Birth and Growth of Scarborough Chapscarborough.peo.on.ca/2017/PRESENCE_2016.pdf · Birth and Growth of Scarborough Chap-ter Madu Suthanan, ... stick bridge building contest was already

Page 1PRESENCE 2016

Birth and Growth of Scarborough Chap-terMadu Suthanan, P. Eng., FECPast Chair

When was our Chapter formed? We all agree it was long ago, but nobody had a foggiest idea of when. I emailed Sharon Gillam at PEO. Lo and Behold! She emails 2 documents: 1) a letter titled “Application for Approval, Provisional Chapter” dated 17 Octo-ber, 1961 to PEO requesting the Council to approve the Provi-sional formation of Scarborough Chapter. The minute, “Approved Oct. 19/61” was penned on the top right hand corner, and 2) a three page by-Laws of the Chapter bearing approval by executive committee date of 26 July, 1962.So, we can firmly say that our Chapter was born on 19 October, 1961.There is not much evidence of all the activities of the Chapter. We request the readers who are aware of the various activities of the chapter to write to [email protected] so that we have better record of our Chapter and can update our history.We know with fair certainty that our chapter conducted the Board meetings regularly, and had many functions such as the Certifi-cate Presentation Ceremony, Technical Seminars and trips, etc. To the best of my knowledge, our participation in service to our community by way of helping at schools activities started around 2002.We first participated in the Engineer-in residence program started by PEO, with some of our volunteers volunteering at various schools so that students come to know engineering and engi-neers. We also took part in helping some of the Scarborough high schools take part in “First Robotics Competition”.By late 2003 we decided that we should start some program of our own Chapter to popularise engineering in our community starting with a program for the schools. Thus, the idea of popsicle stick Bridge Building Contest (BBC) was born. Well, popsicle stick bridge building contest was already popular in USA, Cana-da and many countries as seen from the Internet. The difference with our project was that whereas the testing of the bridge was normally done in Materials testing laboratories and not witness by the audience, we wanted to test the bridges in front of the audience. So a number of meetings were held to plan out the event and on 14 May, 2014. By then we did not have a proper testing method. We placed exercise weights in milk crats to test the bridge strengths. It was a great success, enjoyed by all: volun-teers, teachers, students and parents.For 2005 we wanted to somehow have a working machine to test the bridges. Several proposals with drawings and models were brought to our monthly meetings. Then our member Arul Thiag-arajah, P. Eng., and two of his fellow workers one day walked into the meeting carrying a machine. He and his colleagues had designed and fabricated the machine at his workshop and used an electronic load measuring instrument that has been donated by his company. That machine was used from 2005 right up to now!In 2005, Gordana Nikolajevic, P.Eng., proposed one more project to introduce the use of Mathematics in Engineering and Science. Several meetings were held and the new program was named “Mathletics” by her and accepted by all. She also designed a Logo for Mathletics which is used till now. We wanted to use some form of scoring machine to select the winners, but we

were not able to design or find a suitable scoring devise. The first contest held in early 2006 used show of hands to select the winners. Then our Past Chair Denis Carlos, MBA, P.Eng. was able to research and find a company in USA which was market-ing electronics wireless clickers whi was used as a classroom performance system which can serve our purpose. We got Special Funding to buy this system, through a local agent. After that we were using this Clicker system for our Mathletics Competitions which is popular even now. The BBC of 2005 used our new machine and we could expand the contest for more schools and contestants. For the 2006 BBC, we proposed to publish a Souvenir to highlight our BBC pro-gram. I am attaching 3 pages from this Souvenir, which better describes the story of BBC.In 2011, the Education Committee (EDU) of PEO requested for educational proposals for schools for special funding. Our Chapter submitted 3 proposals. The EDU committee approved Mechatronics which was proposed by me. We held our first Mechatronics Contest as Mechatronics Car Contest (MCC)

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Page 2 Page 3PRESENCE 2016PEO Scarborough Chapter: www.scarborough.peo.on.ca

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Message from the President of Professional Engineers Ontario On behalf of PEO Council, I am pleased to express my thanks to the executives, volunteers, and members of PEO Scarborough Chapter (PEOSC) for their outstanding education outreach activities in the Scarborough community that are showcased in this PRESENCE souvenir publication. Your efforts have helped to bring to life the application of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to real life situations through a variety of innovative hands-on learning activities.

I would also like to extend my appreciation to the many principals, teachers, and students who have participated enthusiastically in these activities in 2016. Geared to students in specific grades from 3 to 12, they include “Mathletics”, bridge building, mechatronics, modular electronics engineering, a balsa wood glider competition, and STEMZ. I have witnessed personally the enthusiasm of the participating students as they learn and explore practical applications of scientific principles.

In 1997, as Chair of PEO’s Education Committee, I was instrumental in starting the Engineer-in-Residence (EIR) program, in which practising professional engineers volunteer some of their time to be present on a regular basis in an elementary or secondary school to assist teachers and students in experiencing first-hand what engineering is all about. I am happy to note that several volunteers from PEO Scarborough Chapter have participated in the EIR program over the years.

In addition, this PRESENCE publication serves the purpose of funding the Chapter’s Aspiring Scholarship program for high school students from Scarborough schools who enter Ontario universities to study engineering. I commend it to you as an admirable record of the many positive ways Scarborough professional engineers have contributed to their local community and beyond.

Please accept my best wishes for continued success in your endeavours in 2017 and the years ahead. Sincerely,

George Comrie, P.Eng., CMC, FEC President, Professional Engineers Ontario


Message from The Chair, PEO Scarborough Chapter I thank the Board of Executives and our active volunteers and members for the support they have given during my tenure as Chair for the last two years. It is the volunteers who make the Chapter shine in its performance.

At present Association of Professional Engineers Ontario has 36 chapters of which Scarborough Chapter is one of the larger chapters with more than 3,000 members.

