate because three jurisdictions (Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia) recently passed legislation regulating geoscien-tists, licensing has increased sharply in recent years, and the distribution of geoscientists is changing.
Source: Engineers Canada, 2006 Membership Survey, June 2007. Data reproduced with permission of Engineers Canada.
Manitoba 3,556 2.29%
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Saskatchewan and Manitoba together (4.6 percent) have about a quarter of those in Alberta, the adjacent province. The Yukon and Northwest Territories have very few (about 0.8 percent), even though Nunavut is included in the Northwest Territories’ total.
Branches of Engineering and Geoscience
Universities offer degree programs in recognized disciplines (or branches) of engineering and geoscience. These programs have well-identified course requirements, but more importantly, the programs are accredited (for most dis-ciplines, in Canada), so they are guaranteed to be acceptable for licensing.
However, licensed engineers and geoscientists may practise in any discipline for which they can justify their competence, regardless of which discipline they studied in university. (The responsibility for competence is explained later in this text—for example, see “Responsibility for Continuing Competence” in Chapter 3 and “Ensuring Competence” in Chapter 14.) Many branches or dis-ciplines are accredited for education and licensing:
• Engineering. The most general branches are civil, electrical, mechanical, industrial, and chemical engineering, but many more exist, from Aerospace Engineering (at Carleton and Ryerson) to Water Resource Engineering (at Guelph). In fact, the 2007 Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB) report lists about 80 accredited engineering programs that are currently offered at Canadian universities (including about 24 French engineering programs offered in Quebec). Some newer disciplines, such as Mechatronics and Nanotechnology Engineering, are awaiting CEAB accreditation, and are not yet listed.9
• Geoscience. The Canadian Council of Professional Geoscientists (CCPG) recognizes that acceptable geoscience education and experience is usually obtained in three main areas and recognizes professional practice in Geology, Environmental Geoscience, and Geophysics.10
Employment Prospects
In spite of recent economic turmoil (in 2008–2009), two factors show employment prospects for graduate engineers and geoscientists are still very positive. First, the retirement of the “baby boom” generation (born after the end of the Second World War in 1945) will begin to peak in 2010. Many senior engineers and geoscientists will be retiring, creating opportunities for promotion. Second, a drive for increased efficiency, new energy sources, and alternative (less-polluting) energy sources will stimulate research, invest-ment opportunities, and jobs. Engineers and geoscientists are essential if we are to sustain and improve our standard of living while competing with other countries and adapting to the evolving threats of climate change and peak oil. The employment history of the past few decades is also reassuring, although history is not necessarily a predictor of future trends.
disciplines, such as Mechatronics and Naanonotechnology Engineeringngng, g arararreeee awaiting CEAB accreditation, and are not yeet listed.9
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• Engineering. The documented employment history for engineers is fairly stable. The unemployment rate for engineers was typically around 1 percent in the decade prior to 1982, indicating very secure employment.
During the recession of 1982, unemployment reached a peak of 7,000 engineers, or about 6 percent of registered professional engineers.11It declined gradually until it was typically below 2 percent by 1997 (when the national average Canadian unemployment rate was 4.8 percent).12 The collapse of the “dot.com bubble” in 2000, the terrorist attacks of 2001, and the recessionary effects of scandalous bankruptcies in several giant American companies, including Enron and WorldCom, had an impact on the entire global economy. As a result, the unemployment rate for engineers rose to about 3 percent in 2002 (when the national average was 7.5 percent).13The outlook for engineering in 2009, as estimated by Job Futures, the Government of Canada’s National Career and Education Planning Tool, shows that most engineering disciplines have unemploy-ment rates in the range of 1 to 4 percent, as compared to the national average of 7 percent.14
• Geoscience. Geoscience has fewer practitioners than engineering, so his-torical employment data are not easily found. The Job Futures statistics categorizes geoscientists, with several unrelated professions, under the heading of Physical Science Professionals. The 2007 unemployment rate is only 2 percent for this category, as compared to the national average of 7 percent.15In view of the rising demand for fossil fuels, the demand for geoscientists should continue to grow for the foreseeable future.
Professional engineers and geoscientists therefore have good employment prospects. However, if economic turmoil claims your job, remember that the technical societies (discussed in Chapter 5) provide good contacts.
Alternately, consider upgrading your qualifications (as discussed in Chapter 4) to prepare for a better job.
A Brief Discussion of Professional Status
The general public holds the engineering and geoscience professions in high regard. In Canada and the United States, opinion surveys consistently show engineers near the top for honesty and integrity (and this ranking would include geoscientists, although they are rarely identified as a separate group).
But are engineering and geoscience really professions?
To answer this question, we need to define the term “profession” more precisely. What is a profession? How does it differ from a job? The following dictionary definition of a profession helps to answer these questions:
Profession: A calling requiring specialized knowledge and often long and intensive prepa-ration including instruction in skills and methods as well as in the scientific, historical, or scholarly principles underlying such skills and methods, maintaining by force of organiza-tion or concerned opinion high standards of achievement and conduct, and committing its members to continued study and to a kind of work which has for its prime purpose the rendering of a public service. (Copyright
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Engineering and geoscience certainly require “specialized knowledge,”
“intensive preparation,” and “instruction in skills and methods as well as in the scientific, historical, or scholarly principles underlying such skills and methods.” In fact, licensing Acts now require engineers and geoscientists to complete at least four years of formal education and three to four years of rel-evant work experience before they can practise. This equals the preparation required in medicine and law (two professions that serve as a useful basis for comparison).
Engineering and geoscience also have a “force of organization,” in the form of laws and regulations. These have been enacted in every province and territory in Canada (except Prince Edward Island and Yukon, where geo-science is not yet a regulated profession). The Acts, laws, and regulations include Codes of Ethics committing practitioners to “high standards of achievement and conduct” (as discussed in detail in Chapter 11).
Significantly, engineering and geoscience (like medicine and law) are
“self-regulating” professions. That is, the government delegates the respon-sibility for admission, for standards of practice, and for discipline, to the members of the profession. Some differences exist. Unlike medical doctors and lawyers, who are generally self-employed and work with clients on a one-to-one basis, most engineers and geoscientists are employees of large companies, where they work in teams. Moreover, it is a basic fact of life that engineers outnumber every other self-regulating profession (including geoscientists, whose numbers are still rather exclusively small). However, these are minor differences; engineering and geoscience clearly have profes-sional status.
T H E T E C H N I C A L T E A M
Today’s complex projects need specialized skills and knowledge, so most engi-neers and geoscientists work on technical teams. A recent survey of engiengi-neers and geoscientists, sponsored by Engineers Canada, showed that the majority (79 percent) worked on teams. Most of the teams (three out of four) were formed on a project-by-project basis. Engineers were the main team members (69 percent), but almost half of the teams (46 percent) included a technician or technologist, and a quarter of the teams (25 percent) included a non-engineering technical person.17
This data confirms that, while engineers and geoscientists are the vital
This data confirms that, while engineers and geoscientists are the vital