Our chapter was formed in 1961 and we are very proud of our 55+ years of age. We have scant proof of our early existence. We are more aware of our performance during the last fifteen years or so. We would like our members and readers to supply us with more information so that we can record our history with more accuracy. Till then, we have recorded our achievements from memory of our senior volunteers and some documentary evidence: subject to filling of missing data and corrections of data already provide in this Souvenir elsewhere.

This PRESENCE Souvenir is an offshoot of our Bridge Building Contest (BBC) Souvenir started in 2006. We were funding the Aspiring Scholarship program for high school students of Scarborough schools who enter Ontario Universities for following an engineering career. BBC Souvenir confined the contents to our Bridge Building Contest for Grades 3 to 8 started in 2004 and continuing to date. This PRESENCE Souvenir inauguration issue showcases all our chapter programs and activities to highlight our presence in Scarborough to popularise engineering and make awareness of engineers’ contribution to society.

We hope that this inaugural issue will be a good encouragement to improve on in subsequent years with more well-wishers, sponsors, and volunteers contributing to expand future issues.

In 2005 our Chapter introduced the Mathletics contest for Grades 3 to 8. Then in 2012 came Mechatronics Contest for High Schools. We introduced Mechatronics Clubs to selected high schools in 2014.

I am glad to say that during my tenure as Chair, we introduced Modular Electronic Engineering (MEE) for Grades 7 & 8 in 2015, Balsawood Glider Contest (BGC), and STEMZ for High Schools in 2016.

In addition, we continued with our Licence Presentation ceremony (LPC), BBQ (volunteer family event), volunteer trainings, technical tours, and technical seminars.

Once again, I thank our volunteers and encourage all to take active parts in chapter activities and become Board members, and volunteer with PEO. Warm regards

Jega Jeganathan, Ph.D., P. Eng., Chair, PEO Scarborough Chapter


Date: January 12, 2017 Message from

Thomas Chong, MSc, P. Eng., FEC, PMP Past President, Professional Engineers Ontario To: Board of Executives and volunteers of PEO Scarborough Chapter (PEOSC), PEO members, and principals, teachers, students and well wishers, I have been associated with PEOSC for several years, from the time I was East Central Regional Councillor, rising to President of PEO, and now as Past President. I have found the Chapter Boards and volunteers to be a very active lot with many innovative ideas to show their presence not only to the Chapter residents and schools, but also to PEO itself.

I am very pleased to giving this message to the new PRESENCE Souvenir that is being published by PEOSC. The Chapter has persevered in achieving excellence in the projects that they have introduced for school children to improve their interest and knowledge in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education using real life applications. Further, this publication serves the purpose of funding the Aspiring Scholarship program for high school students of Scarborough schools who enter Ontario universities for engineering.

I have been associated with many of their educational programs such as Bridge Building Contest, Mathletics, Mechatronics, Modular Electronic Engineering, Balsawood Glider Contest, and STEMZ etc. to benefit school students from Grade 3 to Grade 12. In addition I have been guest at the Chapter’s various social and family activities and volunteer training and volunteer appreciation events which encourages and sustains volunteer participation. It is the volunteers who make all these events possible by devoting time and efforts and skills to enhance the presence of the Chapter.

I wish the Chapter success in all their programs.

Sincerely

Thomas Chong, MSc, P. Eng., FEC, PMP Past President, Professional Engineers Ontario [email protected]

Message from: Changiz Sadr, P.Eng., FEC, CISSP, CAPE™ Executive Member, PEO Regional Councillors Committee (RCC) Chair, PEO and Senior Councillor, East Central Region, PEO

Board of Executives and volunteers of PEO Scarborough Chapter (PEOSC), PEO members, principals, teachers, students and well-wishers, My association with the Scarborough Chapter started when I became Regional councillor for East Central Region a few years ago. I also participated in most of their board meetings and functions for schools as well as other social, training and educational programs they had for their volunteers.

During this period, I am happy to say that I was able to recommend many of the Chapter’s new proposals for Special funding from the Regional Councillors Committee (RCC).

I am pleased to say that Scarborough Chapter has inaugurated a number of Projects to benefit students from Grade 3 to Grade 12. The Principals and teachers of the schools also encourage and help the students to participate and shine in the STEM based contests.

I commend the Chapter’s Board and volunteers for starting this new PRESENCE souvenir to annually showcase all their activities. This publication also serves a very useful purpose of funding their annual Aspiring Scholarships for high school students entering Universities for engineering courses from Scarborough Schools.

I wish the Chapter the very best in all their endeavours. Sincerely

Changiz Sadr, P.Eng., FEC, CISSP, CAPE™


Birth and Growth of Scarborough ChapterMadu Suthanan, P. Eng., FEC

Past Chair

When was our Chapter formed? We all agree it was long ago, but nobody had a foggiest idea of when. I emailed Sharon Gillam at PEO. Lo and Behold! She

emails 2 documents: 1) a letter titled “Application for Approval, Provisional Chapter” dated 17 October, 1961 to PEO requesting the Council to approve the Provisional formation of Scarborough Chapter. The minute, “Approved Oct. 19/61” was penned on the top right hand corner,(see Page 9) and 2) a three page by-Laws of the Chapter bearing approval by executive committee date of 26 July, 1962.(see Page 12 showing beginning of Page 1 & Ending of page 3). So, we can firmly say that our Chapter was born on 19 October, 1961.

There is not much evidence of all the activities of the Chapter for the next few decades. We request the readers who are aware of the various activities of the chapter to write to [email protected] so that we have better record of our Chapter and can update our history.

We know with fair certainty that our chapter conducted the Board meetings regularly, and had many functions such as the Certificate Presentation Ceremony, Technical Seminars and trips, etc. To the best of my knowledge, our participation in service to our community by way of helping at schools activities started around 2002.

We first participated in the Engineer-in residence program started by PEO, with some of our volunteers volunteering at various schools so that students come to know engineering and engineers. We also took part in helping some of the Scarborough high schools take part in “First Robotics Competition”.

By late 2003 we decided that we should start some program of our own Chapter to popularise engineering in our community starting with a program for the schools. Thus, the idea of popsicle stick Bridge Building Contest (BBC) was born. Well, popsicle stick bridge building contest was already popular in USA, Cana-da and many countries as seen from the Internet. The difference with our project was that whereas the testing of the bridge was normally done in Materials testing laboratories and not witness by the audience, we wanted to test the bridges in front of the au-dience. So a number of meetings were held to plan out the event and on 14 May, 2014. By then we did not have a proper testing

method. We placed exercise weights in milk crates to test the bridge strengths. It was a great success, enjoyed by all: volunteers, teachers, students and parents.

For 2005 we wanted to somehow have a working machine to test the bridges. Several proposals with drawings and

models were brought to our monthly meetings. Then our member Arul Thiagarajah, P. Eng., and two of his fellow workers one day walked into the meeting carrying a machine. He and his colleagues had designed and fabricated the machine at his workshop and used an electronic load measuring instrument that

has been donated by his company. That machine was used from 2005 right up to now!

In 2005, Gordana Nikolajevic, P.Eng., proposed one more project to introduce the use of Mathematics in Engineering and Science. Several meetings were held and the new program was named “Mathletics” by her and accepted by all. She also designed a Logo for Mathletics which is used till now. We wanted to use some form of scoring machine to select the winners, but we were not able to design or find a suitable scoring devise. The first con-test held in early 2006 used show of hands to select the winners.

Then our Past Chair Denis Carlos, MBA, P.Eng. was able to research and find a company in USA which was marketing electronics wireless clickers which was used as a classroom per-formance system which can serve our purpose. We got Special Funding to buy this system, through a local agent.

After that we were using this Clicker system for our Mathletics Competitions which is popular even now.

The BBC of 2005 used our new machine and we could expand the contest for more schools and contestants. For the 2006 BBC, we proposed to publish a Souvenir to highlight our BBC pro-gram. I am attaching 1 page from this Souvenir, and an article by Ranee Mahalingam from her old records which better describes the story of BBC.

In 2011, the Education Committee (EDU) of PEO requested for educational proposals for schools for special funding. Our Chapter submitted 3 proposals. The EDU committee approved Mechatronics. We held our first Mechatronics Contest as Mecha-

tronics Car Contest (MCC) in 2012 for Grades 9 & 10.When we organised the contest in 2013, and expanded to

include Grade 11 & 12, we found that the response to Mecha-tronics Contest was somewhat poor. We found that many high schools have Robotics Clubs which are after school projects. Here the members (students) of the club use readymade Robotics Kits to assemble various types of Robots. The circuitry inside are essentially black-boxes, and the design involves assembling of expensive commercial modular units. Main exercise is in programming the microcontrollers which control the Robots. Only some schools can afford these Clubs, and as the member-

Continued on Page 10




PEO SCARBOROUGH CHAPTER FROM ITS FORMATION ON 19 OCTOBER, 1961.

These data are from memory and some documentation and hence are tentative.

Lists needs verification and updating. Please help to fill in missing data and to correct data by emailing: [email protected]. Updated data will appear in later issues of PRESENCE.

Chair and Vice Chair List Year Chair Vice Chair 1961 R.L. Allan R.W. Cantle 1962 R.L. Allan R.W. Cantle 1963 Rohinton Nicholson, P.Eng., 2000 Gordana Nikolajevic, P.Eng. 2001 Corneliu Chisu, CD., P.Eng., 2002 Corneliu Chisu, CD., P.Eng., 2003 Gordon Ip, P.Eng. Denis Carlos, MBA., , P. Eng. 2004 Denis Carlos, MBA., P.Eng. Ranee Mahalingam, M.Eng., P.Eng., 2005 Denis Carlos, MBA., P.Eng. Ranee Mahalingam, M.Eng., P.Eng., 2006 Ranee Mahalingam, M.Eng., P.Eng., Santosh Gupta, Ph.D., P.Eng. 2007 Ranee Mahalingam, M.Eng., P.Eng., Santosh Gupta, Ph.D., P.Eng. 2008 Denis Carlos, MBA., FEC, P.Eng.

Raju Chander, MS. P.Eng., Raju Chander, MS., P.Eng. Ranee Mahalingam, M.Eng., P.Eng.,

2009 Raju Chander, MS., P.Eng., Madu Suthanan, P. Eng. 2010 Raju Chander, MS., P.Eng., Narayana Asogan, P. Eng. 2011 Narayana Asogan, P.Eng. Ranee Mahalingam, M.Eng., P.Eng., 2012 Narayana Asogan, P.Eng. Madu Suthanan, P. Eng., 2013 Madu Suthanan, P.Eng., Jega Jeganathan, Ph.D., P.Eng 2014 Madu Suthanan, P.Eng., Jega Jeganathan, Ph.D., P.Eng 2015 Jega Jeganathan, Ph.D., P. Eng Murad Hussain, M.Eng., P.Eng. 2016 Jega Jeganathan, Ph.D., P. Eng Murad Hussain, M.Eng., P.Eng.

Order of Honour Recipients from Scarborough Chapter Year Recipient 2004 Rohinton Nicholson, P. Eng., FEC 2006 Corneliu Chisu, CD., P. Eng., FEC 2012 Ranee Mahalingam, M. Eng., P. Eng., FEC 2013 Corneliu Chisu, CD,. P. Eng., FEC, MP (Officer) 2015 Madu Suthanan, P. Eng., FEC

Continued from Page 8 ship are expensive, only a few students join them. So our Chapter proposed to help high schools in Scarborough to establish Mecha-tronics Clubs in their schools. This is not a project involving competition. It is an educational project in order to enhance the knowledge and interest of the teachers and students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) by using Mechatron-ics projects as hobbies. This will complement their Robotics club at much lower costs with more innovations and more learning of the fundamentals of mechanics, electricity, electronics and related fields. The proposals to establish Mechatronics Clubs in 5 selected high schools was approved by the Regional Councillors Committee (RCC) for Special Funding. This would be our Chap-ter’s first educational outreach program to our local community with pure education through fun as the goal and not a competition to choose winners. On the request of the teachers, we conducted

some training for the teachers, who in turn will train the students.

In 2015 and 2016 we conducted the Mechatronics Car Contest. For 2017 we hope to design a new contest which will include microcontroller use and programming.

In 2014, we proposed a new program called STEMZ where our

volunteers will place articles on Science, Technology, Engineer-ing, Mathematics and all ELze (subjects such as art, business, finance etc. which are necessary to make our students into full

citizens). This program has two components: 1) Educate high school students on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and

Math) subjects, and then 2) have a contest to test them and award prizes to the winning students. This also gives opportunity to our volunteers to publish articles on our web-site. This proposal had some difficult start due mainly to our volunteers’ reluctance to get

out of their comfort zones of daily work and to write articles with questions and answers to suit the high school students. In 2016 we were able to have our first contest successfully.In 2015 our vice-chair Murad Hussain proposed a project named Modular Electronic Engineering (MEE) and we got Special Funding for it and conducted it in 2015 successfully. In 2016 it was continued successfully under our own funding. It is a contest designed for students in Grades 5 & 6.In 2016 again Murad Hussain proposed a new project named Bal-sawood Glider Contest (BGC) for middle school students (Grade

Continued on Page 15

Page 12 Page 13PRESENCE 2016PEO Scarborough Chapter: www.scarborough.peo.on.ca-4-Professional Engineers

Ontario

Scarborough Chapter

Dear contestants:

The event you participate in today is the result of a team effort of many dedicated volunteers.

Back in 2004, the first time we ran this competition, we were told the night before the event that we could not have the public address (P.A.) system switched on. So, we looked through our basements and improvised. Using an old laptop power supply, a car graphic equalizer and various connectors, all put into a shoe box, we created an amplifier. Someone contributed their home stereo speakers and another lent us a microphone. A few more cables and we had a serviceable P.A. system! Now we could start!

Then came the heavy lifting. Literally; because we tested the bridges with weight-lifters weights. We had to do a lot of lifting into and out of milk-crates and yes, it was slow and tiring. The students, teachers and parents who came to this first event were happy, and we were encouraged. We resolved to do better next year.

There are many, many children in Toronto. Hundreds of you want to play this game! If we do not want to disappoint most of you, we have to work faster, much faster. How can we be quick, accurate and, I forgot to mention, without spending big $MONEY$. After all, you do want some prizes, right?

For 2005, we began planning in 2004. We identified the items that slowed us down.

#1 was the testing process. We designed and built the machine you see here today. It looks good, is strong, not too heavy, easy to use, accurate, and most of all, FAST.

#2 was how to manage so many people. Registering, tracking, scoring, displaying results, printing certificates. A great job for computers. But computers need software.

And both are very expensive to buy. The hardware problem was solved by begging and borrowing laptops from everyone we knew. But, we could not afford to spend thousands of dollars on software. Instead we relied on the efforts of thousands of generous programmers who developed Open Source software. Using the Linux operating system, the largest web server in the world Apache, a powerful database MySQL, and the versatile scripting language PHP we wrote our own web based application. Here you see a full local area network, with wired and wireless networks, firewalls and routers, setup in just over an hour and running on little laptops.

#3 All these high-tech toys are nice, but to get everything and everyone to work together, we need management tools. Project planning, process flow, meetings, budgeting, organizing, talking or rather communicating are essential. Because many people have to work together. This is a big job. Lots of skills are required. We learn a lot. Yes, learning doesn’t stop when you leave school; it is just the beginning.

So, my advice to you is to remember what volunteers have done for you. When you grow up and can help someone else, please do. We had fun creating this competition for you. I hope you have a good time too.

Denis Carlos, MBA., P. Eng.Past ChairPEO, Scarborough Chapter

From BBC 2006 Souvenir


From Ranee Mahalingam’s records

7 & 8) and we received Special Funding for it from RCC. It was conducted very successfully.Apart from these projects, we annually have a number of Tech-nical seminars which are well attended. We have social functions such as BBQ for the volunteers and family, volunteer apprecia-tion, technical tours and more.

Scarborough Chapter and its activities to our community are growing very rapidly and we depend a lot on our volunteers support and enthusiasm to carry these and with more projects in the future. Our thanks to the support by PEO, our volunteers, the schools, students, teachers, principals, parents and all our well wishers and sponsors.

Continued from Page 10


THE OSPE MANIFESTO: WHY ENGINEERS MUST HELP SHAPE PUBLIC POLICY

In the past year, people in advanced democracies have witnessed a renewed public

interest in closing the gender gap in politics. In Canada, this movement was reenergized by Prime Minister Trudeau’s now famous “because it’s 2015” sound-bite—a simple yet powerful statement that urged Canadians to recognize that we are in the 21st century—so let’s get on with it.

Canada is a diverse, vibrant, and geographically expansive nation, and gender parity momentum needs to be channeled to address other representation gaps as well, such as improved ethnic and cultural engagement in politics. To adequately expand the tent of political participation, it is important that this also include a greater focus on academic and professional diversity in our parliaments—as Canada currently faces a silent crisis in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).

Take a moment to consider the wide spectrum of economic and social issues and ‘asks’ politicians are expected to discuss and vote

on. Self-aware politicians will tell you that they are generalists, and seasoned parliamentarians will further tell you that this trait is developed by necessity. Covering numerous issues often means a politician’s depth of technical understanding can be limited.

Politicians are likely to have backgrounds in law and business— they are often well educated, but non-technical professionals. In 2009, the Economist went through a sample of almost 5,000 politicians in the International Who’s Who of Professionals directory to examine their backgrounds. The findings showed a selection bias in politics that favoured non-scientific professionals.

When it comes to engineering, in Canada’s House of Commons, Members with engineering backgrounds hold only 4% of the 338 seats. In Ontario, the situation is even worse. At Queen’s Park, home of Ontario’s Legislative Assembly, fewer than 2% of Members are professional engineers, and not a single engineer is in the current governing party.

Why should this be a concern? Because the issues facing Ontario, Canada, and the world are increasingly complex and technical in nature. Engineers have a scientific understanding of the world in which we live, meaning they appreciate how people and systems interact over the total lifespan of projects. Engineers have an ability to simplify intricate problems and are skilled developers of evidence-based decisions and scenario analyses.

The gap exists at the policy formulation stage, particularly when it comes to critical scientific ministerial portfolios such as energy, the environment and climate change. A significant amount of planning and consideration is given to policy ideas before engineers in the Ontario Public Service have the opportunity to review proposals and offer their recommendations.

Just as lawyers have been historically predisposed to entering politics, engineers have largely been dissuaded—but these trends are changing. Besides the absence of communications or leadership training, the engineer of old was routinely told that their

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Government decisions are made every day without engineering input and without consideration of the engineering community. That is why OSPE implores every engineering student, graduate and professional engineer in Ontario to answer the call: rally around and support your advocacy organization—and together, let’s create positive change by elevating and advancing the engineering profession for the betterment of all Ontarians.

Join OSPE today to help us protect the reputation of your profession – OSPE needs you now to show the strength of Ontario’s engineering community in numbers.

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central role was to serve and protect the public. But if we take a wider-lens view of an engineer’s duty to protect the public, by failing to shape policy, engineers aren’t fully fulfilling their duty.

Without any doubt, engineers need to serve—but they need to lead as well. Engineering programs at McMaster and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology have identified this need, now offering combined engineering and public policy degrees to teach these critical leadership and communications skills. More and more, Ontario’s engineering schools have enhanced the skills development of well-rounded graduates—equipping them with the tools to not only analyze problems and develop solutions, but also to explain those solutions to a non-technical audience, work collaboratively with professionals from different backgrounds to lead implementation, and communicate to the public how society will be positively impacted.

Ontario’s engineering students and recent graduates are now becoming increasingly engaged in politics. By positioning the modern engineer on advisory boards and within government-sponsored think tanks, provincial governments stand to reap immediate benefit from the expertise of even one engineering-representative on board. No longer is an engineering graduate’s career path black and white – engineering graduates are employed in diverse fields across society. So many of today’s most influential start-ups, for instance, have been founded by engineering graduates with

backgrounds in business and commerce.

Engineers are bound by a code of ethics regarding duty of care and protection of the public interest. These are the qualities that the public wishes their politicians would better embody, and engineers stand as ready participants.

Getting engineers involved in politics and shaping public policy decision-making is a core reason for OSPE’s existence. Through our Political Action Network (PAN), advocacy task forces, research reports, open letters, blogs, Queen’s Park lobby days, and advocacy meetings with Members and Ministers, we help advance the interests of engineers and all Ontarians. For the future of our province, it is critical that government and the public recognize how important engineers are for the prosperity and growth of our communities and the quality of life Ontarians enjoy.

But at the end of it all, OSPE is only as strong, credible, and revered as our membership base is diverse and engaged. If engineers are not ready and willing to proactively contribute their expertise, the voice of Ontario’s engineers will be ignored. It is time to change the current discourse and ensure that engineers are not being undervalued or disregarded in the public sphere. In order for governments to avidly invest in engineers, they must recognize engineers’ capabilities as innovators, wealth creators, and leaders.


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Canadian Engineering Group (CEG) is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario that delivers engineering services to the public and private sectors in the Province of Ontario. Our Engineering Services include the following specialties:

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Let there be Sun ShineNarayana Asogan, P.Eng.

Ever since life formed on our Earth – 100’s of million years ago, Solar Energy was required for its existance, multiplication and evolution. Early human life depend-

ed on Solar energy. With the advancement of intelligence of human race, various other forms of energy were discovered, like fossil fuels which were formed again from Sun’s energy as plants and pre-historic animals. When natural disasters like volcanos buried these lives in earth, they were transformed to coal, oil etc. Human race used these to generate heat which again transformed to mechanical and electrical energy useful for the betterment of mankind.

How long will these fossil fuels last for our use? Maybe another 100 – 200 years. Climate change or Global Warming arguments and life expectancy of fossil fuels, related pollution by fossil fuels, nuclear makes favourable ground for Solar. Though nuclear is considered clean, no gas emissions, has other concerns like in the event of nuclear accident/mishap the radioactive emissions, storage and disposal of used nuclear fuel pose a large problem.

It is estimated that our sun will continue to produce energy for next 5 billion years or more. When other sources of ener-gy deplete to a level it becomes uneconomical to depend on them, solar will continue to live and would be the sole source of natural energy.

Solar Photovoltaic (PV) is the common method of harness-ing solar energy to generate electricity. Grid Tied PV is most common. The Solar PV system is tied to the Grid system bringing electricity from the utility company to your residen-tial or commercial building.

Ontario has incentive programs in place to enhance So-lar, whereby the utilities pay an amount more than what the customer pays for power consumed under micro-FIT for residential and FIT for commercial programs (FIT=Feed In Tarif). However micro FIT and FIT programs are to be phased out by end of 2017 and Net Metering is to be applied. Under this scheme, customers who has a solar PV system will sell the excess electricity generated after its own consumption and get a credit which is carried over to the next month upto one year. Customer pays for Usage less Generation. However, those who have singed up under the microFIT/FIT programs will continue to receive the contracted payments for contract period of 20 years.

Another system is stand-alone system. Solar PV system generates electricity which is stored in batteries and used when required. This is good for cottages and telecommunica-tion relay stations at remote areas where grid connections are not available or grid installation costs are high.

Systems can be designed with solar, batteries and grid to charge the batteries when the sun shines and during nights when the electricity rates are lower and use the stored energy during peak rate hours. Solar intensity is high between about 10 am to about 3 pm and using solar during these peak hours are financially beneficial.

Let the Sun Shine and Solar users have a Smile on their faces.

Why I did engineeringKarthiga Thevaseelan, EIT

My name is Karthiga Thevaseelan, I work as an En-gineering Intern (EIT) at G.D. Jewell Engineer-ing. I graduated from McMaster University from

the Civil Engineering department in 2013. My interests lie in transportation engineering and the following story is about why I did engineering.

I remember as a little girl playing with Lego and being overjoyed when I could make the tallest structure without

collapsing. My parents on the other had resented the stray pieces of Lego. However, they never discouraged my curiosity. My dad was a Metallurgical Engineer and many times his colleagues would come over and croon over me saying, “This one, well this one is going to be an engineer.”

Growing up I was surrounded by many engineers that showed me why their passion was engineering. I observed my dad and his friends go through life sharing their desire for engineering. At first I thought this desire was due to their interest for subjects like Math and Science. Howev-er, I soon found out that Math and Science were not the main drive for choosing engineering. Math and Science did play an important part in the foundation of my educa-tion as school would have been painful if I did not enjoy these subjects. However, seeing how close my dad and his friends were, seeing the lifelong friendship and support they had made me yearn for what they had. Engineering is like an ocean, sometimes it is calm and sometimes there is a tsunami. As we sail through this ocean, many times we may be thrown overboard however, there will always be someone on board to pull you back in. Seeing this support and friendship made me choose engineering.

Another reason why I did engineering is due to the im-pact engineering has made on the world. Working in the transportation industry I see many highways and bridges being built. During construction I get overwhelmed by the amount of work that goes into building such structures. Nevertheless, when I see the end result I get a wave of emotion at the product that was created. A mentor once told me, “be proud of what you have accomplished because it will affect millions of people.” I realized that the highway I was helping to build will be used over and over again to take people from one location to another. The many lives that will be affected due to that one little stretch of highway made me realize why I choose to do engineering.

Engineering is a discipline that takes problem solving, hard work and support to create an end product that impacts millions of people and the earth. If you have a hunger to help solve some of the hardest problems in the world, I believe engineering is for you.


Highlights of Activities of PEO Scarborough Chapter in 2016Contributors: The Project Managers of each Project

Jega Jeganathan, Murad Hussain, Javeed Ahmed Khan, Narayana Asogan, Madu SuthananFor more photos and details please visit our web site: www.scarborough.peo.on.ca

Annual General Meeting 2016

The 2016 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of PEO Scarborough Chapter was held at Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care, 60 Scottfield Drive, Scarborough

on January 23 Saturday 2016. About 50 members and PEO Elections Candidates attended the AGM.

Chapter’s volunteer certificates were awarded to Madu and Ranee. PEO Five Year Service Recognition Pins were presented to the volunteers: Jega Jeganathan, Dave Dias (not present) and Lin (Victor) Lan.

A special presentation of Continuing Professional Devel-opment (CPD) and its proposed model was made by Mr. Changiz Sadr, P.ENG., FEC, C.E.T.National Engineering Month 2016 Events:1) The 13th Annual Popsicle Bridge Building Competition (BBC)

The Scarborough Chapter of PEO, held its 13th Popsicle Stick Bridge Building Competition successfully on Saturday, April 2nd, 2016 in the Council Chamber of the Scarborough Civic

Centre. This event was organized to promote awareness of an engi-neering education as a career choice among junior students, as well as creativity and team building while having fun.

This year’s event hosted 59 teams, approximately 240 students

from Public, Catholic and Private schools in two groups – grades 3-6 (Juniors) and grades 7-8 (Seniors). The bridges were specified to be made of ordinary popsicle sticks joined with white school glue.

The bridges were judged against the following criteria: student presentation and technical explanation, creativity, construction quality, construction technique and aesthetics. Following judging, the bridges were tested to destruction by an engineer-built load testing

machine to determine the maximum load bearing capability.One of the competition entry criteria was: bridge weight of 250g

or less for senior level and 300g or less for junior level. The intent was to challenge the students to be more efficient with materials, to consider use of less natural resources when designing and building.

The reduced amount of Popsicle sticks did not reduce the quality of result.

Several dignitaries were present: Hon. Brad Duguid, MPP


(Scarborough Centre) & Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure; Hon Mitzie Hunter, MPP (Scar-borough-Guildwood) & Associate Minister of Finance (Ontario Retirement Pension Plan); Soo Wong, MPP (Scarborough-Agin-court); Councillor Chin Lee, (City of Toronto, Ward 41 Scarborough Rough River), Councillor Raymond Cho (City of Toronto, Ward 42 Scarborough-Rouge River), Parthi Kandavel, TDSB Trustee; PEO East Central Region Councillor Changiz Sadr, P.Eng., FEC.; and PEO Lieutenant Governor Appointee Santhosh Gupta, Ph. D., P. Eng., FEC.

2) Bridge Building Competition Presentation at Sathya Sai SchoolOur Chapter Chair, Jega Jeganathan, Ph. D., P. Eng., and Sathya Sai School parent, visited the Sathya Sai School on March 11, 2016, to prepare students for the 13th Annual Popsi-cle Bridge Building Competition.

His presentation covered the rules of the competition and the factors that affect strength, with slides of various types of famous bridges from around the world. He stressed that the goal was “not winning, but participation.” His presentation was well received.

GLP Activities at PEOSCa) We took part in Hon Mitzie Hunter’s (MPP Scarbor-ough-Guildwood) New Year Levy – 16 Jan 2016

b) PEOSC participated in the Councillor Raymond Cho’s Annual Spring Job Fair at Malvern Town Centre on Friday April 8, 2016.

Our Chapter Chair and GLP Chair attended this very suc-cessful event.c) PEOSC also participated in the Seneca Spring Job Fair on April 14, 2016 at Seneca College.N. Asogan, GLP Chair & Madu Suthanan, Past Chair manned our Booth. Many newcomer IEGs were advised on

how to apply to PEO for licensing.d) Ontario Premier’s Chinese New Year Celebrations – Feb 18. – GLP members N.Asogan, P.Eng.; Lan (Victor) Lin, P.Eng.; Samuel Jacob, P.Eng. of Scarborough Chapter partic-ipated.

Technical SeminarsThe Chapter held many seminars such as: May 11 Rishi Kumar, M.Sc. Eng., P. Eng., PMP, CMC, GSC, FEC presented a Seminar on: Project Management: Managing Stakeholders, organized by PEOSC at Victoria Village Library. The seminar was well received with 56 chapter members and members of the public attending.

June 30: Innovative and Sustainable applications of GFRP rein-forcing in structures.September 15: Home Energy saving measures and common design issues during Builing Permit application.

Licence Presentation Ceremony

PEOSC Spring Licence Presentation Ceremony (LPC) was held on Friday 6th May, 2016 at The Brighton Convention & Event Centre. 51 newly licenced engineers received their

licence certificates in person while 4 received them in absentia.Our Guests of Honour were: Hon. Mitzie Hunter, MPP

Scarborough Guildwood & Associate Minister of Finance, and George Comrie, M. Eng., P. Eng., CMC, FEC, President PEO.

Our special guests were PEO East Central Region Councillors Changiz Sadr, P. Eng., FEC., CTP, CTME, ITILv3 & Noubar Takessian, P. Eng., FEC, BScME, GSC and PEO, LGA Council-lor Santosh Gupta, Ph. D., M. Eng., P. Eng., FEC.

Master of Ceremonies for the event was our Vice-Chair Murad

Hussain, M. Eng., P. Eng.Our Keynote Speaker was Ranee Mahalingam, M. Eng., P.

Eng., FEC. She spoke on Engineer’s Role in Climate Change Adaptation. She is an Environmental Engineer and a strong ad-vocate for action against Climate Change and her address to the engineer’s about our role in Climate Change adaptation was well

received. She is a former Chair of our Chapter and a very active volunteer in our Chapter and many other non-profit organisa-tions.

Mathletics

This was the eleventh anniversary of the PEO Scarborough Chapter (PEOSC) Mathletics event. There were 62 regis-tered participants and out of which 54 (87%) attended the

contest held at the Scarborough Civic Center on Oct 22, 2016. Among the 54 participants, 6 participants had competed in the 2015 PEOSC Mathletics event, and one of those repeat partic-

ipants were among the top 5 winners in 2014 and 2015.

The event went very smooth-ly, starting at 9:30 am and finishing just before 3:00 pm. There were special guests at the event and there were 22 PEOSC volunteers at the event, who ensured the event ran smoothly and on time. We received many positive comments about the registration process as well as the overall conduction of Math-letics 2016. On the improve-

ment side, we received feedback to separate Grade 3-6 teams into two teams in future events.

The IT setup was well done and functioned as expected; there were no issues or surprises during the event. The venue was well managed, and the volunteers were well prepared for the event. Other Chapter volunteers shadowed our volunteers to better un-derstand the organization of Mathletics for their Chapter.


Annual BBQ Family Event

The Chapter had its sixth Annual Family event on August 20, 2016 at the Bluffers Park restaurant. Members with families, total about 40, participated in the event. The

chapter has been conducting this event annually since 2011, where families, including children and grandchildren of mem-bers, get together. Several games for children and families are organized at the event.

GLP Activities at PEOSC

PEOSC participated in the following programs from May to December 2016:Jun 2016 – GLP Chair of PEOSC participated in a joint

GLP (of PEO)/PAN (of OSPE) meeting with Soo Wong – MPP for Scarborough Agincourt and discussed about underemploy-

ment of engineers.Aug 2016 – GLP Chair PEOSC participated in Hon Mitzie Hunt-er’s BBQ event.Oct 2016 – GLP Chair Participated in MPP reception at Queen’s parkDec 2016 – PEOSC participated in Hon Mitzie Hunter’s Winter Fun Fest. GLP Member Samuel Jacob represented the chapter and PEO

December 4th 2016 – Peng Zhang, P.Eng., PEOSC Secretary participated in Soo Wong, MPP (Scarborough-Agincourt) Annual Year End Open House at Stephen Leacock Community Centre.

Volunteer AppreciationOn December 10, 2016, the active volunteers of our chapter,

their spouses and children met at the Mandarin Restaurant

for a lunch and get-together. Our VIP guests included Changiz Sadr, P.Eng., CTP, CTME, ITILv, FEC, Executive Member, PEO and East Central Region Senior Councillor, PEO.

We appreciated our volunteers’ contributions with blue docu-ment bags custom-labelled with our chapter logo.

It was a very memorable event and everyone had a good time.

Aspiring Engineer Scholarship

Every year, PEOSC awards two $500 scholarships to one male and one female graduating high school students.

This year the scholarship went to Safeerah Zainab of [email protected]. Porter C.I. (There were no other eligible can-didates for 2016).

Modular Electronic Engineering (MEE)

The Modular Electronic Engineering Contest and train-ing event took place at Yee Hong Centre on Novem-ber 5, 2016. This is the second year the PEO Scar-

borough Chapter is conducting this educational outreach program for grade 5 and 6 students attending Scarborough schools. This year the program attracted 36 students from 11 schools (a 20% increase over last year!). There was also a significant increase in the number of PEO Scarbor-ough volunteers who participated as well as parents and teachers who attended for a total of 82 participants (36 Student, 19 PEOSC Volunteers, 5 teachers, 20 parents and 2 special guests: PEO President George Comrie, M.Eng., P.Eng., CMC, FEC., and Ward 41 Scarborough Rouge River Councillor Chin Lee).


Balsawood Glider Contest (BGC)

The Balsawood Glider Contest (BGC) is the newest program introduced by the Professional Engineers Ontario Scarborough Chapter (PEOSC) in 2016. It is

an educational project that engages volunteers, Scarbor-ough area schools and the public in order to enhance the knowledge and interest of the teachers and students in Sci-ence, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) by using and building flight capable balsawood gliders and reinforc-ing engineering principle such as Bernoulli’s theorem.

PEOSC was able to successfully engage and deliver the BGC program on November 12, 2016. There were 21 stu-dents registered for the program from 10 different schools, 10 parents/teachers, 18 PEOSC volunteers and 4 special guests, including PEO President George Comrie, MEng, P.Eng., CMC, FEC.

In addition, Greg Merrill from PEO Mus-koka Chapter and also the current Chair of Air Cadet League – Ontario Provincial Committee presented various edu-cational videos on the gliders used by the Ca-

nadian Air Cadets trainees. The videos confirmed the use of aerodynamic engineering principles in real word gliders

and reinforced the learnings from the morning sessions. Greg’s presentation also reviewed some of Newton’s princi-ples when it comes to aerodynamics.

We are anticipating, BGC to be the next annual STEM event to be added to the roster at Scarborough Chapter and we are planning on new ideas of promoting this pro-gram through TDSB, EWB and any other willing partners. Anyone interested in volunteering at the BGC can contact us at [email protected]

Mechatronics Contest

On November 26, PEOSC conducted the third year of the Mechatronics Contest designed for Scarbor-ough high school students (Grades 9 to 12) called

“Mechatronics Car Contest” (MCC). This exciting contest involves the new and upcoming area of engineering known as Mechatronics (a multi-disciplinary field of engineering).

The contest was conducted in two groups at Peace Corner of Yee Hong Centre, 60 Scottfield Dr., Scarborough. The groups were: Juniors: Grade 9-10 & Seniors: Grade 11-12.

This year we had 4 schools contesting in spite of many of the high school students taking part in the UOIT Robot-

ics contest on the same date. 8 Senior teams and 6 Junior teams registered. 5 teams each presented themselves for the contest.

Thomas Chong, MSc, P.Eng., FEC, PMP Past President of PEO was our special guest. Also Nick Shelton, P. Eng. Willowdale-Thornhill Chapter Chair & Rana Ty, P. Eng. Willowdale-Thornhill Education Chair were our special invi-tees. We had 18 volunteers participating in the event.

We held the previous 2 events in a TDSB school Gym and Cafeterias where we could have a 20 metre race track and ample space for audience and last minute adjustments to the cars. We found that this year the TDSB rental was so high, it was not financially viable to have it in a school. Therefore, we opted for the Peace Corner Hall at Yee Hong at a fraction of the cost. However, here we could manage only a 11 metre track. The event was enjoyed by all.

The PEOSC Board decided that future Mechatronics Contests shall be modified to be able to be conducted in a smaller space such as Peace Corner, and shall include some elements of microcontroller and programming. We expect this change to be more challenging and exciting for the students, teachers and our volunteers.

STEMZ CONTEST

This year PEOSC introduced a new contest designed for Scarborough high school students (Grades 9 to12) called “STEMZ”. This exciting contest involves 1) an

Educational component to enhance students’ knowledge of Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and 2) a Contest, to prepare students as good future citizens. This is our second program for high school students.

The STEMZ also covers areas of Art, Finance, Business, Sports, Health and other areas where Math and Science play vital roles. In order to enhance the engineering pro-fession in the educational outreach and to improve the student’s interest and performance towards STEM, Scar-borough Chapter initiated this contest.

The contest was based on the articles published in the Scarborough Chapter Website by Chapter members. Students had to read, understand the contents and sample



questions for the preparation of the STEMZ Contest. The articles were authored and published by our volunteers and were edited, and moderated by an Editorial board consist-ing of our members. Thus this program gives our volunteers a great opportunity to author and publish articles of interest to high school students covering the scope of STEMZ.

The 1st STEMZ Contest was successfully held on Dec 3rd, 2016 at 60 Scottfield Dr., Scarborough. Our Chap-ter Secretary Peng Zhang successfully got her company CH2M to fund the STEMZ project up to $1,000. We thank

her for her initiatives.

For this first year we had only 4 students for Juniors

(Grades 9 & 10) and 4 students for Seniors (Grades 11 & 12). Two Seniors were registered by a Teacher, and others by their parents. When we made inquiries for the teach-ers whose students participated in the MCC contest their response was that the children were tired out after the MCC

and well as the UOIT where many students also partici-pated. MCC and STEMZ were only 1 week apart as we had to look to our own time table, PEO time table, school timetable and venue availability on a Saturday. I hope that in future, we will be able to spread out our programs more evenly to look into various programs of the students, and our volunteers.

The Science and Technology teacher who registered two students had this to say, “Let me begin by saying that I felt the contest was an excellent outreach activity and provided my students with a valuable opportunity to undertake inde-pendent learning of engineering topics which go beyond the secondary school curriculum. Both of my students commented on how much they enjoyed learning from the articles and the opportunity to learn more about the engi-neering profession”. We thank him for this comment and his suggestions for improvements of future STEMZ.

Changiz Sadr, P.Eng., FEC, CTP, CTME, ITILv Executive Member, and Senior Councillor for East Central Region was our Special Guest.Technical Tour - Thousand Island Cruise and Fort Henry

Scarborough Chapter organized a Thousand Island Cruise and Tour of Fort Henry in Kingston for the Chapter members and volunteers on July 23, 2016.

Around 50 members, volunteers and family members par-ticipated.

The first part of the tour was a one-hour cruise in Rock-port for sight seeing the Thousand Islands. Then the group visited the Fort Henry for a guided tour.


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Page 32 PEO Scarborough Chapter: www.scarborough.peo.on.ca

We:• license professional engineers (P.Eng.)

• grant temporary, limited and provisional licences

• authorize companies to provide engineering services

To practise professional engineering, you must be licensed. It’s the law!

Through complaints and discipline, we hold licence holders accountable for their engineering work

We set standards of practice

Regulating Professional EngineeringServing and Protecting the Public

Visit us at www.peo.on.ca

Documents

Birth and Growth of Scarborough Chapscarborough.peo.on.ca/2017/PRESENCE_2016.pdf · Birth and Growth of Scarborough Chap-ter Madu Suthanan, ... stick bridge building contest was already